This July 1st, Benning can make us a playoff team, or a Cup contender.

[YummyCakeFace]

Or destroy us for another 5-7 years.  You people have so much faith in this guy.  I don’t get it.  Aside from drafting, ( which could be mostly Bracket), what has Jim done to fulfill your confidence?  

[Gaudette Celly]

8 hours ago, fecklund said:

This team is a total mess. Benning has A LOT of work to do to fix that - if he even can.

Baertschi : at 26 he still needs a fire lit under his ass before he plays 4 or 5 good games in a row. is one concussion away from death. 

Sutter      : "foundational player" who was brought in to be a reliable 2-way shut down guy, but is -30 since arriving, and you forget he's even on your team because he's in the hospital more than the doctors that work there.

Beagle     : is a 33 years old Sutter clone. Overpaid "glue guy" that really doesn't do anything, other than exist.

Pearson     : needs to become the 40+ point player he was in LA or say goodnight.

That's 6 guys that still need to have their asses peeled off this lineup and replaced. JT Miller was a good add, but we have huge holes all through the lineup still, and I'm not even going to get into the Defence.
I don't envy Benning's job, tell ya that much. 
 

"Total mess"?  For one, why did you include players that are either no longer here or about to be gone -- just padding it up to legitimize your narrative?  Granlund is likely gone or a 13th forward if re-signed, and Eriksson will be gone sooner than later.  The rest -- Sutter has two years left, he probably only lasts one at the most, and Beagle was hurt much of last year, and you evidently do not understand his role to begin with (nor Sutter's for that matter).  Baertschi's been plagued with concussions; who knows, his career maybe in jeopardy.  Pearson just arrived and put up good numbers in his limited stint, but he's not a first-line player.  None of these are even the Canuck's primary or key players, so this is your storyline?

Hardly a "total mess" when you cherry pick a few middle/bottom-six forwards.  Far FAR more positive to be considering how Petey, Brock, Horvat, Miller, Gaudette, Roussel, Myers etc. will be faring and the other young players that will be coming in shortly.  Pretty much hyperbole based on nothing.  Want to see a "total mess", go look at the Leaf's defence.

[Phat Fingers]

14 hours ago, Grape said:

We're not competing for the Cup next year. Weird things do happen in the NHL, but as it stands now and even if JB does really well in free agency, we will not be contending for the cup next year.

With myers and hopefully one more RHD and the emergence of both Highes and OJ, we could make the playoffs.  

 

I would hate to be up against a young dynamic team with nothing to lose and goaltending.  

 

Myers relieves pressure and hard minutes on  Tanev.  This in theory will reduce the wear and tear on Tanev.  Same for Hughes and Edler.  

 

I would expect that the Hughes pairing will be our top pairing by mid season.  That puts the Edler pairing as a second pairing.  Huge deal for Vancouver.  

 

If OJ can come into his own, then that also further reduces the pressure and dependence on Edler.  

 

Keeping Edler and Tanev healthy is a smart goal for this season.  If we can get 70+ games out of both, with them not being injured at the exact same time this season, we are a bubble team.  

 

After that, it's all about who gets hot and who goes cold.  

[Phat Fingers]

14 hours ago, NUCKER67 said:

I think Pettersson, Boeser, Horvat and Hughes will have a good year. Maybe J.T. Miller forms some chemistry with Elias or Bo. Let's hope so anyway. It looks like they're going to lose Hutton and Schenn. Will Tanev play another (half) season in VAN? Benning sounded confident with the additions of Teves and Rafferty. Really? Big day for Benning tomorrow, to turn this team around. This D is nowhere near good enough yet though. He's got work to do.

 

Edler - Stecher

 Hughes - Tanev

Sautner/Juolevi - Rafferty

Teves

 

Also, they really need to get rid of Eriksson and Sutter, they don't need that negativity in the room or the $10m cost to keep them around. 

All good points.  One question, what negativity regarding Sutter.  Was he complaining about the team or coaching?  

 

So far the only negative thing about Sutter is his inability to not be injured since coming to Vancouver.  

 

Both players have failed to live up to expectations in Vancouver.  But it is very odd.  Sutter was a solid center, never got hurt, or rarely.  Eriksson is a 30g scorer, responsible two way guy and poof, both get good deals disappear.  

[IBatch]

A playoff team undoubtedly, even with the same line-up we had at the end of the year you have to think moving up nine points in the standings could happen with just a little bit of progression with the young core, and at least no more injuries then usual.

 

Now adding Miller and jettisoning a few from the depth chart by adding Myers and Hughes for an entire season...well it’s actually harder to see us missing the playoffs then not.  I hope we start a run of five-seven consecutive playoff berths .. that would be something.   Watch the Benning dislikers shrivel away with their hindsight’s and buts.   There will be a power shift, SJ is clinging on but EK won’t be enough to keep them there long (they just lost Pavelski, who they were losing to age anyways, how long can Burns keep it up?).  ANA is a bit of a mess, where we were five years ago.  LA ditto.  Vegas looks to be a powerhouse for years to come (yes I’m jealous and yes I’m starting to hate them). ARI is ready to burst but we won’t have to worry about them long, not sure Seattle is going to have an easy time duplicating what Vegas did, teams have wised up this time and won’t be nearly ready to give up extras.   CAL looks to be a top team for a while yet, some of our stiffest competition, and EDM won’t get anywhere until they draft better help...something they haven’t been able to do yet but your have to like some of their guys, some help is coming..and they could bounce back...

 

Personally I think the third spot is ripe for the picking....and maybe it takes a 12-14 point improvement this time if the West isn’t killed by the East like it was last year .... that’s still definitely doable.  We lost 24 points in our 12 game losing streak, if we played .500 then instead we would have snuck in.   

 

JT Miller with EP and Boeser seems like a huge improvement.   That line could end up deadly and deadly all the time.  

 

Don’t forget Bear is 100% too and he already has chemistry Boeser and can play RW....or maybe JV is finally ready. 

[mpt]

If everything goes perfect every team wins the cup every year.  

[oldnews]

I don't think any team is 'made' on July 1st.

 

[Nucker 67]

Oddly, I feel a little better with the Canucks signing Myers. If they can also get Benn and Juolevi makes strides and impresses, the D will look pretty good. 

 

Edler - Tanev

Hughes - Myers

Benn - Stecher

Juolevi

 

Here's hoping it's a good Canada Day for the Canucks!

[mikeyman109]

1 hour ago, NUCKER67 said:

Oddly, I feel a little better with the Canucks signing Myers. If they can also get Benn and Juolevi makes strides and impresses, the D will look pretty good. 

 

Edler - Tanev

Hughes - Myers

Benn - Stecher

Juolevi

 

Here's hoping it's a good Canada Day for the Canucks!

Icing this lineup at the back end is a huge improvement over last year. Myers will eat some of the minutes up and this means Edler and Tanev dont have to play all the PK and hard minutes. Great signings!

[FutureFilm]

The D looks a lot better and fit more guys into roles they are comfortable with. 

 

We have 9M left in cap space with Boeser the big signing left. Maybe a bridge deal? If JB can get rid of Sutter/Eriksson that would def make room for younger players to step up. JB needs to clear some of the bottom 6 guys. Our top 6 looks way better. 

[DownUndaCanuck]

Smart efficient signings. Couple of fringe AHL depth signings, Benn for 2M, Myers for 6M, this team is ready for the playoffs.

 

My only concern is goaltending which is always a wildcard on any time so hopefully last years Markstrom comes to play, and points from the back end. Myers and Benn are shutdown guys. So is Tanev. Stecher and Edler can go either way so Hughes is our only real true PMD. Hopefully we see Stecher wheel around a bit more and the 40 point Edler returns.

[Arrow 1983]

So Myers and Benn is done all we need is a LE Trade. And this team can contend for a Cup. Even with LE we can contend for a cup.LE could look at this team a it might light a fire under his ass

[mikeyman109]

10 minutes ago, Arrow 1983 said:

So Myers and Benn is done all we need is a LE Trade. And this team can contend for a Cup. Even with LE we can contend for a cup.LE could look at this team a it might light a fire under his ass

I wouldn't say we are a cup contender as the teams around us got stronger as well.Dallas improved. Arizona is improved. Edmonton has a goalie. its still going to be difficult to make the playoffs. Calgary will still be there. Vegas will still be there. San Jose will most likely still be there.

Now if we stay healthy we have a chance at the wild card as much as anyone. Goaltending will be important that it stays as good or better than last season and with the added D it should be a bit better.

Now if we can move Loui and use that cap money to bring in another top 6, we might improve our chances. With him we are still a wild card challenger.

[Sbriggs]

7 minutes ago, mikeyman109 said:

I wouldn't say we are a cup contender as the teams around us got stronger as well.Dallas improved. Arizona is improved. Edmonton has a goalie. its still going to be difficult to make the playoffs. Calgary will still be there. Vegas will still be there. San Jose will most likely still be there.

Now if we stay healthy we have a chance at the wild card as much as anyone. Goaltending will be important that it stays as good or better than last season and with the added D it should be a bit better.

Now if we can move Loui and use that cap money to bring in another top 6, we might improve our chances. With him we are still a wild card challenger.

Move LE & Sutter and there's our top 6 forward we need I wouldn't say Dallas is better they are certainly older, Vegas is most likely not better, San Jose is definitely not better but probably still there. Let the chips fall where they may

[mikeyman109]

2 minutes ago, Sbriggs said:

Move LE & Sutter and there's our top 6 forward we need I wouldn't say Dallas is better they are certainly older, Vegas is most likely not better, San Jose is definitely not better but probably still there. Let the chips fall where they may

We agree on   moving Loui to get the room but its not an easy move.

Vegas didnt need to improve to be better than us. Neither did Calgary. San Jose is still a good team and when looking at a wild card you have to consider Colorado, Arizona, Edmonton and Chicago. But I am hopeful we have a better Power play and definitely expect a better effort on D which should also help Marky

[Bertuzzi44ever]

A cup contender? SMH.

 

we were third last in the worst conference in the league.

 

were paying 7th 8th dmen fanttenberg Benning and myers three defensemen who don’t do a lot around 8 million, with injuries to tanev and edler and how much they are mixed with Lou cap hit our back end is going to me mediocre and expensive.

 

 

[Odd.]

36 minutes ago, Arrow 1983 said:

So Myers and Benn is done all we need is a LE Trade. And this team can contend for a Cup. Even with LE we can contend for a cup.LE could look at this team a it might light a fire under his ass

Can I have some what your smokin right now?

[mikeyman109]

7 minutes ago, Bertuzzi44ever said:

A cup contender? SMH.

 

we were third last in the worst conference in the league.

 

were paying 7th 8th dmen fanttenberg Benning and myers three defensemen who don’t do a lot around 8 million, with injuries to tanev and edler and how much they are mixed with Lou cap hit our back end is going to me mediocre and expensive.

 

 

we were in a wild card spot until Feb when Tanev and Edler were injured. With the added depth we should be in a better spot/. I am not sure that we will jump up into a playoff spot but a wild card is definitely not out of the question.  the added depth will help Marky out as well. If Miller clicks with Petey or Bo we may have two scoring lines.  I get that its optimistic, but im a glass half full kind of guy.

[Nucker 67]

I think the only real move left (other than tinkering) is to trade Eriksson and Sutter and get Horvat a RW, assuming J.T. Miller plays with Pettersson. Other teams have improved, but others lost key players too and may not be as good next year. (eg. Pavelski and Donskoi leaving SJ) Canucks are a riser (adding Hughes, Myers and Miller). 

[flickyoursedin]

Sure the signings will shelter Tanev’s minutes but the way Tanev plays with the shot blocking there’ll always be the risk. I’ll be shocked the year he doesn’t sustain an injury. If you deal him 50% retained one of these cap strapped teams might just cough up a good return to get a 20+ minute top 4 dman at 2.25 million this year. At that price you run the risk on his health.