I think Byfield will be a player. I'm very high on Brandt Clarke. And just the sheer volume of prospects they have almost assures they'll get an additional impact player or two out of them. And they have the assets to use them in another trade to acquire an impact player, similar to what they just did with Fiala.
Once Quick's contract expires next season, it'll open up more space. They can easily fit in Kempe, Anderson, and Durzi with their current available cap space.
I think they have more realistic avenues to contention than Vancouver. The Canucks' upside is already essentially maxed out.
I think Byfield will be a player, but the way hes trending and from what I seen, unlikely a 1st line C. He shows signs that he has trouble processing the game at this level.
I'm very high on Brandt Clarke, I think they got a good one there.
Once Quick contract expires, whether Petersen can come in and be as good as quick is another big question mark, if not then they are paying a backup 5 million. Petersen at this point has shown to be an average starter at best.
Look Kings do have a better prospect pool than Vancouver, but if we are to strive or hope to be another team its not the Kings who still depend on 34 year old Kopitar to be their #1 and main offensive producer.
It should be teams like Colorado, New York etc, teams with elite players in key positions - still relatively young, have a good cap structure and prospects in the pipeline.
The canucks have a huge advantage in the quality of the nucleus core that is hard to change or upgrade. Thats why some teams get stuck in mediocrity when you realize you have a good team but your best 3-4 players simply aren't as good as the real contenders.
But if the management will continue to make stupid decisions like allocating 6.65 million to Boeser, this team is going nowhere.
