Bo as the third line center?

[theo5789]

31 minutes ago, Odjick29willkillyou said:

With the current season Bo is having, there is NO way he is anything less than a 2C. You would be sacrificing stats in return for him to essentially be a Sutter or Bonino type because EP40 and JH would be taking a lot of time at the C position. While both can play wing, scouts like Button sound pretty convinced that they will be franchise changing 1Cs. We could be looking at our version of Datsyuk and Zetterberg for years to come. 

 

I do not see a team taking anything less than Bo and our 1st+ for the 1st OA pick. He is the most expendable of our top 3 forwards. So would you trade Bo+ for what is projected to be a game changing player and what will surely be a merchandising coup with his bro playing here as well? I love Bo, but what is the one thing we have whined about since Hank started going on the decline? "We need a 1C!" Of course, we could draft Hughes and he could end up being the next Alex Daigle lol. I guess a lot depends on who lands the 1st OA and whether their GM has the brain of a Chirelli or that of a Wilson. Orrrrrr if we land the 1st OA pickvia the actual lottery > Delusions of grandeur for Nucks fans 

I think we have whined about having a 1D for much longer than wanting a 1C and have come and gone through decades without having one. I think I'd take a 1D now and be fine with the centers that we have.

[Odjick29willkillyou]

45 minutes ago, theo5789 said:

I think we have whined about having a 1D for much longer than wanting a 1C and have come and gone through decades without having one. I think I'd take a 1D now and be fine with the centers that we have.

Correct me if I am wrong, but does Quinn Hughes not project as a 1D? And there are no top-5 rated dmen in this draft outside of maybe Byram. My point is, if we have a legit shot at J. Hughes without giving up EP40 or BB I go for it. Every scout has tagged him as the undeniable #1 pick in this draft and if you think the Aquas are not going to want to make a splash in their hometown, wait and see. That said, I would be elated with Kakko and keeping Bo if we got a 2-3 pick. Byram would be a consolation prize if we land somewhere between 4-6, but I can see another team jumping up and grabbing him ala Cychrun and Makar when they were the best D available, but really had a lower ranking. He is currently the #1 ranked D at 6 with the next coming in at 12 so someone is going to overpay or reach for him.

[theo5789]

7 minutes ago, Odjick29willkillyou said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but does Quinn Hughes not project as a 1D? And there are no top-5 rated dmen in this draft outside of maybe Byram. My point is, if we have a legit shot at J. Hughes without giving up EP40 or BB I go for it. Every scout has tagged him as the undeniable #1 pick in this draft and if you think the Aquas are not going to want to make a splash in their hometown, wait and see. That said, I would be elated with Kakko and keeping Bo if we got a 2-3 pick. Byram would be a consolation prize if we land somewhere between 4-6, but I can see another team jumping up and grabbing him ala Cychrun and Makar when they were the best D available, but really had a lower ranking. He is currently the #1 ranked D at 6 with the next coming in at 12 so someone is going to overpay or reach for him.

It's certainly arguable whether Hughes will project as a 1D and it'll all depend on how well he can actually defend. There's no doubt he's going to run a PP, but a 1D should be able to handle the hard shut down assignments including PK time as well. I'm not quite sold on that yet, but certainly need to see more of his game to see if he has that potential. While I would like a 1D (wish we got Dahlin last draft), it doesn't have to happen in this draft (and may still not happen as legit 1D are not common).

 

With that said, Bo is a complete player (who will replace the faceoffs for one thing?) and Jack Hughes is all flash and dash (Patrick Kane-ish?). To give up Bo and whatever top pick we may get (and maybe more) just doesn't seem to equate to what Hughes would provide alone. Some are even projecting him to possibly be a winger by the time he hits the NHL, but similar things were said about Pettersson. Pettersson is a good example though that you don't necessarily need the 1st overall pick to hit a home run.

 

At this rate, we will likely get a pick in the 8-13 range and that is a massive jump to get the 1st overall. If we win a lottery pick, I'll be pretty happy with any of the top choices anyway and that pick plus Bo will likely form a better team than having Jack Hughes alone. Consider the majority of the top 10 are forwards, we could get a pretty good dman in that range even if it's not a 1D. Of course BPA still applies no matter what happens.

[Putgolzin]

3 hours ago, Odjick29willkillyou said:

With the current season Bo is having, there is NO way he is anything less than a 2C.

Right - he’s currently 20th in scoring for centremen playing mostly with marginally legitimate top 6 wingers. With great wingers and more offensive starts he’s a legitimate 1C.

[canucksnihilist]

On 12/9/2018 at 11:48 PM, DefCon1 said:

Are you forgetting Boeser? Baertschi who have proven to be at least a 50 point guy? How about Dahlen? Lockwood? Gadjovich?

 

We don't need 2-4 more solid winger, maybe we need one more top flight winger like Panarin and the rest will be covered by our depth from the farm and what we have now like Virtanen, Goldobin, Dahlen, Lockwood etc. We don't need 3-4 solid D, we need one Elite D like an Erik Karlsson, bring up Quinn Hughes and keep Tanev and Edler to complete the top 4 and hope players like Joulevi, Woo, Brisbois etc. develop further. We still can have Gudbranson and hutton on the 3rd pairing with Stecher and Biega as an extras.

 

By my count Benning needs to sign a top flight winger like Panarin and an elite defenseman like Karlsson this off season which could really make a big impact on our team. Also maybe if he can, get a more reliable number 1 goalie through trade.

 

So it will look like this:

 

Virtanen-Petersson-Boeser

Panarin-Horvat-Goldobin

Baertschi-Gaudette-Leivo

Roussell-Beagle-Sutter

 

Karlsson-Edler

Tanev-Hughes

Gudbranson-Hutton

Stecher-Biega

 

Markstrom

Demko

 

 

I've only added two impact players and a top flight prospect without even considering our developing depth on the farm or the draft this year. This makes a huge difference and it will maybe make our team a playoff team. So I didn't need to add 4 winger and 3 or 4 more solid D which is really ridiculous when our team is still young and developing. 

 

 

I think we are looking good - ya I didn't forget boeser, but I know it seems that I did.  

 

I think we are OK at forward actually.  we can get some FA or a few good wingers at a draft.  3 impact players at forward (bo, boe, and ep) is more than most teams ever have.

 

I think we really need a bunch of defensemen.  that can take the team over the top.  and if Demko works out that helps a ton.

 

/peace

[canucksnihilist]

On 12/9/2018 at 11:51 PM, DefCon1 said:

Beating the Blues is better than losing to the Blues after we beat the best team in our conference, the Preds. What do you really expect? This team to compete for the cup already? We were expected to be last so if we aren't last, we are actually exceeding other people's expectation. Its obvious the team hasn't arrived, our D core is the worst in the NHL when we still have Del Zotto and Pouliot in the lineup.

nope - just noting that things are looking better than last year!

 

D core is the key going forward.  we need to draft like Nashville - all d

 

 

[cory40]

As soon as you come down to reality the sooner you realize that Hughes is not coming to Vancouver. And I doubt any player would top Elias as a top 1 center. And to boot the Canucks will move up the standings until the play-offs. How high they make it remains to be seen! But with what I am seeing the 11 game stretch makes them look worse than they have played this year!

[Matt_T83]

On 12/18/2018 at 6:15 PM, nzan said:

Right - he’s currently 20th in scoring for centremen playing mostly with marginally legitimate top 6 wingers. With great wingers and more offensive starts he’s a legitimate 1C.

I agree with you that Bo is actually having a great season. He's getting really tough matchups and driving some scoring on his own. He could be a legitimate 1C. 

 

However, if Pettersson continues his pace, there's no way you can deny him the 1C spot. He'll be up there with Crosby, McDavid, Matthews, etc.

[Hindustan Smyl]

On 12/9/2018 at 8:58 AM, Brovat said:

Had a good chat with a pal about this. 

 

Hughes is a must this draft. I’m paraphrasing but at the 2018 draft Jack all but said the same thing. 

 

I hope they dont finish too high this year and get a little lotto luck. 

 

Assuming they don’t win first overall I would throw whatever it took plus picks towards getting Jack. 

 

Obviously Bo, EP, Brock, Quinn are untouchable and not going anywhere. 

 

I also would keep JV and Adam G and would have a very tough time letting either one go. 

 

In my head assuming the Canucks have a first round pick in the top 5 I would send the first round and second plus Tanev and ? for the first OA. 

 

If they get Jack the center position is top notch for the next decade. Build around whatever is left. 

 

EP, Hughes, Horvat, Gaudette. That’s a crazy amount of talent once seasoned. 

 

Thoughts?

 

 

If the Canucks were to land Hughes, we would have OPTIONS.....”options” being the operative word here.  

 

Yes - you could move Bo to the 3rd line, OR, you could move Pettersson to the wing and keep Horvat as your 2nd line C.