Canucks News, Rumours, & Fantasy GM | Part 5

[quat]

Am I wrong thinking that every year there's a rush in the young days of free agency to spend money like buffoons and then weeks later, there are some really decent "show me" contracts signed for players who didn't get contracts?

I'd be really grateful if the team was confident in performing in the latter category for once, instead of giving bloated contracts to questionable players.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

Allvin's last interview:

 

[Sedinery]

Why is a PPG power forward who loves Vancouver an albatross by any stretch? And with the cap going up, as well.

Lets save this post for 3 years from now

Not to mention his whiny lazy attitude. Turns the puck over and fakes skating hard back

We can do without JT

 

[DonnyNucker]

Soucy is 100% going to be a Canuck. Granato was a scout with the Kraken when they selected Soucy.

I just pray we don't overpay.

What if Soucy doesn’t want to be a Canuck? Does he have any say?

 

[Russian_fanatic]

Yeah, I mean, I don't know.

I've seen some people i generally think know what's going on think he can be a #4. And this isn't just some odd homers plugging Poolman onto the top pair during training camp and being like "top pair 2.5MM!" type guys.

But at the same time, I don't like the idea of paying tweeners. I've always hated it. I think if they give him that contract, they better be 90% sure he is what they think he is. Because having that $4MM hit on your bottom pair in years 3/4 of that deal when OEL's penalty is a billion dollars, you are going to be absolutely pissed about it.

I like the ideas I've seen the last few pages about just buying on temporary candidates like Brodie or whatever. They just need to find guys they think can churn positive results alongside each of Hronek or Hughes. If you don't see an obvious long term fit like some prime Hamhuis, Tanev types - just don't go and sign some new Myers type deals.

But I've been saying that a physical #5 PKer is probably the canucks 4th biggest need (behind two more top four D and a 3C) so I get why.

What if Soucy doesn’t want to be a Canuck? Does he have any say?

When the Canucks overpay as usual, he's going to want to be a Canuck lol.

Can't wait to have Soucy locked up for $4.5 for the next 5 seasons.

 

[rypper]

Friendly reminder that Jim Benning is no longer the GM of the team.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

They may go after ROR for the 3C.

But it will cost 5x5M or 6x4.5M

 

[me2]

They may go after ROR for the 3C.

But it will cost 5x5M or 6x4.5M

Never go full Benning.

 

[Nick Lang]

When the Canucks overpay as usual, he's going to want to be a Canuck lol.

Can't wait to have Soucy locked up for $4.5 for the next 5 seasons.

Make it 6 at $5.25 and you have a deal. We'll also donate a 2025 second to a charity team at random.

 

[DonnyNucker]

His dad is a software billionaire who owns the Whitecaps.

I’ve been to the whistler house. It’s wild

 

[biturbo19]

You are probably referring to my post in the other thread. I'm not particularly high on Lekkerimaki so I would jump at this trade. We could use all three of those assets! As much as the Wings love Swedes, I don't see the incentive here for Detroit.

Yeah. I was.

I think the incentive for Detroit would basically be...they're turning 3 nickels into one quarter. Potentially. Like...i think they've run out the Veleno experience and he just hasn't progressed they way they'd like. Lindstrom they clearly soured on as he found himself scratched a bunch later in the season. And our 2nd round pick is just a dart in the board, nothing more.

That's where i think it's questionable from the Canucks end. As much as i don't care for Lekkerimaki...he does still have upside that probably outpaces anything you're likely to get at the top of the second round, even in this strong draft. I might like the prospect better, but i'm not sure that'd be the consensus.

Hey guys/gals, Rangers fan here, I have a question on Podkolzin and Hoglander. What's the anticipation for both players this season? The Rangers have quite a hole on RW

Canucks kind of need Podkolzin and Hoglander to do something, on cheap contracts. They've both shown brief flashes of being really solid NHLers...but neither has done it with enough sustained consistency.

If they were dealing with the Rangers...it'd almost certainly have to be some sort of swap for Laffy. I doubt there's a deal that makes sense there. They're just not great trade partners.

Yeah that's what he said over the weekend. Boeser may be a good fit for them. Can easily fit him in and he'd be a good compliment to their other forwards. Have a boatload of draft picks.

If Arizona are serious about improving, i can definitely see the pieces to make a Boeser deal work there. But i'm not convinced they're wholly serious about that. I think this is more of a cutting dead weight while shaving off financial commitments sort of move.

I think about this everytime I watch the Canucks. How incredibly soft they are. For years. I know the league is generally soft now so I understand that. But I really
Miss the days of watching the Canucks when they had toughness and guys that hit.

Think about it for a second, who did the Canucks have last year that hit at all?

1. Schenn for sure
2. Burroughs when played
3. DGS for his 20 games
4. Miller when he got angry and usually took a penalty

That’s it. 2 part timers, 1 guy traded and 1 guy that only hits when he’s angry.

What should I expect? The top 6 includes, EP, Boeser, Garland, Beauvillier, Mikeyev, maybe Hoglander next year, Miller…. That is a group softer than a bag of milk.

Obviously the league isn’t about fighting anymore. But it’s not just about hitting and fighting, it’s about that mentality where if one of your guys gets rolled everyone know something is going to happen.

Of course the Canucks rarely initiated contact, but then what really irked me was that usually 1-2 every game EP or someone takes a shitty hit and nothing happens. The only time it ever happened was when there was a big hit and then an article in the media saying how soft the team was. Then all of the sudden there was a fight.

With that all said, you can’t over react and add every bit of size and toughness.

I would love 2 guys. In addition to the guys that already exist.

Here’s my wish list:

1. Soucy 3 years 3 million
2. Gudas 2 years 3.5

Bonus addition is Lucic as a 4th liner if it’s less than 1.2 and can be buried without penalty.

I fully agree that the Canucks are a very "soft" team. But adding a bottom-pairing defenceman or 4th line/spare forward sort of "toughness dude" isn't going to fix that. The problem is...the core of this team is very small and soft. You need to inject size, physicality, and toughness into that Top-6 Forward group and among your Top-4D to actually have a meaningful impact. Those are the players who define what you team is. And none of these suggested additions would be a part of that.

Just no more long term deals to UFAs. 4 years maximum. Including on players you bring in via trade. This should be a franchise wide mandate from ownership on down.

The problem with this is...Vancouver has shown time and again that it's not a market that can short-change priority UFAs on term and still land the player. We have to overpay with term because that's the price of doing business in today's NHL as a Canadian team. If players are going to jump through all of those hoops...they at least want security knowing they aren't going to have to jump through those hoops the other way for at least 5-6 years.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Yeah..he is pretty good at compressing a lot of words without really saying anything.

I would take 6000 hours of Allvin interview ASMR over having to listen to one, single “well, y’know, we live day to day” nightmare of a press release from Allvin’s predecessor.

 

[Petey O]

Friendly reminder that Jim Benning is no longer the GM of the team.

I'm starting to miss the guy. He had some banger quotes

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

These big splash rumors are interesting. I just don't see this team having the horses for Pesce or Hanifin...I do wonder about Sanheim though...

 

[biturbo19]

Drance and Dayal updated their acquisition tier list after the OEL buyout.

Spoiler: Top Targets:

1) Alec Martinez
2) Michael McLeod
3) Matt Grzelcyk
4) Derek Forbort
5) Cody Ceci
6) Nick Bjugstad
7) Pius Suter
8) Nick Schmaltz
9) David Kampf
10) Luke Schenn
11) Carson Soucy
12) Justin Hull

Spoiler: Ideal but Can't Afford:

1) Brett Pesce
2) Noah Hanifin

Spoiler: Worth a Shot:

1) Connor Clifton
2) Alexander Kerfoot
3) Lars Eller
4) Teddy Bleuger
5) Danton Heinen
6) Andrew Peeke
7) Logan Stanley
8) Dante Fabbro
9) Pierre Engvall
10) Dmitry Kulikov
11) Niko Mikkola
12) Calen Addison
13) Tomas Nosek

Spoiler: With a Valuable Asset:

1) Josh Baley
2) Ryan Johansen
3) Barclay Goodrow
4) Mikael Granlund

Spoiler: Buyer Beware:

1) Joel Edmundson
2) Scott Mayfield
3) Ryan O'Reilly
4) Evan Rodrigues
5) J.T. Compher
6) Ivan Barbashev
7) Oskar Sundqvist
8) Ryan Graves
9) Noel Acciari
10) Brandon Carlo
11) Max Domi
12) Scott Laughton
13) Brian Dumoulin

What on earth is wrong with these idiots? Like...gross.

Breaking down the absurdly stupid list in further detail...

"Top Targets:"
1) Alec Martinez - he'd be fine if he comes basically for free, but it's still $5.25M for an aging #4D.

2) Michael McLeod - not only is he likely a cheap contract that the Devils want to keep around to fill out the bottom of their roster, he's also still entangled somewhat in that WJC scandal.

3) Matt Grzelcyk - what the f*** would we need another tiny defenceman for?

4) Derek Forbort - he's looked serviceable at times, but is basically just a big dumb lunk of a player. if they're sending some other asset with him, we could do worse in terms of finding a partner for Hronek, but as a whole it just sounds like a terrible player to acquire.

5) Cody Ceci - why would we help Edmonton out of their situation again? Ceci is basically just Tyler Myers but paid a bit less. Zero interest in acquiring him. That does nothing to fix our blueline, beyond installing another expensive 3rd pairing guy for a couple years.

6) Nick Bjugstad - Seriously? He had an alright run with the Oilers and they probably just re-sign him for cheap as he's found a role where he makes sense. Why on earth would we want a big soft 7 foot tall jellyfish of a C/W tweener?

7) Pius Suter - this dude was a completely failed gamble by the Wings. The Hawks were entirely correct in letting him walk, as his only real utility has been as a filler that Patty Kane can juice up the production for. He's one of the most nothing players in the league. Do no want.

8) Nick Schmaltz - he's a good player, but at what he's likely to cost...why on earth would we be targeting a speedy soft offensive-minded winger? We're already got like a dozen of them that we're trying to somehow unload to reconfigure the roster away from that type of player.

9) David Kampf - he's okay and probably cheap...but isn't he like the definition of a "filler" player who really doesn't do anything particularly well or contribute positively in any specific area?

10) Luke Schenn - okay, that's fair. he's shown that he has chemistry with Hughes and can at least be a fallback option there if we don't properly fix the defence this summer...but it sounds like he's not going to be on a minimum sort of contract anymore and despite the nice physical presence he brings, there's very little else to what he offers.

11) Carson Soucy - feels like half the teams in the league are eyeing Soucy up as a savvy "cheap" addition, with this wild notion that he's going to suddenly outperform anything he's ever done in his career and become an actual Top-4D. He's going to get stupidly overpaid, i hope it's not by us.

12) Justin Hull - His name is Holl lul. I'd be okay with this one if the price stays low enough and the term commitment is short enough. I think with his age, he's probably going to get paid more reasonably for providing a pretty similar thing to Soucy...while also being a natural RHD which makes more sense if we're going to try a #4/5D in a bigger role. He's also shown over the last few years that he can somewhat handle a bigger role to the tune of ~20 minutes a night. Which Soucy has not.



"Ideal but Can't Afford:"
1) Brett Pesce - yeah, Pesce is exactly what we need beside Hughes to really take things to the next level. but he's going to cost a 1st+ to acquire and we really don't have the pieces to wade into that sort of trade war. not to mention he's got a year until UFA where it doesn't seem likely he would want to stay in Vancouver and he's going to have a $7M+ payday x 8 years sort of contract coming his way as well.

2) Noah Hanifin - of the Flames defencemen that might be available...Hanifin seems like one of the least desirable for our situation. he's really mobile, but he's soft and defensively inconsistent. not what we really need if we're spending the sort of assets it'd take to acquire him.


" Worth a Shot:"
1) Connor Clifton - no earthly clue why people thing this guy is primed for some sort of "breakout" in a new situation. he feasted on a historically strong Bruins team last year, playing a protected depth role. nothing about that suggests to me that he's going to become anything more than a 3rd pairing guy who makes a lot of mistakes.

2) Alexander Kerfoot - if you can get him cheap, sure why not i guess. he's better as a #3C than anyone we currently have on the roster. but he's also not really a true center and i don't think our roster is at all built to take advantage of the swiss army knife utility that he showed with the Leafs.

3) Lars Eller - i could get behind this, but he seems to have seriously lost a step and particularly fallen off in terms of his ability to generate any offense. i think he'd be a reasonable target in that he's still a big body with defensive wherewithal to mind the shop if you toss him out there with some young, offensive-minded wingers, while also getting some decent PK minutes out of him.

4) Teddy Bleuger - picking over the castoff scraps of a terrible Penguins bottom-6 seems like a very bad idea. no matter what he looked like in an extremely small sample with the Cup champs.

5) Danton Heinen - again, picking over a bad Penguins roster for gems is mining the wrong hill. we don't need more soft skill guy filler wingers.

6) Andrew Peeke - if he's actually available, i'd be all over it. A young RHD with size and a "floor" of basically 3rd pairing NHL D? do it up. realistically though, i don't see any reason the Jackets would be looking to move him at this point. their logjam on defence is basically a complete fabrication of the media. they have exactly the number of established NHL defencemen i'd expect a team to have and no incentive to move any of them for anything short of an overpayment.

7) Logan Stanley - despite shopping at the big and tall section, this player is extremely bad at hockey.

8) Dante Fabbro - if you can pry him away for something reasonable, sure...but he signed that "show me" deal with the Preds in order to...show them, before they make a decision on whether to keep him long-term or not. doubt he's really available. certainly not for anything we could spare.

9) Pierre Engvall - we could certainly do worse for a 3C but he's really not a winning piece. he's tall but very soft and would really have to come cheap to make any sense as basically a stopgap if we strike out on other options.

10) Dmitry Kulikov - a few years ago he'd have been a great add to play alongside one of Hronek/Hughes...but he's lost more than a step and is nothing more than a rundown depth defenceman at this point.

11) Niko Mikkola - tall guy, but that's about it. i thought he showed a little bit of promise with the Blues, but with the Rangers he looked like a complete turd. completely dashed any illusions i had about him being able to take another step and become more than an inconsistent tall 3rd pairing project.

12) Calen Addison - we do not need a tiny offensive PP specialist who cannot defend. he's basically like a more tiny crappier version of Hronek.

13) Tomas Nosek - this dude is still in the league somehow? wtf?


" With a Valuable Asset:"
1) Josh Baley - didn't they already dump Beauvillier on us as a similar but harder working middle-6 winger?

2) Ryan Johansen - i'd fully endorse this sort of thing, if the Preds were interested in making the swap in a way that neutralized the cap, or sent us that "valuable asset" in addition. i think last year was an overly "down year" in as much as the year prior was an overly "up year". i think his real level of play and production is somewhere in between...and at the right acquisition price (cheap), i think he could be a really nice addition that would create some flexibility for when JT Miller isn't feeling like a Center sometimes.

3) Barclay Goodrow - okay play, but i really don't see any room in this roster for an expensive 3rd line winger who is only a Center in an absolute pinch. would have to see at least equal salary going back the other way and that doesn't seem like it would have any purpose or appeal from the Rangers end where they'd be looking to clear his cap space not swap it around.

4) Mikael Granlund - literally the last thing this team needs is an expensive, soft, slow, offensive skill player who needs top minutes to be anything resembling useful and productive. we'd have to unload a ton of salary the other way and get some significant assets of value in addition to even consider anything other than hanging up the phone on a Granlund deal. even then, he has basically no value to us whatsoever. he doesn't fit anywhere in our roster. we do not need to be fishing anymore in the Sea of Granlunds please and thank you.


"Buyer Beware:"
1) Joel Edmundson - wouldn't even hate this if he's acquired cheaply enough. he'd bring size, toughness, physicality, and a steady defensive presence with a wealth of experience to some sort of role in our Top-4D. if he's healthy. but the health concerns and the acquisition price are both probably ambitious asks.

2) Scott Mayfield - he'd be a perfect fit beside Hughes on paper...but everyone and their mother is looking for a big, steady, stay-at-home RHD. he's going to get a fat contract that somebody is going to regret. he's shown he can handle tough minutes, but he's also a 30/31 year old defenceman who has never really established himself as a true, clear cut Top-4D. that's concerning, especially with a guy whose mobility is already not top shelf. he doesn't have even on quarter of a step to lose before he becomes an absolute pylon.

3) Ryan O'Reilly - he ain't skating so good anymore. still a solid #3C but his cachet and name recognition is going to see somebody give him a contract offer that is way too big for way too long, just on a juiced up combination of reputation and desperation.

4) Evan Rodrigues - if he's not good enough for the Avs after they goosed his numbers, he's not good enough. he's going to make a lot of money off one half season with the Penguins and an inflated role out of necessity with the high flying Avs. steer clear.

5) J.T. Compher - basically the same as above. there's a reason the Avs didn't just immediately commit to him as a long-term middle-6 Center. he's just not very good. he's capable of producing okayish results in a perfect situation, but we don't have that and it's not a winning formula anyway.

6) Ivan Barbashev - seems like a foregone conclusion that he's going to get locked up by Vegas. i wouldn't turn him down as a player here, but he's not really what we need anyway. a solid complementary Top-9 winger, but we'd be eyeing him up as a #3C where he might be able to survive, but isn't nearly as well suited.

7) Oskar Sundqvist - sure, throw an offer at him. i don't know that we'll be the winning bidder...but a big center who can play that traditional bottom-6 role wouldn't hurt. questionable if he has enough offensive chops to play the role he'd really need to here with our sort of "overflow" Top-6 wingers. but not the sort of thing that'd hurt you if he ends up on your 4th line.

8) Ryan Graves - do it imo. give him an offer. obviously have to cap it at some point and probably aren't going to win the bidding war that way...but i'd at least put an offer in front of him. he's one of the few options on the market that actually stands a halfway reasonable chance of locking down one of the two gaping holes in our Top-4D. bit of a guessing game how he'd pair with Hronek chemistry-wise, but he's at least shown that he can handle significant hard minutes. obviously brings size and some aggressiveness to the table that we're lacking in our defence corps.

9) Noel Acciari - that's a type of berry right?

10) Brandon Carlo - Bruins are obviously in a hilarious cap calamity right now due to those bonus overages...but are they really going to be moving Carlo? if they are, it'd be irresponsible to not at least investigate if we can land him without going insane on the price. he's got some durability concerns but he's exactly what we really need on defence.

11) Max Domi - another case of wtf would we want a small, soft, skilled winger for? he's got some ability to play center if he's insulated properly by other wingers who are quasi-centers. but he's fundamentally an example of a player who is more "good on a bad team, but bad on a good team". he's like Granlund in that he kind of needs top offensive opportunities to be productive and useful. he's not a guy you can plunk into a 3rd line checking role and expect anything good from.

12) Scott Laughton - would be an incredible fit as our 3C but probably way out of our price range in terms of acquisition cost. we not a team in a position to be spending the 1st round pick+ sort of price it'd take to trade for him and his really solid cost certainty contract.

13) Brian Dumoulin - i do wonder a little bit if he's still an effective enough player to pair up with Hronek the way Maatta worked with him in Detroit. obviously he's seriously slowing down though, and more than that...i'm not sure how reliable he's going to be in terms of durability. but if those scaries spook everyone else off of him, i'd take a flyer on Dumoulin at a reasonable price on a shorter-term deal.

 

[Peen]

What we're hearing about the Canucks' draft plans and free agent priorities

Are the Canucks interested in Matvei Michkov? Who's on the trade block? Here's what we're hearing in the lead-up to the NHL Entry Draft.

theathletic.com

- High on Michkov, wouldn’t be scared to take him if he drops.

- Have interviewed Simashev. They are high on him.

- Scouting community still expect them to take a C or RHD

- Team doesn’t intend to trade Myers right now (peen opinion is this is the right decision to wait until after the bonus)

- Not trying to trade JT anymore (they mention one phone call can change things applies here and same with Myers)

- Boeser news quiet. Not actively trying to move him.

- Not rushing to get a Pettersson extension done for July 1

- Still trying to move Garland

- Soucy, Schenn, Stecher on D as names of interest

- Barbashev, but they feel they may have been priced out because of the playoff performance

- Lucic only if they think he’s a bonafide NHL player every night because you can’t really scratch vets.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

What we're hearing about the Canucks' draft plans and free agent priorities

Are the Canucks interested in Matvei Michkov? Who's on the trade block? Here's what we're hearing in the lead-up to the NHL Entry Draft.

theathletic.com

- High on Michkov, wouldn’t be scared to take him if he drops.

- Have interviewed Simashev. They are high on him.

- Team doesn’t intend to trade Myers right now (right decision to wait until after the bonus)

- Not trying to trade JT anymore (one phone call can change things applies here and same with Myers)

- Boeser news quiet. Not actively trying to move him.

- Still trying to move Garland

- Soucy, Schenn, Stecher on D as names of interest

- Barbashev, but they feel they may have been priced out because of the playoff performance

After the surprise buy out ,I would be leery about saying anything is carved in stone with these guys ..If I was JT Miller I would be feeling a bit antsy for the next week and a bit..

 

[Peen]

After the surprise buy out ,I would be leery about saying anything is carved in stone with these guys ..If I was JT Miller I would be feeling a bit antsy for the next week and a bit..

I agree. telegraphing that they only feel the need to move one guy (the theoretical easiest guy to move) helps their leverage here.

I still think they should do it tbh. If I had a get out of jail free card, I would probably take it after trying to bluff.

 

[Nucker101]

Wheeler buyout rumours

So another winger available potentially

 

[rypper]

That's the first time I've seen Stecher's name come up outside of fans mentioning him.

 

[tradervik]

That's the first time I've seen Stecher's name come up outside of fans mentioning him.

Didn’t Dhaliwal mention the Stecher rumour a few weeks ago?

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

That's the first time I've seen Stecher's name come up outside of fans mentioning him.

I think Stecher might be the most effective defensemen vs cost that is available on the market. For the cap hits he earns, he brings excellent value. Our real, crushing need is for a top four defender, but I certainly wouldn’t object to having him back in the fold as a bottom pairing defender who can slide up into the top four in relief and play reliably on the PK.

The Canucks were also linked to Kerfoot at the deadline, so wouldn’t surprise me to see us take a run at him again - especially if the Canucks are successful in their (misguided) attempts to offload Conor Garland.

 

[HairyKneel]

They may go after ROR for the 3C.

But it will cost 5x5M or 6x4.5M

This is very doubtful. Now if you qualified that by saying they were going to ship Miller out for prospects and young players, you might have a point. RORwill likely want to play for a contender though.

 

[rypper]

Relevant to the discussion:

 

[HairyKneel]

I think Stecher might be the most effective defensemen vs cost that is available on the market. For the cap hits he earns, he brings excellent value. Our real, crushing need is for a top four defender, but I certainly wouldn’t object to having him back in the fold as a bottom pairing defender who can slide up into the top four in relief and play reliably on the PK.

The Canucks were also linked to Kerfoot at the deadline, so wouldn’t surprise me to see us take a run at him again - especially if the Canucks are successful in their (misguided) attempts to offload Conor Garland.

I don’t mind Stecher but they had better bringing in three behemoths than an PK to fill out the D