Everyone is entitled to an opinion and you were certainly not alone in voicing this one, especially at this site where it seems to me at the time rose colored glasses were available at discount pricing.
My impression looking at the lineup was if "everything" went right we might fight for a WC spot but certainly no round 1 win was in my thoughts.
"....you just need a ticket to the dance and anything can happen...." is a nice cliche but this appeared a team not built for post season success.
They just don't have the horses from more than one team building perspective.
I humbly suggest that it was a fools errand to assume all the "ifs" would pan out.
Is it worse than could be expected, yes, of course, the injury bug has been unkind to the Canucks for sure.
But Demko, Chytil staying healthy (counting on Chytil as your #2 given his history is a bit laughable - even the most staunch Canuck defenders must realize that), EP finding his game, Kane working out, Lankinen finding the same game he had last year which was not relative to career performance, Bains (lofl) et cetera....to much to ask for with such a weak back up plan (credible and available NHL level in place replacement value for instance) on tap.
Hmmm...not sure what this means, not sure this would ever be the case.
And Thatcher is signed for 3 years (with a no move) after this one at 8.5 while Lankinen is signed through 29/30 at 4.5 with a no move for 2 and a modified no move after that.
The mind boggles.
To a degree yes...I think Hughes is gone but MP, EP2, FH, TW "could be" a credible enough top 4 group and QH asset return could add to that.
They also have the Kudy dude in Abby who shows promise
And Mancini.
Our D s/b good to go as you say.
He's a credible prospect indeed.
Great remains to be seen.
Agreed on Rutherford.Cornuck wrote: ↑Sun Nov 23, 2025 11:55 am The next question is for management - what do you do about it? Rutherford says that he can fix this. I don't think he can. I don't believe we have the assets to attract top-six talent without decimating our D. Do we have the time to draft our way out of this? That will take 2-6 years, with a likely 4 year window to build, assuming we hit some home runs in the drafts.
We have a major asset in QH and, as noted above, what seems to be enough talent to build a top 10 D with him gone.
Trade Hughes for a series of assets, keep your #1's, draft intelligently and there is hope for short term "transitonary" "adjustments" that could push us back into the discussion with the WC up and comers.
A bigger US market for EP maybe....how about LA to replace Kopitar.Cornuck wrote: ↑Sun Nov 23, 2025 11:55 am The final question is - do we blow it up and start over? Petey has the NTC, but I could see him waiving for a bigger market. We have control over Hughes. After that, we might get a couple of 2nds and 3rds (maybe a 1st or two, depending on how desperate teams are at the TDL.
Dobson got the Isles Heineman, 6'2" 205 lbs who went 10G/8A in 60 games with the Habs (after scoring 22G in 59 games for Laval) and is 9G/6A thus far this year projecting to 34G and 56 points over the season and 2 firsts in last years draft.
Hughes is top 3 D in the league and miles above Dobson.
Do the math.
Well...I would argue more than 2 but the way it has gone is clearly about as bad as it could have gotten.
But.
You reap what you sow.
" 
