RustyShackleford

Yes I also think the Canucks will be choosing Nylander if no1 from the top 5 falls. Nylander dominated his own age group at the u18 like no1 else did this year and showed that he has elite offensive game. Ritchie and Virtanen would be good project players and would be good pick if canucks could get the 10th pick but either of them just dont have the elite skill Nylander or even Ehlers have.

Their is still the AHL Final being played if you need your hockey fix but i know its still not the same quality as a NHL game by a long shot but at least its something

Haters gonna hate. Horvat>Nishkushin IMO. Nylander might be as good as any player in the draft and might even be the best. From what Ive seen Nylander will be a 1C and having Horvat the 2C in 4-5 years time the canucks are going to be a really strong team up the middle. BTW I have way more faith in Lack then I ever had in CS he just seemed way overrated because Luongo was taking alot of the blame for the Canucks failures.

If the canucks hire Willie Desjardins for coach and we draft Ritchie WD would go from coaching the older Gaunce and Ritchie to possibly coaching their younger brothers with the canucks in a few years time. Just thought that was something a lil intresting about the possible WD hire and if we choose Ritchie that he would be going from one Gaunce/Ritchie duo to another

IF the canucks were to draft Nylander where would be the best place for him to play next season for his development? Not quite sure but can Nylander play in the AHL next season how he is being drafted out of a Europe pro league? If so would you rather have him play another year SHL or would you rather AHL or CHL to help him get better used to the NA ice surface game style again barring he doesnt make the NHL roster.

Someone who I want the the canucks to draft in one of the later rounds is Clark Bishop. He played in on the u18 team and was the coach favorite player. He might not be more than a 3rd or 4th liner in the NHL level but he reminds me of a Jannik Hansen type player. He also at the scouting combine this week I think.

I know this coach might have close to a 0% chance to be the canucks head coach but I wanted to see what your thoughts would be if the canucks signed someone that hasnt been mentioned once and I am kinda throwing this name out there from out of no where but what how would you feel about Keith McCambridge HC of the St. Johns IceCaps the Jets AHL team as HC? I live in St.Johns and have watched him from the begining of the team and I must say that what he does for that team is downright remarkable. 2 CF in 3 season so far and a good chance of making the finals this year with a much weaker roster then their oppenents years after year thanks to Jets call ups due to injuries and weak drafting (mostly because of the Thrashers). Maybe McCambridges age might keep him from getting a NHL HC anytime soon because he is a really young HC but he does have some ties to the canucks organization and some players because he was a asistant coach with the Manitoba Moose for a few seasons. McCambridge also had some successfull years coaching Alaska in the ECHL as well. Just some food for thought because I dont believe he is on the canucks HC search radar at all but he is deserving to be

I agree Gaunce has improved his skating but I think the move from Belleville which was international size ice to Eries NA size ice helped show that BG skating is better then what it seemed like it was on the big ice. I have been following Gaunces play and I always noticed a big difference is his play on Bellevilles big ice where he always tryed to stay back in good D position compaired to on the road were he could have more free range on the normal NA size ice.

Yes you are right that Bo was the right pick. After Bo was drafted their was a huge drop off in centers available and the next one drafted wasnt until the mid 20s in Gauthier which is a massive amount of drop off in talent. I think that pick was looking at supply (only project centers were available after Bo) and demand (every team is looking for a C like Horvat to add to their prospect pool). Here are a few things people need to take into consideration for passing over Nichushkin: For starters the canucks were in salary cap problems and could only afford depth signings to go with signing our RFAs. Nichushkin was the 10 pick yet he was signed for the same money as the top 4 picks were and with the cap trouble the canucks were in due to the cap decrease it would of ment he wouldve had to start off in the AHL and as it had been stated that would mean he was bolting back to the KHL. Also maybe this was not a concern but we have 0 Russians involved in managment or playing in any level of the organization and that might had been a problem due to the language barrier and culture/lifestyle change coming from Russia. At least Dallas had Gonchar to take Nichuskin under his wing to help him adapt to NA and another language.

I think Jared McCann and Perlini are better than a few players listed above and I think both players are being underrated big time by alot of fans. I have McCann ahead of Fabbri as of right now because I think he will be the better of the 2 in the NHL. Perlini is also a really big skilled winger who should be viewed in the same tier as Virtanen/Ritchie because of his size/skill and that he put the same points up as the them in less games I think he should be getting alot more talk then hes been getting.

I agree HS has the higher offensive upside as he should be a 1C or 2C with PP time aswell for PHX in the future and BG will most likely be a shutdown/PK 2C or 3C for the canucks so their should be more of a chance HS offensive numbers could be better. Both of their skating appear to be close to even but I saw more of Gaunce try to sit back and let his skilled wingers be more agressive and BG would focus on staying in good position but if he is given the chance to focus more on scoring instead of defence I think BG will show just how good of a skater he actually is. Maybe if BG is moved to LW he can showcase his skating more .

I have watched both players play throughout both of their entire junior careers and I think the right pick was made. Gaunce>Samuelson imo. If the 2 of them matched up head to head for a entire playoff series I got BG as the better player because of better D awareness and at faceoffs but I have both even offensivly and skating so Gaunce is the better player in more areas imo.

Hartnell is a good comparable for Ritchie but I see him more like a Burns or Kunitz type player

Yes I agree Mathias is a better fit at LW. Here is what I think the canucks could dress that would be really good 4 lines if it looks like this next season: Sedins-Jensen Burrows-Kesler-Santorelli Mathias-Horvat-Kassian Higgins-Richardson-Hansen

Anyone think IF the canucks drafted Ritchie that he might make the NHL club next season in a 4th line role like Tom Wilson did for Washington or would that be warmfull for his development and he would be better off in the OHL for one more season?

Yes for sure Bo is a good passer as well but Cassels is just more of a play maker type player and Bo is more a complete all around player was what I was trying to say. One area I noticed a big difference in playmaking vision was on the PP. A really great passers skill should be more evident when playing with more open ice and extra passing lanes but I seen to many times Bo turn over the puck or just pass it out of the o-zone trying to get the puck to the point to say he is as good of a playmaker as Cole I just cant.

Bo might be the best all around of the 3 but he is not anywhere close to being as good as cassels at passing the puck. I have watched nearly all of London and Oshawa games this year and Cassels is without a doubt the better passer of the 2.

Cassels is the best passer of the 3. While Gaunce and Horvat is a coin flip

Haters are going to hate regardless of the facts presented to them. Anyone with any knowledge would know that Van will not waste the 6 pick on any of these soft euro skill players when its 100% clear at least to me and all the other posters with any common sense is that its either going to be Ritchie or Virtanen if no1 drops down out of the top 5.

Im really glad someone else noticed this. I watched every game that playoff series and he played the same as tonight every other game. Gaunce was weak on the puck and lost touch with the way he can play. Maybe Guelph are really just too good and im not giving them enough credit but Gaunce's play was hard to watch at times and it really raises some questions of what BG is going to be down the line because he shouldve/couldve had a positive impact that series instead of not showing up when he was needed most.

The thing about Ritchie that is a big red flag for me is his weight issue. Yes he is 6.3 but he is almost pushing 240 at 18 and like most of us older posters know is that you dont lose weight as you get older but you actually gain weight. With Ritchie having lots of free time between now and the combine it should give him a chance to turn that fat to muscle and trim off a few pounds but if he shows up with that double chin of his once again I would expect Vancouver scouts to notice and take a pass on him.

First you have Virtanan as your top choice now you dont see him worthy of the pick at all. So what changed your mind about Virtanen so much?

LOL you might want to read the 1st page of this thread where you yourself said you had Virtanen as your Canucks pick so maybe you shouldnt be knocking people for low IQ.

Just a heads up to those who want to watch Canada u-18 team vs Russia it is on early tomorrow morning live on TSN. It will be a good chance to watch Virtanen,Perlini,Fleury and many others aswell. Someone I think will suprise alot of you is D man Hayden Fleury. He is a big body at 6.3 and he plays a really solid 2 way game. With the Canucks not having a young future LHD I see Fleury as the safest and best pick at 6 besides if one of the big 5 are passed over. How many times do you hear that the only way to get these top young Dmen is by drafting them and this is a need that will have to be adressed sooner then later anyways so why not now when it should be the only time we should be picking in the top 10 for who knows how long. Like just about all of you have said that anyone outside the big 5 are looking to be maybe 2+ years away from playing NHL hockey so why not get our young future top-4 LHD who can play with our RHD Tanev/Corrado in a few seasons. If the Canucks wait until next year and starting picking in the 20s again the wait for a dman picked then might be around a 5 year wait. Fill the void in our Dmen prospect pool instead of just adding another player to the log jam at wing+center.