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Although I think we will start the season with Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson, I like this idea and it should be tried if other lines underperform and/or we don't trade for a 2LW. Sedin-Sedin-Hansen Burrows-Sutter-Eriksson Baertschi-Horvat-Etem Rodin-Granlund-Dorsett/Virtanen Only question mark is the fourth line (or the 2C line). Too small and not much speed if not Virtanen. And it seems to be lacking in the skills department unless Rodin proves otherwise.

I agree. So then, who? And if the answer is Hansen, who does Sutter play with?

Benning has yet to bring in that player and some of the other wingers on the team are surrounded by question marks. Will it be disastrous if Baertschi begins the season on the second line, eating up those minutes and trying to pick up the offensive slack after the Sedins? No. Would it be ideal to have someone in front of Baertschi on the depth chart, so that the young Swiss forward can, as Benning said, develop at his own pace? Maybe, maybe not. There’s always the chance that Baertschi worked harder than ever over the summer months and will roll into camp, raring to go, ready to take on that bigger role. Some players thrive under pressure. Now that he’s comfortable with his new team, now that he’s gained the coach’s trust, now that he has recovered some of that swagger, perhaps he’s relishing the idea of being the guy to depend on. It’s assumed that Eriksson will play with the Sedins but what happens if the Canucks don’t bring in another scorer? Would the Canucks be better off playing Jannik Hansen with the twins (who formed a pretty decent top line last year) and spreading out the goal scoring by lining up Eriksson alongside Baertschi and Horvat or Baertschi and Brandon Sutter? Regardless of how it all shakes out, Baertschi should be put in a position to succeed, as long as he is willing to work hard and keep learning, keep developing. He should be given every opportunity to run with the second power play unit and he should stay with Horvat, at the very least. Never underestimate the importance of chemistry. Baertschi’s future with the Canucks looks bright and they certainly need all the scoring help they can get their hands on. Scoring 30 goals in the near future is not unrealistic, provided that he is surrounded by good players who can maximize Baertschi’s impressive play-making abilities and provided whichever coach is manning the Canucks’ bench gives him the opportunities his high pedigree alone merits. Since he’s had a rocky road from the start, it’s easy to forget that Baertschi hasn’t even hit 25, let alone the 26-29 mark that is generally a player’s peak. Players who are reclamation projects are usually quite easy to root for. Baertschi is no exception. In his case, however, what started as a minor reclamation project has blossomed into something entirely different. Baertschi is coming into his own as a NHL player and he’s showing that he belongs. He has a future with the Canucks as a key contributor within the top six. A realistic expectation for Baertschi would be 20 goals and 20 assists per season. His offensive dynamism should also bring the Canucks’ much underused second power-play unit out of relative obscurity. Being 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, Baertschi is never going to physically intimidate the opponent but no one expects that. That’s not his game. His game is to make things happen on the ice, whether it’s smoothly feeding his linemates with crisp passes or using that wicked shot to his advantage. All he needed was a fire lit under him and coming to Vancouver for a clean slate seems to have done the trick. If everything turns out well and Baertschi keeps progressing at the rate he is currently, the Canucks might be reaping the rewards for years to come. Nice article. Thanks for sharing it here. I think it is a forgone conclusion that Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson will be a line to start the season (unless they bomb it in the preseason). And it would be foolish to not keep Baertschi-Horvat together at least to start the season. I would like Hansen with Baer and Bo but then, that would weaken Sutter's line too much and I do like Hansen on Sutter's right wing as well. So, unless we acquire a player, this leaves Etem and Rodin as the options on the wings on 2nd/3rd line. Etem seems to have decent chemistry with Bo so say, we put Etem with Baer-Bo and Rodin with Sutter-Hansen. Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson Rodin-Sutter-Hansen Baertschi-Horvat-Etem Decent lineup if Baer and Bo score at their last season's 2nd half production rate and if Etem steps up. And, if Rodin turns out to be a 15 goal scorer, then I think this lineup will be good enough to at least compete for the playoffs. But if Baertschi or Bo doesn't produce like last season and Rodin doesn't turn out well, then it will be hard to make the playoffs. Bo, I'm not too worried and even if we are worried, there is nothing we can do to alleviate pressure off from Bo. But regarding Baer, JB is absolutely right, we need a 2LW to keep the pressure off of Baer and to prepare for the case when Rodin/Etem doesn't deliver. JB made some upgrades that boosted this team's probability of making the playoffs (Gud, Eriksson, as well as Tryamkin, Larsen, and Rodin) but whether all the work comes to fruition or not hinges on his ability to grab a capable 2LW. I guess pros/cons of Hartnell has been discussed a lot in this forum but a player like that would greatly increase the chances of making the playoffs: Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson Hartnell-Sutter-Hansen Baertschi-Horvat-Rodin/Etem Gaunce-Granlund-Dorsett/Etem Burrows I just wish Burrows was as good as he was in his prime.

I would go to few more games for sure. I usually go watch 2-3 games per season but now I'm considering whether I should buy a 11 game pack now. Given what Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson did in WHC, the chance to see them live in the NHL ice is quite exciting.

Hmm he's training hard I see. Great!

To make the playoffs, we need to score at least 220 to 230 goals. We scored 191 last season. Eriksson immediately adds 25-35 goals, giving us about 220 goals. If there is improvements from the young players and if the Sedins produce a bit better, we might make the playoffs.

Yay. For how much dollars? If around 6, then not too bad. Anything larger than 6.5, is a bit much.

First and foremost, Salo should teach Olli to shoot right. Bring back Sedin to Salo Juolevi PP one timers. Jokes aside, I like this pick more I think about it. A puck moving defenceman that can skate. Sounds like something that we have been wanting for...ever? Sucks that we missed out on Dubois and possibly Puljujarvi (trading up) but we addressed one of our weaknesses through this draft.

Oh man, you are terrible at spelling! It's M-C-D-A-V-I-D. You got his spelling completely wrong. The way you spelled McDavid, it sounds like you are referring to some underachieving Russian player.

Agree. But you know what I'm saying. We will have a pretty good defence core. Depending on how far Juolevi, Hutton, Gud, and Tryamkin develop, we are going to have a very good top 6. Possibly a championship calibre defence core. With Juolevi we have a future top pairing and a replacement for Edler if and when he leaves the team. And don't forget Briesbois, he has a potential to be a top 4. Briesbois' game is based on smarts and making high percentage play. He kind of reminds me of the way Dan Hamhuis used to play.

Bo is not a prospect.

This year's pick was going to be for the future anyways. Even if we got PLD, he would probably make the team in two years. Juolevi will be ready in about 3 years. Even Tkachuk would require 2 years of development before he can join the team. Think this way. Let's say, three years later we make the playoffs and our defence is, Edler-Tanev Hutton-Gudbranson Juolevi-Tryamkin The only concern that I have with not being able to pick Dubois is that we didn't get to replace McCann. The top center forward prospect in our system is now... Cole Cassels?

Meh, the other guy is better. Daniel whatever guy that looks like this dude but with more hair. LOL I'm sure Henrik along with Daniel are going to the hall of fame.

Fan favourite. I still can't believe he scored 35 goals one season... never thought he would be more than a 3rd line winger. Proved me wrong. My heart wants him to stay. But it seems that his physical abilities have dropped by a lot and seems like he is unable to keep up with the pace of the game anymore. I've noticed so many occasions last season where he showed hat he still can read the game and knew exactly what play needed to be made, but was unable to do it quick enough like he used to. I think it's time to move on. I don't know what is the deadline for the buyout but if it is before July 1st, then I think we will have to buy him out. The best route would be to find a trade partner. We should eat up some of his cap if it means he can extend his NHL career. It would have been great to have him retire as a Vancouver Canuck though.

I think it's too soon to give up on his offensive potential. He probably won't score 30 goals or 60 points but I think he can still chip in 20 goals and 40-50 points. If we sign a legitimate RW to play with the Sedins, we can use Sutter as a shutdown center. I think Gaunce-Sutter-Hansen will be an effective checking line.

Pair him up with a puck mover. I think his role is as a solid defensive rock supporting other players to do things offensively with the puck. He can also use his heavy shot to support the offence.

He went right for the shin there. Could have broken it. Definitely intentional, no doubt about it. Bautista's slide was deep but he didn't target the leg and he let up at the end. I think at the end of the day, the kind of punch that Odor threw at Bautista doesn't belong in baseball. Shoving, sure but punching? Even in the NHL where fighting is accepted, you don't throw cheap shots like that unless it's in a fight where both players agreed to. I think Odor just opened himself up to having punches thrown at him in the future. Anything is a fair game when it comes to Odor now.

US has its share of uneducated people. They just have more of those people than Canada one because they have more population than we do. And two, their education system is a lot worse than ours, in terms of being everyone having fair access to education. The fact that Trump has a huge following is a testament of how its education system is failing on the citizens of the US of A. Obviously, not everyone in US is like that. There are a lot of knowledgeable people in the states and most people know that we don't live in igloos.

Why not? Do you think it's more uniform distribution then?

Yet, you still cheer for this team. We cheer for this team no matter what happens. We cheer for this team whether Demko signs or not or whether we pick at 6th or 1st. At least the last 15 years, we made the playoffs like 11 times (since 2000, we missed the playoffs in 2006, 08, 14, 16) and won 2 president's trophies as well as numerous division titles. We produced league MVPs (Henrik, Daniel, and Naslund), top scorers (Daniel and Henrik) as well as Selke winner (Kesler). Oh and we won the Jenning's (Luongo and Schneider) for lowest goals allowed as well. We also got to watch Pavel Bure, one of the most electrifying player in the history of NHL. And we got to laugh at the Alberta teams and Toronto for good 10 years. Plenty of good things have started to happen in the last 15 years or so and I'm sure it's going to continue.

We are all kids when it comes to the Canucks. Sounds like you had a great experience. Good to know that Tryamkin is a good guy.

The reason why I think Horvat would benefit from having Hansen is because Hansen is a puck digger and a very reliable two way forward. Rodin as you said has some good offensive skills and could compliment the rawness of Virtanen and Sutter has polished two way capabilities that will make the game easier for Rodin. But I agree, he could be good with Horvat and Baertschi although I think that may put too much pressure on Horvat. And I'm not sure if I agree with the notion of Virtanen playing the next season in Utica. AHL may lack elite level skill players but it is full of physical players that play rough hockey. It is a great place for smallish, skilled player like Nylander, McCann, and etc to learn how to utilize their skill and speed in a physical and rough professional hockey games but might not be such a good practice ground for Virtanen. I think we need Virtanen is going to benefit the most by learning to use his size and elite level skating and shooting at the NHL level as he is not a finesse player.

LOL you sign Eriksson so that you can put him on the third line with Sutter? I thought it should be a no brainer to slot him on the first line with the Sedins. I would like us to sign Eriksson too if we don't get Stamkos If we thought that the defence couldn't get worse before Edler injury, we were wrong. With Edler out, this defence showed that it is at the AHL level. Unless we get Hamonic level player, I don't think we should trade a solid top 4 defender in Edler. It's clear to me that Edler and Tanev makes each other better. I think the best spot for Rodin is probably alongside Sutter rather than Horvat. I think Horvat can benefit from having Hansen on his right wing. Assuming we sign Eriksson: Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson Baertschi-Horvat-Hansen Virtanen-Sutter-Rodin Gaunce-Granlund-Etem Roll 4 lines.

Yes. That was all based on his raw strength. The scary thing is that he can be even stronger. He is already destroying some of the guys. One potential problem is that each time he destroys a guy, he also takes some damage. And that is why he needs to bulk up and be more efficient in using his strength. And once that happens, look out!

This will surely happen once he builds his body up. He still has a lot of fat to shed and muscle to build up. Right now, it looks like he has the raw strength but it is not yet refined and hence, unable to maximize his raw strength.