Quantum

Oh cool. Kunlun is a fascinating KHL team. They're China's only KHL team and they've been on a tear this offseason signing NHL/high end AHL calibre talent to their roster. The list of signings don't just include former Canuck Adam Cracknell but also Andrej Sustr, Trevor Murphy (who I thought the Canucks should've gone after as a low risk/high reward defensive signing), Tyler Wong (he's the guy who scored the hat trick against the Canucks in Vegas's first ever preseason game), Spencer Foo (highly sought after college UFA two seasons ago who is going to Kunlun to secure a spot on China's olympic roster), Jake Chelios (Chris's son and a top AHL defenseman), former Canucks Brandon DeFazio Marc-Andre Gragnani, & Drew Shore, former NHLer Victor Bartley, and a top AHL goalie from the last two seasons Jeremy Smith. They've also signed WHL standout and a member of the University of Alberta superteam Jason Fram (who is of Asian descent) to a deal too. Either way, Kunlun is stocking up for a big run and I'm pretty intrigued. If Kunlun can get things going, hockey would greatly benefit from entering and becoming popular in China. I may be keeping an eye on how Kunlun does this year now too.

I know people are slogging Joe Sakic for this deal but I feel he comes away here pretty good. The Toronto Maple Leafs gave up a lot for 1 year of Tyson Barrie (doubt they have the cap to re-sign him) and Alex Kerfoot isn't quite the level of player Nazem Kadri is. I like this deal for the Aves... they get to lock up Kadri for a few years, get something in return for Barrie (who probably walks next July 1st), and don't have to overpay Alex Kerfoot.

Was thinking about the fact that the Canucks couldn't "get" a top 6 winger this July 1st but I also couldn't help but think of Vegas's cap situation and it got me to think... I wonder if the Canucks could pry Nikita Gusev away from VGK. It's becoming pretty clear that unless VGK sheds serious salary, Gusev may not be able to be signed... and the Canucks may have enough cap to squeeze out a deal. For those who don't know, Gusev has been arguably the best player outside of the NHL for the last two-three years and recently signed his entry level deal with Vegas in like March but didn't end up playing a game. He's a restricted free agent who is probably looking for a sizeable pay day (I suspect 3.5-5 mill per season). The one thing with him is that he is unproven at the NHL level. With that said, he is 26 (he turns 27 on July 8th) and could be the missing winger to make this Top 6 pop. In his last KHL season, he had 82 points in 62 games and could project to put up 40+ points in a top 6 role. The problem here is that Vegas doesn't have the cap to sign him and may have to unload him. Here comes the Canucks... If they can find a taker for either Sutter or Erikisson's deals, this is easier, if not, here's what I think the Canucks *could* do. My thinking is: To Canucks -- Nikita Gusev To VGK -- Tyler Madden 2nd Round Pick 2022 Nikolay Goldobin Dmitri Zhukenov Why VGK does this? It's a cap dump. They don't have the cap and they can't keep Gusev. VGK also has a shallow prospect pool thanks to all of its deals to acquire guys like Max Paccorietty and Mark Stone, so to acquire guys like Zhukenov & Madden helps strength there pool. Though Madden is a bitter pill to swallow for the Canucks, they have a glut of forward prospects and could take the hit to acquire a surefire NHLer in Gusev. Zhukenov could be swapped for a guy like Will Lockwood or Matthew Theisson -- just another prospect that Vegas doesn't have to pay for at least another season (or two or three depending on the player). Goldobin goes the other way to help VGK get a "bottom six" guy who is cheap, has skill, and could help bridge the gap that was left by the departures of guys like Carpenter, Bellemore (obviously, different skill sets). Goldobin also becomes overly redundant if he stays a Canuck with Gusev joining the lineup, even if it helps the Canucks having "another Russian" in the lineup. Why does Vancouver do this? They get a Top 6 winger, though unproven at the NHL level, he is the sort of "low risk/high reward" type to go after. The acquisition cost wouldn't be *that* high compared to others and VGK is in a vulnerable position. The Canucks are going all in on the playoffs in the next two years. Gusev is older and wants to win and have a role in that winning, he's probably not going to be satisfied with a bottom six role (which is where he'd be on VGK). In Vancouver he instantly pairs with Pettersson/Boeser as there LW, most likely. Unless he pairs with Horvat/Pearson as there LW if JT Miller slots besides Elias and Brock. The Canucks have a deep forward prospect pool and can afford to part with Madden and Zhukenov. The 2nd is collateral damage and Goldobin is there to remove a body from the NHL roster who is an RFA (thus VGK can deal with his contract which likely isn't higher than 2.5 mill). Obviously the pieces can change but I feel like Gusev is a realistic and reasonable target for the Canucks if they do want to improve there Top 6 before training camp starts. Thoughts?!?

Zane is a prospect that goes back to Jim Benning's days with the Bruins. I wouldn't be shocked if Benning had a hand in picking McIntyre when he was selected by the Bruins back in 2010 or 2011 (forget which year he was selected!). That said, I like it. There won't be a goalie crunch this year. And I suspect this spells the end of Bachman. I wouldn't be surprised if Bachman is placed on LTIR for the season. Bachman suffered an Achilles injury back in December and those take a minimum of a year to repair. Factor in that Bachman is in his 30's and that the rehab may take a few more months and I think it's a safe bet to assume Bachman doesn't play again. If Bachman does return, I could see the Canucks moving him in a minor deal if another team goes through a goalie crunch like the Canucks did last season next season. Zane's a decent bet as a #3 goalie and if Markstrom or Demko go down with injury, I won't be surprised to see Zane get spot, callup duties. Also, this gives DiPetro and Keilly uninterrupted time in the minors. Probably won't see either of them up with the Canucks this season. I am just curious on who of DiPetro and/or Keilly begins in the ECHL... that'll be the question.

Was secretly hoping the Canucks would scoop up Brandon Pirri. He might have some defensive deficiencies but he can actually score goals which is something you can't say about everybody on this Canucks roster.

Aves are gonna make a run this year. Really loving all of their offseason moves. Sakic proving he's becoming one of the best GM's in hockey.

We don't have the cap space. We would have had the cap space had we not been hit by the 3m penalty with Luongo retiring and the 1m buyout of Ryan Spooner. That's 4m in dead capspace for the next 2 years. But I'd rather have open forward spots so that our young guys can actually compete for them instead of filling those spots with overpaid, over-the-hill vets.

Utica signing. Big guy. He had 50 points in 65 AHL games last season with the Stockton Heat. Could see a callup or two during the season.

Well, this goes to show you that most reports were way off with reporters throwing out 7 years at 8mill or so per year. The two sticking points to this deal, in my mind, are -- is this going to be a contract littered with signing bonuses?!? And is there a NMC anywhere in the deal. My hope is that there's an NTC but no NMC, especially at the Expansion draft. If this deal is an anchor by expansion, Myers could be a carrot that's dangled to protect a young player potentially. But 5 x 6 is liveable... it's not ideal but it's better than I expected.

Are the Flames going to the Bruins of the West?!?

It felt like he was always going to go to Nashville since the beginning of the year. AAV may be a tad high for my liking but that's going to be a good signing for Nashville for the next two years before it becomes an anchor.

Fun fact about Ethan Keppen's Flint FIrebirds... they're coached by Eric Wellwood, the younger brother of Canucks legend Kyle Wellwood.

I think Sautner breaks with the Canucks this season. I really like him as a cheap, bottom pairing guy. He does need to bring more offense but as a #7/#8 guy, I think he does the job. He's pretty sound defensively and he was one of the defensemen I wasn't worried about when he was playing last season. But I still think the sleeper player to make the camps out of camp is Brogan Rafferty. He's already 24, a right shot, and also very sound defensively. I think he'd slot in as the third pairing right shot and could move up depending on how the season goes.

Players can be hit with tampering... This happened just after the first James/Davis news tidbits hit.... https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.si.com/nba/2018/12/28/anti-tampering-memo-nba-lebron-james-anthony-davis And I don't see how it'll be that hard to not repeat. Sixers may be an issue but like Kawhi, the Bucks only have one superstar and his name is Giannis. . What the Raptors will have is the confidence of a championship, veteran leadership, a rapidly improving FVV and Pascal Siakam + a healthy OG. Kawhi returning also likely means Danny Green returns. A team that wasn't together last September will be together all season next year and could be lethal in the East. I think Kawhi's smartest move is to sign another 1 + 1. If the Raps fall apart next year, he leaves for LA but at least he gets to defend his title.

Durant should take the year off. Not sign a contract and rehab. He can sign a contract closer before the playoffs if his rehabbing stint goes well. But a year without a contract allows him to talk with free agents and other players without ever worrying about "tampering" rules since he wouldn't be with a team. It's a strategy Lebron should have used last season and it's something that's gotten Lebron in trouble last year when he was reaching out to marquee FAs to come join him and the Lakers. If not, I assume he's going to the Nets with Russell and Kyrie Irving. Kawhi returns to Toronto. I'm a Raptors fan, so I'm bias. But I think the money that's on the table, the way management has worked with him, being able to "hide" in Canada in one of the NBA's best run franchises, and the fact the Raptors could repeat next year are all wins. He won't make it past the Conference Finals if he signs with the Clippers and I think he knows that. Kyrie's going to the Nets. He's a NY boy and he's going home. Pretty obvious. If the Knicks didn't have the 2nd worst owner in the NBA, he'd be a Knick but the Nets are a good landing spot for him. DeMarcus Cousins probably ends up with the Knicks. They have the cap room to give him a fat contract. It'll be a mistake but mistakes are what the Knicks make every year. Klay stays in Golden State. Splash Brothers for life. Kemba replaces Kyrie in Boston. If not, Kemba may end up with the Knicks alongside Cousins. Not a great chance Kemba returns to Charlotte.

Folks I like: Ray Ferraro, Rick Dhaliwal, Jeff Paterson, Ian MacIntyre, Kevin Woodley, Jon Abbott, Jawn Jang, Auldy, Satiar Shah, Harman Dayal, Daniel Wagner (Pass it to Bulis is a great read still and fills a bit of a hole left by Botchford, who was my favorite Canucks media personality RIP Botch), Cory Hergott (his Comets work on CanucksArmy is A+ and he deserves more recognition, he goes by Comets Cory on twitter). The worst: JD Burke (He literally muttered in the lastest episode of his TSN podcast RinkWide how much he hates to "cover this team"), Price & Sekeres (the bitterness is hard to stomach), Brough & Halford (They can be enjoyable but they also get lost in the negativity), Tony Gallagher, Dave Pratt (oh boy were his takes bad)

This probably explains why Jack Rathbone didn't come to camp this year.

Yeah but he's never coming here for "short term". He wants 7x7. That's ridiculous. And Myers may be a huge dude but he doesn't use his size as much as you think he does... he's been sheltered from that by a guy like Dustin Byfuglien. And we've got a monster coming back in Tryamkin. Although the idea of Tryamkin and Myers does really excite me, there's gotta be a walkaway number.

DONT SIGN HIM. IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

With no defensemen picked this year, Rathbone suddenly becomes a very important prospect for the Canucks. I anticipate a big year at Harvard and the Canucks doing everything they can to get him to sign come seasons end. You can't help but feel that the Aiden McDonagh pick was a bit of a sweetner to get him to commit. (McDonagh and Rathbone are childhood pals)... Harvard guys notoriously now like to go the full 4 years and pick there spot (Vesey, Kerfoot, Fox, Kevin Hayes) have all done it. I feel like this guy is a sleeper Top 4 D-man in our system and he's going to be a factor when this team is ready to contend in 2-4 years.

Bold prediction: He'll crack the roster in the 2020-2021 season. One more year in Sweden and then he'll come over to Vancouver. I LOVE this pick. And this is a reason why the Canucks need more Second Round picks is because of guys like this. I feel like he's gonna be a "player" as Benning used to say about prospects back in the day.

Honestly, the Canucks haven't had a bad NCAA draft pick since Benning has been in charge. So I have faith in John Malone. Seems like a Judd Brackett pick to me. He put up good numbers for Youngstown and will probably have a big role on the Cornell team next year. I say he'll be in the NCAA for 3 years before we even consider signing him. On a side note, at Cornell next year, he'll be teammates with Andong Song who, back in 2015, was the first China born player to be picked in an NHL draft by the New York Islanders who still own his rights... though, I don't expect Andong Song to ever sign or play with the Islanders, at this point.