The Hockey News says we just picked three first rounders.

[cbdoubleu]

Overall our draft looks very good on paper.

 

Pettersson wasn't even on my radar of possible picks. I really thought it was one of Makar, Glass, or Vilardi, so it caught me off guard and I am still disappointed we didn't get Makar, but in the long run of things this is just high pick #3 of at least 2 more very high picks to come in the rebuild. There is lots of time to win a draft lottery or be top 3 with a shot at a generational talent, and time to address getting a bonafide number 1 dman through the draft or trade. 

 

 

 

 

[TheCerebral1]

To be honest, I loved the first three selections and admired that Benning has taken all of the critics theatrics at the waistside and has come out and added three big promising forwards to our group.  While he may be questioned on passing Vilardi and Middlestadt, Pettersson makes a lot of sense for our team going forward.  DiPietro is a questionable talent, but you can never ever have enough depth.  The later round picks were a mix bag of interest.  

[189lb enforcers?]

6 hours ago, N7Nucks said:

I dunno why you quoted me to tell me about Lucic references when I was pointing out the player he models himself after. Lol. 

 

As for the man among boys discussion. Why do we say it's bad when players are undersized (weight-wise) but also say it's bad when they are NHL sized? 

You quoted me, with a Lucic reference, first, not the other way around. I'm past it, but don't want another misquoted reference to my posting here. Sorry if I continue to demand this be aired. 

(We're clear on this, right? I think all you said was, "I never said he was a Lucic". I asked you who said you had, and here we are)

 

To your question of why we say it's bad, again, who said it's "bad"? You quoted my thoughts on untested hype about manchild size coming out of junior and into the A, so I need not distance myself from your targeted audience. However, let us not fail to reconcile the hype against the thousand manchild draft picks that did not impress in the men's leagues, nor manage to maintain their numbers as their peers grew into their bodies. Maturing early sometimes gets you drafted high, but eventually, they all become men and the advantage is gone. 

 

Then there is the drafting of smurfs. There are late-bloomers and then there are runts, something this franchise has been stockpiling for a decade. I'm a big fan of character and toughness to insulate skill with, but size also matters. There are very few Theo Fluerys to every Jordan Schroeder. I'd rather have a project with size, than not.

 

The Canucks are already the softest bunch of sub-six footers ever to be assembled in Vancouver and we just added a few more to the system. My bias is showing, I know, but JB's skilled prospects are nearly all soft and undersized. I have concerns and am happy he's targeted a few rugged dudes to insulate them with. My whole point was, we shall soon see how they do against men now and can begin to imagine who will and won't be an impact on the 2020 roster, big and small prospects included. By then, the kids will ALL be men, physically. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[48MPHSlapShot]

6 hours ago, N7Nucks said:

As for the man among boys discussion. Why do we say it's bad when players are undersized (weight-wise) but also say it's bad when they are NHL sized?

[IBatch]

4 hours ago, TheCerebral1 said:

To be honest, I loved the first three selections and admired that Benning has taken all of the critics theatrics at the waistside and has come out and added three big promising forwards to our group.  While he may be questioned on passing Vilardi and Middlestadt, Pettersson makes a lot of sense for our team going forward.  DiPietro is a questionable talent, but you can never ever have enough depth.  The later round picks were a mix bag of interest.  

Scouts love DiPietro, consider him the best in the OHL...I'm very happy we drafted another goalie and not in any way a detriment to the earlier picks, ie didn't choose him too early and lose out on what was available.  He could end up being the real deal, or something for Utica and a capable injury replacement.  Just having another goalie in the system is smart because before this Demko was it.  The more I look into these players the happier I am, he really did an outstanding job and I think his best draft to date regardless of how deep it was.  Of course we won't really know for a few years but if he's going to keep this up with the draft talent available over the next two, even three years Benning will have a lot of options going forward...

[MikeyD]

Dipietro in my opinion was a steal at 4th round 

[Provost]

On 6/25/2017 at 7:22 AM, Sweathog said:

Benning is slowly and quietly building a winner, most underrated GM in the league. I agree his work this draft ranks an A.

We are terrible so Benning gets to pick high... when we were at the top of the league Gillis had to pick low.

 

We give too much credit to Benning and give too much flack to Gillis.  Both are somewhere in between peoples' wildly differing opinions.

 

A very good deal of the difference is picking 25 spots higher each round.

[kloubek]

I have seen exactly what Benning has been doing and is trying to do with this team.  The concern I've had had always been his lack of finding a way of getting elite talent into our system.  I can't say I have any idea if any of these guys are likely to become elite players, but I strongly believe Boeser WILL be a valuable 1st line player, and I also believe that while it will take a while, I think Petterson has the tools and most likely will be a top center for us in the future - either a #2 or more likely a #1.  Combine that with the upside potential of several players in the system now like Dahlen, Goldobin (and perhaps the newly drafted Lind) and players that are already doing well on the team like Baertschi and Granlund, and I do think we have a couple of guys in there who either will be a first line player, or maybe - just maybe - a really, really good 1st line player.  Then we have other players who may or may not get there like Virtanen and Gaudette.  Then the last question mark is how much more development Horvat will be able to show, as he still has the potential to be our #1 center as well.  

So will any of these players be the elite ones we drool over?  Maybe - only time will tell.  But even if none of our players get there, we still have a surprising pool of talented depth which, spread out over all four lines, should actually make us a reasonable scoring threat in relatively short order.

 

The depth we had not long ago on our defense is looking a little light now, so I would like to see Benning focus on that.  It isn't fair to Juolevi to be the only one in our pool who has both the talent and expectations of being the #1 defenseman we need.  Just like what we have now with the forwards, I'd like to see another one or two prospects in the system who look like they could fill that role.  We don't know if Subban will even play in the NHL, but *maybe* he has that potential.  Brisebois?  Hard to say where he will end up, but I'm fairly confident it won't be a #1 PMD.  I'm somewhat surprised we didn't grab more offensive-minded defensemen in the draft. I don't know much about Rathbone but even if he developed into a decent defenseman, that's many years away.

 

Yes, it has been a challenging few years here folks - largely due to stripping the cupboards bare while we tried to keep the window of opportunity open which was clearly closed years ago.  But I for one have been impressed with Benning's ability to rebuild this team in surprisingly short order - all the while being asked to keep the team competitive and in the playoff hunt.  I truly believe it is only up from here.

[EliasSkywalker]

On 6/25/2017 at 8:56 AM, aliboy said:

I'm curious to see Palmu, could he be our version of Johny Hockey. Love small players with exceptional talent who can make their game work in the NHL, like Cliff Ronning. Here's hoping.

Petrus Palmu was picked  by Benning at #181!! His nearest comparable was Kailer Yamamoto who was picked by Edmonton at #22 overall.  

Their stats are pretty similar...but given that Petrus was picked at #181, this could be a steal!
Kailer Yamamoto

Season      Team                 League              GP   G   A  Pts PIM +/-

2016-17     Spokane Chiefs       WHL                 65  42  57  99  45  14

Petrus Palmu

Season      Team                 League              GP   G   A  Pts PIM +/-  Playoffs  GP   G  A  Pts  PIM +/- 

2016-17     Owen Sound Attack    OHL                 62  40  58  98  34  31             17   13 8  21   6   -2

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, SuitcaseSmith said:

Petrus Palmu was picked  by Benning at #181!! His nearest comparable was Kailer Yamamoto who was picked by Edmonton at #22 overall.  

Their stats are pretty similar...but given that Petrus was picked at #181, this could be a steal!
Kailer Yamamoto

Season      Team                 League              GP   G   A  Pts PIM +/-

2016-17     Spokane Chiefs       WHL                 65  42  57  99  45  14

Petrus Palmu

Season      Team                 League              GP   G   A  Pts PIM +/-  Playoffs  GP   G  A  Pts  PIM +/- 

2016-17     Owen Sound Attack    OHL                 62  40  58  98  34  31             17   13 8  21   6   -2

Looks good, but isn't our guy a year more mature?  

[J.I.A.H.N]

On ‎2017‎-‎06‎-‎25 at 6:29 PM, DownUndaCanuck said:

Very good first 3 picks but that glaring hole in defence gets bigger. We're losing defencemen and not replacing them with quality guys at all. This is now Bennings biggest mission. Scored a nice top line center, scored some nice gritty wingers and a depth goalie but now JB needs to focus 100% on defence.

I could not agree more

 

But for me it is a very slippery slope, and one with some hidden perils.

 

If we load up with UFA's and resign Miller, we could move ourselves out side of the prime group of 2018 first rounder's, and as much as no one wants us to tank beside me, we are not ready to move out of the basement.

 

This coming years draft  will be loaded with defensemen at the top, and Benning could set this team up for many years to come if he doesn't get nervous and try to start climbing up the ladder to early

 

Now if we sign a few UFA's and then move a couple vets at the Trade deadline, I am all over that......but it is premature to go for the playoffs or any where in that direction.

 

I am starting to see great depth and a lot of talent, and hope we can pick up a top #1 defenceman next year, and possibly another draft where Benning gets some great 2 and 3 round picks......... 

 

I have been very glass half empty for the past few years, but have to admit these past 2 drafts have been pretty exciting and we have some great prospects on the way!

[48MPHSlapShot]

8 minutes ago, janisahockeynut said:

I could not agree more

 

But for me it is a very slippery slope, and one with some hidden perils.

 

If we load up with UFA's and resign Miller, we could move ourselves out side of the prime group of 2018 first rounder's, and as much as no one wants us to tank beside me, we are not ready to move out of the basement.

 

This coming years draft  will be loaded with defensemen at the top, and Benning could set this team up for many years to come if he doesn't get nervous and try to start climbing up the ladder to early

 

Now if we sign a few UFA's and then move a couple vets at the Trade deadline, I am all over that......but it is premature to go for the playoffs or any where in that direction.

 

I am starting to see great depth and a lot of talent, and hope we can pick up a top #1 defenceman next year, and possibly another draft where Benning gets some great 2 and 3 round picks......... 

 

I have been very glass half empty for the past few years, but have to admit these past 2 drafts have been pretty exciting and we have some great prospects on the way!

Out of pluses, but totally agree. One more year of cellar dwelling, followed by a lottery pick and a 2018 draft where we focus almost entirely on D (hopefully Dahlin), and I think we'll be in a position to turn the corner. 

 

That being said, even after this coming season, we still likely won't be close to being a playoff team, so I expect at very least a top 10 pick in the 2019 draft as well.

[Bunter Shinkorvat]

I really like what Benning has done the last two drafts. Use the top pick to draft skill / IQ supplement them with later picks consisting of grit and two-way play. 

 

Won't be too disappointed if we can't snag an offensive defenceman in the first round next year. There's always the college free agent route -- hopefully we can pick someone up like Stetcher.

[Lancaster]

How about we just wait and see how these new draft picks pan out before we start planning the parade?

 

It wasn't that long ago when the Canucks had "steals" in the likes of Schroeder, Sauve and Ellington. 

[Dixon Ward]

players under 24

 

Baertschi Horvat Boeser

Dahlen Petterson Goldobin

Gadjovich Gaudette Virtanen

Gaunce Boucher Lind

Labate Laplante McKenzie

Lockwood Zhukenov Abols

 

Hutton Stecher

Juolevi Tryamkin

Brisebois Mceneny

Subban Chatfield

Cedarholm Gunnarson

 

Demko

Garteig

Dipietro

 

Clearly need an upgrade on defense long term.  But this group is eons ahead of where our prospects were 12 months ago.

[IBatch]

17 hours ago, MikeyD said:

Dipietro in my opinion was a steal at 4th round 

Agreed, he could have been anyones second pick and not raised eyebrows, and was supposedly a late second...ealry third.  Arguably the best goalie in the draft and we got him.

[Phat Fingers]

On 2017-06-26 at 7:21 PM, Provost said:

We are terrible so Benning gets to pick high... when we were at the top of the league Gillis had to pick low.

 

We give too much credit to Benning and give too much flack to Gillis.  Both are somewhere in between peoples' wildly differing opinions.

 

A very good deal of the difference is picking 25 spots higher each round.

Boeser 'cough cough' 23rd OA....

 

[aGENT]

4 minutes ago, Eastcoast meets Westcoast said:

Boeser 'cough cough' 23rd OA....

 

Also:

 

*cough* Cody *cough* Hodgson.

[Provost]

46 minutes ago, Eastcoast meets Westcoast said:

Boeser 'cough cough' 23rd OA....

 

Hasn't yet had a sample size to merit any coughing... nor has Demko.  Of the guys with actual sample sizes, Virtanen and McCann... they have been suboptimal.

 

If you want to compare first round picks.  Horvat wins out by a landslide so far, even correcting for having been drafted a year earlier.  Hutton is probably the next biggest success.

[IBatch]

On 2017-6-26 at 6:21 PM, Provost said:

We are terrible so Benning gets to pick high... when we were at the top of the league Gillis had to pick low.

 

We give too much credit to Benning and give too much flack to Gillis.  Both are somewhere in between peoples' wildly differing opinions.

 

A very good deal of the difference is picking 25 spots higher each round.

Exactly.  A very good deal of difference taking over a team with a peaking or about to peak Luongo, Sedins, Kesler, Schneider and Burrows...and the lack of high picks that followed to add to the team and keep it together...