Post-Game Talk: [GM74] Canucks lose to Jets | 1-3 | Suter | That’s All Folks

Too much squandered territory before this game. This is the probable result.

Whoever thought compete now was the path, including this management, could not have been more wrong.

This isn't injuries, it's not drama, it's the strength of the roster outside of a few very key building blocks. It was not, nor was likely to be, good enough... And here we are.

A gut-wrenching season overall.

I’m sure a lot felt similarly in 2008. Anyone who expected us to get close to what we did last year were kidding themselves headed into this season. I am confident provided we show as much prudence as the off-season before last we can return next year.
 
You can't really fault the effort. They're getting the maximum out of the current lineup. And a 2-2-2 record in some of the buildings they went into on this six-game road-trip is realistically about all you could expect.

So now that the the playoffs are basically out of reach--they really really need to re-adjust some of the ice-time. The best result of the last eight games is to get loads of ice-time for kids like Raty, EP25, Lekkerimaki, Mancini and Karlsson.

That's the only thing that bothered me about Forbort being turn-styled on the third goal. Hard to criticize him since he's been solid on this road-swing.

But he's a post-30 UFA this off-season......and re-signing him probably isn't likely. If it was EP25 or Mancini getting turned inside out, then you just live with it. But Forbort's ice-time needs to be re-allocated. I'd pair Mancini and EP25 as a right-left tandem and play them a ton.
 
This offseason is going to be interesting…

Hughes-Hronek
Pettersson-Myers
Pettersson-Willander
Mancini

That’s a pretty solid blue line for next season, in front of a healthy Demko we should be okay there. Our forward group though, I dunno, it needs work…

DeBrusk-Pettersson-???
???-???-Garland
Joshua-Chytil-Sherwood
Hoglander-Blueger-O’Connor
Karlsson

We have about 14 million to upgrade that when factoring 9.5mil for goalies. I’d like to see a lot of that spent on a 2C if we can find someone of decent quality… I’m really not seeing the money to re-sign a guy like Suter unless Chytil is traded.

I think the money comes from moving out Hoglander who almost covers Suter's probable raise entirely. Of course, finding another team willing to take on his now 3M contract after the season he had will be difficult.

Nevertheless, there isn't a 2C in free agency. That's part of the problem. We pretty much have to rely on Chytil and/or Suter.
 
I’ll give this group of players a lot of credit for giving their all despite being undermanned and outskilled.

Yeah, that’s where I’m at. I know the chances have been bleak for a good while now, but this group has certainly battled.

Hope we have some entertaining games to finish, then we start dreaming of next year.
 
I've had more than a month and a half to come to grips with with t he fact that this team isn't making the post-season. It's been obvious for a long time, that it just wasn't going to be their year.

The only 'regret' is that this is almost a totally different team with Demko between the pipes. With him in goal, they'd at the very least be a lot closer to the post-season. But you could argue then when he basically missed the first four months--their season was done.
 
We were endlessly spoiled for those seasons. I still think 09/10 was a better team than 10/11, they just had injury issues and ran into the most stacked team of the salary cap era.

I vaguely recall one year we had so many injuries on the blue line we had to play forwards as defense?

But I can remember which year it was.
 
Too much squandered territory before this game. This is the probable result.

Whoever thought compete now was the path, including this management, could not have been more wrong.

This isn't injuries, it's not drama, it's the strength of the roster outside of a few very key building blocks. It was not, nor was likely to be, good enough... And here we are.

A gut-wrenching season overall.

Respectfully disagree. I see where you are coming from, but you have to try and compete when you have a player like Hughes on the roster. I question some of the moves that this management group has made over the years, but I think the overall "we must try to win" philosophy is one I am aligned with.

I also think that this team can move into consistent playoff contender (cup contender is going to be a stretch) with a couple of bold moves in the off season.

If we can snag one of the top free agents (Ehlers or Marner is where I'd lean), it then opens up the possibility for us to trade one of our D + picks for a solid 2C option somewhere and balance out the roster again.

I'm optimistic because our kids are looking really good. D-Petey's emergence and Raty's solid play have me hopeful that we can slot them in as full time NHLs next year, and save some money on cap as well.

Mancini looks promising, one could argue he'd make a great 7D.

Lekkerimaki just needs to put time in the gym and gain those few pounds he'll need to fight off checks at the NHL, but the kid looks to have pretty good instincts and is on a good trajectory as well. I dunno why, but it also looked like he has some pretty instant chemistry with Hughes as well 🤷‍♂️

If Pettersson can bounce back to a solid 1C + a couple of key moves in the off season, I think we're right back in the mix for the next 4-5 years, especially once we re-sign Hughes.
 
This offseason is going to be interesting…

Hughes-Hronek
Pettersson-Myers
Pettersson-Willander
Mancini

That’s a pretty solid blue line for next season, in front of a healthy Demko we should be okay there. Our forward group though, I dunno, it needs work…

DeBrusk-Pettersson-???
???-???-Garland
Joshua-Chytil-Sherwood
Hoglander-Blueger-O’Connor
Karlsson

We have about 14 million to upgrade that when factoring 9.5mil for goalies. I’d like to see a lot of that spent on a 2C if we can find someone of decent quality… I’m really not seeing the money to re-sign a guy like Suter unless Chytil is traded.
I’d start with a base of

Debrusk Pettersson Hoglander
Joshua Suter Garland
O’Connor Blueger Sherwood
Whatever

They need to buy out or move Chytil and either luck out on one of the top UFA wingers or find a top 6 centre using one of Willander/Lek and 1st(s). Hoglander may need to go too.
 
Demko out half the year or more
Pettersson out for stretches + the Miller sideshow
Boeser concussed on a cheapshot
Miller taking a month of leave and being an absolute cancer to team morale (f*ck off, you prick)
Hughes out for longer stretches
Hronek out for longer stretches
Chytil concussed on a cheapshot
Joshua out with cancer and never regains his form (understandably)

F*ck this season, it's half a miracle they are as close as they are.

No seriously, I think if JT Miller wasn't such an absolute b*tch, this team would be a playoff team right now (although the moves to improve the defense may not have been made, so who knows).
 
Demko out half the year or more
Pettersson out for stretches + the Miller sideshow
Boeser concussed on a cheapshot
Miller taking a month of leave and being an absolute cancer to team morale (f*ck off, you prick)
Hughes out for longer stretches
Hronek out for longer stretches
Chytil concussed on a cheapshot
Joshua out with cancer and never regains his form (understandably)

F*ck this season, it's half a miracle they are as close as they are.

No seriously, I think if JT Miller wasn't such an absolute b*tch, this team would be a playoff team right now (although the moves to improve the defense may not have been made, so who knows).
It's not a miracle at all. The west is just garbage. You have 2 teams that won't reach 60 pts plus another that won't reach 70. After those teams you have 5-6 mediocre teams that include the canucks. The Blue are on an insane hot streak but they don't have the talent and they are going to get destroyed in the first round. They are not a good team.
 
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Respectfully disagree. I see where you are coming from, but you have to try and compete when you have a player like Hughes on the roster. I question some of the moves that this management group has made over the years, but I think the overall "we must try to win" philosophy is one I am aligned with.

I also think that this team can move into consistent playoff contender (cup contender is going to be a stretch) with a couple of bold moves in the off season.

If we can snag one of the top free agents (Ehlers or Marner is where I'd lean), it then opens up the possibility for us to trade one of our D + picks for a solid 2C option somewhere and balance out the roster again.

I'm optimistic because our kids are looking really good. D-Petey's emergence and Raty's solid play have me hopeful that we can slot them in as full time NHLs next year, and save some money on cap as well.

Mancini looks promising, one could argue he'd make a great 7D.

Lekkerimaki just needs to put time in the gym and gain those few pounds he'll need to fight off checks at the NHL, but the kid looks to have pretty good instincts and is on a good trajectory as well. I dunno why, but it also looked like he has some pretty instant chemistry with Hughes as well 🤷‍♂️

If Pettersson can bounce back to a solid 1C + a couple of key moves in the off season, I think we're right back in the mix for the next 4-5 years, especially once we re-sign Hughes.
This is pretty much how I see it as well, and have for awhile. This season was almost like karma for last - just so much that has gone wrong.

I believe in this core, and that with an excellent off-season Petey can make it back to true 1C play. We now have a top 5 D, the best defenseman and potential leader in our history, and potentially the best goalie combo in the league.

We absolutely need a couple of big moves in the off season. That likely has to include a big forward free agent, and a trade that will include some valuable assets. We need more grit up front as well. The good news is that this season we have now seen some younger players (aka Lekki, Aman) get some good experience and are in a better spot to step up.

I vote for trying to resign Boeser and Suter if you can get them at reasonable numbers. Sign and trade one of them if you need to create more space. There is still a very realistic chance that Alvin et al can do this.

It's been an incredibly frustrating year, so I understand why people are upset and calling for heads. I've been one of them at times (love the guy, but still not sold on Toch's system, as example). But there is a path here to having the best team we've had in history. Time for Alvin and Rutherford to cook or get out of the kitchen.😎
 
Too much squandered territory before this game. This is the probable result.

Whoever thought compete now was the path, including this management, could not have been more wrong.

This isn't injuries, it's not drama, it's the strength of the roster outside of a few very key building blocks. It was not, nor was likely to be, good enough... And here we are.

A gut-wrenching season overall.
so you want to sell Quinn?
 
We were endlessly spoiled for those seasons. I still think 09/10 was a better team than 10/11, they just had injury issues and ran into the most stacked team of the salary cap era.

Ehhhh it was a better scoring team, the addition of Hamhuis alone did things for the club on the transitional side of things and helped possession numbers. And having Malhotra take tough matchups away from Kes was huge as well in preserving him to play healthy at the start of said playoffs.

I can go over that 10-11 season with a fine toothed comb. I started posting here and watching every single game. My dumb ass even turned down dates to watch that team. That’s how good it was and stupid I was.

I should add that it would have been nice to see Mitchell in those 2010 playoffs. I think it would have been a 7-gamer.
 
I think the money comes from moving out Hoglander who almost covers Suter's probable raise entirely. Of course, finding another team willing to take on his now 3M contract after the season he had will be difficult.

Nevertheless, there isn't a 2C in free agency. That's part of the problem. We pretty much have to rely on Chytil and/or Suter.

Whether it’s through free agency, or through trade, we have to find a 2C somewhere…

There are a couple guys in free agency we could target, but unless we want to pay 8mil to Bennett, could be tricky.

I’d be fine with moving Hoglander for a pick and re-signing Suter for around 3.5mil.
 
You can say what you will about Canuck Luck and the like, but in my 50+ years of following this team, I cannot remember a season where so many things went wrong. I dread what this snakebit season still has to offer us.

At least, I have some hope for our team going forward... provided the entire squad doesn't get killed in some kind of bizarre gardening accident. Our defence looks more than solid. Pettersson and Demko could return to form. Our depth seems decent. We can hope that management might be able to pull off a solid off season and somehow get us some scoring help. I feel that should not totally beyond the realms of possibility.

The off-season will be very interesting.
 

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