Hockey Widow wrote:
Next season we have to see more of our kids in the line up. This year has been great seeing Tanev continue and the addition of Stanton. Maybe Jensen gets a shot once he is in game shape. Maybe JS has a good second half. Maybe Kassian keeps developing and shows more consistency.
Exactamundu.
This isn't a make or break year for the team. We've seen deadline acquisitions and rental players fail in every which way, shape and form, and trading more future assets would be stupid. For once in a long while there is significant youth in the system, and as these players improve over the next months and years they should push themselves onto the Canucks, thus improving our depth.
This year, I think you give Kassian, Schroeder, Jensen, Stanton and Tanev every opportunity to step up to the plate and show if they can deliver. Next year, Gaunce, Horvat, Corrado and Shinkaruk are a year older and they will be better. Who knows, maybe one or two of them will be ready to contribute.
I think you build this team over the next 2-3 years on the assumption that some of these young players will turn into good players, and as that happens, this team's depth will greatly improve and we will have more expendable assets to help round out the roster. Maybe Tanev, Corrado and Stanton make one of our top four expendable and we can use that asset for forward help, for instance.