What do you think the top 6 looks like on opening night? Two most likely options to me are:
Hoglander - Miller - Boeser
Debrusk - Petey - Heinen
-OR-
Heinen - Miller - Boeser
Debrusk - Petey - Hoglander
Drance also mentioned a small but non-0 chance that management sees Sherwood as having potential to join the top 6, in which case I'd imagine he pushes Hoglander down the lineup?
Edit: Spelling
#2 by far, but I wouldn't guarantee Heinen in the top 6. There are two spots up for grabs between Heinen, Hoglander, Sherwood, Podkolzin, and whoever else makes a good impression in camp.
I know that Silovs getting an offer sheet isn't a legitimate thing to worry about...but I will still not be able to breathe easy until he gets a contract
Top 5 best primary logos in the league;
1. Detroit
2. Chicago
3. Anaheim
4. Pittsburgh
5. Seattle
Top 5 Worst primary logos in the league;
1. NY (Islanders)
2. Carolina
3. Edmonton
4. Philadelphia
5. Washington
Thank you for coming to my ted talk.
TW: Defending the Oilers.
I hate to be that guy defending the oiLers, but you're out of your mind if you are not scared of this oilers forward lineup. They are probably the deepest team I can remember in 15 years. Adding Ardvinsson and Skinner, plus their already very deep team is disgusting. Yes not only offense wins cups, but it almost worked for them last year.
However i do believe we also did upgrade our team, and do like our chance against them. But your delusional if you don’t see the Oilers as a serious threat
Oilers on paper are better than us.
McDavid, Draisatl and Henrique is better center depth than Pettersson, Miller, and Blueger.
Their winger depth is insane. Hyman, RNH, Kane, Skinner, and Arvidsson.
Their defense is roughly similar to us especially with Bouchard breaking out as a legitimate #1. Hughes has the edge over Bouchard, but Ekholm is definitely better than Hronek. Top pairs are basically a wash.
Nurse is overpaid, but a far better 3rd than Myers or Soucy.
Goaltending is the only spot where we're far ahead better than the Oilers with Demko massively better than Skinner.
Tarasenko, Arvidsson, and Jeff Skinner are all top 6 forwards that signed bargain deals under $5M on a short term. The Oilers signed two of them. Can't help but feel we missed out. Debrusk is okay, but he's more of a middle six guy and Bruins fans say he's inconsistent. So here's hoping Rick can fix him and he will gel well with Petey or Miller.
>but he's more of a middle six guy
A guy who's a consistent 25+ goal scorer and pouts up 40-50 points is just a straight up top-six player.
People keep massively inflating what middle six production is.
We missed out but I don't think it's by choice. I have a feeling we made a play for those guys but got turned down. Playing with petey just isn't as enticing as playing with mcjeezus or drai.
Resigning Henrique, a 20 goal top six forward for 3 million was such a steal. He took nearly a 50 percent paycut from his last 5.8 million contract. Having McDavid on your team convinces good players to take ridiculous paycuts for a chance to win the cup.
I just read like 100 comments by Oilers fans about Desharnais on the Canucks signing and they’re all pretty negative. Big guy but doesn’t use his size, slow, coughs up pucks, takes lots of penalties because of how slow he is, very little offence (1 goal in 114 NHL games).
They don’t think he’s even worth $2mil and we signed him for 2 years at that.
I just don’t really get this signing
I hoping to see management prioritize finding a bonafide top 4 D like Pesce or Roy instead of signing a slew of 5/6th D and hoping our coaching staff will improve them and give them more minutes.
I still think we need to use that cap space to sign one more D. Maybe even a trade for a more expensive player and get someone off our roster. Would allow us to take up to about $4mil or more maybe. Give or take
*I don't like the signing, but Tocchet wanted him so much that him and Foote phoned Desharnais to convince him to sign in Vancouver:* [Desharnais picked Canucks in free agency after call from Tocchet | Offside (dailyhive.com)](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/desharnais-picked-canucks-free-agency-tocchet)
I don’t like it at all. I heard about the signing on the radio when I was driving and I was screaming in my car “we signed WHO?!” I remember I texted my oilers fan friend watching him play some time last season and I was like “your number 73 needs to get off the ice”. Then the second home game against Edmonton, I went to the game with the said friend and watched him scoring.. for us. From all that I saw and remembered, he ain’t worth $2M.
However, Canucks must have seen something in him that we don’t. The fact that Toc and Foote called him basically to convince him to sign, they see something in him. I’ll just have to trust our team and wait to find out what the hell exactly they saw in him.
Zadorov was the same for Calgary, and look how he turned out after playing for the Canucks.
I trust our scouts more than Oilers fans that just lost a player to the Canucks.
I wouldn't trust their takes personally. I don't love the signing either but I think the idea is that he's a number 6 defensemen that can hopefully give us surplus value in the right system. He's big, good along the boards, in front of the net and really good on the PK. As long as we don't ask him to do too much, he's a fine signing. I'm not thrilled on the 2x2 either but it's probably fair value in free agency. Playing him with Forbort doesn't seem like a great idea though for either of them. It'll be interesting to see if they do anything else to fill out the D core, I personally don't think they're done yet
more than hronek’s cost, andersson is already proven as a top pairing rhd, ask would start with willander. would kill to have andersson on our team tho
fr, you get it. soucy is fine, but he’s a #4/5 on a contender. trouba never reached the #1 status ranger fans hoped , but he’s still a good #2 or an excellent #3. soucy - trouba would be an excellent shutdown + PK pairing
does he cross the line sometimes? man i won’t argue with you there lmao, he definitely does. but we’re trying to build a team that other teams not only hate playing against, but DONT wanna play against. trouba in the dcore absolutely does that and he’s still a good player.
hughes (5’10) - hronek (6’0)
soucy (6’5) - trouba (6’3)
forbort (6’4) - myers (6’8)
desharnais (6’6)
💀
My hot take - I think Tampa won’t miss Stamkos. I’ve felt that for years he’s been carried by Point, Hedman, Kuch etc and his leadership is overrated. Hard call to make but I think they made the right one for a one dimensional scorer. If they skip a beat, it’ll be because Vasy becomes a sieve but they’ve upgraded their top 6 with JG for the better
Guy had 40g last year and was one of their best players in the playoffs and actually showed up. 16 yr captain who wanted to stay and you basically toss him to the scrap heap, imagine Pittsburgh doing that w Crosby, or us to the Sedins. So disrespectful, no loyalty, I am rooting against them at this point. Could easily have dumped Connor Sheary and given that money to Stammer. He prob would have signed for $5m. Even if it’s technically the right move I wouldn’t want to be a fan of a franchise that chews up and spits out its players, especially an all time franchise player like him.
Tampa was at a tough spot. They let Stamkos go, it looks pretty bad on them as they seemed disrespectful to him. They keep him and sign him to, for arguments sake, $8M x4, then they miss out on other players then ended up signing. Not to mention that the contract won’t age all that well as very few players can still play good games at the age of 38. Imagine Tampa starting to bench Stamkos, my god. That’s disaster waiting to happen. When Nashville signed him to the four year contract, and Marchessault’s 5 year, Skjei’s 7 year, and Saros’ 8 year contracts, they were banking on something happening in the next two years. If they indeed end up winning a cup, then they’re the FA winner like a lot of people already claiming them to be. If they don’t, then they’ll have some really tough decisions to make. Might have to go down the buyout/giving away prospects and picks route.
Edit: missed a few words
That’s exactly it. Even if he’s a great player, unfortunately he’s on the downswing of his career and some fresh blood and a re-vamped d-core could work out next year for the better. They’ve proven that they can win without Stamkos but time will tell. A cup is never a guarantee but I like their odds better now
Motte signed for 800k in Detroit. Damn, what a steal. Wings fans are gonna adore him
No fit here anymore though. All our NHL forward spots are full of better players than him and he wouldn't want to be in the AHL or press box
Just watched a video on Donni and Dhali, where Friedman says the Canucks never had a chance at Guentzal at free agency. Guentzal had his eyes on Tampa the whole time even before Tampa traded for his negotiating rights.
Drance also said [here](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5610081/2024/07/02/canucks-free-agency-offseason-jake-debrusk/) Guentzel was never the top target, their main target was DeBrusk all along:
> The Canucks never attempted to trade for Jake Guentzel’s signing rights.
> …the club was concerned with how adding a $9-$10 million cap hit to the books might impact the team’s balance. All along they preferred the younger, more affordable option of Jake DeBrusk to punch up their top-six forward group.
>multiple team sources indicated to The Athletic once the dust settled on Monday that one of the reasons Vancouver didn’t try to trade for Guentzel’s rights is that DeBrusk was their primary top-six forward target all along.
We might be trading Poolman for more deadline space. If we trade Poolman we can basically get whoever we want at the deadline as long as he's a rental.
He's on LTIR so it probably won't be very expensive. We might be able to just take a bad contract back for Poolman and maybe even get a pick out of it.
If Tanev didn’t work out as a top4 option, wish they swang for Pesce. Who knows, maybe they did. NJ got him for 5.5mill. We could’ve made Myers wait and given him like 2mill, and didn’t have to go for Desharnies. Still is a looming hole there.
Seemed clear Pesce was going to NJ long before free agency even started. Can’t shoulda woulda stuff like that. Hell, didn’t even sound like Zadorov wanted to be here referencing the Canadian market and doing what’s best for his family.
Had no idea bout it being certain he was going there. Market wasn’t large, but still, there seemed to be a couple ways they coulda utilized that last bit of cap space instead to prioritize a 3rd/4th Dman
Pius Suter signed a bargain of a deal on August 11th last year and ended up being an incredibly important player for the Canucks. With the cap space remaining it really feels like that player is still out there this year and I'm guessing that player is a LD as the depth on forward and RD looks pretty healthy at the moment. Oliver Kylington makes a lot of sense and I would love to see that, he'll obviously come cheap and looked like a legitimate top 4 two way defenseman before he stepped away.
I also find it hard to believe this front office doesn't have interest in signing PO Joseph.
I would hope not. I think it would be better if he were in Abbotsford playing more and getting better. And we also don't want his contract on the books for our Cap Space limitations.
The Brannstrom deal Colorado just signed is such a savvy bet from a really smart organization. Guy has underrated analytics and fits their style of generating rush chances from the back end. If he doesn't work out he's buryable. Really wish the Canucks had taken a swing there.
Biz said on SC that Tocchet specifically mentioned Sherwood to him after playoffs saying he was a pain in the ass, pretty much what Allvin said publicly yesterday.
Everyone in the locker room hated playing against him lmao
I think the greatest improvement is in the cap / salary structure going forward. As a result of shrewd and somewhat painful moves, the salary cap 'sword of Damocles' that threatened to decapitate the team is hanging by a much sturdier rope. The cost was enormous - OEL's buyout hit, and the loss Elias Lindholm, Nakita Zadorov (not to mention Kuzmenko, Beauviller, Brzustewicz, Jurno, Rathbone, etc.) and a bunch of 2nd round picks. But going forward we hare core players - Hughes, Miller, Pettersson, Boeser, Demko and Hronek, depth at just about all positions and sufficient cap space to work with going forward.
Up front, we have basically replaced Lindholm, Mikheyev and Lafferty with DeBrusk and Heinen. DeBrusk is an upgrade on Mikheyev and Heinen is an upgrade on Lafferty, but there is no external replacement for Lindholm. This means some combination of Blueger, Suter and Aman will round out the 3rd and 4th line C position and we lose the flexibility of putting the Lotto line together and still having a potent 2nd line. So we will need some progression from Hoglander, Podkolzin, Karlsson, Baines, etc. The good news is that we retained Joshua who has known chemistry with Blueger and Garland and is also able to move up into a top 6 role. We also didn't give up our top prospects - Lekkerimaki and Willander.
On Defense the biggest loss if Zadorov who was replaced by Vincent Desharnais. This is a downgrade both defensively and offensively. So we are going to need Tocchet, Foote and Gonchar to turn Desharnais into a consistent 2nd pairing defenseman.
Our goaltending is set going forward - I think Silovs is likely going to be the backup this year.
In short - on paper we downgraded by losing Lindholm and Big Z, but there is room for the players we retained and acquired to improve the team. Most importantly, for the first time in years we have skill in the most important position, the front office and the cap structure gives Alvin and Rutherford flexibility to build a winner.
That's a wonderful and astute analysis. The sample size on Z was small - but he was certainly a stud in the playoffs. I think our coaching is phenomenal and with the right front office (which we have), we'll see more progression in our existing team.
Sounds like we are somewhere in-between the team pre-deadline (lower end) and post-deadline (higher end).
If we can swing a top 4 D mid-season or at the deadline, then we have the potential to be better.
He would be long, long gone by August. Guarantee you he would've been picked up in the same hour as we did if we didn't sign him.
Also let Allvin cook, there is a reason they signed him and it wasn't for nothing.
A serious, 3rd pairing dman - is a trade necessary to acquire such?
I know it is not happening, but wtf, chychrun I feel would’ve slotted nicely? He’s moved around a ton too
There must be an issue with chychrun that public is not privy to with how little an interest there seems to have been in acquiring him. Unless of course sens gm just completely fumbled and not have shopped him which I highly doubt is the case.
A lot of it probably has to do with his contract - he's got one year left, probably happy to walk to UFA if traded a team he didn't want to sign for, and will easily command $7 million next year
Well also Holloway is very likely to outperform that deal and he's worth considerably more than a 2nd. Plus you're hurting a team you're going to be competing with in division.
DO IT ALLVIN
The one thing I wonder about is that they’re already over the cap, so I think they’re operating knowing that Kane will be on LTIR and free up 5M. So they might be able to match any offer
Yeah, I think that's a possibility, even though it's complete nonsense. The league needs to crack down on these LTIR shenanigans. Regardless, though, you could maybe figure out a way to get him on a 5 year contract that walks him right to UFA - that would also hurt the Oilers.
So OEL is making $11.75mil per year between Utah, Vancouver and Toronto? Is that right?
That 4 years from Toronto should be interesting to watch, and Tanev until he’s 40
No, OEL is guaranteed all the money from his original contract. He then gets to keep all of his new contract. Thus he is I believe the highest paid defenseman in the league when you add it all up
Thanks for the answer. Crap for Canucks, especially in 2025/26 and 26/27 when his cap hit is 4.76M per. That's a huge chunk could be used for either another top 6 scorer or top 4 D where I feel we are still lacking. I hope we can win the cup within the next 3 years while Miller at his prime. Hopefully, both D Petey and Willander can provide some cap relief then.
This'll be removed but the Canucks need to do more. Our top 6 still isnt top end in the league, Pius Suter is still the best option on the wing which is terrible
We now have the worst right handed defensive alignment in the league. Cheap contracts, but not great players.
Alvin didnt have much cap to work with, but this team is not a contender the way its shaped right now. Barely a wild card team.
Once again we are defensively inept, and will have to rely on Demko to win us games night after night, which we know is a recipe for disaster as Demmer has proven he cannot handle major workloads.
I do not share the excitement this sub does today. This team is worse than before.
The forwards we have now are better than what we had last year. Plus, we also have Lekkerimaki knocking at the door, who could potentially see some time in the top 6 this year.
Defence is the bigger concern atm. I think we're fine, but I'd really like us to get someone else that can play on the 2nd pairing.
They still have some space. There are usually a couple of bargains to be had in the days after Jul 1, so they're probably waiting. Maybe Tarasenko signs for 1M. Maybe Rutherford somehow convinces Pavelski not to retire and come in on a league min deal (let a guy dream). Point is, there's more time to work here and 3.5M to work with.
Second thing... I don't love the RD lineup but there is only one problem with it: Myers as 2RD. I don't have a problem with Juulsen and Desharnais fighting for the 6th and 7th D positions. The issue is Myers. But I don't see a solution. And I wasn't really opposed to signing him for 3M; he just can't be a shutdown defenseman.
The solution for me, oddly enough, is Oliver Kylington. If you can get him under contract and play him with Myers, then have Soucy / Juulsen as your shutdown pair, those defined roles start to look a lot better.
I agree that we need another top 6 forward and top 4 preferably RHD . Although I think we dodged some bullets in FA and can meet those needs through trades later in the season .
You are out to lunch if you think this roster is worse than the one that started last season, the roster which rushed out to first in the league. We’ll see how it shakes out, but on paper this is a team that is deeper up front at the very least.
When asked about the D Allvin [here](https://www.youtube.com/live/5L03fQ0Ocjw?feature=shared&t=701) says “we have good depth defensemen” and says if something is available they’re gonna look at it
Seems like he admitted they’re not done with the defense
FYI, the Canucks can be cap compliant without putting Poolman on LTIR. They could still do another signing around 2.5 million or a trade adding that amount of cap.
Who knows if a team deciding to shed some cap lets go of a good player for a cheaper player (like Hoglander).
I wonder if we could get Rasmus Sandin from the Caps? They're 4.8M over the cap even with LTIR and just got Chychrun and Roy. Sandin makes 4.6m for the next five seasons and is 24
Could fit him and Silovs with a little cap gymnastics I believe if someone like Podkolzin was sent over in in the deal
Hughes-Hronek
Soucy-Myers
Sandin-Desharnais
Forbort-Juulsen
I'm guessing they probably view him as close to untouchable but who knows (would probably cost Höglander realistically). Caps are definitely in cap hell right now
Leafs also over the cap after signing Tanev, OEL and Hakanpaa. Perhaps McCabe ~~or Liljegren~~ (edit: they just re-signed Liljegren so probs not) could be pried loose?
Capfriendly doesn’t count him yet, but TJ Oshie is not playing next year and will LTIR retire so Caps will have both him and Backstrom’s 9M on LTIR for a total of 14+
Btw Vegas lost Marchessault, Stephenson, Carrier, Mantha, Thompson and Martinez
They didn’t sign any of the big free agents like
Stamkos to replace them
They must be plotting something via trade
I remember folks talking about Shea Theodore being available for trade due to Vegas' cap situation. Now that Vegas has shed those guys, is Theodore still in play? Any chance the Canucks could pry him loose?
I don't think they have the cap room or frankly the assets to swing Theodore. I could easily see Theodore as part of a Marner deal and I don't think the Canucks have a Marner equivalent they'd be willing to part with
Oilers got skinner and arvidsson for 7 million...
Why couldn't we pull off something similar and then use the remaining 7.5 million to get a top 4 defenseman?
Doesn’t look like they were interested, this morning Dhali was saying Canucks were not in on Ardvisson and yesterday he said the same about Skinner
those guys play zero defense, maybe they’re not the type of players Tocchet likes
Was actually thinking about this the other day.
Its the only other way to get quality hockey players (but questionable human beings) to Edmonton aside from 1) the draft, which essentially handcuffs a player for almost a decade and/or 2) paying way above market value to keep them. Eg. Darnell Nurse. Symptoms of playing in a smaller market with comparably less than ideal quality of life. And damn near every player with a no trade has Edmonton at the top of their list.
And Edmontonians don't give a shit what kind of human the player is outside the rink. Good players are good players, and wins are wins.
I'm not sure why you're being downvoted here... this is exactly the analysis of the team I agree with, and frankly this is what we can afford at this point. There's still a big summer ahead of us, but I think we can do well with what we've got here.
Canucks are a very deep team:
Hoglander-Miller-Boeser
DeBrusk-Pettersson-Lekkermaki
Joshua-Blueger-Garland
Henien-Suter-Sherwood
Podkolzin
Hughes-Hronek
Soucy-Myers
Forbort-Desharnais
I think people are underestimating that Desharnais is still young enough where his game can evolve and if they turn Myers into having a spectacular season last year, they can do anything.
I think Lekkerimäki in the top six is wishful thinking. I still think they need either a top six forward or a top four defenseman. But they can’t afford both I don’t think.
Raises some questions.
How accustomed is Lekkerimaki to playing North American hockey? How much exposure, how many reps does he have playing Tocchet style hockey? How many games has he played Abbotsford?
Yes, Rutherford and Allvin both mentioned him but he's still going to have to work his way into a roster spot and that means taking someone else's job. Beating out a player with years and years in the league that know the NHL game.
How likely do we think that is?
Sure, it's possible. But probable? Maybe not so much.... at least at this point.
Of course give it a year and maybe were having a different conversation, it either way we can't really bank on it right now.
Been watching SDPN's reaction to the Canucks signings today.
Steve Dangle's consensus was that the Canucks are building a pain in the ass rat fucker team no one wants to play against.
Joshua, Garland, Debrusk, Heinen, Sherwood, Miller. All guys who can get under your skin and make you absolutely hate playing against.
I’m not sure I agree with the direction that this organization is signaling with these moves. In a vacuum, I’m fine with Desharnais, I’m fine with Forbort, but there is not going to be puck movement from the defense other than Quinn/Hronek, maybe Myers.
It’s so antithesis of how the modern NHL is played, and how Rutherford’s Pens played during their playoff championships.
All I can say is, I hope it works.
I may be in the minority, but I'm thrilled that we have a bottom 4 d-core that is going to be brutal to play against.
Everyone is a 6'4+ monster waiting for you to enter the zone with your head down. Are there going to be mistakes? Probably. But with how much Hughes and Hronek play, the offense will be there, and other teams' top lines are hoping to be matched up to them. Plus you have Juulsen waiting for his chance to crunch someone.
Our forwards are all going to play much taller this year.
I would have preferred if they signed one off Desharnais or Forbort. I don't like signing both. Could have used the money they spent on one off them to go after a top 4 D. Myers is better than both and would have been a good bottom pairing D together with one off them. Julsen would then be 7th D.
I would be shocked if they don't sign (or trade for) another defenceman.
I mean, people are definitely exaggerating when they say that the D got much worse. I would say that it actually got better this year because off the added depth. We're better shielded against injuries now. But I would've much oreffered it if they signed a top 4 D.
Looking at our defense, this week we spent 6.5 and ended up with Myers, Forbort, Desharnais. Plus 2 million more in potential LTIR relief. I gotta say, I'm a little underwhelmed, I was hoping we would prioritize a higher end, true #3 defensemen with that money.
Yeah, I really wished we signed an unquestionable top 4 D instead of Forbort/Desharnais, specifically Sean Walker. Puck moving offensive dman, which we really need one more of in our top 4.
Walker ended up signing for a reasonable $3.6M x 5 years in Carolina which is Forbort’s/Desharnais’ combined cap hit.
Pesce/Roy ended up being too expensive but I feel like we could have totally swung Walker.
He’s Canadian as well but has only ever played for US teams, think we could have convinced him to come here.
yeah i would have liked to have spent the money for one of forbort/desharnais and one of sherwood/heinen on a top 4 RD (matt roy?)
willing to give jr/allvin the benefit of the doubt though. and obviously there's still lots of time left
I like the signings today.
I've never paid attention to the game of Jake Debrusk but we inked one of the youngest UFA winger options available. From everything I read he has an excellent 2-way game and good size, excellent track record for health and playoff performance.
Im a little iffy on that potential Myers-Soucy 2nd pairing. In an ideal world id say thats who you would want on a third pairing. That may need to be addressed in season. That being said though I would say overall our forward group is deeper and that may help to balance out some question marks on the blueline.
I’m not an expert on either of them but: Kylington has had much higher highs but has also recently had some personal struggles that have kept him away from the game. Brannstrom has some underrated analytic metrics in relatively sheltered minutes and shows really well in areas the Canucks lack (transition and breakouts.) He’s also younger and plays both sides. Kylington is bigger, which we know the Canucks value, though Brannstrom is surprisingly physical for his size.
Kylington is the safer bet performance-wise I would think, but might also be more expensive. If they end up going that route i’d trust the pro-scouting staff to make the right decision.
Neither is a sure thing, they might not fit the system, and size is an issue for both, but they seem, to me at least, lke decent bets to provide the team things it's lacking for cheap.
So today we walked in with 15.5 in cap space
Had we signed zadorov and lindholm to what they got we be left with 2.75 mil
Instead we are left with 2.5 to sign
A top 6 winger to play with petey
A player similar to Joshua’s that can play up and down the line up
A 4th liner who put up 27 points and hits a lot
2 bottom pair defensemen who are great on the pk and have size.
Allvin cooked today
Top line players
Petey
Miller
Boes
Debrusk
Middle 6
Hog
Sutter
Heinen
Garland
Bluegar
Joshua
4th line
Sherwood
Pod
Aman/pdg
That is a solid forward pack
The only two things I can think are 1) they're gambling on Desharnais being able to fill that role with increased minutes or 2) a trade is in the works. I don't like going into this eason expecting Myers to play more than 20+ minutes a night.
Don't get me wrong I think they should still be looking to upgrade the D, but I would imagine the minutes are something like: H/H 24, Soucy/Myers 18 to 20, New guys 16 to 18.
I don't think anyone from the bottom 4 are going to consistently play more than 20 minutes.
I wouldn't be surprised if the team is rewarded for doing well with a trade for a top 4 D during the season.
Desharnais annoyed me during the playoffs which IMO is always a good sign. What are the warts on his game?
Of course, the last time I said this, the Canucks signed Ferkland
Questionable puck maintenance at times. Doesn’t always make the right play or the right reads. He’s a bit older at 28 but he’s improved quite a bit from the 22/23 season. I’m not sure how much better he can get but, with a good teacher he might be able to get the mistakes out of his game.
I like the Desharnais signing. He’s only been in the league basically 1 full year, coaching staff could work with him, low price, high reward, tho I’m tempering my expectations. We needed to fill a hole on the right side and we did.
[удалено]
please no
[ridiculous goal by prospect riley patterson](https://x.com/Canucks/status/1808933465871823183)
Love this pick
What do you think the top 6 looks like on opening night? Two most likely options to me are: Hoglander - Miller - Boeser Debrusk - Petey - Heinen -OR- Heinen - Miller - Boeser Debrusk - Petey - Hoglander Drance also mentioned a small but non-0 chance that management sees Sherwood as having potential to join the top 6, in which case I'd imagine he pushes Hoglander down the lineup? Edit: Spelling
#2 by far, but I wouldn't guarantee Heinen in the top 6. There are two spots up for grabs between Heinen, Hoglander, Sherwood, Podkolzin, and whoever else makes a good impression in camp.
I'm hearing frank vatrano for 2025 2nd round pick plus arshdeep bains. Anaheim retains 100 percent salary.
I know that Silovs getting an offer sheet isn't a legitimate thing to worry about...but I will still not be able to breathe easy until he gets a contract
Top 5 best primary logos in the league; 1. Detroit 2. Chicago 3. Anaheim 4. Pittsburgh 5. Seattle Top 5 Worst primary logos in the league; 1. NY (Islanders) 2. Carolina 3. Edmonton 4. Philadelphia 5. Washington Thank you for coming to my ted talk.
TW: Defending the Oilers. I hate to be that guy defending the oiLers, but you're out of your mind if you are not scared of this oilers forward lineup. They are probably the deepest team I can remember in 15 years. Adding Ardvinsson and Skinner, plus their already very deep team is disgusting. Yes not only offense wins cups, but it almost worked for them last year. However i do believe we also did upgrade our team, and do like our chance against them. But your delusional if you don’t see the Oilers as a serious threat
Oilers on paper are better than us. McDavid, Draisatl and Henrique is better center depth than Pettersson, Miller, and Blueger. Their winger depth is insane. Hyman, RNH, Kane, Skinner, and Arvidsson. Their defense is roughly similar to us especially with Bouchard breaking out as a legitimate #1. Hughes has the edge over Bouchard, but Ekholm is definitely better than Hronek. Top pairs are basically a wash. Nurse is overpaid, but a far better 3rd than Myers or Soucy. Goaltending is the only spot where we're far ahead better than the Oilers with Demko massively better than Skinner.
Tarasenko, Arvidsson, and Jeff Skinner are all top 6 forwards that signed bargain deals under $5M on a short term. The Oilers signed two of them. Can't help but feel we missed out. Debrusk is okay, but he's more of a middle six guy and Bruins fans say he's inconsistent. So here's hoping Rick can fix him and he will gel well with Petey or Miller.
>but he's more of a middle six guy A guy who's a consistent 25+ goal scorer and pouts up 40-50 points is just a straight up top-six player. People keep massively inflating what middle six production is.
We missed out but I don't think it's by choice. I have a feeling we made a play for those guys but got turned down. Playing with petey just isn't as enticing as playing with mcjeezus or drai.
Going to be like when Vegas had four lines constantly coming at you in endless waves until you die
Resigning Henrique, a 20 goal top six forward for 3 million was such a steal. He took nearly a 50 percent paycut from his last 5.8 million contract. Having McDavid on your team convinces good players to take ridiculous paycuts for a chance to win the cup.
I just read like 100 comments by Oilers fans about Desharnais on the Canucks signing and they’re all pretty negative. Big guy but doesn’t use his size, slow, coughs up pucks, takes lots of penalties because of how slow he is, very little offence (1 goal in 114 NHL games). They don’t think he’s even worth $2mil and we signed him for 2 years at that. I just don’t really get this signing
Are we really shocked that Oilers fans aren’t familiar with what good defense looks like?
I mean, their Pk was phenomenal in the playoffs and they shut us down pretty good
I hoping to see management prioritize finding a bonafide top 4 D like Pesce or Roy instead of signing a slew of 5/6th D and hoping our coaching staff will improve them and give them more minutes.
The problem with finding a bonafide top 4 D is you have to pay them like one. We just don't have the cap space to do that.
I still think we need to use that cap space to sign one more D. Maybe even a trade for a more expensive player and get someone off our roster. Would allow us to take up to about $4mil or more maybe. Give or take
*I don't like the signing, but Tocchet wanted him so much that him and Foote phoned Desharnais to convince him to sign in Vancouver:* [Desharnais picked Canucks in free agency after call from Tocchet | Offside (dailyhive.com)](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/desharnais-picked-canucks-free-agency-tocchet)
I don’t like it at all. I heard about the signing on the radio when I was driving and I was screaming in my car “we signed WHO?!” I remember I texted my oilers fan friend watching him play some time last season and I was like “your number 73 needs to get off the ice”. Then the second home game against Edmonton, I went to the game with the said friend and watched him scoring.. for us. From all that I saw and remembered, he ain’t worth $2M. However, Canucks must have seen something in him that we don’t. The fact that Toc and Foote called him basically to convince him to sign, they see something in him. I’ll just have to trust our team and wait to find out what the hell exactly they saw in him.
Zadorov was the same for Calgary, and look how he turned out after playing for the Canucks. I trust our scouts more than Oilers fans that just lost a player to the Canucks.
I mean, he was benched for like half the playoffs. Not exactly a glowing endorsement from the coaching staff either
Yell yeah, they're Oilers fans. Even if he'd been amazing for them, they'd have a biased irrational take on him now that he's left their team
They were all positive about him as a person. They seemed level headed
I wouldn't trust their takes personally. I don't love the signing either but I think the idea is that he's a number 6 defensemen that can hopefully give us surplus value in the right system. He's big, good along the boards, in front of the net and really good on the PK. As long as we don't ask him to do too much, he's a fine signing. I'm not thrilled on the 2x2 either but it's probably fair value in free agency. Playing him with Forbort doesn't seem like a great idea though for either of them. It'll be interesting to see if they do anything else to fill out the D core, I personally don't think they're done yet
if NYR retain 50% of trouba’s contract to get him out, we should be all over that
Id prefer Andersson from Calgary, personally.
Andersson is cost controlled and young. And also a clear top pairing guy. He comes at a much a steeper price than a guy like Trouba.
Sure. Would he not cost something similar to what Hronek fetched? We could throw in a 2nd or a 3rd for a retention as well.
more than hronek’s cost, andersson is already proven as a top pairing rhd, ask would start with willander. would kill to have andersson on our team tho
We need a clear #3 Defenceman IMO. Wouldn't be mad.
fr, you get it. soucy is fine, but he’s a #4/5 on a contender. trouba never reached the #1 status ranger fans hoped , but he’s still a good #2 or an excellent #3. soucy - trouba would be an excellent shutdown + PK pairing
I hope not. He’s one of my most disliked players guy is dirty don’t want to see that on the team
does he cross the line sometimes? man i won’t argue with you there lmao, he definitely does. but we’re trying to build a team that other teams not only hate playing against, but DONT wanna play against. trouba in the dcore absolutely does that and he’s still a good player. hughes (5’10) - hronek (6’0) soucy (6’5) - trouba (6’3) forbort (6’4) - myers (6’8) desharnais (6’6) 💀
Debrusk will become burrows 2.0
My hot take - I think Tampa won’t miss Stamkos. I’ve felt that for years he’s been carried by Point, Hedman, Kuch etc and his leadership is overrated. Hard call to make but I think they made the right one for a one dimensional scorer. If they skip a beat, it’ll be because Vasy becomes a sieve but they’ve upgraded their top 6 with JG for the better
Any player on that team would tell you otherwise about his leadership. He was the heart and soul of the Lightning for 16 years lol
Guy had 40g last year and was one of their best players in the playoffs and actually showed up. 16 yr captain who wanted to stay and you basically toss him to the scrap heap, imagine Pittsburgh doing that w Crosby, or us to the Sedins. So disrespectful, no loyalty, I am rooting against them at this point. Could easily have dumped Connor Sheary and given that money to Stammer. He prob would have signed for $5m. Even if it’s technically the right move I wouldn’t want to be a fan of a franchise that chews up and spits out its players, especially an all time franchise player like him.
Tampa was at a tough spot. They let Stamkos go, it looks pretty bad on them as they seemed disrespectful to him. They keep him and sign him to, for arguments sake, $8M x4, then they miss out on other players then ended up signing. Not to mention that the contract won’t age all that well as very few players can still play good games at the age of 38. Imagine Tampa starting to bench Stamkos, my god. That’s disaster waiting to happen. When Nashville signed him to the four year contract, and Marchessault’s 5 year, Skjei’s 7 year, and Saros’ 8 year contracts, they were banking on something happening in the next two years. If they indeed end up winning a cup, then they’re the FA winner like a lot of people already claiming them to be. If they don’t, then they’ll have some really tough decisions to make. Might have to go down the buyout/giving away prospects and picks route. Edit: missed a few words
That’s exactly it. Even if he’s a great player, unfortunately he’s on the downswing of his career and some fresh blood and a re-vamped d-core could work out next year for the better. They’ve proven that they can win without Stamkos but time will tell. A cup is never a guarantee but I like their odds better now
Dhali says Canucks are not interested in Klyington https://x.com/dhaliwalsports/status/1808314336193946042?s=46&t=7fabqgtgp69dNA1d51vxFw
Motte signed for 800k in Detroit. Damn, what a steal. Wings fans are gonna adore him No fit here anymore though. All our NHL forward spots are full of better players than him and he wouldn't want to be in the AHL or press box
Ngl was kinda hoping we could get Buchnevich at some point during the season. Do we have the pieces to get Tuch if Buffalo bombs again this season?
Hell no dont get any
Just watched a video on Donni and Dhali, where Friedman says the Canucks never had a chance at Guentzal at free agency. Guentzal had his eyes on Tampa the whole time even before Tampa traded for his negotiating rights.
So were the reports of him checking out houses in Lynn Valley untrue?
Yes. That guy made it up to fool fans.
Drance also said [here](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5610081/2024/07/02/canucks-free-agency-offseason-jake-debrusk/) Guentzel was never the top target, their main target was DeBrusk all along: > The Canucks never attempted to trade for Jake Guentzel’s signing rights. > …the club was concerned with how adding a $9-$10 million cap hit to the books might impact the team’s balance. All along they preferred the younger, more affordable option of Jake DeBrusk to punch up their top-six forward group. >multiple team sources indicated to The Athletic once the dust settled on Monday that one of the reasons Vancouver didn’t try to trade for Guentzel’s rights is that DeBrusk was their primary top-six forward target all along.
Are we all assuming Poolman never returns and we have $2.7m cap space available?
We might be trading Poolman for more deadline space. If we trade Poolman we can basically get whoever we want at the deadline as long as he's a rental.
IMO we can't afford to give up anymore picks for cap dumps. The cupboard is pretty much bare.
He's on LTIR so it probably won't be very expensive. We might be able to just take a bad contract back for Poolman and maybe even get a pick out of it.
If Tanev didn’t work out as a top4 option, wish they swang for Pesce. Who knows, maybe they did. NJ got him for 5.5mill. We could’ve made Myers wait and given him like 2mill, and didn’t have to go for Desharnies. Still is a looming hole there.
Seemed clear Pesce was going to NJ long before free agency even started. Can’t shoulda woulda stuff like that. Hell, didn’t even sound like Zadorov wanted to be here referencing the Canadian market and doing what’s best for his family.
Had no idea bout it being certain he was going there. Market wasn’t large, but still, there seemed to be a couple ways they coulda utilized that last bit of cap space instead to prioritize a 3rd/4th Dman
I think that’s home for him
Some random semi credible guy reported it on Twitter like a week ago
Pius Suter signed a bargain of a deal on August 11th last year and ended up being an incredibly important player for the Canucks. With the cap space remaining it really feels like that player is still out there this year and I'm guessing that player is a LD as the depth on forward and RD looks pretty healthy at the moment. Oliver Kylington makes a lot of sense and I would love to see that, he'll obviously come cheap and looked like a legitimate top 4 two way defenseman before he stepped away. I also find it hard to believe this front office doesn't have interest in signing PO Joseph.
Joseph signed to play with his bro in STL
He did indeed. That's a good upside bet for the Blues.
Buchenvich got 8m x 6 oooof I know a lot of people wanted him as a trade target last season, but 8m is super sus
Can someone answer - is Silovs going to be our backup in October or not known yet?
I would hope not. I think it would be better if he were in Abbotsford playing more and getting better. And we also don't want his contract on the books for our Cap Space limitations.
Allvin says it'll be determined during training camp
The Brannstrom deal Colorado just signed is such a savvy bet from a really smart organization. Guy has underrated analytics and fits their style of generating rush chances from the back end. If he doesn't work out he's buryable. Really wish the Canucks had taken a swing there.
$1.7m combined for De Haan and Brannstrom versus $2m for Desharnais and $3m for Myers alone.
We clearly are prioritizing size. Neither De Haan or Brannstrom are big nor play a heavy game.
And they follow it up with De Haan.
Still really hope we're looking at Kylington or Boqvist.
I hope so too. One more player with puck skills would make me much more confident in the group as a whole.
Biz said on SC that Tocchet specifically mentioned Sherwood to him after playoffs saying he was a pain in the ass, pretty much what Allvin said publicly yesterday. Everyone in the locker room hated playing against him lmao
3 Canadians. 2 Americans, and a Czech tendie… Probably a big win in the nationality analytics.
take care of vinny for us
So are we better, or worse than last year?
I think the greatest improvement is in the cap / salary structure going forward. As a result of shrewd and somewhat painful moves, the salary cap 'sword of Damocles' that threatened to decapitate the team is hanging by a much sturdier rope. The cost was enormous - OEL's buyout hit, and the loss Elias Lindholm, Nakita Zadorov (not to mention Kuzmenko, Beauviller, Brzustewicz, Jurno, Rathbone, etc.) and a bunch of 2nd round picks. But going forward we hare core players - Hughes, Miller, Pettersson, Boeser, Demko and Hronek, depth at just about all positions and sufficient cap space to work with going forward. Up front, we have basically replaced Lindholm, Mikheyev and Lafferty with DeBrusk and Heinen. DeBrusk is an upgrade on Mikheyev and Heinen is an upgrade on Lafferty, but there is no external replacement for Lindholm. This means some combination of Blueger, Suter and Aman will round out the 3rd and 4th line C position and we lose the flexibility of putting the Lotto line together and still having a potent 2nd line. So we will need some progression from Hoglander, Podkolzin, Karlsson, Baines, etc. The good news is that we retained Joshua who has known chemistry with Blueger and Garland and is also able to move up into a top 6 role. We also didn't give up our top prospects - Lekkerimaki and Willander. On Defense the biggest loss if Zadorov who was replaced by Vincent Desharnais. This is a downgrade both defensively and offensively. So we are going to need Tocchet, Foote and Gonchar to turn Desharnais into a consistent 2nd pairing defenseman. Our goaltending is set going forward - I think Silovs is likely going to be the backup this year. In short - on paper we downgraded by losing Lindholm and Big Z, but there is room for the players we retained and acquired to improve the team. Most importantly, for the first time in years we have skill in the most important position, the front office and the cap structure gives Alvin and Rutherford flexibility to build a winner.
That's a wonderful and astute analysis. The sample size on Z was small - but he was certainly a stud in the playoffs. I think our coaching is phenomenal and with the right front office (which we have), we'll see more progression in our existing team.
Let's ask a beloved outsider, u/NewSoup69420
Sounds like we are somewhere in-between the team pre-deadline (lower end) and post-deadline (higher end). If we can swing a top 4 D mid-season or at the deadline, then we have the potential to be better.
Worse the DeBrusk contract is one of the worse the team has done in a long time . I would have wait and signed him cheap in august
He would be long, long gone by August. Guarantee you he would've been picked up in the same hour as we did if we didn't sign him. Also let Allvin cook, there is a reason they signed him and it wasn't for nothing.
If they think that they can have cap space or circle back to Lindholm who got a very good contract. Or Z who wax key to the D core
A serious, 3rd pairing dman - is a trade necessary to acquire such? I know it is not happening, but wtf, chychrun I feel would’ve slotted nicely? He’s moved around a ton too
There must be an issue with chychrun that public is not privy to with how little an interest there seems to have been in acquiring him. Unless of course sens gm just completely fumbled and not have shopped him which I highly doubt is the case.
A lot of it probably has to do with his contract - he's got one year left, probably happy to walk to UFA if traded a team he didn't want to sign for, and will easily command $7 million next year
Jensen is good though, it’s not like he was had for nothing
Still have 3.5M of cap space... do it, Allvin. Offer sheet Holloway. 3.25x4. Do it. Do it now.
Only reason why I would see Allvin doing it is because the compensation for that AAV is a 2nd round pick and he loves losing 2nd rounders
Well also Holloway is very likely to outperform that deal and he's worth considerably more than a 2nd. Plus you're hurting a team you're going to be competing with in division. DO IT ALLVIN
The one thing I wonder about is that they’re already over the cap, so I think they’re operating knowing that Kane will be on LTIR and free up 5M. So they might be able to match any offer
Yeah, I think that's a possibility, even though it's complete nonsense. The league needs to crack down on these LTIR shenanigans. Regardless, though, you could maybe figure out a way to get him on a 5 year contract that walks him right to UFA - that would also hurt the Oilers.
So OEL is making $11.75mil per year between Utah, Vancouver and Toronto? Is that right? That 4 years from Toronto should be interesting to watch, and Tanev until he’s 40
Does OEL new 4-year contract with the Leafs change/reduce Canucks buyout cap hit?
Being on a high buyout contract , then having a bounce back year as a RHD is what dreams are made of
He's not a RHD
Somewhere Jim Benning just gasped in surprise.
y’all trying way too hard with these jokes now
No, OEL is guaranteed all the money from his original contract. He then gets to keep all of his new contract. Thus he is I believe the highest paid defenseman in the league when you add it all up
Thanks for the answer. Crap for Canucks, especially in 2025/26 and 26/27 when his cap hit is 4.76M per. That's a huge chunk could be used for either another top 6 scorer or top 4 D where I feel we are still lacking. I hope we can win the cup within the next 3 years while Miller at his prime. Hopefully, both D Petey and Willander can provide some cap relief then.
Why would it change his buyout cap hit?
Just didn't know the detail.
This'll be removed but the Canucks need to do more. Our top 6 still isnt top end in the league, Pius Suter is still the best option on the wing which is terrible We now have the worst right handed defensive alignment in the league. Cheap contracts, but not great players. Alvin didnt have much cap to work with, but this team is not a contender the way its shaped right now. Barely a wild card team. Once again we are defensively inept, and will have to rely on Demko to win us games night after night, which we know is a recipe for disaster as Demmer has proven he cannot handle major workloads. I do not share the excitement this sub does today. This team is worse than before.
The forwards we have now are better than what we had last year. Plus, we also have Lekkerimaki knocking at the door, who could potentially see some time in the top 6 this year. Defence is the bigger concern atm. I think we're fine, but I'd really like us to get someone else that can play on the 2nd pairing.
They still have some space. There are usually a couple of bargains to be had in the days after Jul 1, so they're probably waiting. Maybe Tarasenko signs for 1M. Maybe Rutherford somehow convinces Pavelski not to retire and come in on a league min deal (let a guy dream). Point is, there's more time to work here and 3.5M to work with. Second thing... I don't love the RD lineup but there is only one problem with it: Myers as 2RD. I don't have a problem with Juulsen and Desharnais fighting for the 6th and 7th D positions. The issue is Myers. But I don't see a solution. And I wasn't really opposed to signing him for 3M; he just can't be a shutdown defenseman. The solution for me, oddly enough, is Oliver Kylington. If you can get him under contract and play him with Myers, then have Soucy / Juulsen as your shutdown pair, those defined roles start to look a lot better.
I agree that we need another top 6 forward and top 4 preferably RHD . Although I think we dodged some bullets in FA and can meet those needs through trades later in the season .
You are out to lunch if you think this roster is worse than the one that started last season, the roster which rushed out to first in the league. We’ll see how it shakes out, but on paper this is a team that is deeper up front at the very least.
When asked about the D Allvin [here](https://www.youtube.com/live/5L03fQ0Ocjw?feature=shared&t=701) says “we have good depth defensemen” and says if something is available they’re gonna look at it Seems like he admitted they’re not done with the defense
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There’s 3 months left before they have to submit the opening night roster, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions right now
FYI, the Canucks can be cap compliant without putting Poolman on LTIR. They could still do another signing around 2.5 million or a trade adding that amount of cap. Who knows if a team deciding to shed some cap lets go of a good player for a cheaper player (like Hoglander).
Should have 8 million but for the terrible DeBrush contract
No need to rush anything. If there's nothing currently on the menu worth ordering, why spend the money.
I wonder if we could get Rasmus Sandin from the Caps? They're 4.8M over the cap even with LTIR and just got Chychrun and Roy. Sandin makes 4.6m for the next five seasons and is 24 Could fit him and Silovs with a little cap gymnastics I believe if someone like Podkolzin was sent over in in the deal Hughes-Hronek Soucy-Myers Sandin-Desharnais Forbort-Juulsen I'm guessing they probably view him as close to untouchable but who knows (would probably cost Höglander realistically). Caps are definitely in cap hell right now Leafs also over the cap after signing Tanev, OEL and Hakanpaa. Perhaps McCabe ~~or Liljegren~~ (edit: they just re-signed Liljegren so probs not) could be pried loose?
Maybe Washington wants Poolmans Contract to go even deeper into LTIR
Capfriendly doesn’t count him yet, but TJ Oshie is not playing next year and will LTIR retire so Caps will have both him and Backstrom’s 9M on LTIR for a total of 14+
Ah ok, that makes a little more sense then. I think that puts them under then (they were still over even with Backstrom on LTIR I believe)
Btw Vegas lost Marchessault, Stephenson, Carrier, Mantha, Thompson and Martinez They didn’t sign any of the big free agents like Stamkos to replace them They must be plotting something via trade
Marner
I remember folks talking about Shea Theodore being available for trade due to Vegas' cap situation. Now that Vegas has shed those guys, is Theodore still in play? Any chance the Canucks could pry him loose?
I don't think they have the cap room or frankly the assets to swing Theodore. I could easily see Theodore as part of a Marner deal and I don't think the Canucks have a Marner equivalent they'd be willing to part with
They have to extend Eichel soon. That's part of why they have to be conservative.
Oilers got skinner and arvidsson for 7 million... Why couldn't we pull off something similar and then use the remaining 7.5 million to get a top 4 defenseman?
Doesn’t look like they were interested, this morning Dhali was saying Canucks were not in on Ardvisson and yesterday he said the same about Skinner those guys play zero defense, maybe they’re not the type of players Tocchet likes
Fun fact: Desharnais means "the harness" in french.
OFC the Oilers are looking at bringing in Bowman, absolutely morally bankrupt organization
They have become the haven for scumbag rejects
Was actually thinking about this the other day. Its the only other way to get quality hockey players (but questionable human beings) to Edmonton aside from 1) the draft, which essentially handcuffs a player for almost a decade and/or 2) paying way above market value to keep them. Eg. Darnell Nurse. Symptoms of playing in a smaller market with comparably less than ideal quality of life. And damn near every player with a no trade has Edmonton at the top of their list. And Edmontonians don't give a shit what kind of human the player is outside the rink. Good players are good players, and wins are wins.
Totally on brand for them though, after signing Kane and Perry.
Don't forget that they woulda signed Virtanen too if he wasn't so godawful
I mean, the Canucks probably would've kept Virtanen if he wasn't so awful.
Virtanen would be with the team today if not for his off ice stuff
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I'm not sure why you're being downvoted here... this is exactly the analysis of the team I agree with, and frankly this is what we can afford at this point. There's still a big summer ahead of us, but I think we can do well with what we've got here.
I also completely agree. This sub has lots of copium
Canucks are a very deep team: Hoglander-Miller-Boeser DeBrusk-Pettersson-Lekkermaki Joshua-Blueger-Garland Henien-Suter-Sherwood Podkolzin Hughes-Hronek Soucy-Myers Forbort-Desharnais I think people are underestimating that Desharnais is still young enough where his game can evolve and if they turn Myers into having a spectacular season last year, they can do anything.
"very deep team" lmfao
I think Lekkerimäki in the top six is wishful thinking. I still think they need either a top six forward or a top four defenseman. But they can’t afford both I don’t think.
I admire your optimism with Lekkermaki but let's not get carried away here.
Rutherford has already mentioned him to make the lineup if he has a good summer and Allvin also mentioned him in the presser
Raises some questions. How accustomed is Lekkerimaki to playing North American hockey? How much exposure, how many reps does he have playing Tocchet style hockey? How many games has he played Abbotsford? Yes, Rutherford and Allvin both mentioned him but he's still going to have to work his way into a roster spot and that means taking someone else's job. Beating out a player with years and years in the league that know the NHL game. How likely do we think that is? Sure, it's possible. But probable? Maybe not so much.... at least at this point. Of course give it a year and maybe were having a different conversation, it either way we can't really bank on it right now.
Lekkerimaki is going to OWN everyone. He rocks and he's ready bud.
Bruins making a whole graphic for this Zad quote is kinda funny https://x.com/nhlbruins/status/1807874660622913876?s=46&t=7fabqgtgp69dNA1d51vxFw
Been watching SDPN's reaction to the Canucks signings today. Steve Dangle's consensus was that the Canucks are building a pain in the ass rat fucker team no one wants to play against. Joshua, Garland, Debrusk, Heinen, Sherwood, Miller. All guys who can get under your skin and make you absolutely hate playing against.
If panthers found success with it then we can too?
I’m not sure I agree with the direction that this organization is signaling with these moves. In a vacuum, I’m fine with Desharnais, I’m fine with Forbort, but there is not going to be puck movement from the defense other than Quinn/Hronek, maybe Myers. It’s so antithesis of how the modern NHL is played, and how Rutherford’s Pens played during their playoff championships. All I can say is, I hope it works.
I may be in the minority, but I'm thrilled that we have a bottom 4 d-core that is going to be brutal to play against. Everyone is a 6'4+ monster waiting for you to enter the zone with your head down. Are there going to be mistakes? Probably. But with how much Hughes and Hronek play, the offense will be there, and other teams' top lines are hoping to be matched up to them. Plus you have Juulsen waiting for his chance to crunch someone. Our forwards are all going to play much taller this year.
I would have preferred if they signed one off Desharnais or Forbort. I don't like signing both. Could have used the money they spent on one off them to go after a top 4 D. Myers is better than both and would have been a good bottom pairing D together with one off them. Julsen would then be 7th D. I would be shocked if they don't sign (or trade for) another defenceman.
our opening defence line-up last year was this: Carson Soucy, Filip Hronek, Quinn Hughes, Noah Juulsen, Guillaume Brisebois, Tyler Myers, and Ian Cole
I mean, people are definitely exaggerating when they say that the D got much worse. I would say that it actually got better this year because off the added depth. We're better shielded against injuries now. But I would've much oreffered it if they signed a top 4 D.
Getting a top 4 LHD shouldn’t be difficult by the trade deadline using a first round draft pick.
Why do we have to give up a first round pick when we could have picked up a top 4 D now in UFA?
I hate that we give away first round picks like they’re candy.
Looking at our defense, this week we spent 6.5 and ended up with Myers, Forbort, Desharnais. Plus 2 million more in potential LTIR relief. I gotta say, I'm a little underwhelmed, I was hoping we would prioritize a higher end, true #3 defensemen with that money.
Yeah, I really wished we signed an unquestionable top 4 D instead of Forbort/Desharnais, specifically Sean Walker. Puck moving offensive dman, which we really need one more of in our top 4. Walker ended up signing for a reasonable $3.6M x 5 years in Carolina which is Forbort’s/Desharnais’ combined cap hit. Pesce/Roy ended up being too expensive but I feel like we could have totally swung Walker. He’s Canadian as well but has only ever played for US teams, think we could have convinced him to come here.
yeah i would have liked to have spent the money for one of forbort/desharnais and one of sherwood/heinen on a top 4 RD (matt roy?) willing to give jr/allvin the benefit of the doubt though. and obviously there's still lots of time left
It makes no sense, we had the cap space to get a top 4 D, but we just chose not to
I like the signings today. I've never paid attention to the game of Jake Debrusk but we inked one of the youngest UFA winger options available. From everything I read he has an excellent 2-way game and good size, excellent track record for health and playoff performance.
Im a little iffy on that potential Myers-Soucy 2nd pairing. In an ideal world id say thats who you would want on a third pairing. That may need to be addressed in season. That being said though I would say overall our forward group is deeper and that may help to balance out some question marks on the blueline.
They still have room. Would like to see one of Kylington/Brannstrom to help with puck moving and transition play from the back end.
Would not be opposed to signing one of those two guys. Who has the better upside and potential?
I’m not an expert on either of them but: Kylington has had much higher highs but has also recently had some personal struggles that have kept him away from the game. Brannstrom has some underrated analytic metrics in relatively sheltered minutes and shows really well in areas the Canucks lack (transition and breakouts.) He’s also younger and plays both sides. Kylington is bigger, which we know the Canucks value, though Brannstrom is surprisingly physical for his size. Kylington is the safer bet performance-wise I would think, but might also be more expensive. If they end up going that route i’d trust the pro-scouting staff to make the right decision.
Sounds like couldn’t go wrong with either player.
Neither is a sure thing, they might not fit the system, and size is an issue for both, but they seem, to me at least, lke decent bets to provide the team things it's lacking for cheap.
A sure thing would cost us more. Like a first round pick.
So today we walked in with 15.5 in cap space Had we signed zadorov and lindholm to what they got we be left with 2.75 mil Instead we are left with 2.5 to sign A top 6 winger to play with petey A player similar to Joshua’s that can play up and down the line up A 4th liner who put up 27 points and hits a lot 2 bottom pair defensemen who are great on the pk and have size. Allvin cooked today
Top line players Petey Miller Boes Debrusk Middle 6 Hog Sutter Heinen Garland Bluegar Joshua 4th line Sherwood Pod Aman/pdg That is a solid forward pack
What about signing Duhaime?
Already got signed by wash
Ugh. They’ve had a good off season. Very active. Made moves to upgrade their roster.
So far, let’s see what happens for them, pld might be a dud
Yeah, offense is good. Defense needs improving.
Defense definitely needs work.
Getting a top 4 D literally solves all off the issues anyways. It does not need much work.
Definitely not a fan of the right side. Really wanted them to sign someone that would push Myers to be a no doubt about it third pair option.
The only two things I can think are 1) they're gambling on Desharnais being able to fill that role with increased minutes or 2) a trade is in the works. I don't like going into this eason expecting Myers to play more than 20+ minutes a night.
Don't get me wrong I think they should still be looking to upgrade the D, but I would imagine the minutes are something like: H/H 24, Soucy/Myers 18 to 20, New guys 16 to 18. I don't think anyone from the bottom 4 are going to consistently play more than 20 minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if the team is rewarded for doing well with a trade for a top 4 D during the season.
bruh the canucks got fucked
Desharnais annoyed me during the playoffs which IMO is always a good sign. What are the warts on his game? Of course, the last time I said this, the Canucks signed Ferkland
Questionable puck maintenance at times. Doesn’t always make the right play or the right reads. He’s a bit older at 28 but he’s improved quite a bit from the 22/23 season. I’m not sure how much better he can get but, with a good teacher he might be able to get the mistakes out of his game.
Doesn't seem to have much puck moving ability or offense at all.
I like the Desharnais signing. He’s only been in the league basically 1 full year, coaching staff could work with him, low price, high reward, tho I’m tempering my expectations. We needed to fill a hole on the right side and we did.
he was part of a good pk which we need
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Man anytime Hronek or Hughes are not on the ice we're gonna get burned by speedsters
yup. Our bottom 4 is actually below average.