Canucks & NHL News, Rumours, and & Fantasy GM | Playing out the stretch.

Purely my speculation but I wonder if they are going to pivot to raising the ceiling rather than the floor in terms of forwards. Opposite strategy of last offseason.
Ironically, I think this would be a good offseason to sign a bunch of buy-low depth on short-term deals (ie. J Skinner or Donato) and hope to god some guys from Abbotsford punch through.
 
Ironically, I think this would be a good offseason to sign a bunch of buy-low depth on short-term deals (ie. J Skinner or Donato) and hope to god some guys from Abbotsford punch through.

I remember the 2010 draft, Skinner was ranked to go to us for the entirety of April, then May and June he made a climb. Don't like him as a target now. Donato is a good target, but he's staying I think unfortunately in Chicago.

I think big game hunting is the way. But it better work out. If you're going after Ehlers, why not just go after Marner?
 
Ironically, I think this would be a good offseason to sign a bunch of buy-low depth on short-term deals (ie. J Skinner or Donato) and hope to god some guys from Abbotsford punch through.
Why would Donato be a buy low candidate who would sign a short term deal? He's on pace for 30G 60P+. seems like he's going to get Suter money/term and then some.
 
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Ironically, I think this would be a good offseason to sign a bunch of buy-low depth on short-term deals (ie. J Skinner or Donato) and hope to god some guys from Abbotsford punch through.

I don't think Ryan Donato is going to come cheap given that he's about to score 30 goals and hit 60 points. Eyssimont fits the bill. However, the Canucks have spent a lot of time and money developing their own internal options and, I suspect, would rather give Bains, Sasson, Raty, and Aman a chance.
 
Build from the goalie out. With a healthy Demko (if) and Lankinen, a fixed D-core, and a relatively deep group of bottom six forwards, they need to focus on upgrading the skill in their top 6 forward group. I appreciate that's a pretty obvious statement.
I have become a Suter believer. You need guys who can play in the top 6 at reasonable cap hits. I'm not sure you can have 4 players in that catergory playing in the top 6 (Chytil, Suter, Garland, Debrusk). They need to seek a trade that can combine the cap hits of 2 of Chytil, Garland and Debrusk, to acquire a 2C. eg trade two for picks or prospects and sign Bennet (not necessarily in that order)? They need to sign or replace Boeser with a scoring winger. And they need to hope Lekkerimaki develops well. That should be the plan on paper. It won't be an easy task but that's where they should start.
 
There is just so much uncertainty right now at C.

1. What's the extent of EP's injury? Is he going to have another offseason trying to recover rather than build for 25-26?
2. What's the status of Chytil? Is he basically done? If not, is there even an estimation of his return?
3. What's happening with Suter? He's played very well but what does he want regarding his next contract?
4. Can Raty stick in the NHL? He's shown ability in spurts and seems eager to constantly improve, but will his skating always hold him back from more?

Right now, this team could legitimately not have a Top 9 C going into next year.

I don't envy mgmt in trying to plan anything.
 
Build from the goalie out. With a healthy Demko (if) and Lankinen, a fixed D-core, and a relatively deep group of bottom six forwards, they need to focus on upgrading the skill in their top 6 forward group. I appreciate that's a pretty obvious statement.
I have become a Suter believer. You need guys who can play in the top 6 at reasonable cap hits. I'm not sure you can have 4 players in that catergory playing in the top 6 (Chytil, Suter, Garland, Debrusk). They need to seek a trade that can combine the cap hits of 2 of Chytil, Garland and Debrusk, to acquire a 2C. eg trade two for picks or prospects and sign Bennet (not necessarily in that order)? They need to sign or replace Boeser with a scoring winger. And they need to hope Lekkerimaki develops well. That should be the plan on paper. It won't be an easy task but that's where they should start.

Holy shit, break it into segments. You aren't presenting to the brightest crowd here.

I do believer(tm) we should re-sign Suter. I'd still like to parlay Chytil into a smarter but less risky gamble. At least with stuntman X, We'll get games out of him...Don't think that player is Bennett. I think Benns, is the perfect tweener...he's a great 3C, and a great 2C, at diffrent times. He's a guy that drags you into the fight but can't finish it. I have zero clue who the 2C answer is...I think we need a guy who plays like Morrison...or Nuge. 2C skill with 3C capability.
 
Why would Donato be a buy low candidate who would sign a short term deal? He's on pace for 30G 60P+. seems like he's going to get Suter money/term and then some.
I don't think Ryan Donato is going to come cheap given that he's about to score 30 goals and hit 60 points. Eyssimont fits the bill. However, the Canucks have spent a lot of time and money developing their own internal options and, I suspect, would rather give Bains, Sasson, Raty, and Aman a chance.
I can easily see him waiting for a big contract but a prior history of being a floater may force him to settle for a short term contract. It happened with Daniel Sprong after putting up 46 points in 66 games.
 
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I can easily see him waiting for a big contract but a prior history of being a floater may force him to settle for a short term contract. It happened with Daniel Sprong after putting up 46 points in 66 games.
in a flat cap era where GMs are terrified of making a mistake, i could see it.

in a rapidly rising cap environment combined with demand for C's exceeding (massively?) UFA supply, it isn't going to happen this summer IMO.

I don't want to be the team doing it, but he's getting $5MM+....perhaps more.
 
There is just so much uncertainty right now at C.

1. What's the extent of EP's injury? Is he going to have another offseason trying to recover rather than build for 25-26?
2. What's the status of Chytil? Is he basically done? If not, is there even an estimation of his return?
3. What's happening with Suter? He's played very well but what does he want regarding his next contract?
4. Can Raty stick in the NHL? He's shown ability in spurts and seems eager to constantly improve, but will his skating always hold him back from more?

Right now, this team could legitimately not have a Top 9 C going into next year.

I don't envy mgmt in trying to plan anything.
#1C Blueger is going to save the day don't worry.
 
Holy shit, break it into segments. You aren't presenting to the brightest crowd here.

I do believer(tm) we should re-sign Suter. I'd still like to parlay Chytil into a smarter but less risky gamble. At least with stuntman X, We'll get games out of him...Don't think that player is Bennett. I think Benns, is the perfect tweener...he's a great 3C, and a great 2C, at diffrent times. He's a guy that drags you into the fight but can't finish it. I have zero clue who the 2C answer is...I think we need a guy who plays like Morrison...or Nuge. 2C skill with 3C capability.
I'll admit I gave Bennett as an example because I couldn't think of an alternative. A guy with speed and skill who isn't made of glass is the right profile.
 
I could see him becoming a perfect tweener of a 2/3C and then management has no idea how to handle that.
He's got size, grit, a ton of mental toughness and his work ethic is off the charts; written off by fans multiple times going back to his draft year yet he keeps grinding up the levels.

Not sure about 2C, but he's a near lock (IMO) to play a bottom 6 role for a long time in the NHL. It will be interesting to see how he's deployed next year. being the best FO guy on the team, he's going to get a lot of opportunities at both end of the ice.
 
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Not sure what the plan is right now but Canucks management isn’t getting a lot of wins right now nor aggressively making moves as last season.

I still can’t believe we started the year with a generational defenceman, two 100 point centers, and a franchise goalie to Pius Suter being our 1C and Lankinen as our starter. It’s better to watch this team from a distant then emotionally invest into the bi polarness.
 
He's got size, grit, a ton of mental toughness and his work ethic is off the charts; written off by fans multiple times going back to his draft year yet he keeps grinding up the levels.

Not sure about 2C, but he's a near lock (IMO) to play a bottom 6 role for a long time in the NHL. It will be interesting to see how he's deployed next year. being the best FO guy on the team, he's going to get a lot of opportunities at both end of the ice.

The guy is like...27....he no 18 anymore....he's gonna fall the f*** off. I don't want to be that team in the end.
 
I don't really agree with your interpretation of his foresight.

Bread and circus policy is married with Trump's America. Pro sports are primed to explode in monetary gain in the next 10 years even more than they have. The insane cap growth is real, and will send Canadian markets straight back to the 90s with no hard cap since it's a gate-driven league and they'll be making 60 cents on the USD.

This offseason I actually see a bit of a window for the next 3 years. I don't see a whole lot of quality on the FA market, but the names out there will set the market up to inflate cap numbers. I don't know 100% that @Vector is with me, as we've butted heads on this, but I think this offseason could be a lot like the 2014 offseason where the Panthers signed Dave Bolland to an absurd deal and then flopped like the disaster everyone except Tallon knew it would.

Lots of high numbers for players who haven't really earned it. But you can always ease in to your gambles. Is a guy like Ehlers worth 8 figures? f*** no. But could he be? Yeah, probably. The beauty here is we really only need to mark one top-end guy. But remember in doing so, the internal cap that agents push in negotiations will be f***ed. If we give Ehlers 10, how does Hughes' camp not demand at least 15?


Never mind that these players don't deserve it. Some footie players get paid a king's ransom to kick a ball and flop upon any sort of contact.
Gate-driven sports are sensitive to consumer confidence and levels of disposable income. My point is that the NHL might split into haves and have-nots: Those that can spend to the cap and those that impose internal caps. Canadian teams (other than maybe Toronto and Montreal) could well have internal caps soon. But so might smaller markets - Buffalo, Utah, etc. So, while there might technically be cap space available, in practice there won't be. And this dynamic could be independent on how GMs spend like drunken sailors on July 1st.
 
We should be looking to acquire a young centre or a prospect from a team that is looking to compete now. Ideally we could make a trade that is something like Demko + 2nd for players like:

Buffalo - Helenius or Ostlund

Columbus - Sillinger (if they move on from Elvis, which rumours have suggested in prior years)

Philly - Luchanko would be amazing but we’d have to pony up a bigger package.

Or perhaps a three way trade involving Detroit (Talbot will be 38 and Lyon also has injury issues), Florida (Bob will be 37 next season), or New Jersey (Markstrom is getting older and has gotten injured and declined as the season has gone on. Allen is a 1B at best).
 

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