khay

I like and agree w/ what you say and gave you a plus... but why must you write like that? no period. basically one line per sentence. kinda weird no?

In my opinion, at the moment, he is going 4OA, 1. McDavid (Generational, once every 10 year) 2. Eichel (1C) 3. Werenski (1D) 4. Boeser (1RW) But if he hits close to or more than 40 goals this season and becomes a consistent 40 goal scorer who hits eventually hits 50 goals, I think he might just go down as the second best player from that draft, only by a small margin to McDavid.

I don't think we have to worry about losing him for few seasons at least. The management, as long as it's TL and JB at the helm, will not trade JV that early and because he hasn't earned that big contract yet, he will be signed at a reasonable cap so there is no concern cap wise. I think this is the year where he establishes himself as an NHL player. I think by the end of the season, he will have become a third line player, playing 13-14 minutes a game. I'm looking forward to what Jake can do next season. He is a fun prospect to track for sure and I think he will hit 20 goals as early as next season.

Good point. When you put in comparison to other teams, Kesler as 1C in most teams argument has some good merit. But on the other hand, I think none of those teams had a 1C in my opinion. To be precise, what I meant was that he was not a 1C on this team in 2011 or whenever, and he does not meet what I think of a true 1C. Like 1D, true 1C is hard to find and most teams don't have one. We are hoping Bo develops into that and he is close but he may never get there. Hopefully he will, or maybe Petterssson will.

I agree with this. 1C should make the players around him better. Kesler was not that.

What?? Edler has PhD in getting his shots blocked. Whenever he shoots, it bounces off of the blocker, which kills offensive momentum and at times leading to a breakaway chance. Not sure if he does it very often but he sure likes to hone his skills by shooting at opposition's legs.

F*ck Giordano. I want Edler to shoot at his shin pad next time we play them. One time where Edler will be applauded for getting his shot blocked would be when he shoots at Giordano's leg. $hit I'm so angry with Boeser's injury.

Good point but having elite 1st line on the ice for 20 minutes gives the team a chance to win every night. I think that first line can probably score close to 80 maybe even 90 goals starting next season. And possibly 100+ goals in their prime: Boeser with 40+, EP with 30+, Bo with 25+. If EP makes the team next season as 1LW, then the second line is Baertschi-Granlund-Gagner. If we are lucky and one of Dahlen, Goldobin, or Virtanen develops into a 15-25 goal scorer starting next season, it would be Baer-Granny-Dahlen/Goldobin/Virtanen. It's not terrible since Baer and Granlund are both 15 goal scorers (probably 20G if they played full 82 games last season). That line should be able to score 45-55 goals on a full season.

Agree that he is not a game breaker kinda guy. Skates well but does not possess a game breaking speed. Shoots well but does not possess a heaviness in his shot nor the exceptional accuracy. Passes and sees the play well but not at an elite level, like the Sedins. Overall a very good player with very few flaws. A player that can definitely help the team as a 2LW or 1LW when playing with superior players.

Could be a number of reasons. Maybe the SHL has become easier compared to the years past. Maybe some of those players, over the years, have accumulated enough know-how on how to score in the SHL. The rest of the league hasn't figured out how to stop them effectively, and maybe once they do, those guys will slow down more or less to a PPG rate rather than 1.2~1.3 PPG rate that they are on now. It could also be that some of those experienced guys that have played in the league for a long time and are talented enough have become very efficient in doing their job, that is, found a way to generate chances efficiently. I have watched a live SHL game (just one game so I'm no expert) but my feeling is that the big ice surface makes a huge difference. In the NHL, coaches strategize like crazy to limit the space and time of the opposing team's star players. And in the NHL, due to the small ice surface, it works. You have enough bodies to always crowd the guy to the corner boards. Also, creating puck battles and chipping the puck out is easier in the NHL compared to SHL. Take Ryan Lasch for example. He is 5'9, probably skilled but not skilled enough to make up for lack of size to make it in the NHL. And whatever is working well for him in the SHL, will not work long in the NHL. Just to share my experience. The game I went featured a team named Djurgarden and I kept noticing this lanky player continuously generating chances in a similar fashion. Driving the puck wide and cut to the net or some variant of it. The player's name was Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, drafted in the 5th round by the Capitals in 2016 draft. Initially I was thinking that he was a good skater, quick feet combined with skill, which is probably true to some degree. But around 3rd period, I was thinking, why on earth, is the other team allowing the similar play to be made over and over? I think the answer lied in the large ice surface. If you can skate well, and have skill and vision, then you can always generate chances using the exact same way and that will lead to more points in that league. I don't really know why there are so many player on a record breaking pace this season. But consider Anton Rodin for example. He can skate well, shoot well, can pass well, and has good skill. What did he do for the last two seasons? Try out for the NHL. Basically the elite players in the SHL do not stick around forever. If they did, we would see the record break pace more often. I think what's important is that Pettersson, who has zero experience in the league has basically figured out an efficient way to score in the SHL. Something that takes few years for other smart players to figure out, he is doing that in his first year. That speaks highly to his intelligence. It also shows that his skating ability and skill level are both pretty good. For a rookie player in the SHL, his pace has not really been in the history of SHL. In fact, if you consider only the rookie season, the best point scoring record is held by Daniel Sedin with 42 points and PPG record is held by Naslund and Sandstrom, followed by Nylander: http://www.quanthockey.com/shl/en/player-age/18-year-old-shl-players.html. Most, if not all, of the guys that have had a great rookie season in the SHL have all turned out to have had an amazing hockey IQ. As I said above, in my opinion, SHL is relatively an easy league for a smart player with above average skating and skill because once you figure out a way to generate chances, you can continuously exploit it for a while. So the fact that there are many guys in the SHL that are on record breaking pace is not very important; we have enough evidence to conclude that Pettersson has extremely high hockey IQ, matching or even exceeding some of Sweden's all time greats. Now, will he be as great as Peter Forsberg? Honestly, I don't think so. To reach Forsberg's level in the NHL, you not only need intelligence and skill but grit and feistiness backed up by physicality. Forsberg was a unique player in that he had everything, high hockey IQ, skill, skating, physicality, grit, a bit of dirtiness, and etc. But I am optimistic that Pettersson may one day exceed the levels of Daniel and Henrik Sedin in the NHL.

It seems like the time spent here has benefitted him for sure. It would be great if we can get him back in the season after the next one. In my opinion, if we draft one more high-end prospect in 2018, we should be ready to compete for real in 2019.

I remember watching Trevor Linden being interviewed after we dropped to 5th OA in 2017 draft. He did not look sad at all, in fact, he was beaming with confidence, saying "we will get a very good player at #5." I think they had Pettersson ranked ahead of Hischier and Patrick and probably on par or better than Heiskanen and Makar as well. Had we actually won one of the top 2 spots, TL knew that we would have to take Hischier or Patrick. I mean, imagine if we had #1 or #2 OA and picked EP!!! The media in Vancouver and in the country would have crucified them to death and so would the owners. So in some sense, or maybe it was just my illusion, but TL seemed like he was relieved that we fell to 5 OA. TL and JB knew Hischier and Patrick would be off the board leaving us to choose from one of Heiskanen (all around top 2D, maybe #1D), Makar (PPQB and the best offensive dman in the draft), or EP (the prospect with the highest ceiling and high probability to reach his ceiling). I'm just hoping for one more franchise player from next year's draft and I think we will be set.

I agree. Pretty proud that we didn't have to sink to Edmonton, Arizona, and Toronto's levels. I like the way Winnipeg built their core, and I think we are taking basically the same path. Only thing I hope for is that we get lucky like the Jets did in 2016 with Laine. One more franchise player, hopefully a defenceman, and we basically have the foundation to contend for a decade just like we did from mid 2005 to 2013. It would be up to the GM to tinker with the line up in the right way so as to ice the cup winning team.

Good point... but we have Sutter, Granlund, and Gaunce who can take faceoofs. Although Sutter is out at the moment.

Glad to have Eriksson back. And, Horvat shouldn't be killing penalties. We should let him focus on scoring. I woudl like to see Virtanen take Bo's spot on the PK. Let's see how he does.

I don't know if I'm making any sense here but I feel like Gaunce only shoots the puck if he feels like he is sure that he can get a clean shot on net. Otherwise, he passes. Just getting the puck towards the direction of the net! Something good could happen, i.e., see Dorsett's 7 goals. Dorsett just gets the puck towards the net and follows the puck to net with purpose to see if he can cause enough havoc. In that havoc, puck sometimes leaks out towards Dorsett's direction and he bangs it in. Gaunce is more skilled than Dorsett. There is no way Gaunce with 0 goals makes any sense.

I think Juolevi's ability to recognize options and move the puck accurately makes him a PMD. He is not an offensive D in the sense of say, Karlsson or Burns but IMO, he is a PMD. He needs to make small improvements to defensive aspect of his game to become a top 2D. I think his skating is pretty decent from what I have seen, although it may not be as good as Hamhuis once was (at least not yet). If he can become a bit better, that would go a long way. Defensively, Tanev's ability to read plays and break up plays is elite and Juolevi is not nearly as good... but Juolevi might get there one day. Juolevi also has decent size 6'3 and 200lbs. That is enough size to box out opponents and play the body, something that a player like Karlsson is not able to do successfully. Juolevi definitely has upside in terms of defensive aspect of the game and combined with his puck moving skills, he can be like his current mentor, Sami Salo. A top 2D that plays well at both ends of the ice. Ideally, if he can skate like Hamhuis and read and break up plays like Tanev, then Juolevi will be a 1D in the sense of Lidstrom. I know I shouldn't compare anyone to the best defenceman since Orr but comparison is made in the sense that Juolevi can move the puck like Lidstrom, who didn't make fancy plays like Karlsson much but he sure knew where the puck should go next and knew how to get the shots through (writs shots like Juolevi). Only thing that stops Juolevi from reaching an elite level is skating and defending, but If he is able to improve a bit on those, then well, he will be 1D. Of course, improving on skating and ability to read plays (defensive hockey IQ) is easier said than done. So realistically speaking, Salo type top 2D is what I expect and hope that Juolevi can reach. Drawing parallels to Canuck greats: Salo->Juolevi Naslund->Boeser (kind of) Linden->Horvat Henrik+Daniel->Pettersson Bertuzzi->Virtanen Now, we just need to find Bure's successor and Ohlund's successor and we are set.

Hey Jim, How about a 2nd rounder for Edler? Best, Stevie

I don't think so anymore. It used to be that the prime years for the forwards were from 25/26/27 to say 32. But with the NHL getting younger and younger, you have to be a special player to be playing at a high level after you reach 30 (e.g., Sedins, Thornton, etc). I think the deal you suggested is fair. He will be 30 and if he is not showing signs of slowing down, then he has another chance to get a big contract.

That is one scary formation.

I agree with this. The funny thing is that Gudbranson is actually a pretty good skater and gets to pucks quick in the defensive zone, in other words, he turns quickly and skates on to the puck quick. But once he gets to the puck, he hesitates, meaning he does not know where to move the puck to. This gives the forechecker enough time to get in on him and turn the puck over. He just has to make simple plays but I guess those simple options aren't available to him, which means he needs to learn to skate out of trouble, which he is not very good at. He can skate fast without the puck but he can't skate away from the forechecker with the puck. Maybe it's the stick that he uses? Like one of those long sticks that Willie Mitchell used to have? If Guddy improves on what to do with the puck in the defensive zone, then I think he will be real Gud.

In Forsbergian style? I guess no one can be the steal of the draft like Forsberg was because he came with 15 million dollars in cash as well as bunch of good roster players.

If Henrik could shoot like Pettersson, I think we have at least 2 cups by now. The Sedins are special players; they could keep the puck as long as they want as to slowly break down the opposition's defensive structure, which often led to near open net chances so that they can pass the puck to the open net. I can't think of anyone else being able to do that. But Henrik's inability to shoot the puck led them to pass up on a lot of grade A scoring chances, which led to lesser production than what they could have achieved. I think with Pettersson, we have a player that can shoot (like Daniel pre-Keith elbow but better) and a player that can see the ice and make the passes (like Henrik). The PP is gong to be unreal with Boeser and Pettersson on opposite ends. The 5-on-5 will also be unreal with Pettersson-Horvat-Boeser or even with Pettersson-Horvat as top two centers. We just need a top 2 D prospect, then we will contend for the years to come.

That was Naslund like. EP is a playmaker who shoots. Kind of like Henrik and Daniel in one? Our PP will be deadly with Boeser and Pettersson on the opposite sides with Bo being the net front presence to bang in the rebounds. Add Juolevi to QB that PP and a developed Virtanen in the slot for one timers from the middle and to slide down low to crash the net when shots are coming from the half circles...

Or that other centers in the league were cheating on the faceoffs so much that he wasn't able to beat them. With the new rule in place, we are seeing one of Bo's strengths re-emerge.