Speculation: Canucks Off-Season is going to be Fun

[AlwaysSunnyInTampa]

If Hughes walks, the whole city of Vancouver needs to send a message that Aquilini needs to sell. I mean yeah there's no love lost between Vancouver and any other fanbase. But at a human level I'm saying you guys deserve better

 

[GirardSpinorama]

The defence sucked for over half of the season though (until the Miller trade). It wasn’t until they acquired Marcus Pettersson and Mancini, and D-Petey graduated from the AHL, and Forbort/Hronek/Hughes all got healthy from injuries, that they had a good defence, which was fairly recent.

Players like Juulsen, Deshernais, Forbort, and Myers were playing top 4/top 2 minutes.

You can say that for a lot of teams. Injuries will continue to happen, young players dont develop linearly. I wouldnt even consider Mancini a NHL player until he plays half a season

 

[qcal1427]

Well if they want to follow the "Capitals method" they need to take a big risk on a young top-line center who has had a bad year or two even if the cap hit could end up looking atrocious if they don't pan out.

The Canucks should trade for Elias Pettersson

 

[biturbo19]

Fascinating, or frustrating?

I see a pretty massive hole in the lineup at 2C, and very few realistic options likely available out there to fill it. And that's if Pettersson gets his head on straight next year with a chance at that offseason "reset" without all of the alleged "drama" and "distractions". If that doesn't happen, it's all even more hopeless.

The problem is...half the league are basically looking for a Top-6 Center. Very few of them tend to hit the market without some serious concerns (age, price, bad contracts, injury risk, attitude issues, etc.), so the supply is a major shortfall relative to the demand.


And while the Canucks have cap space post JT Bozo trade and a defence corps that is more or less in place and should be good enough if key guys can stay healthier...they have a big question to answer on the Boeser contract, and still need that Top-6 Center and at least one more significant Top-6 Winger who can drive play to some extent offensively, rather than more of a supporting/complementary passenger type role. So that can all very quickly eat up any of that cap space that currently exists on paper right now.

 

[Canucks LB]

Lost me here. That defense is pretty bad and captain obvious, but Quinn is bolting for NJ first chance he gets.

That defense is bad?

Quinn hughes = Top 2 Dman in the world
Hronek = 1b 2a Defender
m.petey = #3/4 Shutdown defender
Myers = #4/5 Defender
DPETEY = has arguably been our best defender behind Hronek since getting the call up and is what like 20 years old?
Atm #5/6
Mancini = Has looked great again, #5/6
Willander = Top Defender prospect with size and skating

If you think that’s bad, give your head a shake.

We were running brannstrom ( who was okay) Juulson and soucy for half the year man.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

That defense is bad?

Quinn hughes = Top 2 Dman in the world
Hronek = 1b 2a Defender
m.petey = #3/4 Shutdown defender
Myers = #4/5 Defender
DPETEY = has arguably been our best defender behind Hronek since getting the call up and is what like 20 years old?
Atm #5/6
Mancini = Has looked great again, #5/6
Willander = Top Defender prospect with size and skating

If you think that’s bad, give your head a shake.

We were running brannstrom ( who was okay) Juulson and soucy for half the year man.

And Soucy was good last year. Its very possible for a dman to fall off.

 

[biturbo19]

And Soucy was good last year. Its very possible for a dman to fall off.

I'd reckon the hope is that any fall-off from a guy like Myers is offset by the upside that Willander has. We've seen plenty of college players like him step right in and quickly assume a Top-4 role, or at least quasi-Top-4 minutes.

The rest of the defence corps is...if healthy, a rock solid ice tilting top pair with Hughes-Hronek, and Marcus Pettersson to anchor a second pairing where he's entirely slotted properly within the depth chart for his ability level. So yeah, Myers is the weak link there...but there is a succession plan on the way with Willander to absorb some of that as another RHD behind him with some big minutes potential.

Not a world-beater defence corps so long as Myers is potentially playing ~Top-4ish minutes...but should still be plenty "good enough", especially with Hughes being an absolutely huge difference-maker. It's also a team coached with solid team defence in mind overall.


It's really up front where the Canucks are a bit of an absolute trainwreck right now. No 2C, a 1C who isn't playing up to his capability. Really only 3 bonafide Top-6 Forwards and one of them is a UFA that they might not be able to retain. It's ugly.

 

[My3Sons]

My guess is that Quinn extends with Vancouver for a couple of years before this deal ends. He can go to NJ but I think that all three will want their contracts to end at the same time so they can decide what to do as a group. Jack's contract ends five years after this one. I expect Luke and Quinn to time their contracts to end that year as well, at most, one year afterwards. So for Quinn maybe he gives Vancouver a three year extension?

 

[eviohh26]

Biggest need is filling our 2C. Chytil's future doesn't look good. Even if he comes back healthy and plays the full season he really lacks a scoring touch .


I Don't think there is too much out there on the market for a 2C . We may have to part with our top prospect to get one. Which I've been strongly against up to this point but we may not have a choice.

 

[M2Beezy]

Biggest need is filling our 2C. Chytil's future doesn't look good. Even if he comes back healthy and plays the full season he really lacks a scoring touch .


I Don't think there is too much out there on the market for a 2C . We may have to part with our top prospect to get one. Which I've been strongly against up to this point but we may not have a choice.

I wonder if Bo Horvat or JT Miller could be available...

 

[Fist of Fury]

Hudson Fascinating is not available, his extension is in Lou's desk drawer. We can't lose him, Like we lost Tavares.

 

[EpochLink]

Make sure no player they get comes with massive baby mama drama.

 

[ratbid]

Wrong thread n/m

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

Wrong thread n/m

It happens.

 

[miscs75]

Hudson Fascinating is not available, his extension is in Lou's desk drawer. We can't lose him, Like we lost Tavares.

4, 5, 6 or 7 year deal?

 

[Goatlender]

You can say that for a lot of teams. Injuries will continue to happen, young players dont develop linearly. I wouldnt even consider Mancini a NHL player until he plays half a season

Right, but that wasn’t the point I was addressing.

You said words to the effect that Vancouver’s goaltending numbers were bad considering the Canucks supposedly have a great defence. I pointed out that the team’s defence has only been good recently, and that most of the season the team has had a bad defence (partially because the team didn’t have M. Pettersson, Mancini, D-Petey, and partly because Hughes and Hronek were both injured during fairly large stretches).

 

[TS Quint]

Canucks had one outlier season where everything went right. Expectations have become unreasonable because of it.

 

[604]

1) Tank (remaining games).
2) Win lottery.
3) Draft Misa.
(Centre problem solved)

4) Trade 2024 3rd to get 2025 3rd back.
5) Sign Luke Hughes for $9.1m x 5 years.
(Hughes problem solved - aka franchise D problem)

6) Trade one of the LD Pettersson’s for a top 6 forward.
(Top 6 forward depth problem solved)

7) Hire medics + clerics to help Demko + EP40 with health and mental issues
(Franchise centre and goalie problems solved)

So they just need to add Misa (2C) and L. Hughes (2D) to a magically healthy Q. Hughes (1D), EP40 (1C), and Demko (1G)…all problems solved.

 

[Canucks LB]

Right, but that wasn’t the point I was addressing.

You said words to the effect that Vancouver’s goaltending numbers were bad considering the Canucks supposedly have a great defence. I pointed out that the team’s defence has only been good recently, and that most of the season the team has had a bad defence (partially because the team didn’t have M. Pettersson, Mancini, D-Petey, and partly because Hughes and Hronek were both injured during fairly large stretches).

It’s just people that don’t watch, they don’t realize it’s completely different than it was in the first half of the season

 

[RandV]

Goalie situation isnt fine with goalies who can't even get past .900 sv under this supposedly good defense. Probably need to upgrade on Myers who will be one year older. MPetterson is more of a number 4/5 than a 3. Young number 2 Centers are almost impossible to get so you might have to just go for Bennett. Rebuilding teams tend not to trade youngish centers. Maybe Zacha is still considered a C? Maybeee Minny hates Rossi for some unexplainable reason (but they will want win now pieces).

Vancouver's defense was actually terrible most of the season, starting shorthanded to begin with then having long term injuries to what few good dmen it did have. It got revamped following the Miller trade adding Marcus Pettersson and the emergence of Elias Pettersson, and when you only have 6 guys on the blue line adding a couple quality guys can have a massive impact. Like Tyler Myers on his own isn't that good but if you can pair him with a steady guy like Marcus Pettersson instead of a 6/7 guy you can get a significant improvement in play. Vancouver's goalie save percentage have also been significantly impacted by injuries.

Vancouver has a lot of work to do up front which is where the 'interesting' part of the topic comes in, but have a solid foundation at G/D for next season.

 

[RebuildinVan]

The issue with the Canucks is that they believe they are cup contenders and will continue to make moves that reflect that.

They are allergic to multiple 1st round picks and would rather cut corners to building a contender.

Itll be the same song and dance until Hughes ends up leaving.

The issue isnt they think they are contenders, the real is issue is an owner who wants to sacrifice the future for a round or two of playoff revenue. But yes same result

 

[Goatlender]

1) Tank (remaining games).
2) Win lottery.
3) Draft Misa.
(Centre problem solved)

4) Trade 2024 3rd to get 2025 3rd back.
5) Sign Luke Hughes for $9.1m x 5 years.
(Hughes problem solved - aka franchise D problem)

6) Trade one of the LD Pettersson’s for a top 6 forward.
(Top 6 forward depth problem solved)

7) Hire medics + clerics to help Demko + EP40 with health and mental issues
(Franchise centre and goalie problems solved)

So they just need to add Misa (2C) and L. Hughes (2D) to a magically healthy Q. Hughes (1D), EP40 (1C), and Demko (1G)…all problems solved.

Misa is listed as LW on hockeydb?

 

[RebuildinVan]

Canucks had one outlier season where everything went right. Expectations have become unreasonable because of it.

This is correct

 

[RandV]

Another year isn't going to change. Quinn will want to play with his brothers

Now I have no personal insight into the Hughes brothers, but speaking as someone who does actually have a lot of brothers I feel qualified to point out that just because your family doesn't mean you're automatically going to want to all want to live in the same city and work together. Like the two Neidermayer brothers joined up in Anaheim, but the three Staal brothers outside of a trade that put Eric and Jordan together a few years never made an effort to voluntarily unite.

I'm not going to deny that there's a possibility that Quinn Hughes would want to go to New Jersey, I'm just holding that Vancouver as the incumbent team remains the favourite to sign his next contract. Vancouver is his team, his locker room, his friends, he'll have been here 8+ years and have other connections. In my opinion the biggest factor will be the state of the franchise, if the Canucks continue to proceed as a mess or if they can get back to the 2023-24 vibes. The former will push Hughes away, in which case the Devils moving in the right direction and having his brothers gives them a major advantage over the 30 other teams.

 

[byrath]

The issue isnt they think they are contenders, the real is issue is an owner who wants to sacrifice the future for a round or two of playoff revenue. But yes same result

To be fair, there are very few, if any, NHL owners that would authorize a rebuild while there is still a reasonable chance at playoffs, and I think Allvin/Rutherford have been making moves fairly balanced between future and present.