Speculation: If you were the GM, How would you play the Canucks Trade Deadline?

[Canucks LB]

Allvin and Rutherford have Both came out and said they Owe it to the players to go basically all in this year.

Which means the rest of the prospect pool, a Late 1st Rounder, and young players like Podkolzin are potentially available, also a highly talented Kuzmenko who is struggling this year.
They both said they Won't trade Lekkermaki, Hunter, or Willander.

Let's look at the "NEEDS" (And it's a bit complicated, due to many lineup possibilities).

1 - TOP 6 Forward ( Center if they run the lotto line ) ( Winger if they split up EP40 and JT MIller)
They do have options here which is important to note.

2 - Depth D-man ( Even tho getting a top 4 guy like a Tanev for example would be nice, I feel they don't have the assets to get both a Top 6 F and a top 4 D without trading a top prospect )

So let's look at the lineup -

Pettersson. Miller. Boeser.
Mikheyev. Suter. Kuzmenko.
Joshua. Blueger. Garland.
Höglander. Åman. Lafferty

If the Canucks Decide to stick with the Lotto Line, the Bolded are not going to change.
Hoglander has the ability to move up more permanently, But he fluctuates here and there.

Suter has been a great Edition, but he is more like a 3rd line Center/Winger then a pure 2nd line guy.
That being said, you can't break up that 3rd line which has been monstrous for the canucks this season.

So let's look at the Other Line combination.

Mikheyev Pettersson Kuzmenko
Suter. Miller. Boeser
Joshua. Blueger. Garland
Höglander. Åman. Lafferty.

If they decide to go this route, They need a clear upgrade on the wing.
It evens out the lines a lot more, but if they get a true top 6 Winger which should be cheaper, You can move Hoglander up and Suter into a more defensive role, just a much deeper lineup.

So what do you all think?
Who are the best fits?

Who should the Canucks be looking at?
Some rumored names are Lindholm and Tanev.
Smaller names are Greenway, and Mantha.
Also the huge name in Guentzel

Click to read more...

 

[pth2]

Given how Vancouver and Calgary seem to flip a lot of players (thinking of Tanev and Markstrom, to start), I have to think Monahan will be in Vancouver's sights, given his many years of service in Calgary and Vancouver's needs. This also tells us Monahan was comfortable playing in Western Canada.

Vancouver could figure out the line combo's based on how the guy fits in on the Canucks, which linemates he clicks with, etc. He could be either a winger or a center for the 'Nucks.

 

[EdJovanovski]

I’d recall Kravtsov from the KHL

 

[DearDiary]

Tanev and Monahan are the most likely, considering cap and the assets the Canucks are willing to move. Kuzmenko is 5.5 mill, so the Canucks would only need 1 mill retention on Tanev.

 

[Cowumbus]

Henrique (if he would waive)
Tanev
Danforth (if CBJ would be willing)

 

[David71]

rick dhaliwal said last night vancouver wasnt targeting or interested in monahan. so hes out. they did have some scouts in ottawa. tarasenko/giroux which i would like to aquire would be nice. what if alvin is going off the board and picks up somebody that NO media personal/the sources like friedman/seravelli didnt have a clue on. remember hronek last year? picking up someone with term left. they still need depth dman too.

 

[DeltaSwede]

It's a tough task without knowing what other teams are thinking and whos available but it is pretty much money in and money out so I'd look to switch and upgrade if I were to make any significant moves.

What I mean by that is to trade a Myers and then replace him with a better player making less money. Maybe there is even an opportunity to get retention on the player coming in to open more space. Upgrade there, open up some cap, now I've got room to add a forward without having to move out a Kuzmenko or Mikheyev.

Not sure he would be available but I'd really like to see Nick Schmaltz as a Canuck. Get a rightie who can be that legit 2C or play on a wing with Pettersson or Miller as the center. If they get a player with term I'd be more willing to exchange Kuzy or Mik who I'm betting on improving.

Some bargain bin hunting. Eric Johnson from Buffalo would be a depth add I'd look at.

what if alvin is going off the board and picks up somebody that NO media personal/the sources like friedman/seravelli didnt have a clue on.

Based on what's happened to this point I think that is very likely.

 

[David71]

lets say vancouver does go for the bigger names it would have to include a third party team to take half of that said player salary to make it work. or make seperate transaction before landing the big fish. i.e michyev to somewhere. like ottawa

 

[MakeCgyGreatAgain]

I think this year is probably the best year to see a Canadian team win the cup. Vancouver, Edmonton, and Winnipeg should all be buyers to try and put themselves over the top. Vancouver needs a playoff Defenceman (shutdown, physical type) and a middle 6 scorer and maybe a veteran 4th liner for depth.

 

[GOilers88]

I'd be going balls to the wall all in, but that's just me. Everything is rolling for them this year so you ride it.

If they can find a solid anchor for the #3 spot on D I think they're good. Demko is that good. Ideally a solid center for the second line too but if Suter can run with it who knows. Those are the guys that help win Cups, the ones that come out of nowhere.

Plus, what better way to ensure Petey stays than by going deep. All in deep.

 

[Petey O]

I'd be going balls to the wall all in, but that's just me. Everything is rolling for them this year so you ride it.

If they can find a solid anchor for the #3 spot on D I think they're good. Demko is that good. Ideally a solid center for the second line too but if Suter can run with it who knows. Those are the guys that help win Cups, the ones that come out of nowhere.

Plus, what better way to ensure Petey stays than by going deep. All in deep.

An Oilers-Canucks series will likely be the best TV in a long time. Seeing both of these teams load up as much as possible and go at it would be incredible.

 

[Double Dion]

An Oilers-Canucks series will likely be the best TV in a long time. Seeing both of these teams load up as much as possible and go at it would be incredible.

I loathe the Oilers. But if they add one good defender who can move the puck and McDavid continues not cherry picking for the first time in his career they'd destroy you guys. I really hope McDavid goes back to chasing the Art Ross and gives up this 2 way play nonsense.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I was going to comment on how weak the Canucks bottom-6 seemed to be on paper, but I didn’t know how good of a year Joshua and Blueger were having (I knew Lafferty was having a great year). I don’t know how sustainable it is, but I was shocked to see how good of production they’re getting from that bottom-6 group.

The main weaknesses in those lineups seem to be Suter at 2C, so acquiring a 2C like Lindholm to push Suter to L4 and Aman out of the lineup seems to be the obvious decision to make. Hoglander-Suter-Lafferty looks like a very good 4th line to me.

Outside of a 2C, the Canucks seem like they’re in a “don’t fix what isn’t broken” type of situation. Would it be smart to upgrade on Myers and acquire Tanev? Sure, but why risk upsetting the cart?

 

[Hoglander]

I'd be cautious and looking to the longterm. EP and Hughes are only 25/24, so going all in now on rentals would be a huge fail when they need to be thinking of the next 5 or 6 playoff runs with those guys in their prime.

If they spend any significant assets, it needs to be for a Hronek kind of deal, where they are getting a good player that will be around for a number of years.

Next season is the one to really start going for it. Use the offseason to re-sign EP/Hronek, and move out/let walk the necessary pieces, to get the cap in a good place where they can legitimately compete during a 5 year window, or something along those lines.

Probably would add a depth dman on the cheap, but I'd absolutely stay away from costly rentals.

 

[pth2]

I think this year is probably the best year to see a Canadian team win the cup. Vancouver, Edmonton, and Winnipeg should all be buyers to try and put themselves over the top. Vancouver needs a playoff Defenceman (shutdown, physical type) and a middle 6 scorer and maybe a veteran 4th liner for depth.

Concerning that 4th liner... any interest in taking back Pearson for the playoffs?

He'll cost you a lot of future considerations and a handful of used pucks...

 

[Iwishihadaspacebar]

This is likely to be the latest draft pick they've had in a very long time. The value of that pick is a lot lower than the value of a good acquisition for a deep playoff run. Whilst the fans seem to like Lekkerimaki, what is his best upside? 2nd line winger? Whilst he is only 19, the league he is playing with has top scorers who were bottom 6 players at best in the NHL. He'd need to make huge steps forward to be a legitimate 1st liner.

If that's the case, be willing to move him if the right player is there for this year and next. They could pick up someone like Mangiapane for an affordable cost to do that job now, rather than magic beans for 2-3 years time. Rentals don't really make sense but a player with another year or two would if they can get it.

 

[biturbo19]

I was going to comment on how weak the Canucks bottom-6 seemed to be on paper, but I didn’t know how good of a year Joshua and Blueger were having (I knew Lafferty was having a great year). I don’t know how sustainable it is, but I was shocked to see how good of production they’re getting from that bottom-6 group.

The main weaknesses in those lineups seem to be Suter at 2C, so acquiring a 2C like Lindholm to push Suter to L4 and Aman out of the lineup seems to be the obvious decision to make. Hoglander-Suter-Lafferty looks like a very good 4th line to me.

Outside of a 2C, the Canucks seem like they’re in a “don’t fix what isn’t broken” type of situation. Would it be smart to upgrade on Myers and acquire Tanev? Sure, but why risk upsetting the cart?

It's not a super impressive "on paper" group necessarily. But they've stumbled on some crazy chemistry and had incredible "buy in" to the system.

Even when that Joshua-Bluegers-Garland line isn't scoring, they just relentlessly forecheck and cycle the puck around and hem teams in. And Lafferty+Hoglander has just clicked so much for some reason, so Hoggy is pacing for basically Top-6 goal scoring rate while playing de facto "4th line minutes".


The latter aspect is really the big question here. Not only is cap extremely tight...but that whole "money in, money out" factor introduces some risk that you'll disturb the wild team chemistry that's rolling. That's where, something that bolsters the Top-6 and pushes Aman out of the lineup definitely makes sense as a low risk approach. Upgrading the defence is definitely riskier, even if it's still so darn hard to really trust Myers to not do something chaotic and stupid at any moment.

 

[biturbo19]

For me, the top targets would be guys with some term remaining on reasonable contracts. Top-9 Forwards with some C/W flexibility would be ideal. The Canucks have some hefty contract renewals coming up this summer that they'll have to keep room for. So going hard after "big fish" rentals probably doesn't make a lot of sense to me. They simply will not be able to retain them at what their upcoming contracts will command.


So for me...the top target is probably someone like Scott Laughton out of Philly. Term remaining at $3M fits nicely with the cap structure and fair value for what he offers. Maybe not a "sexy" pickup with huge offensive upside...but he's a plenty capable complementary offensive player, strong all-around two-way guy with grit and hustle to "play the right way" which feels like an easy plug 'n play fit for Tocchet's system. Has that C/W versatility where he could potentially plug in pretty much anywhere as things shuffle around too. As a winger in the Top-6, a quasi-2nd Line C if they run the Lotto Line, minutes with Hoggy and Lafferty potentially. Lots of options, and contributions to defensive zone starts, PK, whatever.


Even that kind of thing is tricky to fit under the cap though. Despite the affordable contract. But i'm sure there are ways of figuring it out.

 

[John Mandalorian]

rick dhaliwal said last night vancouver wasnt targeting or interested in monahan. so hes out. they did have some scouts in ottawa. tarasenko/giroux which i would like to aquire would be nice. what if alvin is going off the board and picks up somebody that NO media personal/the sources like friedman/seravelli didnt have a clue on. remember hronek last year? picking up someone with term left. they still need depth dman too.

Wow. Does Seravelli ever carry the water for Montreal. Hughes must be feeding him information like crazy.

 

[FlameChampion]

I’d be wary of blowing high level assets on rentals personally. It doesn’t work that well in reality. Depending on the price, I think going all in on Tanev for example is a bad decision.

I think the Canucks have a lot of good pieces, so I would just try to continue building it. Move assets for pieces that work now and in the future as well.

Looks like Tocchet will be your coach for awhile. I would try and flip Kuzmenko for a forward that fits his system better.

 

[truthbluth]

I’d be wary of blowing high level assets on rentals personally. It doesn’t work that well in reality. Depending on the price, I think going all in on Tanev for example is a bad decision.

I think the Canucks have a lot of good pieces, so I would just try to continue building it. Move assets for pieces that work now and in the future as well.

Looks like Tocchet will be your coach for awhile. I would try and flip Kuzmenko for a forward that fits his system better.

On top of this, the underlyings suggest a good team that's overachieving a bit. I'd be wary of committing too much. They're building something real here, no need to rush it. That said, you HAVE to do something to show the guys in the room you believe in them. Trade your 1st, maybe some future 2nds. Leave top prospects alone.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Lindholm and Tanev from Calgary would be perfect fits.

Offer a 1st round pick, Kuzmenko, Podkolzin and another conditional pick to Calgary and ask them to retain salary to make the cap work.

 

[canadianmagpie]

Lindholm and Tanev from Calgary would be perfect fits.

Offer a 1st round pick, Kuzmenko, Podkolzin and another conditional pick to Calgary and ask them to retain salary to make the cap work.

Lindholm has been shocking this season and doesn't deserve the price you're asking for.

I would look to move Myers to shed some salary, pick up Kovacevic as a replacement. Would likely get a return for Myers based on his play this year that would be similar to what it would cost to pick up Kovacevic.

Then I'd offer a 2nd, Mikheyev and someone like Hirose/McWard for Lindholm and Tanev. Maybe Lindholm will actually play well if he's moved but his play has seriously regressed and it would mean taking a gamble on him. Mikheyev doesn't necessarily fit the style of play for the second line so I'd sacrifice him instead of Kuzmenko.

Finally, I'd pay a premium to get Tuch from Buffalo. I think he'd be the perfect winger for someone like Miller and Boeser to allow Pettersson to play with Lindholm and Kuzmenko.

 

[Stickpucker]

Vancouver has the good high end pieces I'd look to add role players with sandpaper.

Overpay CBJ for Boone Jenner.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Tanev is a perfect fit on the blueline

A depth top 9 forward wouldn't hurt either