Quantum

Could be a blessing in disguise. Frees up a contract spot so if the Canucks sign the right College UFA and Linus becomes a player, it could be a win long term. This has the potential to be a Granlund for Shinkaruk deal, honestly. Or it could go wrong... Hard to say.

The truth with Gaunce is that he's probably not long for this organization after this year. There's a couple of things that he's gotta overcome at the end of this season that I don't think he will. 1) Gaunce was a Gillis pick. Not a Benning pick. So Benning doesn't have much of a "connection" to Gaunce, in terms of feeling a need to keep him. Much like Jensen, moving on from Gaunce won't be a hard decision for Benning. Evan McEneny is in a similar boat. 2) Schaller. If Schaller wasn't signed, Gaunce would have his spot right now. If the Canucks can't move Schaller by the deadline, chances are Gaunce will stay in the AHL for the rest of the year. Schaller doesn't appear to have any value right now, so I don't see him being dealt unfortunately. 3) Gaunce has played 116 NHL games yet only has 15 points to show for it. I think there's a legit argument to be made that Gaunce got rushed into the NHL in the 2016-2017 season. But I don't think that stat line makes upper management feel much better. Sure, Gaunce appears to have put it together at the AHL finally this year scoring at a nearly a PPG pace but he's also turning 25 in a month. He's getting on the old side for being a prospect. That said... I won't be surprised if Gaunce either gets added as a piece to a deal on TDL or gets called up if a guy like Granlund/Schaller get moved. I also expect the Canucks won't re-sign him this summer unless he gets called up and then goes on a career making run with the Canucks.

Yeah, just saw that on twitter. I liked what MacMaster brought in the preseason but it's pretty clear that he wasn't going to get an ELC from the Canucks. Just hasn't kept the momentum of his strong preseason and rookie tournament into a meaningful AHL campaign. Plus, the Canucks are a little overwrought with forward depth right now. One less forward body for guys like Jasek, Gadjovich, Lind, and Dahlen to contend with. This could signal that a d-man on the Canucks NHL roster may be on the move and that Utica will be losing a guy to the Canucks soon. With Chatfield and Sautner returning, and the arrival of Luke Schenn, one would think the Comets wouldn't need another d-man right now but that could change if one (or more) of Gudbranson/Edler/Tanev/Pouliot is on the move. Pouliot has been horrible for awhile now. Maybe the Canucks are gearing up for the possibility of placing him on waivers and losing him? I feel like guys like Chatfield, Brisebois, Sautner, and McEneny deserve looks over him and would probably be better than Pouliot at this point. I mean, in the Aves game yesterday Pouliot nearly took out Boeser in a particularly dumb moment. Can't have your own d-man accidentally colliding with one of your star player's at any point in a game... accidentally or not. Interested to see what LeBlanc can bring to the table.

If Tyler keeps the pace he's going, he'll probably sign with the Canucks after next season. NHL C depth is crucial. Having him as another option (on top of Horvat/Pettersson/Gaudette/Beagle) will only help this team. Really rooting for this kid and so glad we picked him over Jake Wise. I hope he's a steal, that would be nice.

Juolevi is out for the season. But that's not the worst thing. His recovery is only six months (so that takes him to mid May since his surgery happened in Mid December). That gives him a full offseason to train which will only benefit him. This season his offseason training was interrupted by back surgery. I'm sure by the Fall Juolevi will come in as fit as ever and ready to challenge for a roster spot. But in the meantime, I'd love to see McEneny and Sautner get legit NHL shots. They've been great soldiers for Utica and long term projects as prospects for the Canucks. Both have shown well in the limited NHL ice time they've had. Sautner was particuarly impressive late last season. I've said it for awhile but I'd love to see both those guys ride out the rest of the season once an Edler and/or Pouliot and/or MDZ gets dealt at or neat the deadline just to see if those two (McEneny and Sautner) can find themselves fitting into the long term plans for the Canucks d-core as bottom pairing guys.

That amount of ice time probably explains why his stat line has gone ice cold. I knew something was up considering his hot start. Does anyone know what his KHL deal is like? Could he be a guy that pulls a Jasek, signs a PTO with Utica, does well with meaningful minutes, and gets an ELC next year? Or is he stuck in the KHL for another year? If he's back there another year, hopefully he'll earn more ice time and improve his stat line. He seems buried right now on that team. Still like him as a stealth prospect. Theres something there with him though I worry his big MHL numbers are actually an equivalent to a kid who gets 100+ QMJHL points but can't translate it further... I know the MHL hasn't been around for long but I wonder if it's a comparable league to the Q too. Lots to think about.

MacEwen will probably be on the NHL roster by the time Seattle enters the league. In fact, I expect MacEwen will probably play a few NHL games (5-10) by the end of the season. He's gotta be the next call up candidate.

The problem, honestly, wasn't that this was a coaching issue -- it's that we had too many young Rookies coming to Utica at the same time. Normally, you want to stagger them out, have a few come in at one time. But instead, we had 6 rookies show up all looking for playing time in the AHL after either dominating or showing well in there other leagues. The math says this was inevitable. Those six players, btw, are Adam Gaudette, Jonathan Dahlen, Lukas Jasek, Kole Lind, Jonah Gadjovich, and Petrus Palmu. Luckily for the Canucks (and Utica), Gaudette is both a C and has played most of the season in Vancouver, so having to juggle him as an AHL rookie, was something the Comets didn't have to worry about as much (except early in the season), though he'll be back once Sutter returns from injury. Gaudette is a step above the others, a C, and is slightly older. But yeah, once you do the math, it's VERY hard to justify icing 5-6 AHL rookies a game in a market (Utica) that expects to win + trying to keep the "winning culture" mantra alive at the AHL level + deal with the overflow of NHL/AHL tweener (Gaunce, Archie, Boucher, Kero) vets that scatter the upper ranks of Utica. Obviously, injuries have opened the door for guys like Jasek and Dahlen to secure more permanent spots in the lineup but that still leaves out Gadjovich/Lind/Palmu. Palmu playing another year in Finland is good. That's another year of pro experience. That's another year to play against men and play meaningful minutes. Dahlen needed an extra year in the ALL. Palmu taking an extra year is fine. It's good for his development and NOT an indictment on Cull or the Canucks. Palmu can always come back at the tail end of the season too once the Liiga has wrapped and if the Comets are making a run at the AHL playoffs. My worry is what to do with Lind/Gadjovich. The ECHL seems like a real option for both of them. And honestly, I'm surprised they haven't gone to Kalamazoo yet. Some very good NHLers have played in the ECHL. It's not a slight on there skill, it's just that they need to play big minutes. If they can't do it in the AHL, might as well do it in the ECHL. Teams like Toronto and Tampa Bay have prospects playing in the ECHL. It's not unheard of. They are still solid prospects with bright futures, but they do need to play. I expect to see Palmu back with the Comets next season, for sure. This is a small detour. I'm not worried. He's a 6th rounder, after all.

Doubt it affects the Brassard signing. Honestly, you can't have too many defensive prospects and both Brassard and Eliot are quality prospects. Brassard will likely sign in the spring. My gut says sometime between March and May. And Brassard (along with Eliot) will get ATO's and play some late season games with Utica this season too. Hopefully Eliot is another McEneny/Sautner/Chatfield like gem and builds some buzz going forward... since I expect one of McEneny or Sautner too get the callup (and stay) once Del Zotto/Edler get dealt for sure.

I think his maximum potential is a Top 9 guy. A guy who can slot in your Top 6 when your lineup gets thinned out but is best served as a 3rd line winger. He's "Canucks comparable" is Jannik Hansen. Jasek plays with a lot of energy and is tenacious and though his style isn't an exact copy of Hansen... if Jasek can enter this young Canucks lineup as the "new age Hansen" -- that would be a helluva win for a 6th round pick. This kid, much like Josh Leivo, sat a lot of games over the last two years. He came to Utica this past spring as a PTO, went on one helluva run, and earned a not so guaranteed ELC.... He's been playing well since. JD Burke was on TSN 1040 today and said that Cull has actually played Jasek as a C in the past few games. Cull seems to be really warming up to this kid and with Carcone having been shipped off, and Palmu heading back to Finland, I expect Jasek to get a lot more playing time this season in Utica. I also believe that after Zach MacEwen gets a look from the Canucks, it'll be Jasek who gets a look, and then Dahlen. I really like Jasek and definitely see a future for him as a role player for the Canucks in the years to come.

Yeah. It basically shows how wide the door is for the amount of quality mid tier NHL guys analysts believe the Canucks will have in the near future. It's a good thing.

There's always the potential that we make some deals to "protect" guys who are unprotected. Depending on where we are at the time. Hopefully we're a playoff team by then. Some VERY early mock expansion drafts have had the Canucks losing (among others) Sven Baertschi, Troy Stecher, Jonathan Dahlen, and ZACK MACEWEN. The door is still very wide open and it's honestly too early to tell who'll still be here vs. who'll be available. A lot of other teams will be losing some good mid-tier guys too. That means people expect Dahlen and MacEwen too be NHLers which is a good sign for the future. The big throughline in all the expansion draft mock drafts seems to be that the Capitals are bound to lose Braden Holtby which would be a big loss for that team although most people believe Samsonov for the Caps should be NHL ready as a starter by then. It's still early but honestly, I hope we're in a position where we lose a quality guy because that means we're a contender. It'll just be up to Benning to make a quality move to protect a few extra guys.

If there was a bigger deal, I'm sure that would have been executed on the day of the Leivo trade with Leivo/Carcone being pieces that were moved alongside others. It does show that Benning is working the phones. Word is that he's very active on the phones. Trades are tough. This deal fell into the Canucks lap because 1) It was either trade him or waive him from TO's perspective and 2) The Canucks clearly wanted Leivo and were willing to make a move as opposed to seeing if he'd get to them on waivers (which he wouldn't because of LA who claimed Leipsic and Scherbak and probably would've claimed Leivo too). I still think this is a good sign the Canucks and Leafs COULD make a deal near the TDL. We do have defensive pieces that the Leafs may covet (Gudbranson, Edler) so a deal isn''t an impossible thing to think about. Also, as a side note, I don't believe the Canucks will trade Tanev because they want him to play with Hughes next season and see if there's something there.

He'll need waivers if he spends 30 days with the Canucks or if he plays 10 NHL games. Whatever comes first. I wish Evan was in Vancouver right now. God knows he's an upgrade on Del Zotto and Pouliot... and perhaps... Biega?

I definitely think that's what happened. Reports from Pierre Lebrun of TSN say that the Leivo deal was made a few hours before its announcement. My gut says that they probably talked Leipsic and when he was claimed by LA, the Maple Leafs identified Carcone as a secondary option and Benning agreed to move him. Either way, I like Leivo and thought he played well last night. All you can ask for a guy like him who has dealt with a lot of adversity in the last two years as a Maple Leaf -- needlessly so, I may add.

Honestly, I'm trying to make sense as to why Carcone was the guy in the Leivo deal and not somebody else. I am hoping that Jasek can return to his ways that he demonstrated at the end of last season. And I'm hoping Palmu can show why he won the Rookie of the Year award in the Finnish league last year too by getting a bigger opportunity. That said, I was listening to the Steve Dangle Podcast and apparently Carcone had moved himself up into the second spot of the callup list (I'm assuming Zack MacEwen is before him). There's a good chance only 1 of the 3 become NHLers but they're all young and have time to develop. It's just a good opportunity for them now considering how thin Utcia's depth is right now.

You don't need to protect NTC's, you only have to protect NMC's. It's too early too tell with this team but the only players worth saving from this roster would be Horvat, Pettersson, and Boeser for sure. Maybe Stecher and/or Hutton depending on if they're still here by then. Baertschi too if he recovers from his concussion. Goalie situation could be interesting if we sign Bobrovsky as rumored. Would either mean we lose Bobrovsky ala Fleury with Vegas (assuming Demko is the backup) or we lose Demko (assuming we expose him and don't send a pick to Seattle to protect him). A little too early but best hope would be Seattle claims either Beagle or Eriksson from us.

It should be fine. Carcone's departure will open the door for Petrus Palmu, Lukas Jasek, and Jonah Gadjovich -- all of whom have been carouselling with being healthy scratched because of the glut of "marginal" tweener NHL/AHL bodies in the lineup. Of the three, I expect Jasek will probably seize the opportunity but hopefully a bigger role for either Palmu or Gadjovich will get them out of there first half slump and awaken them as AHL players. A strong second half from those three will only bode well for them going forward. All three of Palmu, Jasek, and Gadjovich have higher NHL upside than Carcone anyways -- and I was/still am a big Carcone fan.

Yeah, I think you're right. He'll probably sign in March 2020 and play a game or two. That'll be 3 years from when he was drafted. And then in the Fall of 2020, he'll probably make a run at a defense spot or get big minutes in Utica. Given how well College Defensemen have blossomed in the Canucks system, I wouldn't be shocked if he makes the jump from NCAA to NHL with us... we've done it before with Hutton, Stecher, Hughes (most likely)... so there is that. Even Tanev got into 29 games straight from the NCAA in the 2010-2011 season (when we made our cup run). I think the extra workout time really benefits defensemen in the NCAA system. But yeah, he's definitely a player and somebody who could be solid contributor in a few years time for the Canucks.

I'm still in awe by how, despite only scoring 1 goal (and have 0 assists in his ENTIRE 2 AND A HALF SHL CAREER), he's still got a positive +/-. This season he scored 1 goal but sits at a 0 for his +/-. The last two years, he's been at +2/+2 respectively (despite not contributing anything offensively). Given the state of our defense, and him being 21 already (I believe he was an overager when drafted) I have to wonder if he's a sleeper candidate to get signed/make a case for himself next Fall at Training Camp. Something says his defensive prowess is exactly what the Canucks need. A total shutdown guy.