Quantum

I agree 100%. Gaudette's a gamer and is the perfect long term fit as the 3C for the Canucks going forward. His defensive game is miles ahead of guys like Goldobin and frankly, Gaunce, who should be nervous now that Gaudette is on the scene. He also set up several stellar plays that just didn't quite result in a goal in his short stint here this season too. I expect a summer of training + the experience from these games to catapult Gaudette into having a strong training camp and (hopefully) a very solid season next year. I'm excited!

I definitely think he's going to head to Utica next season. But I don't see a world where the Canucks sign him until after July 1st because of their current contract situation. They're close to 50 contracts and I think they need to get Cole Candella, Brett McKenzie, and (maybe?) Lukas Jasek under contract before June 1st or else they will lose those players rights. And since the Canucks drafted Brassard at last year's draft, they aren't obliged to sign him until June 1st 2019. However, since he was older when we drafted him, and he is AHL eligible in the Fall, my gut says he'll sign in the summer once guys like Anton Cederholm and MacKenze Stewart are finally off the books for the Canucks. But I'm with you, I want to see him signed and in the pros in the Fall. Just a matter of timing, methinks.

Yeah, it's not that surprising. All prospects of quality will have a chance to break into the Canucks lineup next year. It's pretty obvious that they're going the Devils/Aves route next year by going younger and giving prospects a chance to crack the lineup. That said, I don't think Lind will make it. A year or two in Utica will do him a lot of good. I expect guys like Michael Carcone and Zack MacEwen to make more of an impact in training camp then Lind (or Gadjovich), at this point.

Sounds like the injury is shutting him down. It's smart. I suspect he'll get a contract but that the Canucks will wait until the Summer to give him an ELC. It'll probably dictated by his injury status/how he does at the rookie camp. Canucks really aren't in a position to not give promising D-men a look. Rather give Brassard an ELC then not but, also, he does have another year until we lose his rights so, there's tons of time for the Canucks to make a decision. A little disappointed he's not getting an ATO, at the very least, but we'll see what happens next with Brassard.

Jasek is clearly playing for his ELC. If he can put up a few more solid games, I could see the Canucks signing him to an ELC by the second week of April. I really like him and I feel like Jasek having team consistency will only do him good. It has also been a few years since we drafted him so I could see Jasek making a push for the Canucks, not this coming training camp, but the following training camp (2019-2020 season), if he gets the ELC. That said, if I'm Brett McKenzie, I've got to be questioning whether or not I'm getting an ELC, now that Jasek kinda came out of nowhere to be back on the Canucks radar after a couple of mystery seasons worth of development.

I was thinking about Persson... he's a young d-man who just had a breakout season in the SHL. Should the Canucks give him a shot by signing him to an entry deal? Or is he a few years away from getting an NHL contract. Haven't seen much of him but was curious.

Why do people care about this? If he's great by then, and he's worth protecting, that's awesome. That means the Canucks are in a good position. It means he's a worthy contributor and that's a great thing. Same can be said about Dahlen. I'm not too worried about the Seattle Expansion. If we are good by then, that'll be fine. We can always trade picks/prospects to protect valuable guys. I'm sure there'll be guys that we can expose that won't hurt us long term. By the time the Expansion Draft happens, also, Louis Eriksson won't be on his NMC (it downgrades to a NTC) which means we won't be required to protect him. That and Brandon Sutter will be near the end of his deal so he won't be protected (if he is still with the team by then) and the Sedins will most likely retired (and, for some reason they aren't, they'll be on one years and not worth picking/protecting in an expansion draft). Also, I'm fairly certain Petersson won't be needed to be protected too since he'll be on the last year of his ELC. Soit's not a big deal, nothing to fret over. We can protect Gaudette if he's worth protecting by then. I'm just excited to see him make his debut tomorrow!

I bet Gaudette plays Tuesday with the Canucks.

I'll say that of the players you listed, Leipsic is likely a full time NHLer. He's been one this year and I suspect the management group will let him be one next year. The big question with Leipsic is whether or not he'll be an NHLer five years from now when the Canucks are contending again. That'll be the question. Jury is still out on Boucher and Motte. Though, of those two, I still have hope for Boucher to pull it together. Love Boucher's shot. That said, despite Palmu's height, I really do believe in this guy. Very happy we drafted him. He's proof that being small doesn't necessarily make you soft. Cause the dude is definitely not soft.

We have his rights until June 2019 because we drafted him out of the OHL. He is technically signed to play in Finland next year but I suspect his contract has an NHL out clause. Canucks can make a determination to sign him this offseason if they want to bring him over to Utica for this coming Fall. I suspect they likely will do that, bring him over. If they don't, I expect the Canucks to sign him in March or April of next year. They won't let his rights lapse.

You can sign both. We hold Brassard's rights until June 2019. So, in reality, the Canucks could do the following: Sign Stukel right now (occupying an immediate contract spot), sign Brassard to a PTO to join Utica with an entry level deal that kicks in July 1st 2018 that'll start in the 2018-2019 season. This way Canucks can keep both players and get them both to Utica. This is a likely course of action for either Candella or Stukel (but probably not both) and probably for Brassard too. It's what they're doing with Kole Lind too.

You've got to add Dahlen to the list of rookies who'll make it tough on Travis Green to send him to Utica in the Fall. From my count, there's a chance 5 rookies will force Green's hand and get in the lineup which sounds crazy -- BUT -- has happened before. If you want to look at turnarounds, look at the rosters Colorado and New Jersey are icing... so many young guys on both rosters, it's mind boggling, in a good way. Take New Jersey, for example, the oldest player on the roster is 34 year old Andy Greene -- and the rookies the team is icing include: Will Butcher (2017 Hobey Baker winner), Nico Hischier (1st overall pick 2017, I know, I know), and Jesper Bratt (2016 6th rounder). That doesn't include: 2nd year pros Miles Wood, Pavel Zacha, and 4th year pro Damon Severson. Then look at Colorado, who've made a remarkable turnaround, by going younger. The oldest player on the Avs is 31 year old Carl Soderberg. There rookies include: Samuel Girard (a steal in the Duchene trade), Tyson Jost (a guy I wish the Canucks picked over Juolevi), Mikko Rantanen (2nd year full time in the NHL but only 22), and Alex Kerfoot (a guy who would have been "buried" in Vancouver, apparently). Not to mention that they have MacKinnon and Landeskog leading the charge, making the Aves one of the more exciting teams compared to last year. And I think, when you look at how these teams have been built, the Canucks are next for this kind of "turnaround". With Petersson, Dahlen, Gaudette, Juolevi, and whoever the Canucks 1st round pick in 2018 all looking to make the roster, and make an impact, you can't help but feel like the Canucks are going to have to make room for these guys. With the recent track record of NCAA guys making the leap to the NHL, and Gaudette being a Hobey finalist (and the frontrunner for the trophy), it's going to be a tough sell to the fanbase about sending him down. Followed that by Petersson breaking decades old records in the SHL, Dahlen being the second leading point getter in the ALL, and Juolevi showing his prowess as a defenseman (plus the Canucks stagnant d-corps, now), it's hard to say which one would be sent down to Utica. (If I had to put money on it, I'd say Juolevi is the first to be sent down followed by Dahlen, but I dunno). Factor in having young leaders like Horvat and Boeser + young role players like Leipsic, Virtanen, and (maybe?) Baertschi + dark horse candidates like Lind, Gadjovich, and MacEwen also competing for roster spots and the team looks a lot better. Now, realistically, this could all be a disaster but if you count on having vets like Gagner, Sutter, Eriksson, and Archibald sprinkled throughout the lineup, it's not a bad place to be in... at least in the fall. The big Q comes about defense which is a whole other topic... Either way, I like what I've seen in Dahlen and think he can surprise us all this Fall.

I don't see why not, honestly. He's eligible and the Canucks don't have a ton of right handed d prospects. And with Cederholm and Stewart coming off the books + the trading of Holm and Subban for forwards, there are openings next year. He seems like more of a shoe in to get a deal then Candella, at this point. I'd rather take the risk on Brassard now, and hope he turns into something, instead of watching him go away for nothing. Even if he turns into an AHL d-man with call up potential, that'll be great for a 7th round pick. But something tells me, Brassard has more in the tank.

Gaudette, Donato, and Borgstrom are probably going to be the finalists with Gaudette winning. I have a hard time seeing Donato (despite going to the Olympics) beating Gaudette. Would be awesome to finally have a Hobey Baker prospect make the team. Besides Sikura, I'd love to see the Canucks make a run at Matthew Galajda. Canucks could use a third young goalie in the pipleline and with DiPetrio likely going back to Windsor for 1 last year, having Galajda man Utica as Demko becomes the Canucks backup would be awesome. I've said it before but I do believe the Canucks have found there 3rd line centre in Gaudette. He's got Kesler 2.0 written all over him and I don't mind that at all.

I wonder if his contract has an NHL out clause. We hold his rights until June 2019, so there isn't a rush to sign him. It's not like the Rodrigo Abols situation where people are confused about his prospect status with the Canucks. I hope he returns to NA next season but it'll depend on the influx of youngsters next season that'll determine if he stays in Finland or not, in my opinion.

I believe we'll go BPA with our 1st round pick but BPA will be determined by our draft position. If we get the #1 overall pick, we'll have Dahlin which will set up our defense for years to come. If we fall in the 2-4 range, I suspect we'll get a forward. And if we land at the 5-6 range, I won't be shocked if we get a defenseman and that defenseman will likely be Evan Bouchard or maybe Adam Boqvist. And like you said, I won't be surprised if either Baertschi or Granlund is shuffled out for some d-men prospects or picks. Could see Baertschi moved for like a 3rd and a 6th.

Only do it if the Sedins announce they retire before July 1st. We already have a bad contract in Erikkson, don't need a second one in Kane. Hometown boy or not, he's too old for what the team is doing now. Go younger. It sucks Kane's time isn't right but I just don't see a fit going forward.

This is a good chance for Boucher to prove his worth. He and Motte appear to be fighting for the same spot. Boucher has more offensive upside. Excited to see what he does. Was kind of hoping Zack MacEwen would get the call but a man can dream. I suspect MacEwen is next on the list or... Carcone. (Carcone's feistyness is needed and would compliment Lepisic well in the lineup). Just glad Megna and Chaput weren't recalled.

He will want to play NHL games to burn a year off his contract (standard NCAA fare) and then he will be off for the summer. (He had to be papered at the deadline to get into games in the AHL playoffs by the NHL deadline). The only scenario he plays in the AHL this year is if he signs an AHL PTO deal and agrees to an NHL deal that kicks in this summer. However, that is unlikely. As NCAA players go, I don't envision Gaudette spending much time in Utica. NCAA guys spend more time in the gym so they show up stronger then CHL prospects, that's why guys like Kerfoot, Butcher, Stecher, Boeser, and Hutton all made the leap without much AHL time... If at all. (Jost is an exception because he jumped to the NHL after only a year and most NCAA make the jump after 2-4 years, big difference.) Only reason Gaudette ends up in the AHL is if he legitimately doesn't make the team but I'm hard pressed to believe he won't. Gaudette should add energy to the Canucks in the last few games and that's exciting.

Despite going 42 games without a single point, Gunnarsson currently sports only a -1 +/- rating, as of the day of this post. That's incredibly impressive. Shows how much of a defensive specialist he truly is. I was hoping he'd make the jump to Utica next year but the year after isn't bad either. I bet he has an NHL out clause in his contract for the 2019-2020 season.