[Articles] Canucks Day on NHL.com

[steviewonder20]

I can't really see Benning trading two roster players at deadline for picks/prospects. Maybe one, but not two. Unless the Canucks are dead in the water, bottom 5 team, come deadline day. But if there is any chance at playoffs Benning likely isn't selling both Vrbata and Hamhuis, I'd even go as far to say he may not even move one of them.

Unfortunately, I think you are correct. If one or both of them ARE moved, I also fear an underwhelming return (e.g. second-rounders).

[Dekey Pete]

Teams better suited for the playoffs????

Why because they have more size too bad they still have zero scoring,hey wait hasn't that been the real issue year after year.

Not to mention you have to be good enough to make the playoffs and this club of 3rd/4th liners and a d that doesn't check that can't score isn't even close to good enough. The only thing benning has made this team competative for is a great draft pick.

What are you on? Canucks were 8th in scoring last year in the regular season. Although they had a short playoffs they were right in the middle of the pack for goals for per game during that time.

Canucks problem last year was preventing goals, and meltdowns. Not sure why I'm even bothering since I'm pretty sure this was a straight troll post.

[J-Dizzle]

Teams better suited for the playoffs????

Why because they have more size too bad they still have zero scoring,hey wait hasn't that been the real issue year after year.

Not to mention you have to be good enough to make the playoffs and this club of 3rd/4th liners and a d that doesn't check that can't score isn't even close to good enough. The only thing benning has made this team competative for is a great draft pick.

Rofl

[We Are All Cynics]

Not worried about the future because once Vrbata and Hamhuis get traded for two 1sts and 2 players/prospects/picks the upside of the team practically doubles within one trade deadline day. (4 1st rounders in the next two years and two 2nd/3rd round calibre assets along with original draft picks)

Add that to Horvat, Sutter, Virtanen, McCann, Cassels, Boeser, Demko and Markstrom while taking chances on Baertschi, Vey, Kenins, Corrado, Shinkaruk, Gaunce, etc and the future is getting brighter in a hurry.

It's a fast moving NHL and a team can go from zero to hero in a flash.

Two 1sts!?? Have you seen what Benning's been getting back for players. We'd be lucky to get a 2nd in a deal for both with Benning!

[UFCanuck]

Two 1sts!?? Have you seen what Benning's been getting back for players. We'd be lucky to get a 2nd in a deal for both with Benning!

Lack and Bieksa weren't exactly hot commodities to be fair.

Vrbata and Hamhuis are a hot commodity and will garner a good return.

[DownUndaCanuck]

Defence is by far our biggest question mark and really should be highlighted. We have an average top pairing in Edler-Tanev, and Hamhuis is still a top-50 NHL defenceman, but after that we're very thin. Weber, a 7th defenceman on most teams, is going to be spending time in our top-4 with Hamhuis. Barktowski, a former 5th-6th defenceman, will be fighting Weber for top-4 time. Sbisa, a former 7th defenceman in Anaheim is going to be our 5th defenceman, and Frank Corrado, a former VERY late round pick, is going to be forced to play as our 6th or 7th defenceman.

If we have one injury, Corrado will play in our top-6. If we have 2 injuries at a time, who will we call up? Biega? Pedan? These AHL defencemen are average at the AHL at best. God forbin we have (a very possible) 3 defensive injuries at once.

We traded away Bieksa and replaced him with Barktowski which I believe was an even trade-off, for a defence that needed one or two extra top-4 defencemen. Instead we sat pat and compared to the stacked defences in the West, we are very thin and nobody is doing anything to help.

[puckdontlie]

Two 1sts!?? Have you seen what Benning's been getting back for players. We'd be lucky to get a 2nd in a deal for both with Benning!

Yandle went for 1st, 2nd, and quality prospect

Coburn went for a 1st and 3rd

Those two guys weren't expiring contracts like Hamhuis will be but Sekera who was went for a 1st and a 2nd Rd drafted prospect

Hamhuis may be one of the best D on the market at next year's deadline. It was a seller's market last year and I expect it to be a seller's market again

Vermette went for a 1st and decent prospect. Vrbata was an all star last year so I expect he would get a good return unless his game falls off the rails this year.

[cbdoubleu]

^ Gaunce/Jensen not mentioned in those articles....passed over in prospect depth chart?

Also, glaring lack of quality defense prospects is a big concern long term for the organization imo.

The prospects article seems to focus on kids in the system who are about to turn pro, not guys already in to their pro career in the AHL. That said, Benning nor Travis Green see Jensen in the mix as a high-end prospect.

The article went on to say they [the Canucks] now believe if Jensen makes the NHL it will be as a dependable 2-way forward, much like Jannik Hansen, but with a better skillset. Something I don't think Jensen has come to terms with.

http://onecanuck.com/2015/05/22/prospect-update-the-woes-of-nick-jensen/

[two drink minimum]

I cringe a little every time I hear Bo will be the Canucks 3rd line center. Sutter is just not cut out to play 2nd line center. Bo showed he could handle just about any situation the NHL offered him. He will be the #2 center this year before December rolls around. I have no doubt of that

[DeNiro]

I cringe a little every time I hear Bo will be the Canucks 3rd line center. Sutter is just not cut out to play 2nd line center. Bo showed he could handle just about any situation the NHL offered him. He will be the #2 center this year before December rolls around. I have no doubt of that

If Horvat outplays Sutter he'll get more minutes, if he doesn't he won't.

I don't know why people worry so much about who will be on the 2nd and 3rd lines. If you watched at all last season, you would see that sometimes the fourth line was essentially the 2nd line based on ice time.

Every night should have different lines stepping up and earning more ice time. That's how you roll four lines.

[The Weasel]

I cringe a little every time I hear Bo will be the Canucks 3rd line center. Sutter is just not cut out to play 2nd line center. Bo showed he could handle just about any situation the NHL offered him. He will be the #2 center this year before December rolls around. I have no doubt of that

Henrik will get injured and Bo will end up being our #1 centre by the end of the season.

[DeNiro]

It seems to me like he can't analyze the team one way or the other. He says that the team has alot of question marks, but doesn't think we improved.

If every one of those question marks ends up being a negative we definitely won't have improved and are unlikely to make the playoffs.

If the majority of those question marks are a positive, then we have a shot at making the playoffs and maybe even making some noise.

The questions:

Can Miller bounce back strong and play a full season?

Can Markstrom prove that he's ready to be an NHLer and be a strong backup option?

Can the Sedins keep their scoring up and be point per game or close to players?

Can one or two of the rookies step up and replace some of the offense we lost?

Can Sutter bolster the second line and provide enough offense to replace Bonino?

Can Vrbata have another 25-30 goal season?

Can Horvat elevate his game to another level and provide us with 3 strong centers down the middle?

Can Dorsett, Prust, and Hansen/Kenins/Virtanen finally provide us with a tough consistent fourth line?

Can the D overcome the loss of Bieksa by committee with Corrado, Bartowski, and Sbisa elevating their games?

Alot of questions that will start to be answered in the next couple months. I'm excited to see what's to come.

[I.Am.Ironman]

It seems to me like he can't analyze the team one way or the other. He says that the team has alot of question marks, but doesn't think we improved.

If every one of those question marks ends up being a negative we definitely won't have improved and are unlikely to make the playoffs.

If the majority of those question marks are a positive, then we have a shot at making the playoffs and maybe even making some noise.

The questions:

Can Miller bounce back strong and play a full season?

Can Markstrom prove that he's ready to be an NHLer and be a strong backup option?

Can the Sedins keep their scoring up and be point per game or close to players?

Can one or two of the rookies step up and replace some of the offense we lost?

Can Sutter bolster the second line and provide enough offense to replace Bonino?

Can Vrbata have another 25-30 goal season?

Can Horvat elevate his game to another level and provide us with 3 strong centers down the middle?

Can Dorsett, Prust, and Hansen/Kenins/Virtanen finally provide us with a tough consistent fourth line?

Can the D overcome the loss of Bieksa by committee with Corrado, Bartowski, and Sbisa elevating their games?

Alot of questions that will start to be answered in the next couple months. I'm excited to see what's to come.

My feelings towards the questions...

Can Miller bounce back strong and play a full season? I am hopeful, but don't expect him to.

Can Markstrom prove that he's ready to be an NHLer and be a strong backup option? Hopeful.

Can the Sedins keep their scoring up and be point per game or close to players? Confident they will be in the same range

Can one or two of the rookies step up and replace some of the offense we lost? Cautiously optimistic/hopeful.

Can Sutter bolster the second line and provide enough offense to replace Bonino? Confident this will happen. I believe he is a better overall player than Bonino

Can Vrbata have another 25-30 goal season? Optimistic Vrbata can do this, may be closer to 25 than 30

Can Horvat elevate his game to another level and provide us with 3 strong centers down the middle? Confident that Horvat will improve on his performance last year

Can Dorsett, Prust, and Hansen/Kenins/Virtanen finally provide us with a tough consistent fourth line? Not sure how the line combos will work but I am confident we will have an effective 3rd/4th line combo

Can the D overcome the loss of Bieksa by committee with Corrado, Bartowski, and Sbisa elevating their games? Hopeful. This is the big "?" heading into the season and will pretty much dictate how our season unfolds imo.

[two drink minimum]

If Horvat outplays Sutter he'll get more minutes, if he doesn't he won't.

I don't know why people worry so much about who will be on the 2nd and 3rd lines. If you watched at all last season, you would see that sometimes the fourth line was essentially the 2nd line based on ice time.

Every night should have different lines stepping up and earning more ice time. That's how you roll four lines.

I would think Bo should easily outplay Sutter unless I'm under estimating Sutters skill set. From what I saw of Bo in the playoffs I have to believe he's the Canucks second best center at the moment

[DeNiro]

I would think Bo should easily outplay Sutter unless I'm under estimating Sutters skill set. From what I saw of Bo in the playoffs I have to believe he's the Canucks second best center at the moment

Not enough of a sample size to be proclaiming him anything yet.

There was a time when people were calling for Hodgson to be our second line center ahead of Kesler.

Sutter will be the second line center until Horvat earns it.

[cbdoubleu]

Can the D overcome the loss of Bieksa by committee with Corrado, Bartowski, and Sbisa elevating their games?

D depth in general is a huge question. There was a point last season where we were without Hamhuis and Bieksa, and the guys meant to fill in for them, Stanton and Corrado, were also injuried. Clendening and Biega actually filled in real nice during a very critcal stretch of games and we never really missed a beat.

I actually like our D in the system we play. They're not going to put up numbers like the Flames, but we're solid, especially the top 4. But we're probably going to need 9 or 10 defensemen again this season and we just seem thinner than we did last year.

[DeNiro]

D depth in general is a huge question. There was a point last season where we were without Hamhuis and Bieksa, and the guys meant to fill in for them, Stanton and Corrado, were also injuried. Clendening and Biega actually filled in real nice during a very critcal stretch of games and we never really missed a beat.

I actually like our D in the system we play. They're not going to put up numbers like the Flames, but we're solid, especially the top 4. But we're probably going to need 9 or 10 defensemen again this season and we just seem thinner than we did last year.

Based on who we have the coaches get them to play a simple game. They're not going to do anything flashy, it's all about playing an efficient game.

It also relies on the forwards coming back and helping out, so any laziness on the part of the forwards typically costs us when the opposition pressures our D. That's why we can't have guys like Vey cruising back on the backcheck and not taking his man. That is one part of his game he really needs to improve.

[KeslerPlaysLikeACanadian]

I can't really see Benning trading two roster players at deadline for picks/prospects. Maybe one, but not two. Unless the Canucks are dead in the water, bottom 5 team, come deadline day. But if there is any chance at playoffs Benning likely isn't selling both Vrbata and Hamhuis, I'd even go as far to say he may not even move one of them.

What I can see is this board going ape$hit if Benning gets less than the price that we come to a consensus on and repeated a million times.

[KeslerPlaysLikeACanadian]

Yandle went for 1st, 2nd, and quality prospect

Coburn went for a 1st and 3rd

Those two guys weren't expiring contracts like Hamhuis will be but Sekera who was went for a 1st and a 2nd Rd drafted prospect

Hamhuis may be one of the best D on the market at next year's deadline. It was a seller's market last year and I expect it to be a seller's market again

Vermette went for a 1st and decent prospect. Vrbata was an all star last year so I expect he would get a good return unless his game falls off the rails this year.

For each guy that went for a first there were five that were peddled hard and didn't move. Their GMs must be morons of course.