The summer days of "nothing".
A few questions that I think can be asked.
Was Tocchet THAT good or was it Allvin/Rutherford's rebuilding of the 27th ranked defence to 5 th best in the league.
Yes, we're blessed to have a front office with a singular vision. If the higher ups make the roster moves the coach requires, both parties come out better off. This is new to us, yeah?
Mr. Ego got coach of the year a year when Luongo should have got the Hart, a year that Luongo was the 2nd best goalie in the league by far barely behind Brodeur.
This year Tocchet gets the nod but that defence had/was a huge impact.
Tocchet asked for defensive defenders like Soucy, Cole, Zadorov, Forbort and Desharnais because thats exactly what the defense needed to be better.
This isnt Gillis bringing in Keith Ballard so coach V can bench him in favor of Alberts and Rome. This is the coach coming in early, seeing what needs to change, and having time to do so with the GMs. The fact we did it in only one offseason is whats worthy of COTY, imo.
Why are only the Russians unable to play for Tocchet, these guys aren't bad players but are getting singled out in a TEAM game.
Anthony Beauvillier couldnt play but Phil Di Guiseppe played 51 games and never seen a day of waivers.
And once every 5 games Phil would make a great defensive play on the PK for his league min and we'd all go ahhhh ok thats why.
Its a 12 man forward group with three 20 min players and lots of special teams time.
By the end of season we had like 8 guys i'd rather see on the PK than Mikhayev so unless he scoring, hes useless.
I am pretty sure they could have kept Zadorov for the 275K difference in salary but now they have to replace his size, skating, first pass, speed and presence. And the team still is looking for another dman to replace what they had already.
Im on the fence with Zadorov but I do see a path where locking up Huggy and Zadorov on the left side gives them zero flexibility later on, whereas a rotating door of Cole, Forbort, Soucy, D-Petey gives them space to make moves.
Maybe also it was a line in the sand, a point that we're gonna build a great team by not overpaying anyone, I dunno.
But either way im not gonna lose any sleep over "how will we replace the guy we got for a 3rd and a 5th, who happened to fit in SO well he got overpaid".
Im gonna think of the next guy who wants to make that for themselves, now with added incentive with the Zads deal as an example.
What was with the Kuzmenko trade?
theguardianll: July 30, 2025:
"OMG How did we get a player like Debrusk for zero assets?!"
Lindholm ended up being much to expensive for what the team got out of him and the costs going forward.
We got to try the goods first and we decided we didnt want to Nazem Kadri ourselves longterm. He was the best player on the market at the time since Pittburgh was fighting for their playoff lives, and as a RH center and former Rutherford draft choice did tick some boxes. The restraint to not overpay, or the hurt feelings from trying to retrade him, both saved us likely.
They had a player that meshed very well with Pettersson in him.
We now have a player that should fit Petey, Tocchet and the whole team better.
Pettersson was a Selke candidate with him, 100 point player and they were quite friendly together often smiling with each other on the bench.
Petey-Kuzy
Petey-Debrusk
Which has more likelyhood of helping Petey get back to his "selke" form?
Kuzmenko was a rookie still learning the game and maybe not fantastic in the dzone, as good a Boeser really but that was what a healthy Mikheyev was for, to MAKE the line more complete.
And now we have a 28yr old NHL veteran who is probably way better than Boeser in the defensive zone. And there was no healthy Ilya, but now there is a Sherwood or Heinen or Hoglander or Sprong.
Were Allvin and Rutherford THAT bad that they traded for 3 Russians that are all bad at hockey? And now have a 4th that didn't get more than a cup of coffee on the big club and likely traded soon.
First off Nikita was loved by all, and is currently a great player that by all accounts fit in seamlessly.
Ilya blew out his knee before his first regular season game in year 1 of 4 of an overpriced contract.
Andrei didnt play a lick of defense at a time when even without his 39 goal scoring prowess, we were firing at an alltime high.
The time for keeping good ol boys that smile lots and are good in the room and with their teammates is over. We want to win now.
Why is the medias not pointing out that there were many players under Tocchet that asked or demanded trades off his teams?
Theres 23 roster players and we had an absolutely messy cap situation to untangle. Some guys only knew Benning Weisbrod run Canucks and assumed it would be pergatory.
Tocchets a brute because Conor Garland asked for a trade after two middling years?
Good. Now he sucked it up when he realized he was worthless, made himself into something and is probably indespensable.
Tocchets a brute because Brock Boeser asked for a trade after six middling years?
Good. Now he also realized he was worthless at the time and we may have saved ourselves from a second Markus Naslund to Ottawa for a 4th type deals.
Dude came back scored 40 and actually hit and backchecked this year, it was crazy.
Im kinda hoping Podkolzin has asked for a trade because newsflash, also worthless at this point today. Could be found money two years from now if he clicks though a la Boeser or Garland.
Why is the absolute failure of Rutherford and Allvin in getting these Russians horrible players not being discussed more? And the cost of getting RID of them? These ended up being disastrously costly moves. But wait, there is another string attaching all of these mistakes, they were all in Tocchet's doghouse. Every costly jettisoning of a player had Tocchet history.
On a scale of M.Gelinas for G.Sanderson for B.May in a weeks time..
And giving B.Sutter a 5 year deal then doubling down with a 1 year deal after (did he even play 1 game?)..
How loyal are we supposed to be here?
We've turned over the entire franchise top to bottom, theres gonna be some misses yup.
We finally might have depth where we can inflate a player like Hoglanders value to sell high, maybe. Until now we've had nothing but deadweight even if Ilya was an allvin error.
OEL's buyout, so bad it was questioned if they could be on the same team together,, whether the "history" would interfere? Well it didn't OEL was bought out only 30 games later with the attaching pain lasting for 8 more years.
It was pretty well known Tocchet wasnt OEL's biggest fan at the time and that bridge to cross was the cost of doing business by hiring him.
That was the defining stamp on the team and the day I realized they were not here to mess around.
I wish they found another way around it but truly there was no team taking that deal on.
Has anyone noticed that Pettersson and Hronek don't have trade protection for next year? But both have decent cap hits for their potential?
Pettersson game has declined under Tocchet he rarely is smiling on the bench and in reality looked quite disconnected after signing his contract.
The one thing im going to agree with you on is this but not for reasons you believe.
They cant have NTCs yet as per the CBA.
As much as id love to sell high on Barry Pederson it isnt going to happen after a 12,000,000 signing bonus was just dished out.
My thinking is this makes him more tradeable as in Buffalo now gets him for $12m less
But it will never happen and what your seeing now is the maturing of the roster, built AROUND Pettersson and Hronek.
Now they have their deals, they have solid linemates, and can just focus on being the best.
I think Petey sulked this year but will have a bounceback year under Tocchet.
Yes I am picking on Tocchet but this is a team game that Tocchet keeps making about individual players.
Woulda, coulda, shouda, what or how would Bruce have done with this defence? Even Tocchet didn't make that much a difference once hired defensively.
Do you watch the games? Theres an actual system now its not just a fire drill every shift.
Tyler Myers looked solid. TYLER MYERS.
Cmon!
The overall state of the team is not great, AGAIN.
We started with less than a mud shack. We've been adding bricks for two offseasons.
Its sad that Pius Suter was an amazing signing for us but man did we need a Pius Suter!
Its sad that Keifer Sherwood will probably be an amazing signing for us but man we actually need a Keifer Sherwood.
For the first time in Canuck history we have a Norris winner..
Demko was finalist for the Vezina..
Miller broke 100 points..
Boeser scored 40. Not just 30, 40!
We have a SHL rookie of the year and not a soul has penciled him into a canucks lineup..
State of the team is best its been in a DECADE.
Prospect pool is very shallow for top end players, picks are almost all gone
We are not rebuilding.
We never have.
Somehow we are going to will our way to a championship soon with a #5 overall, #7 overall, #23 overall and #36 overall picks leading the charge, plus a trade for Jt Miller.
the team is capped out with future cap issues in the next year,
The canucks have almost unwound the cap shenanigans with one of the youngest, tightest cores in the league, yup.
an aging core of TWO youngish core players, a 31 yr old top line guy, another 28 yr old that is almost the slowest skater in the league and a goalie that has been damaged every year.
"Youngish core players" or future superstars every single team would kill to have? You make it sound like theyre Connor Zary and David Jiricek.
The 31 yr old top line guy is one of THREE players with 100+ goals and 500+ hits in the last 3 seasons.
The 31 yr old top line UNICORN, you mean.
The 28 year old finally broke out and tucked 40. Plus he hit people, actually. And he backchecked, actually. He could be Brett Hull slow for all I care we will compensate for it.
I am very worried about Demko, wont lie. But somehow we pulled Silovs out of thin air and should be able to reduce Thatchers workload.
Next year will not be like this one was, there will not be 4 wins vs Edmonton, I doubt very much SJ will be that bad again, The Ducks made moves and got better and the players have all learned, LA may have got a goalie and surprisingly the Flames may be better than last year, maybe.
Every one of those teams is garbage. Edmonton included.
If ever there was a path to a easy playoff seed this year is the year are you serious?
Edmonton and Vegas. Thats it. Stay around, above or right below them and were fine.
There were around 20+ points the Canucks were basically gifted by really bad teams, bottom feeders within the division and league. 4 or 5 teams. SJ, Edmonton, Ana, CB and Yotes. Did the Preds get better?
There will be really bad teams again. Have you looked around?
Does our experience, added depth and longterm piece of mind (petey, hronek, silovs) not give us an added boost?
Or should I be posting about the coming parade? The surprising goal scoring from Karlsson and defensive prowess and offence that Pettersson has or might have or may have.
This is awesome. Even back in the day when I told myself Markus Granlund could snipe 20 I was clearly delusional but it felt good to think it.
Now, Keifer Sherwood might ACTUALLY snipe 20 and its not delusional at all.
Linus Karlsson is behind like 17 forwards for icetime. Thats the beauty of where this team is heading. No more scrubs.
How about how Willander is the next great RHD prospect? And Lekkermakki will dominate once he plays in the NHL and is a guaranteed fit for Pettersson?
Wont they? These are literally the best three prospects we've had in a decade not on the team currently. Its ok to be excited about elite talent. Its not ok to fanboy over Josh Bloom and Akito Hirose.
How the team will fit Boeser's 8-9 mil cap hit under the cap for the next 7-8 years?
The same way Buchnevich gets his money and Konecny gets his money, ect ect.
Or maybe we draw another line in sand.
The fact we havent rushed out to give him his deal already gives me hope they are gonna have a plan actually.
Peterrsson's next 150 point season and Miller matching with 140 points, Demko's Vezina next year?
Anyone can post about how great they will be, could be, may be. It doesn't take looking at other teams or anything except hope and dreams.
Have you actually looked at other teams though?
We have two top centers, the best defenseman, and a top 3 voted goalie..
Most teams have zero of those things LOL.
Touch some grass the enjoy the heck out of this Canucks window were in, friend.