So...next year. Where are we going?

[aGENT]

2 minutes ago, Got the Babych said:

And, I was answering your question.

Sure but it's LESS cap that allows us to retain pieces we'd like to retain. And again, short term.

 

Would never having signed those contacts be better? Sure. But that's neither reality or realistic. EVERY NHL TEAM HAS CONTRACTS THEY PREFER THEY DIDN'T.

 

Now we have to manage a couple of ours. Just like every team does at some point.

 

[the grinder]

4 minutes ago, Got the Babych said:

That's what leads to the big question. What's the end game? With Miller and Toffoli we might make the playoffs this year. 

Then what?

to win , isn't that the name of the game to win ?  miller is the type of player we need to be successful  he is signed for a few more years  , toffoli  , we needed a top 6  for an injury replacement ,  we have hoglander and podi  still coming  in the pipeline  ,  we have big nikita coming in  as well as other players in Utica and others in college and juniors ,  need to replace vets with youth which we have every year and will continue to do so .,  

[J.I.A.H.N]

53 minutes ago, Fanuck said:

Sorry Jan, but I completely disagree. 

I'm not saying our D is compromised of six #1/2 guys, but Quinn, Tanev, Eagle and maybe even Myers could play in the regular rotation of almost every current playoff team imo and be an upgrade to those teams.  To say otherwise would be implying they're not even better than guys like Gryzlek,  Jensen,  Schenn,  Gudas,  ect... who will all end up playing in the post season.   Even Juice last week on HNIC was saying defense is the strongest component of this team and he typically tells it like it is. 

Did you just have a melt down...lol

 

Did you just see the game? LOL

 

Nah, I get what you are saying, but they are not as good as some think...evidently......LOL

 

I don't know what happened...….but man is that funny, right after the game!

[Arrow 1983]

7 hours ago, 189lb enforcers? said:

Middle of the pack.

 

Until the EP and QH window closes, or before if they walk like most of our core UFAs have in the past, which is a surprisingly long list (Think Jovo, etc) I suspect this team stays in the middle ground. Sounds good enough for playoffs and that seems like it was always the goal of this era, which who can complain? Who doesn’t like playoffs? Orca certainly does. 
 

Tank Nation loved each of those high pick home runs that were seemingly against the grain of the retool thing; the accident tanks. Looks like the philosophy worked, IMO, regardless of the expensive and curious path Benning took to pick high. Lately though, he’s been trading picks with great results which impacts the franchises odds for a continued wave of top prospects. It could be that the Canucks have set themselves up for mediocracy by pushing on the window that was opened last summer when Aquaman let JB spend his way out of the rebuild gap that saw no real prospect help coming for, well its still not available. Rebuild phase over. Maintenance phase here we come. 

 

We all laugh at the Leafs’ salary issues, but the Canucks *might not be much different soon and still don’t project to have a Dcore worth mentioning and will almost entirely rely on the health and productivity of their few, young superstars. - Sounds pretty much like Toronto to me. He who laughs last, I guess. 
 

I’m just happy they aren’t spineless anymore, though are still a little weak. I will take a decade of this over the last past half-decade that just passed. I’d rather they stuck to a full blown build, accidental or not concerning those key, high picks, but get why they couldn’t wait for the sag in the prospect pool to sort itself while wasting some of EP’s best years. Who knows what could have been with another few high picks, like Brady Tkachuk, etc. Instead, middle ground, which is ok, unless they get lucky with a few prospects.
 

JB does seem to have a horseshoe up his but, so anything is possible, but I’m betting on Wildcard, or better, for the next 5 years or so. No complaints there. 
 

 

what are you talking about most of our UFA's re-sigh unless the Canucks walk away

 

Sedins, Kesler (until he saw a sinking ship), Burrows, Bieska, Naslund, Bertuzzi, willie Mitchell (until the Canucks walked away and I'm still mad at that one), hamhuis, they all signed and re-sighed here

[FutureFilm]

Well your D has a issue when your best player is a 20 year old. Other issue is "toughness" as we really have no one that stands up for guys like Petey, Boeser and Hughes although that is better this year. 

 

I would love for some of the deadweight of contracts gone such as Eriksson and Roussel(nothing against them, their contracts just don't work) I'm okay with Beagle just because of what he brings to the team. Find some gems in this draft as there is a potential for us not drafting till the 3rd rd this year if we make the playoffs. If we resign Toffoli our top 6 does get better as Boeser would be back on Petey's line....i think us resigning him depends on Ferland's situation and the poss. of getting rid of contacts. 

[BPA]

I think Big Mac needs to stay.  He's earned his keep and keeps the payroll down.  

 

Roussel and Sutter have their ups and downs but not really worth it at that cap hit.  Would like for JB to trade them for draft picks or tier B prospects. 

 

LE and Baer needs to be traded to get some cap space breathing room.

 

Re-sign Markstrom and Toffoli is a must.  We don't go far without Marky and Tofu has gelled quite nicely in the top 6.

 

The D core needs to be better.  Not sure how to do it and no young D prospect can come in and dominate like Huggy.

 

 

 

My wish list: 

 

Miller EP Boeser

Pearson Bo Tofu 

JV Gaudette Big Mac

Motte Beagle Bailey

 

Edler ???

Hughes ??? (Maybe Tanev??)

Tryamkin Myers

Benn

 

[189lb enforcers?]

1 hour ago, Arrow 1983 said:

what are you talking about most of our UFA's re-sigh unless the Canucks walk away

 

Sedins, Kesler (until he saw a sinking ship), Burrows, Bieska, Naslund, Bertuzzi, willie Mitchell (until the Canucks walked away and I'm still mad at that one), hamhuis, they all signed and re-sighed here

I take it that you are somewhat younger than I am. 
As you were. 

[Arrow 1983]

19 minutes ago, 189lb enforcers? said:

I take it that you are somewhat younger than I am. 
As you were. 

Born in 1983 and followed the Canucks since I was 5.

Not many ufa have ever left the Canucks 

[DownUndaCanuck]

I expect Vegas to be about the same, Edmonton will get better as their kids get experience, I think Calgary is in a precarious stage where they're not getting any better for some reason so wil likely be another fringe playoff team, Arizona will likely tank next year and the Californian teams will all still stink. I expect our core to get better, our prime guys will still be in their prime except for Edler and Tanev on the downeards slope, but I think we'll be top 3 in the Pacific next season. 

[CanadianRugby]

I knew what I wanted the team to do when they were rebuilding.  I don't know anymore.  The task at hand seems daunting.

- Improve bottom 6 while shedding salary

- Improve D overall

- Sign your young stars to contracts that don't cripple the team

 

Also need to hope your aging vets you keep dont regress to much.  

[RowdyCanuck]

Imho if it was my team, i would trade brock(value is high and I rather have TT and Jake virtanen instead of one Brock cause I don't think Brock is worth his next contract which starts around 8 million iirc)

Jim needs an Josh Manson or Shea Weber to play with Hughes and that would give us a number one pairing like the Hawks had with Keith and seabrook ......tanev is almost perfect for Hughes but tanev takes hits he doesn't makes them ha 

now I know we have petey bo and Guad as centres but I would pull a Pittsburgh and go after Ryan getzlaf if the ducks are willing to retain cause he checks a lot of boxes and his a leader like Miller and getzlaf would give us two play making centres , which you need to win a cup, look at the pens, they won with Jordan staal and didn't win with sutter and then Bonino went to the pens and they won back to back cups......also getzlaf if he does lose a step , then he wouldn't be a 1B but fit his new role perfectly as 3rd line center or fourth line center ....he has shown his hands are still there this pasted season and he would be a great shut down center. 

I would like to see this roster next season

 

Miller petey Jake 

pearson Bo TT 

hoglander/rooster getzlaf Guad 

motto beagle zac 

reeves is the guy I would talk to the team first about bringing him in cause it seems like a tight group. 

 

D well we need a new D coach.......

hughes Manson 

edler Myers 

benn or OJ or Rafferty or tree or rathbone....the list goes on....

goalies well if it was me I would sign a older goalie like the Hawks did.....so Miller is still out there and other older former starting goalies , cause I think next season the games should be split between demko and vet. 

I love marky but he deserves to be paid and it would just throw off the cap imho. 

 

Edit* if Jim does this he fixes toughness and I would happily bet a few grand for the Canucks to win the cup next season, they will probably be like the Hawks wildcard or third ......but they will be built deep , mean and for the playoffs.....so cup final next year ha

 

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by RowdyCanuck

[riffraff]

My biggest concern is how terrible our d is, currently, and what will be over the next 2 to few years.

 

how much tread can we eke out of Edler and Tanev next year!?!?  It seems that after Hughes there is a big gap between what is “developing” on the back end and what is actually nhl ready let alone playoff type ready dmen.

 

no first and second round picks now.

 

legit concern imo no matter what your relationship with Benning is.

[189lb enforcers?]

9 hours ago, Arrow 1983 said:

Born in 1983 and followed the Canucks since I was 5.

Not many ufa have ever left the Canucks 

Lol 

Followed the Canucks since you were five? 

Whatever. 
 

But back to my comments, you don’t agree that we have a long list of key FA walking as UFAs and you cite Luongo and the Sedins. Maybe go back a bit further, not much, and get back to me. Actually don’t. Do your thang, I’m good. 
 

[189lb enforcers?]

29 minutes ago, riffraff said:

My biggest concern is how terrible our d is, currently, and what will be over the next 2 to few years.

 

how much tread can we eke out of Edler and Tanev next year!?!?  It seems that after Hughes there is a big gap between what is “developing” on the back end and what is actually nhl ready let alone playoff type ready dmen.

 

no first and second round picks now.

 

legit concern imo no matter what your relationship with Benning is.

Sounds like Toronto 

[Canadian]

26 minutes ago, riffraff said:

My biggest concern is how terrible our d is, currently, and what will be over the next 2 to few years.

 

how much tread can we eke out of Edler and Tanev next year!?!?  It seems that after Hughes there is a big gap between what is “developing” on the back end and what is actually nhl ready let alone playoff type ready dmen.

 

no first and second round picks now.

 

legit concern imo no matter what your relationship with Benning is.

They brought in Hughes, Myers long-term this year, and Benn / Fantenburg as stop gaps. Edler is also another 1-more-year stop-gap.

 

This summer will be some hard decisions on longer term: Hughes (#1), Myers (#4?), and then six more spots on defense moving forward. Edler is one spot for next year. I hope Tryamkin is another spot. Rafferty deserves a shot somewhere. What do they do with Juolevi? Do they trade Stecher? Benn? Do they release Tanev? Release Fantenburg? There are a couple UFA vets who might be worth bringing in, but you run the risk of over-paying. Do you make a big splash by trading someone like Boeser, or Virtanen for a top 4 young defenseman? Big decisions to make, hopefully not one based on cap troubles.

 

Edler - ___________

Hughes - __________

Tryamkin - Myers

__________ - _____________

[Tortorella's Rant]

If the defensive game isn't improved then it doesn't matter how many goals they can score. A near 3 GAA won't win you anything. 

[Pickly]

58 minutes ago, riffraff said:

My biggest concern is how terrible our d is, currently, and what will be over the next 2 to few years.

 

how much tread can we eke out of Edler and Tanev next year!?!?  It seems that after Hughes there is a big gap between what is “developing” on the back end and what is actually nhl ready let alone playoff type ready dmen.

 

no first and second round picks now.

 

legit concern imo no matter what your relationship with Benning is.

Only thing that makes sense is a Boeser trade for defensive help. Especially if they are keen on bringing back Taffoli. 

[189lb enforcers?]

I’m amused by the ever-optimistic posts which elude to the not-so youthful prospect pool for D help. 

 

Sparing readers a rant on the gamble’s fallacy logic embedded in that same optimism, let’s see if there is value in examining/admitting what caliber and style of Dmen are on this magic bus of hope and dreams. 
 

Which prospective Dmen are potential impact players? 
Which of these Dmen are/project to be better options than we already have?

How far out are they?

Which of these players can’t easily be replaced/acquired as/by FA signings, PTO, etc?  

Let’s get real. 
Help is coming, via depth-depth and possibly OJ, after all this time, but on time to replace Edler, Tanev and Meyers, etc? Nope. Not even close. 
 

There are a few great, young, D prospects in the system. There are also a lot of average, depth-depth calibre kids who aren’t 19 and projecting upwards. What we do have is somewhat replaceable, almost wholesale, minus a few, IMO. 
 

It is understood that there exists a ratio of prospects to busts that is well above 1:2. Canuck fans should be well acquainted with that maxim, but continue to occupy their fantasies and rush to defend Benning’s strategies by holding up the D prospects as if they’re all going to make it and make a difference on the Canucks. 
 

I *also have hope that out of that aging pool comes some impact, let alone serviceable Dmen. However, I realize that exceeding few prospects improve their trajectories after 21 or 22 years old. If they aren’t excelling in or dominating the CHL/AHL, etc. by then, I can make some reasonable deductions about what calibre of players we can expect them to be in the NHL. 
 

If the ability to play a regular shift on the bottom pairing is that ‘hope’ ceiling, other than cap relief, what is all the fuss about when it comes to the current depth-depth D in Utica? Save OJ, there is little size, desire or skill which isn’t easily replaceable, so this reality does not inspire me with optimism. Hence the post. 
 

The Dcore has long been, now is, and will continue to be a growing problem with prospects projecting to be redundant filler, the most common Vey-ish commodity in the league. Hope and optimism in clap-happy posts won’t make this problem go away. 
 

Really, Rafferty is the answer? How far the bar has fallen. 

 

[aGENT]

38 minutes ago, 189lb enforcers? said:

I’m amused by the ever-optimistic posts which elude to the not-so youthful prospect pool for D help. 

 

Sparing readers a rant on the gamble’s fallacy logic embedded in that same optimism, let’s see if there is value in examining/admitting what caliber and style of Dmen are on this magic bus of hope and dreams. 
 

Which prospective Dmen are potential impact players? 
Which of these Dmen are/project to be better options than we already have?

How far out are they?

Which of these players can’t easily be replaced/acquired as/by FA signings, PTO, etc?  

Let’s get real. 
Help is coming, via depth-depth and possibly OJ, after all this time, but on time to replace Edler, Tanev and Meyers, etc? Nope. Not even close. 
 

There are a few great, young, D prospects in the system. There are also a lot of average, depth-depth calibre kids who aren’t 19 and projecting upwards. What we do have is somewhat replaceable, almost wholesale, minus a few, IMO. 
 

It is understood that there exists a ratio of prospects to busts that is well above 1:2. Canuck fans should be well acquainted with that maxim, but continue to occupy their fantasies and rush to defend Benning’s strategies by holding up the D prospects as if they’re all going to make it and make a difference on the Canucks. 
 

I *also have hope that out of that aging pool comes some impact, let alone serviceable Dmen. However, I realize that exceeding few prospects improve their trajectories after 21 or 22 years old. If they aren’t excelling in or dominating the CHL/AHL, etc. by then, I can make some reasonable deductions about what calibre of players we can expect them to be in the NHL. 
 

If the ability to play a regular shift on the bottom pairing is that ‘hope’ ceiling, other than cap relief, what is all the fuss about when it comes to the current depth-depth D in Utica? Save OJ, there is little size, desire or skill which isn’t easily replaceable, so this reality does not inspire me with optimism. Hence the post. 
 

The Dcore has long been, now is, and will continue to be a growing problem with prospects projecting to be redundant filler, the most common Vey-ish commodity in the league. Hope and optimism in clap-happy posts won’t make this problem go away. 
 

Really, Rafferty is the answer? How far the bar has fallen. 

 

Solely? No.

 

But we do have him, a returning Tryamkin, OJ, Rathbone and Woo all on solid trajectories. Are all of them likely to make it as top 4/impact D? Probably not...but I'd not put it past one or two, with another one or two being decent depth guys. Add them to Hughes, Edler, Tanev (assuming he re-ups) and Myers and that's plenty capable/potentially capable D over the next couple years to fill out a roster. And guys like Brisebois, and potentially Utunen etc for affordable depth roles as well.

 

Beyond that, assuming we re-sign Toffoli, I'd be pretty surprised to not see one of Boeser/Virtanen moved for a D at some point. And there's always free agency as guys like Edler/Tanev age out in the next 3+ years (right around the time the cap is expected to rise with a new TV deal AND we're shedding the last of our expensive 'bridge' vets AND Luongo's cap recapture).

 

Do we need at least one other impact D to pair with Hughes? Probably somewhere in the next few years, ya. But home grown from our pool, traded for, or signed as UFA, I'm not particularly worried. We've got enough other guys to fill in the bottom two pairs behind Hughes and whoever emerges from those multiple scenarios.

 

 

[riffraff]

38 minutes ago, aGENT said:

Solely? No.

 

But we do have him, a returning Tryamkin, OJ, Rathbone and Woo all on solid trajectories. Are all of them likely to make it as top 4/impact D? Probably not...but I'd not put it past one or two, with another one or two being decent depth guys. Add them to Hughes, Edler, Tanev (assuming he re-ups) and Myers and that's plenty capable/potentially capable D over the next couple years to fill out a roster. And guys like Brisebois, and potentially Utunen etc for affordable depth roles as well.

 

Beyond that, assuming we re-sign Toffoli, I'd be pretty surprised to not see one of Boeser/Virtanen moved for a D at some point. And there's always free agency as guys like Edler/Tanev age out in the next 3+ years (right around the time the cap is expected to rise with a new TV deal AND we're shedding the last of our expensive 'bridge' vets AND Luongo's cap recapture).

 

Do we need at least one other impact D to pair with Hughes? Probably somewhere in the next few years, ya. But home grown from our pool, traded for, or signed as UFA, I'm not particularly worried. We've got enough other guys to fill in the bottom two pairs behind Hughes and whoever emerges from those multiple scenarios.

 

 

Is this confirmed?

 

And considering he has been scratched in the khl what type of chance does he have here at making an impact defending against goals.  We all know he has impactful size but so did Tom sestito.

 

JB has more or less gone all in via trade to get us into the playoffs.  That’s fine.  I like playoffs.

 

but our all in defence is a seven deuce in measurable skill atm.