khay

On a stacked team I said...

At the moment, I see him as a second line player on a shallow team and a third line player on a deep team. I envision him playing a role like Kris Versteeg on the stacked Chicago team from 2008-2013. Probably going to be a bit better than Versteeg mainly because I think Lind is more competitive than Versteeg, which leads me to think that Lind will be more consistent in putting up the points. I see him as a 20+ goals, 30+ assists or a 50-60 points player.

My guess is that the scouts they polled are all or mostly based in North America. They probably have no clue as to the magnitude of what Pettersson just achieved. And Pettersson's WJC performance was a bit less noticeable compared to Dahlin and Andersson on team Sweden whereas Mittlestadt was the star for USA (personally, I don't know if that's true because I didn't watch any USA games). That list looks like a list compiled by North American scouts that based their opinion on WJC performances and their knowledge of NA leagues.

If he lives up to Ryan Kesler 2.0 expectation, then yeah he is a second line center. Having said that, wouldn't it be amazing if Pettersson makes it as a scoring line center and our depth at center position is Pettersson-Horvat-Gaudette?

Good point. With separation speed, I think we are looking at near Stamkos level of a goal scorer.: 40 goal scorer. I hope he works on this and come back strong next season.

This guy must be like an Oilers fan and wants us to trade Tryamkin to Oilers for cheap. lol

I think Virtanen-Pettersson-Boeser could be a line at some point down the road. Virtanen is more dangerous on his off wing and if his puck handling skill improves, he can gain the zone with his speed. Drive to the net, get a shot off, or pass off to Pettersson/Boeser. He can also use his speed to fetch the puck for Pettersson and Boeser on dump and chase plays. Virtanen could score 20 goals and 50 points playing with these two smart players.

St. Louis game showed that Virtanen still has long way to go. His hockey IQ does not look like it has improved very much. He doesn't quite have the vision or puck skill to keep the puck in the offensive zone. It looks like he can only see one play, one passing option at a time. Virt is hard to defend when he is skating down in an open lane on defenders. But in a puck possession setting in the offensive zone, he is easy to defend since he only sees one option at a time and hence, it is easy to cut it off. Great physical tools but fine details of the game is very much lacking. Archibald is a better player than Jake at this point just because Archibald is smarter. Being smarter cancels all the physical advantages Jake has. I hope Virtanen works on puck skills (stick handling), passing skills, and I don't know how, but also work on his hockey vision. Maybe he should go to hockey school run by Sedins where they teach situational plays and how to recognize plays I think if he improves his puck skills and allow himself to make one extra move, it will open up more passing options and if he works on accuracy and speed of the passes, it will make up for his lack of hockey IQ/vision by a lot. Ah, and he needs to learn to get a shot on net.

So not only was Burrows really needed on the team but he got us a player that is compared to Zetterberg in almost single handedly bringing a team from second division to the first division. Burrows is like that tree that never stopped giving!

I think the labelling of the lines are messed up. Rosen line is the first line. Pettersson line is the second line. And so on.

Salo is not paid by the Canucks so I wouldn't say OJ is Salo's responsibility. Salo just has so much loyalty to the Canucks that he is doing this voluntarily. Thank you Sami.

Really? Boqvist > Dahlin if he were heavier? I find that hard to believe having seen both of them play at the WJC. My mistake, I confused Brannstrom and Boqvist. But really? Boqvist > Dahlin if Boqvist were heavier?

Yes. Please please please hockey gods.

Maybe. He is hitting but not as hard as he used to.

I agree. I honestly thought RNH will be a PPG player. These injuries to the shoulder area us pretty tough to completely recover from based on my experience.

$hit that's low (for a professional hockey player). Pettersson can probably make more in the AHL? AHL salary is probably around 60K USD?

Crosby - Malkin, Letang Fleury/Murray, Kessel Sedins - Kesler, no true #1, Luongo, no other elite scorer Hockey is a team game. it's true that the Sedins production didn't increase in the playoffs but when you are playing against fifteen other best teams, that's expected. No one is saying they are heroic playoff performers but stating that they did nothing is a bit too harsh.

I'm also very disappointed that he wasn't able to beat Bure's record. But this is his first season and there are many more seasons to come. Some of them will feature 40 goals, maybe 50. We have got to look ahead. I think his hand was not 100% either, he was just managing through pain. I think this gives him a chance to get rested so that he can be ready to go next season.

Looking back, 2014 draft could have been one of those legendary drafts for the Canucks like the 79 draft for the Oilers when they picked Messier, Lowe, and Anderson. We had all the right picks to draft the star players. I bet if we re-do that draft with current scouting team rather than the one that JB inherited from Gillis, we come out of that draft with Ehlers, Pastrnak, Demko, Tryamkin, and Forsling. 2 first line players, starting goalie, top 4 and top 6 defenceman in one draft. Would have been the best draft in the history of Vancouver. Only draft that comes somewhat close is 2004, Schneider, Edler, and Hansen. Starter, top 2/3 defenceman, and best third liner in the league at one point. In light of the players we drafted and traded for, imagine if we had Ehlers and Pastrnak: Ehlers-Pettersson-Boeser Dahlen-Horvat-Pastrnak Gadjovich-Gaudette-Lind That's Stanley cup winning top 9 forwards.

2020 is when we should be about ready to compete and can't afford to have 4.2 mil tied up on cap recapture bs created by Bettman to punish Vancouver. We should trade for Lu in 2019, and pay him his salary on the condition that he does not retire until 2022. It's free money for him, I don't see why he would refuse to be paid.

Interesting. Maybe we are a bit overzealous when it comes to Pettersson and his chances of making the team next season. If he is not physically ready, then we shouldn't rush him due to the chance of sustaining a career limiting injury. I think injuries sustained by RNH (shoulder area) in the first two seasons has severely limited him from reaching his full potential. We don't want the same for EP. Forsberg and Sundin were indeed more complete players. I think Pettersson's offence is going to match or even surpass these two greats but other areas, he has a lot to grow before he can match them. Maybe it's not too bad to let him stay in Sweden one more season. We will still get Dahlen to make the jump to the NHL.

JB: "Travis, we are going to start negotiation with Sven's agent. Can you make sure his production stays where it is now so we can have an upperhand in the negotiation?" TG: "On it." TG goes on to scratch Baer saying that he "randomly" picked out a player. Then, places him on a line with Gags and Jake when he is back in the lineup. Perfect plan. But yeah, I feel like Baer's days are numbered. Next season is probably his last chance to solidify his spot on the roster before an onslaught from the youth begins.

Once you screw up a goalie, there is no getting him back. I think the management will upgrade in goal and let Demko mature for one more season in the AHL. In my mind, that is the right move if they don't think he is ready.

I'm really looking forward to how Boeser-Horvat-Petterson alignment will perform in the PP. Boeser and Pettersson we already know will be effective but Horvat is as strong as they come and an ideal for plays downlow. Add Dahlen for his net game as well and Juolevi on the point getting the shots through. It's gonna be fun.

I somehow have this feeling that Dahlen will work well with Horvat too. Horvat with his ability to drive the net and Dahlen's ability to play the net game will make the duo hard to defend against. For Boeser, I agree that he is a better fit with an elite playmaker like Pettersson that can set him up for a shot. This line will need a puck hound as the third guy. I don't know who that will be. If Virtanen develops properly and learns to initiate and win 50-50 puck battles, then he is a candidate since he has so much speed and acceleration coupled with the size that he can sneak up on opponents and use his body to initiate puck battles. Ideal situation has us drafting a #1 dman in 2018, and probably a forward in 2019 so by 2020, this gives us top two lines of, Virtanen-Pettersson-Boeser Dahlen-Horvat-2019 draft pick/UFA This gives us two decent scoring lines and ideally, 2019 draft pick is another game breaker. If not, we may need to achieve this through UFA signing. Of course, if in next season, Goldobin and/or Baertschi breaks out, things may look quite a bit different. And of course, Virtanen may never develop enough to play a first line role, supplementary role though it is. But I think we already have 4 out of 6 pieces for balanced scoring lines. Bottom 6 is going to be a mix of youth and vets. Among the vets, I think Sutter and Eriksson will still be around. Eriksson will be hard to trade and I think he will still be effective defensively to be of use. Green said he sees Granlund as a bottom 6 player, so there is also a good chance that he will be around as well. For Gaunce, I think there is only about 50% chance that he will be around. Also, it's hard to imagine Archibald being here 2 years from now. I like the guy so I hope he is here but on a deeper team, I don't see a spot for him. Among the youth, Lind and Gaudette are highly likely to make the team. Gadjovich also has a good chance due to his size and play style. Cole Cassels has a shot now, a small chance but he is putting himself back on the map. And of course, one of Dowd, Motte, Leipsic may stick around as well. Sutter Lind Gaudette Eriksson Gadjovich Granlund ------- Gaunce Motte/Leipsic/Dowd Cassels