2025 Canucks Off-season

[Picker of Cherries]

According to AI he has to play 49 more games before he has to clear waivers and this is his last season of waiver ineligibility:

Victor Mancini's waiver eligibility depends on a combination of his age at signing his first NHL contract, the number of professional seasons played, and the number of NHL games played.
Here's what we know about Victor Mancini:
Signed first NHL contract: April 2, 2024, with the New York Rangers (he was 21 years old, turning 22 in May 2024).
Contract: 2-year entry-level contract through the 2025-26 season.
Professional seasons played:
2023-24: Played 7 AHL games (with Hartford Wolf Pack) after signing an ATO, before his ELC officially began in 2024-25. While his ELC started in 2024-25, his playing in the AHL in 2023-24 as a professional might count towards his professional seasons for waiver purposes.
2024-25: Played 15 NHL games with the Rangers, 23 AHL games with the Wolf Pack, 16 NHL games with the Canucks, and 7 AHL games with the Abbotsford Canucks. This clearly counts as a professional season.
Waiver Exemption Rules for Skaters:
For a skater who signs their first NHL contract at age 21, they are typically exempt from waivers for:
3 professional seasons OR
80 NHL games played (whichever comes first).
Analysis for Mancini:
Age at signing: Mancini signed his ELC at age 21 (since he turned 22 in May 2024, after the April 2024 signing date).
Professional Seasons: The 2024-25 season is his first season under his NHL entry-level contract. If his few games in 2023-24 on an ATO count as a professional season for waiver purposes (which is sometimes the case for players over a certain age when they play their first professional game), then 2024-25 would be his second.
NHL Games Played: He played 15 NHL games with the Rangers and 16 NHL games with the Canucks in the 2024-25 season, for a total of 31 NHL games. This is well under the 80-game threshold.

Conclusion:
Even if the 2023-24 season counted as his first "professional season" for waiver purposes (meaning 2024-25 was his second), he would still have one more waiver-exempt season (3 total for a 21-year-old signing). Since he only played 31 NHL games in 2024-25, he is well below the 80 NHL game threshold.
Therefore, yes, Victor Mancini can likely be sent down to the AHL at the start of next season (2025-26) without going through waivers. He should still be within his waiver exemption period based on his age at signing and games played.

[Hockey Widow]

Well this is good. We have 5 serviceable NHL Dmen. This leaves room to move a lot of those kids in and out of the line up, unless they get Bryam. LOL

[Picker of Cherries]

Update with Pierre-Olivier signing.

Hughes Hronek
M-Petey Myers
Forbort D-Petey
Pierre-Olivier

Kudryavtsev Willander
Mynio Mancini
Brisebois Woo
Schuldt

Kids get to cook until they kick down the door.

[theman]

I guess depth is always good. A bit of a strange signing though.

[Picker of Cherries]

I suspect all of them can at least fill in short term at the NHL level.
That’s pretty good depth, especially at the AHL level.
Abby going to be tough - building an AHL Dynasty?

[Nuckertuzzi]

perfect season for me looks something like this:

1. Petey's back to being the alien we all fell in love with before whatever took possession over his body & mind.

2. Demmer puts his health issues behind him and returns to optimal form for the entire season.

3. A couple of the young guys on D (D.Petey, Willander, Mancini) take a giant step forward.

4. Chytil stays healthy and has a fairly productive year (not expecting much more tbh).

5. A couple of wingers who lost their mojo last year, Dak and Hogs, find their hands from two years ago.

6. A couple from the group of AHL hopefuls (Raty, Karlsson, Sasson, Bains, etc.) bring their game to the bigs and earn regular spots on the bottom six.

7. Lekk spends the first half in the A to hone his game, then comes up halfway into the season and produces like a bonafide top or middle six winger.

8. Now this one is the big one for me and is tied together with points 3 and 4. If they're successful my master plan would be to move Hronek (+ Chytil in a package if need be) to land a true top line or top 6 center that may shake loose before the deadline.

9. Quinn sees enough positive steps forward to ink in the Summer.

Agree,but i suspect Lekkerimaki will need at least another full season in the AHL, he's got some catching up to do after having mono. and injuries, plus not used to the longer season.
Can't see them trading Hronek if they're in the running to make the playoffs.
I'm hoping Kudryavtsev improves in the A .
Would like to see Klimovitch get a few NHL games

Yup, that's why I qualified it with "perfect season". I'm not expecting these things to happen, but if all goes well they could.

I'm pretty staunch against rushing our young guys so would also like a full year in the A for Lekk. That said, I don't think it would be unreasonable to see him come up and stick half way through or late in the season if he has a productive year down there. The timing couldn't be more perfect given this team's desperate need for offensive forwards.

The Hronek trade is tied entirely to the development of our young guys on D. I agree it wouldn't be wise to trade him if we're a playoff team. However, the need for an impact forward/center is just as important if not more, therefore you need to sacrifice a key piece elsewhere and someone with a big ticket. Hronek makes the most sense, especially if D.Petey and/or Willander show to be reliable regulars.

[Nuckertuzzi]

I guess depth is always good. A bit of a strange signing though.

You always need depth on D. With this team running a couple of young and relatively unknown guys you're going to need some insurance in case they falter. Also could be insurance for a possible trade.

[Nuckertuzzi]

On D I think Kudryavtsev has surpassed Mancini on the depth chart.

I was so impressed with Kuds in their run that I also have him surpassing Mancini. That said, I caution against making too much out of a two month stretch, and because he's two years younger we can totally afford to slow cook him in the minors. There's no rush for him. For Mancini it's sink or swim time. We need to give him every opportunity to find out what we have in him.

[Chef Boi RD]

Well this is good. We have 5 serviceable NHL Dmen. This leaves room to move a lot of those kids in and out of the line up, unless they get Bryam. LOL

Too many red flags with Byram for the cost to acquire him and to pay him. Sounds like the would be suitors, potential customers out there, all feel this way about him.

[Todd Bersnoozi]

Some interesting tidbits, Dhaliwal reporting:

- Nucks wanted C.Dvorak, he passed.
- Nucks wanted Mikael Granlund, he passed. We would have had a Sea of Granlunds again.
- Brock had 5 offers on the table for him. He waited out the Nucks and got his 7 yrs.
- Nucks trying to move DJ81 & TB53 to open cap space.

https://canucksarmy.com/news/dhaliwal-b ... ua-blueger

[Chef Boi RD]

Some interesting tidbits, Dhaliwal reporting:

- Nucks wanted C.Dvorak, he passed.
- Nucks wanted Mikael Granlund, he passed. We would have had a Sea of Granlunds again.
- Brock had 5 offers on the table for him. He waited out the Nucks and got his 7 yrs.
- Nucks trying to move DJ81 & TB53 to open cap space.

https://canucksarmy.com/news/dhaliwal-b ... ua-blueger

Joshua makes sense, Sherwood and the arrival of Kane is probably the reason why.

[theman]

Some interesting tidbits, Dhaliwal reporting:

- Nucks wanted C.Dvorak, he passed.
- Nucks wanted Mikael Granlund, he passed. We would have had a Sea of Granlunds again.
- Brock had 5 offers on the table for him. He waited out the Nucks and got his 7 yrs.
- Nucks trying to move DJ81 & TB53 to open cap space.

https://canucksarmy.com/news/dhaliwal-b ... ua-blueger

Joshua makes sense, Sherwood and the arrival of Kane is probably the reason why.

Could also be used as a decent sweetener to unload Chytil on another club too.

[Lancer]

Some interesting tidbits, Dhaliwal reporting:

- Nucks wanted C.Dvorak, he passed.
- Nucks wanted Mikael Granlund, he passed. We would have had a Sea of Granlunds again.
- Brock had 5 offers on the table for him. He waited out the Nucks and got his 7 yrs.
- Nucks trying to move DJ81 & TB53 to open cap space.

https://canucksarmy.com/news/dhaliwal-b ... ua-blueger

I have a hard time believing any of that shit; maybe Bluegers, but have a hard time thinking management saw Granlund or Dvorak being materially better than Suter or Chytil.

While Brock likely had at least 5 - I'd heard ten - I don't think it was a case of Brock waiting for management to up their term. I've heard that it was a matter where both sides were okay with a contract valuing $50 million, but it was a matter of term and structure. In that case I wager it was a matter of Brock wanted shorter term to possibly cash in on another contract before retirement, while management wanted longer term to spread out the cap hit. I suspect that, while the other offers were attractive enough to have Brock considering them, as soon as Patrick called (likely to say they couldn't do 8 years anymore, but could do 7) Brock changed his mind and came back.

With Raty looking on the cusp of regular duty and Aman looking like a relative regular - albeit on the fourth line - I can see them looking to deal Bluegers if they really need cap space. Joshua not so much. Bad optics when he's coming off ball cancer, and besides he has size and isn't afraid to use it - something of a premium on the roster even with Kane on the roster.

[Lancer]

Some interesting tidbits, Dhaliwal reporting:

- Nucks wanted C.Dvorak, he passed.
- Nucks wanted Mikael Granlund, he passed. We would have had a Sea of Granlunds again.
- Brock had 5 offers on the table for him. He waited out the Nucks and got his 7 yrs.
- Nucks trying to move DJ81 & TB53 to open cap space.

https://canucksarmy.com/news/dhaliwal-b ... ua-blueger

Joshua makes sense, Sherwood and the arrival of Kane is probably the reason why.

Could also be used as a decent sweetener to unload Chytil on another club too.

Joshua as a trade piece in a bigger trade makes more sense as opposed to a straight cap-dump.

[Chef Boi RD]

Gotta think Joshua is the kinda player Bill Guerin is looking for.