*Buzzsaw* Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 From my perspective we have had a lot of good news surprises in Training camp. McCann - Ahead of expected pace of development, great vision, takes his opportunities and capitalizes Hutton - Out of the blue... we have a puck moving rookie defenseman Baertschi - From a question mark to playing on the 2nd line Horvat - Seems like a lock on 2nd line center Virtanen - Solid on the 4th line Markstrom - From a question mark to solid backup Combine the above with the trades and pickups, and it looks like the team will still be contending for a playoff spot while simultaneously getting younger. Comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd. Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 From my perspective we have had a lot of good news surprises in Training camp. McCann - Ahead of expected pace of development, great vision, takes his opportunities and capitalizes Hutton - Out of the blue... we have a puck moving rookie defenseman Baertschi - From a question mark to playing on the 2nd line Horvat - Seems like a lock on 2nd line center Virtanen - Solid on the 4th line Markstrom - From a question mark to solid backup Combine the above with the trades and pickups, and it looks like the team will still be contending for a playoff spot while simultaneously getting younger. Comments? Go with the flow. Das all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monteeun Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I would say so far so good. They showed they got the skill and potential. Next step would be the 82 game schedule and against heavy opponents. At least we haven't fallen behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliewud Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I like the direction maannn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry_Wilkins Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Markstrom's looked good, but young goalies can have major ups and downs. He needs to prove it throughout the season, and his track record so far in the regular season is shaky. The forwards and Hutton have played well, though. Especially excited about Hutton considering our lack of elite D prospects, otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deized_kanuck604 Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 The kids looked good in exhibition hockey. Hopefully a sign of good to come. Seems we have been plagued for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I like the direction maannn I like the direction McCann. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gstank29 Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Depends what you mean by ahead of schedule. IF you mean do we have more players that look NHL ready than the answer is yes. IF you mean are we closer to winning a Stanley Cup with those players than the answer is no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliewud Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I like the direction McCann. Nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puckdontlie Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I'd say it's exactly on schedule. Not ahead, not behind. Benning gets flamed for his moves trading away Lack, Kassian, Bonino and Clendening as well as letting Matthias walk away but with the strong play of McCann, Hutton, Virtanen, Markstrom and Gaunce, those guys were taking up spots anyway. Seems like this summer we loved our vets and now we love our young guys. Vrbata will be traded and next season players like Cassels, Subban, Grenier among others could challenge for spots in addition to the young guys who challenged for spots this year. Right on schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyM Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I'd say it's exactly on schedule. Not ahead, not behind. Benning gets flamed for his moves trading away Lack, Kassian, Bonino and Clendening as well as letting Matthias walk away but with the strong play of McCann, Hutton, Virtanen, Markstrom and Gaunce, those guys were taking up spots anyway. Seems like this summer we loved our vets and now we love our young guys. Vrbata will be traded and next season players like Cassels, Subban, Grenier among others could challenge for spots in addition to the young guys who challenged for spots this year. Right on schedule. Nah, it's definitely ahead of schedule. For all the reasons you list after you say it's not ahead of schedule. Virtanen and McCann were not expected to be fighting for an NHL spot this season. For them to be this far along already means we have a chance at becoming a stronger team sooner than later. Seems like this summer we loved our vets and now we love our young guys. Because they are ahead of schedule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maginator Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Ill let you know halfway through the season... Seriously, that was just the preseason. Vets lack emotion, and teams have ahl'ers playing (I'm saying this in the context for every team, not just the Canucks). Yeah some of our rooks seem to have really hit their stride earlier than expected, but they could easily drop off just as quickly. Look at Shirokov as an example. Unreal pre-season, only to get sent down 6 games and 0 points later. I am very optimistic for the young guys coming up, and am so so so glad we haven't ended up bottom feeding like the Oilers. But to be real there is lots of hockey left and lots yet to prove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Fig Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I'd say it's ahead of schedule....but steady on Markstrom. He's proven zilch in the NHL so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erkayloomeh Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Actually ahead of schedule in my opinion. You forgot Gaunce who really should be here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANUCK-EXPRESS Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Hell yeah mayneee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Barzal Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I think we can finally say that we won't be short of quality depth in the near future. We just need that franchise defenseman and some quality first line talent. We might have a player or two in our forward crop but there's no defenseman in our system that we can liken to the Doughty's, Keith's and Subban's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madwolf Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 We won't know until the regular season begins. The thing that is going to set us back is the Sedins retiring. We can jump up and have one last shot at the Cup with them here, but we're going to fall hard for a year or two after they retire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erkayloomeh Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 We won't know until the regular season begins. The thing that is going to set us back is the Sedins retiring. We can jump up and have one last shot at the Cup with them here, but we're going to fall hard for a year or two after they retire. Not necessarily. I think they have at least three more years minimum. By then guys like Horvat, McCann and Virtanen will be coming into there own. Plus with the additional picks we are going to get from trading vets, salary cap relief=ufas. Add all that into the fact that sedins will be still good second liners in a couple years I think we're in good shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickly Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 The biggest challenge of the rebuild will be replacing the Sedins. It's yet to be determined if any of these prospects will be able to replace the production but so far it's looking good. Leadership will be in good hands with Bo looking like he well be a bonafide leader for years to come, and there seems to be no shortage of character players emerging in the system. The D core is suspect and it'll be interesting to see how it shapes up in the coming years, wether or not a solid 1-2 pairing can emerge from this mediocre group of defensive prospects. Goaltending looks good, with Marky looking poised to be a starter, although I could be getting ahead of myself, and a blue chipper in Demko who looks like he has all the tools to be an NHL goaltender. The future looks bright. What's not to like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amish Rake Fighter Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 not enough to quiet the screeching mongoloids on hfboards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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