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Agreed. Green is patient in helping the players out to play his style. Examples are Virtanen and Goldobin, who have had success on the off wing during their junior careers but Green has been bringing them along slowly and they seem comfortable now in their natural positions. Baertschi is another example of a player that found his groove under Green. But maybe some players are not being used in the best way possible. An example of rigidity is Green's preference to put the players in their natural positions (i.e., left-handed defender playing LD and LH forward playing LW). I hesitate to say that this is a rigidity because it's normal. I understand that the players are supposed to play their positions based on their handedness at the pro level for efficiency (defensive) but will Green be able to find a role and utilize a "free" role guys like Hughes or will he try to shape Hughes into something that he is not to fit the style? And the sad thing is, there is no style, no structure in the Canucks game anymore. They did earlier in the season, up to around January. Gudbranson was a good skater, especially for a guy with his size and he wasn't fully utilized in Green's system. A lot of people criticized his puck moving abilities but I thought he was decent, you give him options, and he could deliver the puck. He didn't have the greatest vision or stickhandling abilities to get around the first forechecker to move the puck though... but I think that's the system problem, not Guddy's. Almost all players have limitations, it's a failure on coaching to utilize a decent player in Guddy. I personally liked Gudbranson a lot. I thought he brought a lot of good things to the team, hence the name "Guddy" He was humble and a good teammate and brought a lot of character and leadership qualities. He stood up for teammates when needed but never gave cheap shots. He had a lot of the physical tools, may not have had the high hockey IQ and skill that you need to be a top defender these days but he had a lot of the tools. I hope he does well with Pittsburgh.

Basically, the conclusion is that the Canucks could not utilize a decent player. Gudbranson has his weaknesses but also strengths and if he were put in the right situation with a system that provides options, he would have done well. This trade was good for Gudbranson as he goes to a good team that plays a system that can cover his weaknesses while he focusses on his strengths. And it was good for the Canucks to move out a player that the coaches or the system cannot make good use of. McCann seems to be doing well too, utilizing his speed and skill. Makes you realize how important it is to have a good system and capable players that can carry out that system.

lol. Good one. Cracked me up.

Good post. But this goes to prove that he has played a prominent role in every team he played for. #2 in London. #2 in Liiga. PP QB in AHL. Juolevi doesn't have to be our best defenceman, I think that will be Hughes anyways. Juolevi just has to play a prominent role behind Hughes. To win the cup, you need depth on defence due to all the wear and tear during the cup run. If you have fully developed Juolevi coming behind Hughes, as opposed to say, Sautner or Hutton, I think that's good depth. The debate of Juolevi vs Tkachuck, I think at this point, Tkachuck wins (although it's not completely over yet). No Canuck fan should feel happy about that except Tkachuk lovers who were dying to be proven right as if though it matters at all. All we need to care about is that Juolevi progresses and becomes a top 3D for our team.

To EP, blocking is part of the offence. He blocks the puck to the direction where he can get it so he can go on the counter-attack. A really smart guy this EP dude.

"With 397th overall pick, the some team not named Canucks is not very proud to select this Japanese kid from Japan."

I agree but I hope he breaks it. Coyotes game last night was super disappointing to watch. EP is just alone out there. At least with Edler back, he is able to get shots off on the PP.

Until all 3 players mature further, those 3 may end up scoring as many as they allow. So, yeah we will see very few shootouts (win or lose). I think NHL should make 3-on-3 a bit longer too. Like 10 minutes would be great, but even 7-8 minutes would decide a lot of games.

Needs 8 goals in 18 games to tie Bure's single-season goal record (34). Correct? Go EP: 9G13A in the next 18 games to finish with 35 goals 43 assists and 78 points. Break all of the Canucks scoring record.

And the way the things are going lately, we will get to draft in the top 10. And if we get lucky, we might get to add Hughes or Kakko... I'm salivating at the thought of either of those two. J. Hughes is touted as next Patrick Kane and Kakko seems like he will be a complete player and in my opinion, could become a better player than Laine. Either way, if we add a winger with our 1st in the next draft, losing Dahlen won't be much of an issue.

It sounds like Canucks did Dahlen a favour. I think Dahlen still has great potential and talent to make the NHL but if he carries a negative state of mind on things, it will make it hard for him to make it here. With Petey playing so well, Dahlen probably wanted to expedite his development and when that didn't happen, he probably became very impatient and negative on the outlook of his future (at least that's how I interpret the quote). Too bad we lost him but hopefully the player coming back will become a good one.

My guess is he eavesdropped in on a conversation discussing potential Dahlen trade while walking around Rogers arena. Then, he gave his own interpretation that Canucks lost interest in Dahlen, when in fact, Dahlen requested a trade. Still 0-for-whatever for Sekeres. You gotta be completely right on everything for it to count as a hit.

Hmm basically traded for younger Dahlen? Don't understand the logic behind the trade, but maybe they saw something in Dahlen's game that they really didn't like?

I agree with balanced scoring but come on, EP and Boeser can both benefit from playing with each other. EP finds Boeser in the slot for a snipe as we saw in Calgary. They are going to score a lot of goals that way. I think if Virtanen develops as expected, then he should play with Horvat. They have the attributes to become one of the best net crashing scoring line in the league. Virt drives the net with power and speed, Horvat is ox around the net, you aren't moving him once he has the position. Dahlen might compliment them very well if he does develop, given how strong he is in close the net. 2019 draft 1st round pick-EP-Boeser Dahlen-Horvat-Virtanen x-Gaudette-x x-Madden-x

It doesn't matter if he wins it or not. Even Crosby didn't win it and neither did McDavid but those two are the best players in the NHL since 2005- onwards and 2015- onwards. Dahlin is putting up a great season so if he deserves it as well. Since 2005-06 (lockout), Dion Phaneuf holds the record for most points by a rookie defenceman with 49 points. Dahlin is on pace for 44-45 points. Having said that, I think EP will win it. EP's goal totals (will be close to 40 goals), # of game-winning goals, an all-star selection, putting the team in contention of playoffs, great +/- on a team with negative goal differentials, PPG pace behind only a handful of rookies that went on to have HOF careers in the last 20-30 years, all those things lead to him winning the award.

Thanks for sharing this. Didn't realize Dahlin already has 29 points. Sweden may just have gotten themselves replacements for Foppa and Lidstrom. One could say that Buffalo turning things around has a lot to do with Dahlin. Just like EP has put the Canucks in the playoff contention, so did Dahlin(although he has more help around him than EP). I guess any time a rookie defenceman puts up 40+ points and has net positive +/-, you have to give them consideration for Calder. With EP putting up the numbers he does and if he gets to 35+ goals (which seems very likely at this point), EP will still win it but Dahlin looks as good as advertised for sure.

It will be a major upgrade and I think EP's scoring rate will increase as a result. What Pouliot does from time to time (once every 5 games) on the offensive side, Hughes does every game. I know that Gudbranson has a poor stat when it comes to +/-, but he brings an element of the game that can compliment Hughes game and his numbers may improve playing with Hughes as well.

Wow! A defenceman that never takes a penalty? Either he doesn't try or the opposition doesn't get the puck very often when he is on the ice.

I don't think this is how hockey is played anymore. Cherry picking isn't going to be popular with the teammates. Considering how poor our defence is at moving the puck, all forwards need to be full on deck to get the puck out and transitioning it for offence.

Yeah, and even Dahlen seems to be at least one or two full seasons away from making the push. Barring free agency signing (e.g., Stone?) and I guess unless we draft a marquee LW talent in 2019 (Kakko? lol), I don't think anyone is pushing Goldobin out of the lineup. Our LW depth is way too weak. It's an easier problem to address than fixing the defence so I'm not too worried about it.

The Leafs have won the division only once since 1970? Wow. They have had some good players in the past so, I'm really surprised. A recent article on Sportsnet (https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/12-silver-linings-canucks-despite-heavy-defeat-maple-leafs/), shows how butthurt they are regarding the Canucks. It's a pathetic article, a low kick to the Canucks but disguised under the title 12 silver linings. But their failure to win anything at any level (division, conference, league championship, let alone Stanley cup) shows why they are so sensitive. I wonder, since the early 2000's, are we the most successful Canadian team in terms of trophies and banners lifted?

Only if we got lucky last draft. We could've had Dahlin and EP to watch for the next 20 years. Well, I guess we still got Hughes, who should be able to do all those things that Dahlin does with the puck.

Sami Salo stated publicly that Olli will be #2 or #3. We will see who is right.

Yes, Kesler was ahead of Bo on defensive side of the game at the same age. Kesler got to the NHL so quick because of his ability to kill penalties, play well at defensive side of the game. Bo on the other hand, got here because he played responsible and heavy game. His play at the defensive side of the game was OK but never spectacular even from the beginning and same could be said about his offensive game. But he was able to put his offensive game together faster than Kesler. And although he is not quite the elite defensive player Kesler was/is, but I'd say he is above average right now. So just doing a simple naive math, if Bo > average > Kesler on offence and Kesler > Bo > average on defence, then it's fair to say that overall, Bo may be ahead of where Kesler was at the same age because Kesler's offensive game was below average until his 4th full season (or draft + 6 season) whereas Horvat got there on arguably, his 2nd full season when he put up 0.5PPG (draft + 3). In fact, Bo being able to put up this kind of numbers now allows us to look beyond Kesler as comparison. I think among Bo's player type, the active players at the very top are Kopitar, Toewes, and Bergeron. All of these players being the main pivots for cup winning teams in the last 8 years. Among non-active players of recent memory in the same category as these three would be perhaps, Rod Brind'Amour. These players are good or near elite defensive players but also puts up 60-80 points in a season on a consistent basis. Obviously, Crosby would be at the very high end of the player spectrum in any player comparison, but Crosby is a generational player. And Datsyuk also would be at the high end of this player type comparison but Datsyuk was a player that could not really be defined as one type much like Crosby. And one notch below the top 3 would be Kesler, probably all by himself in that category for the last 6-7 years, being an elite defensive player like the top 3, but not quite having the capability to put up the points on a consistent basis as the top 3. Kesler would be closely followed by Ryan O'Reilly, Jordan Staal, and etc, players who put up offensive numbers similar to Kesler but slightly below Kesler on defensive side of the game. Player like Sutter would be even one level below the likes of O'Reilly and Staal due to offensive output although his defensive game would be on par. I think Horvat has matched or surpassed Kesler, O'Reilly and Staal on the offensive output and as his defensive game improves, he may reach the levels of the top 3 or be only slightly below the top 3. He seems like he will be able to match offensive output of the top 3 (60-80 point range) but slightly below the top 3 in defensive aspect of the game.

I think what makes Bo special is that he can produce with anyone. It would be great if we can give him a player like Marian Hossa as winger. Maybe we will get such a player in 2019? Maybe Kaapo Kakko? Kakko-Horvat-Virtanen Dahlen-EP-Boeser