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When Mr Aquilini says the rebuild is over, the rebuild is over. We've stockpiled enough young talent already, now it's time to make our push for the playoffsThat makes no sense.
If you're not ready to compete, you're not ready to compete. Forcing the issue won't do anything.
Now we're under the gun.
Pronman: 2019 NHL Draft grades for all 31 teamsThe Athletic said:Vancouver Canucks: B-plus
I’m a fan of the Canucks’ weekend (at the draft, aside from trading next year’s first-round pick). I think Vasili Podkolzin is a first-line forward and a player who will become a favorite of fans, teammates and coaches. I think Nils Hoglander will be a second or third-line forward in the NHL. Nobody else will for sure play, but Ethan Keppen, Karel Plasek, Jack Malone, Carson Focht and Arvid Costmar all are NHL prospects with reasonable chances to play games in the league. They helped their system a lot this weekend.
There's one thing about this draft that stood out to me in particular. If you look at what Gillis said in his radio interviews earlier this year about the Canucks up-front, he mentioned if he was in charge he'd go after more guys who can win battles in the corner and/or are fast so they can enable the higher skilled players like Petterson, Boesser, and Horvat to do their thing. Think Burrows for the Sedins, or Raymond with Kesler helping gain the zone.
The draft (and the Miller acquisition) seemed to follow a similar MO. Podkolzin's greatest asset is his non-stop motor (sometimes to his detriment) and ability to power through the opposition. Hoglander has great hands and plays at a high pace, darting in and out of traffic with ease which should help with transitioning the puck up the ice (something the Canucks have been terrible at over the past few years). Kappen, Malone, McDonough are both power wingers who are good in the corners, and Plasek is another guy who apparently plays with pace.
The other thing that stood out is wingers tend to develop faster/transition into the NHL easier. If the Canucks feel they're going to be competitive in a few years, drafting players who will be on cheap ELC right as their other players begin to peak makes sense.
If even 2 of these guys make the league in 3 years in top 9 roles, it will really help alleviate the dearth of skilled depth on the wings today.
I actually love this idea too... to a point. Problem is still the defense/defense pool is about the worst in the NHL only moved up by Hughes.
Pronman sucks. Can't believe people actually read what he has to say, when he says things like this:
"Nobody else will for sure play, but Ethan Keppen, Karel Plasek, Jack Malone, Carson Focht and Arvid Costmar all are NHL prospects with reasonable chances to play games in the league. They helped their system a lot this weekend."
My dog could've came up with that.
There are ways this burns the team even if they make the playoffs, just take a boo at the talents who've been available between 16-31 the last 10 years.Hi all,
The more I think about it, the more I don't mind the Jt Miller trade.
He's only 26, so he has at least 4 0r 5 years of solid hockey a head of him
He is a legit second line winger too and he's locked up so no need to worry about resigning him anytime soon.
The only way this trade really burns the Canucks is if they miss the playoffs both times in the next two years because then we lose a potential top 15 pick.
If the Canucks make the playoffs in 2021 and we end up losing like the 24th pick overall that year...meh, thats not so bad considering it got us a legit top 6 forward
What's way worse than that would be Myers at 7 X 7. Or getting Lucic. That would kill this club
More than 90% of these people who are paid to be draft/prospect experts are very bad at their job and I would rather read an educated fans opinion than paying to subscribe for that drivel. Pronman is horrible and his track record is pathetically bad, but every year we see people pointing out what he says like it means something. It's mind numbing.Pronman sucks. Can't believe people actually read what he has to say, when he says things like this:
"Nobody else will for sure play, but Ethan Keppen, Karel Plasek, Jack Malone, Carson Focht and Arvid Costmar all are NHL prospects with reasonable chances to play games in the league. They helped their system a lot this weekend."
My dog could've came up with that.
More than 90% of these people who are paid to be draft/prospect experts are very bad at their job and I would rather read an educated fans opinion than paying to subscribe for that drivel. Pronman is horrible and his track record is pathetically bad, but every year we see people pointing out what he says like it means something. It's mind numbing.
I kind of agree with this, but I'd read a non-Canucks fan's report, not that of a Canucks fan. Most Canucks fans are too sour and jaded for them to be any more legit than someone like Pronman. I just know I'd be getting the most negative spin possible.More than 90% of these people who are paid to be draft/prospect experts are very bad at their job and I would rather read an educated fans opinion than paying to subscribe for that drivel. Pronman is horrible and his track record is pathetically bad, but every year we see people pointing out what he says like it means something. It's mind numbing.
Yeah I agree with this line of thinking. If we miss the playoffs this coming season then make it in 2021, hopefully most people here would forget about the 1st. The only way I see myself lamenting the 1st is if the team did make it in 2021 but it was by the skin of their teeth and they were totally outclassed, kind of like what happened in 2015. If they make it because they are a legit talented team on the rise, and Miller is a big part of that, I can live with the trade.Hi all,
The more I think about it, the more I don't mind the Jt Miller trade.
He's only 26, so he has at least 4 0r 5 years of solid hockey a head of him
He is a legit second line winger too and he's locked up so no need to worry about resigning him anytime soon.
The only way this trade really burns the Canucks is if they miss the playoffs both times in the next two years because then we lose a potential top 15 pick.
If the Canucks make the playoffs in 2021 and we end up losing like the 24th pick overall that year...meh, thats not so bad considering it got us a legit top 6 forward
What's way worse than that would be Myers at 7 X 7. Or getting Lucic. That would kill this club
I agree.Yeah I agree with this line of thinking. If we miss the playoffs this coming season then make it in 2021, hopefully most people here would forget about the 1st. The only way I see myself lamenting the 1st is if the team did make it in 2021 but it was by the skin of their teeth and they were totally outclassed, kind of like what happened in 2015. If they make it because they are a legit talented team on the rise, and Miller is a big part of that, I can live with the trade.
We'll see.
Not only was the amount of picks noteworthy but they killed the first 3 rounds- specifically the 3rd:I just thought it would be fun to point out that the Carolina Hurricanes, a team that was in the semi-finals this year, had 9 picks before the Canucks picked for the 3rd time in this draft.
I actually love this idea too... to a point. Problem is still the defense/defense pool is about the worst in the NHL only moved up by Hughes.
I am appalled, yet not surprised at the results of the 2019 draft. The first 2 picks were very good IMO. After that the fool traded Mazanec who had already signed in the Czech league and his 2019 3rd and either the 2020 or 2021 1st for 26-yr-old J.T. Miller, a decent player but not worth a 1st, especially since Tampa needed to rid cap space, and added a 3rd in a deal which Tampa should have been adding to not Vancouver.
Then he dicked around and traded the rights to Tom Pyatt who can become a free agent July 1 for Francis Perron and also swapped his sixth for a 7th to clinch the trade.
Then he traded his 4th down to for Bufallo's 4th in order to add a 7th.
He ended up with a 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 3 6ths and 2 7ths. 9 picks and 5 were in the bottom 2 rounds and has already been posted Carolina had 9 picks before Jim selected for the his 3rd time!!!!!
Why do I say I'm not surprised? Jim is not interested in draft picks beyond the first 2 rounds. He likens picks those rounds as containing a plethora of ready now NHLers when they play their first North American pro season, especially round 1. Horvat (In know he wasn't Jim's draft selection, but he became a Canuck in his first year and took the ice in Benning's first season in charge), Virtanen, McCann, Boeser, Pettersson, and Hughes did such.
Juolevi was supposed to but his development was stunted with a year in the Liiga and then a fiasco for 18 games in Utica before a season ending injury. They will try to push him out there this season and use his injuries as an excuse for his late start.
Demko was a goalie and they expected to have to give him a little time, but he's there now as well.
Woo is on the cusp and either makes the Canucks' roster this season or goes back to Jrs (as I believe he should) and will be in Vancouver next year unless he totally bombs out and they send him to Utica.
Benning still hasn't figured out the only reason he has received these 1st round treasures is due to how poorly his teams have done and the picks were gifted to him along with the other NHL bottom feeders by the NHL system.
Doesn't matter. Jim believes the later picks take too long to develop and he has traded many of those picks to sweeten deals in exchange for ready ow players, which has not been a smashing success. Thus, his efforts to gain the extra picks in the 6th and 7th rounds were an attempt to quiet the fans who have been harping for more draft picks. So he traded away this year's third and trade down his 4th as well as surrendering in his 2020 or '21 1st, but got back those bottom picks to give him 9 total for the draft.
Let's look at his first 4 drafts in reference to his 6th and 7th round picks. I only address the first 4 because every one of those picks had to be signed by this time. He has drafted 9 players in those spots.
6 were never even signed.
1 should not have in the person of Mackenze Stewart who never even sparkled in the ECHL.
1 entered the AHL last season and was so over his head that he literally left and went back to the Liiga in Finland. He still has 2 seasons left on his ELC.
1 has enjoyed moderate success recording 29Pts/63GP in Utica last season as a 21-yr-old rookie.
Hell he has drafted 5 guys in round 5 and didn't sign 3 of them either, traded one before he ever played a second under Canucks management and Gaudette is it. Another guy he got a ready now NHL player out of after the kid spent 3 years developing at NCAA Northeastern University.
So he got 1 guy out of the 14 he drafted in rounds 5-7.
The fact is that's all he has gotten to date from rounds 3-7!
Tryamkin (3) - Everyone is hoping he returns. His fans see him as somewhere between 2-4. Others see his worth, but see him as a 5-6. Any placement at this point is speculation and will be determined if/when he is in Vancouver again.
Brsiebois (3) - May be able to fill in as a call-up, but I would say if he is a regular, the Canucks are still so weak defensively that he can fit into the lineup.
Lockwood (3) - About to start his 4th season at NCAA U of
Michigan. His likelihood of making the Canucks is not high, but still there. Also could go anywhere he wants if he has banner season. He can become an NCAA free agent.
Tyler Madden (3) and Jack Rathbone (3) will be NCAA Sophomores this season. Both had good Freshman seasons.
Verdict is still out on 3 college boys.
Everyone says the Comets don't develop any players for the Canucks. Under the Benning regime only
Thatcher Demko (2 yrs +16 GP >Vancouver))
Jake Virtanen (1 yr >Vancouver)
Lukas Jasek (1 yr)
AdamGaudette (14 GP >Vancouver))
Juolevi (18 GP/Season ending injury)
Jonah Gadjovich (1 yr)
Kole Lind (1yr),
Petrus Palmu (12 GP >Back to Liiga)
have been assigned to Utica over the course of his 1st 4 Drafts and Michael DiPietro (3rd round) will be in Utica this season.
His 5th Draft (2018) will not produce any Comets in the 2019-20 season.
His 6th Draft (2019) may have a European who would be eligible since the Canadian Jr/NHL pact does not pertain to them unless they have played or are playing Canadian Jrs and are under the age of 20. I have not investigated the draft picks at this point in time.
It's hard for the farm to develop what AIN'T there! Jim isn't trying to find NHL players after his select few that he targets going into the draft. The rest are just filler and if either any of them or the undrafted pickups in Utica should push their way into the limelight like Hutton, Biega, Stecher, and recently MacEwen he is surprised because he wasn't expecting it. That's why taking care of kids on the farm has never been on his priority list.