Quantum

Re: Sean Burke Part of the official 9-1-1 transcript when Burke's then wife called the cops on him for domestic abuse.

Holy crap that's horrific. I use to root for this guy. Not anymore. No wonder he's in Russia. Absolutely terrible. I feel so terrible for the victim.

Sabres need a goalie so it would be funny if they claim him.

NCAA guys don't usually like to talk about their future while they're in the middle of a season. He just isn't commenting on signing right now especially as Northeastern chases a championship and McDonough himself is being shortlisted for Team USA at the Olympics this year. He'll likely sign. His best friend is Jack Rathbone who is already in the system and apparently he's friends with Connor Garland, if that matters, since they all live in the same area of Boston in the offseason. He's probably the Canucks highest profile prospect not signed in the Canucks system right now. I expect he'll be a priority signing come March.

No surprise here. I'm surprised they suspended him in the first place. Seemed more logical for them to just terminate this way.

Swayman doesn't need waivers so the Bruins will likely assign him to Providence for the rest of the season and they'll only call him up if they can swing a trade to get rid of Ullmark.

He's built a helluva prospect system in LA. Good for him. Glad the Kings aren't gonna replace him with Bergevin. That was my worry when I saw Bergevin was named AGM.

Yeah, he's a Swiss League superstar. Much like Nikita Gusev and Vadim Shipachyov from the KHL, I think it's really hard for these superstar Euroleague players to transition into being third line NHLers/bottom six/fringe NHLers. Also, in Europe, most living expenses are paid for by the team so they're taking home way more cash than they would playing for an NHL club even if they're, in theory, making more than what they're making in the SHL/NLA/KHL/Liiga/etc. I won't be shocked if Hofmann is put on unconditional waivers in the next couple of weeks.

We already gave a lot of assets to get Garland and Ekman-Larsson. If Benning was smarter, he'd have tried to get Chychrun instead of Ekman-Larsson for the assets he gave the Coyotes... especially since OEL basically only gave the Coyotes 2 teams to negotiate with (us and the Bruins). I don't see Rutherford making runs for these guys. I think he's going to be more of a seller than people realize. Our defense needs a major reno as does our bottom six. He'll make deals and they'll be fast and furious when they start.

Fair enough on Philly, I took a mulligan on that. Minnesota could also use a netminder since they're relying on Cam Talbot to be their #1 right now. There's no guarantee Rask is coming back for sure. He could back out. I was just throwing out examples. I do agree about the NTC thing too with Halak. It's why the Canucks should've targeted a different netminder who didn't need an NTC to come here. Probably someone in the Martin Jones/Scott Wedgewood/Brian Elliott tier. None of those guys got NTC and they're all solid backups (with Jones being in the 1B tier more aligned with Halak). Although I'm not sure anybody else would've offered Halak an NTC? It just feels like another classic example of Benning outbidding himself. Rutherford is clearly trying to trade Halak. It's not going to be a matter of if but when, in my mind. Also, I'm not convinced that Rutherford (and Boudreau) think the Canucks can make the playoffs. This month will probably determine what the Canucks do at the deadline (sellers vs staying put, they wont be buyers). The days of Benning making all in moves for a chance at the playoffs after a mini miracle run to save his job are over. It's a big reset with this new management team and part of that reset will be our expectations. We may be chasing for a playoff spot but it's a big hill to climb, too big maybe. Trader Jim Rutherford will make moves. I think some of them will be shocking and I think some of them will be mundane (when they move Poolman out, it'll likely be a money in/money out situation, for example). Remember, Rutherford traded Pearson for Gudbranson and then moved Gudbranson out within 8 months of getting him. And that was after people on CDC thought Gudbranson was on an unmovable contract. If there's anyone who can make moves, it's Rutherford and company. And you trade with someone like the Oilers because they're desperate and may overpay to fix a problem they have, even if you're "chasing them". You take advantage of weaker teams in desperate situations. That's what good organizations do.

It's really cool to see the Abbotsford Canucks taking a chance on a guy like Yushiroh Hirano. He's one of two Japanese born and trained players who has been playing in the ECHL the last few years (Yuki Miura is the other one, though he played in the NCAA for Lake Superior and Yuri Terao who followed Hirano's path though he's not in the ECHL this year, although he was their last year). Hirano played in the USHL for a year when he was 20 before playing in the Asia League for two years before climbing the ranks in the ECHL. This'll be his first AHL chance and it seems like he's having a breakout year in the ECHL this season. If he can stick, I can easily see him becoming an Abbotsford Canucks fan favorite. I don't think there's any NHL upside to him (he's already 26 and just figuring it out at the ECHL level) but older players have crawled their way to the NHL in the past, so never say never. But yeah, rarely do I care about these kinds of PTO signings but now that the AHL team is close to Vancouver, these kinds of transactions to peak my curiosity.

Not surprising. It makes a ton of sense. Halak is good enough to be a starter on several teams right now (Oilers, Sabres, Sharks, Bruins, Flyers) and if Halak plays 10 games an overage bonus will be on the Canucks cap next season. Benning gave Halak an NMC for some god damn reason so moving him will be a little harder BUT I think if Halak has a path to be a #1 elsewhere, he likely waives to go elsewhere. With Rutherford in charge, expect a lot of players to be traded. These rumors are only going to ramp up. Halak, Pearson, Poolman, Motte, Dickinson, Lammikko, Highmore, Chaisson will all be dangled in trades. It's clear that Rutherford believes a lot of work needs to be done with this team and he's gonna be getting whatever prospects/picks he can for the assets he inherited from Benning's regime.

2.5 per year according to Capfriendly.

Ritchie has a 2.5 million cap hit for two years... so safe to say the Canucks won't be claiming him.

Remember when people thought the Canucks would actually trade Boeser for Rask. LOL. Those rumors were ridiculous. And also remember when Rask was traded for Nino Niederreiter?!? Double yikes. Nobody will claim either of these guys. Rask is too expensive and McIntyre is a third string goalie... maybe.

That's how Neal went from the Stars to the Penguins was in that deal.

He did. Traded Neal to the Preds for Hornqvist and Spaling

Remember: Hunt and Dowling are already on the regular roster and will remain there as the "official" extras. The taxi squad will likely include: Juulsen or Bowey (RD), Brisebois or Sautner (LD), Di Giuseppe (LW), Petan (C and versatile W), Bailey (RW), and Martin (G). They won't put any prospects who need AHL time on the taxi squad. Taxi squad players likely wont be playing much for a month or the rest of the season and I doubt Rutherford and co will want to sacrifice their development further by putting them on the taxi squad -- that means players like Klimovich, Rathbone, Woo, Silovs, and DiPetro don't make sense as taxi squad picks. Also -- Abby is close enough to Vancouver that if any of those players go on an NHL call up worthy streak -- they can make the callup happen. All the players I've got listed as my likely taxi squad picks are all 24 or older. You could swap them out easily for players like Sheldon Dries/Devante Stephens/John Stevens/Sheldon Rempal easily but the players I've listed have all either played games with the Canucks or have played with the NHL team in past seasons. The only exception is Spencer Martin, though he did play 3 games for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2016-2017 season -- so he's got a *little* bit of NHL experience. In regards to Spencer Martin, I can see the Canucks using his taxi squad time to evaluate if Martin could reasonably backup Demko in the event Rutherford and co can find a trade that sends Halak out for some pieces (probably a draft pick + b prospect). I think a team like Florida, who will need an experienced backup for their attempt at a long playoff run this season, might be interested in Halak's experience come trade deadline time, for instance. Either way, I don't expect much from the Canucks taxi squad. I expect it to be full of NHL tweeners.

You know if Jim Benning was still in charge of the Canucks, he'd take a swing at Senyshyn. That guy could never pass up a first round reclamation project! That being said, I can see a team taking a chance on him. Possibly Ottawa or Montreal.

Unfortunately, Bure wanted out. He wasn't going to play for the Canucks and that's why the deal was made. It's wishful thinking that he could be convinced to stick around and have those two Rocket Richard trophies here in Vancouver because the truth is that was never going to happen. The trade was fine. Jovo was a great pick up and he was a former #1 overall draft pick. And he was the Canucks franchise defensemen during the WCE era. It's a shame we didn't get something for him at the end of his contract but that happens. The Nathan Smith pick was pretty bad but the 2000 draft was a pretty weak year all things considered. Justin Williams would've been a better pick (he went 5 picks after Nathan Smith) and you can make an argument that Henrik Lundqvist was the best player of that draft year and he didn't go until the 7th round and he didn't make it to North America until 5 years later (where he, ironically, would back up Kevin Weekes who was a piece in the Bure trade). Gagner was a pure rental and at the end of his career. Weekes was supposed to be a better goalie than he turned out to be (he was supposed to be a great starter but turned into a good backup instead) and Mike Brown, a former 1st round pick, didn't really live up the hype of being a first round pick. Was their a better trade to be made for Bure? Perhaps... but Bure forced his way out and there wasn't much Brian Burke could do.

I sort of thought Cameron Schilling was gonna get the NHL contract before Sautner. That said, good for Sautner to get an NHL contract again with the team. Well deserved for a true company man. Sucks he signed the day games are postponed but hopefully they keep him on the roster and he gets some NHL money.

Fun fact: Derek Clancey is in the ECHL's Hall of Fame. https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/derek-clancey-elected-to-the-echl-hall-of-fame/c-311470438