Canucks News N Notes 23-24 Playoff Edition

[dbr]

What is starting to loom large is Canucks management's failure to add some size to probably the smallest forward core in the playoffs. Way too many Uber soft and slow forwards. Look how well rumoured Canucks target Brandon Duhaime has played for Colorado...

The large defense core hides it to a point but Nashville's defense has had a very easy ride leaving them fresh

I think their body of work over the last year is pretty excellent, completely agree that this forward corps is too small and too soft - if we're going to be relying on Garland and Hoglander and Petterson then we need to balance it out.. they are going to have to roll up their sleeves and find 2-3 more Dakota Joshuas, particularly because none of the handful of big specimens they've taken in the mid rounds look particularly promising (but it's early for Gardner and Alriksson).

That said, after trading away most of a draft (1st on Lindholm, 3rds on Zadorov and Desmith, another 4th/3rd on Lindholm, 5th on Laff) we were pretty much spent.

[Chef Boi RD]

I too thought Duhaime would’ve been a great add to this team. Agree about the size of our forward group not to mention how thin it is in the top 6 regarding high end wingers

[dbr]

That's my issue, even bringing in Lindholm, even if he fit in the top six we still needed another forward on those lines. Hard to address size and high end skill at the same time with few assets and no cap space.

[rats19]

We bring podkolzin full time next year… see what he develops into over a full season with the big club… that’s 1

[dbr]

Yep, I would have liked more from a 10th overall but he can be one of those physical depth guys and moonlight on the third line which helps.

[Chef Boi RD]

Podkolzin is definitely up next year, the payroll is going to get expensive next year with all the UFA’s and RFA’s coming dur and Boeser’s pending situation. We will need those cheaper top prospects to help offset the costs and losing guys to UFA, Podkolzin comes at the top of that list as well as Raty.

Unfortunately Hronek becomes the priority over Zadarov as the right side is in jeopardy this summer, especially if we lose Myers.
I see no way around not prioritizing Hronek’s return

[Todd Bersnoozi]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/gr ... UslyeOTEd8

Millzy talks about how far his team has come and the next round.

To see how far our team has come -- if you flip through COVID, and then the Bruce (Boudreau) stuff, and the team stuff . . . and to see the steps and the progress and the process continue to move forward, and now we get a chance to play against a team that we love playing against, I mean, it's everything. I can't wait to go back home and rest up and go again in front of our fans. It means the world to us.

JT then opens up on his reasons for signing long-term here.

Not any part of me ever wanted to go somewhere else,

You don't have Pettersson and (Quinn) Hughes and Demko everywhere, and you don't have (president) Jim Rutherford and (general manager) Patrik Allvin and Rick Tocchet and Adam Foote. Why would I want to leave something that I've always been looking for?

I guess BoHo didn't really feel the same way.

[Hockey Widow]

There is no question that JT left some money on the table. People were speculating he would get 9+ as a FA. But I think he could have gotten at least 8.5 as a FA so he was happy to sign on and stay. I think Bo may have stayed if we had offered him JT money of 8 million. But last I heard we were in the 7-7.5 range. Even then Ive heard we didn't make a firm offer. I think the team decided that they could keep 2 of JT, Bo or Pettersson and hitched their wagon to JT and Pettersson. Bo was the odd man out and the chip that helped us get a RHD. Simple really. He was valued less on the team and more as a trade chip.

So far I think we made the right choices. We will see how it plays out though and heading to FA. A lot of work to do to bring back a stable D and we still need to fix the top 6.

[Cousin Strawberry]

His character likely played into what direction they chose. Mr Vanilla just doesn't cut it as a leader

[Chef Boi RD]

His character likely played into what direction they chose. Mr Vanilla just doesn't cut it as a leader

Bo is a decent human, but a little too decent.

[Lancer]

His character likely played into what direction they chose. Mr Vanilla just doesn't cut it as a leader

Bo is a decent human, but a little too decent.

Who would we rather have centering the 3rd line, Horvat or Lindholm?

You could argue Horvat had to go for the team to see the changes we've seen this year. If Horvat's here, there's no Hronek. If Horvat's here, does the PP blow-up with Horvat in the bumper position? Does the culture in the room change if Horvat is still the captain?

I was a fan of Horvat throughout his tenure in Vancouver. Looking at what's happened since he left, though, it's become clear he had to go for this team to be where it is today.

Besides, Horvat was never going to outscore Miller. Now that Miller's head is screwed on straight, there are no arguments left for keeping Horvat.

Old Fart and Butthead made the right choice.

[dangler]

I think the team decided that they could keep 2 of JT, Bo or Pettersson and hitched their wagon to JT and Pettersson. Bo was the odd man out and the chip that helped us get a RHD. Simple really. He was valued less on the team and more as a trade chip.

So far I think we made the right choices. We will see how it plays out though and heading to FA. A lot of work to do to bring back a stable D and we still need to fix the top 6.

It's surprising how much the teams status has changed from the summer. I and others thought the forward group would be decent and the D (with a injured & unproven Hronek) would be the weakness. Got to give full credit to management and the coaching staff for making the D a strength and putting together a succesfull, beyond everyones expectations regular season.
It will be interesting to see how they deal with all the RFA's & UFA's , the dead cap space, and still try and improve the team over the summer.
It would be nice if Allvin could figure out a way to get a decent pick back for the draft to keep the up & coming talent-pool stocked.

[theman]

Current D with current age and cap hit (in millions):

Hughes (24)- $7.85
Myers (34) - $6
Hronek (26) - $4.4
Zadorov (29)- $3.75
Soucey (29)- $3.25
Cole (35) - $3

Bolded are the guys that would need to be re-signed for next year.

Might not be as bad as we fear to keep most of them together. Think a lot will depend on Zadorov and Cole. Would Cole be willing to take another 1 year deal but for between 1 - 2 mil per? That would help a lot. Also think we would see Myers and Hronek's number flip. Something like Hronek get 7 mil and Myers around 3 mil.

Would Zadorov be willing to sign for between 4.5 - 5 mil per? If so, think it is possible to bring most of these guys back next year.

some extra cap savings can be had with Silovs becoming the back up next year for around 1 mil per. That would save about 800k in cap space, which could be huge for the Canucks next year.

Of course none of that address the winger shortage in the top 6.

[theman]

Looking at the forwards, it is much more difficult to figure something out.

Name - current age - current cap hit in mil (except for Petey)

Pettersson (25) - $11.6
Miller (31) - $8
Boeser (27) - $6.65
Garland (28) - $4.95
Lindholm (29) - $4.85
Mikheyev (29) - $4.75
Blueger (29) - $1.9
Suter (27) - $1.6
Lafferty (29) - $1.15
Hoglander (23) - $1.1
Aman (24) - $.825
Joshua (27) - $.825
Di Giuseppe (30) - $.775

Honestly, can't really see a situation where Lindholm returns to the Canucks, short of him taking a major 'home town' discount. Would he really sign for around 5 mil per? Would be shocked if he was willing to do that.

I would try to bring back Blueger but for a 2/3 year deal at around 1.5 mil per. How much will Joshua want? Doubt he takes another contract for under a mil, he will be looking for a decent raise after revitalizing his worth this season.

Also, think we will see both Letterkenny and Poldz in the line up next year, pretty much have to have ELC's to make up the forward core next year.

Petey's raise will pretty much eat up the cap increase this year. Also the Canucks need to deal with OEL's dead cap buy out this year too. I guess Poolman's LTIR cap hit will cover that dead cap for this year so the Canucks will literally be working with this year's cap ceiling for next year.

[Blob Mckenzie]

You forgot Juulsen at 775 K.

Cole isn’t taking 1-2 million. He has played his ass off in the playoffs and is leading that penalty kill along with a couple others of course.The guy played 19 min on a top 5 NHL team and can play both sides. He’s made playoffs something like 11 or 12 years in a row with two cup rings. He may be a casualty. The big domino to drop is Hronek, followed by Big Z, then Myers/Cole.