Speculation: Fantasy GM and Rumor Roundup Thread | "Trader Jim" gearing up for TDL

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Is anyone else just really f***ing bored right now? Like, I don't think I've ever been so bored as a Canuck fan during a season.

As horrific as Benning was, it was never boring and was constantly a fascinating trainwreck.

This is just ... tedium. The team is boring. The players are boring. We have literally the exact same roster in March that we had on opening day. Nothing is happening. For the 6th time in 7 years the entire discussion is the same 'sell at the deadline or chase a 10% chance at the last playoff spot?' being argued by the same people. All the discussion here is about theoretical nonsense trades, not anything that is actually happening.

I mean, I get being patient. But being patient isn't very interesting.

It's boring to follow day-to-day but it is kind of incredible what's been going on. One of the most trigger happy GMs in NHL history lands the job and proceeds to do absolutely *nothing*, for months on end. So many left-shot PK D and right-handed PK centers are hitting the waiver wire and he claims none of them. The biggest story of his tenure is Spencer Martin spelling in well for a few days.

I think Rutherford needs to see this roster fail before he can sell ownership on the detonation he wants to carry out. And that keeps barely not happening. But it will eventually.

Actually I think Boudreau is stealthily on team tank too...that's the only explanation for putting Chiasson with Pettersson the last few games IMO.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Hunt and Chiasson still playing is insane to me, however. Neither help the team win. Rathbone being injured makes the decision a bit easier but you would hope that both veterans are either off the team or in the press box after the trade deadline.

Bruce relied on his vets, regardless of the options when he was with the Ducks. Leaned on Horcoff and Bieksa against the Preds in 2016 despite both guys being absolutely washed up. Wild fans were even more critical of his roster decisions as well, preferring to lean heavily on washed up vets over the younger guys.

 

[Bettman Returnz]

I love the trade deadline and the first day of free agency. It's fun! This is the first real year where the Canucks could have a fire sale so there's actual anticipation. The big shame is I doubt that happens and I'm just hoping on a couple of trades. If there aren't at least a few guys gone in a couple of weeks, I'll be very disappointed. Not because management chose to wait until the offseason but because of all the allusions to big changes needing to happen. They can be patient. I can be patient too and wait until next season to watch games regularly.

I think it’s inevitable that we trade motte (which feels like something you do closer to deadline). At bare minimum one trade. Wonder if there’s a deal to move ferland to clear up the LTIR or anything so we eat halaks bonus money this season and not let it drag into next.

Boeser is another potential deal that could be made. Don’t see the benefit in dragging it into offseason if you have a good idea he won’t resign for a reasonable #.

 

[Bob Cajun]

Hunt and Chiasson still playing is insane to me, however. Neither help the team win. Rathbone being injured makes the decision a bit easier but you would hope that both veterans are either off the team or in the press box after the trade deadline.

Not saying that I predict/anticipate Hunt and Chaisson being moved, but there have been worse players traded at past deadlines for 6th/7th rounders. I'm holding out hope. Shed some of the dead weight, bring a couple young guys up, backfill the minors with college/euro FA's

 

[Vector]

Bruce Boudreau would never purposefully lose a hockey game. Goes against every single thing he believes in and has worked for.

 

[Vector]

Not saying that I predict/anticipate Hunt and Chaisson being moved, but there have been worse players traded at past deadlines for 6th/7th rounders. I'm holding out hope. Shed some of the dead weight, bring a couple young guys up, backfill the minors with college/euro FA's

They are either waiver fodder or healthy scratched. MAYBE they can get a 7th but that'd be an extremely odd move for a contending team. One of the problems is that NHL front offices are getting smarter and smarter.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

I'm fine we haven't made any huge moves yet. Like I said, I get patience.

But this is tedium. As I said just above, even if we'd jettisoned Chiasson and claimed some other guy off waivers that would at least be something mildly interesting to talk about and follow.

I think it's encouraging how little Jim Rutherford wants to make win-now moves for this season, but you're right, it's tedious.

 

[Vector]

Bruce relied on his vets, regardless of the options when he was with the Ducks. Leaned on Horcoff and Bieksa against the Preds in 2016 despite both guys being absolutely washed up. Wild fans were even more critical of his roster decisions as well, preferring to lean heavily on washed up vets over the younger guys.

I don't blame Boudreau for the lineup he plays. I know who he is. There's no mystery. It's frustrating but almost every NHL coach is the same. It's on management to take away coaches toys and ensure that the lineup is being played to the greatest success. Boudreau's job isn't secure so if there's communication between management and himself that the goal is to play the young guys and he's given assurance his option will be picked up, then he'll do it.

 

[Vector]

I think it’s inevitable that we trade motte (which feels like something you do closer to deadline). At bare minimum one trade. Wonder if there’s a deal to move ferland to clear up the LTIR or anything so we eat halaks bonus money this season and not let it drag into next.

Boeser is another potential deal that could be made. Don’t see the benefit in dragging it into offseason if you have a good idea he won’t resign for a reasonable #.

That's about what I see as well. Motte is the main trade piece right now and Boeser is the second most likely candidate. If they can get extremely creative, yeah they could ship out Ferland (he has a 10 team NTC...f***ing Benning) to a team looking to make a bigger move. Concern with that is it will have to happen before another trade takes place so if that were to happen, it would be coming rather soon.

Edit: On the trading LTIR space front, Sutter is probably the actual valuable piece since he's a UFA at the end of the season and has no trade protection.

 

[vancityluongo]

Yup. The GM search and the AGM announcements were fun lol but since that it's just been a mediocre hockey team being mediocre.

Agreed that it's probably a good thing that Rutherford isn't displaying impatience and tweaking the edges of the roster just to make the team slightly better in the short term. At the same time, waiving a zero-upside guy like Chiasson and bringing in a slightly better forward might add a couple spots in the standings and make the first rounder 1-2 spots lower (at best), but the upside is they could find another Motte/Highmore type and trade those two for a real return.

 

[Vector]

Yup. The GM search and the AGM announcements were fun lol but since that it's just been a mediocre hockey team being mediocre.

Agreed that it's probably a good thing that Rutherford isn't displaying impatience and tweaking the edges of the roster just to make the team slightly better in the short term. At the same time, waiving a zero-upside guy like Chiasson and bringing in a slightly better forward might add a couple spots in the standings and make the first rounder 1-2 spots lower (at best), but the upside is they could find another Motte/Highmore type and trade those two for a real return.

Well, the upside is that Lockwood, the presumed replacement, probably isn't actually better than Chiasson but the experience could be huge for his development going into next season.

 

[Vector]

I will say, I am extremely bored of the current round of rumours. Give me some new meat to chew on. Kings have expressed interest in Horvat. Chara for Myers swap just to set the record for most height in trade. Let's get crazy. Instead we're getting Friedman saying the players are sick of rumours so he's not saying anything, Motte is probably maybe getting traded, Miller not moving maybe, Boeser maybe...this is all boring now.

 

[ziploc]

That's about what I see as well. Motte is the main trade piece right now and Boeser is the second most likely candidate. If they can get extremely creative, yeah they could ship out Ferland (he has a 10 team NTC...f***ing Benning) to a team looking to make a bigger move. Concern with that is it will have to happen before another trade takes place so if that were to happen, it would be coming rather soon.

Edit: On the trading LTIR space front, Sutter is probably the actual valuable piece since he's a UFA at the end of the season and has no trade protection.

Ferland isn’t playing again, nor is he likely to have to travel to the city of the team where he won’t be playing. I doubt his NTC really matters all that much at this point, unless he has some kind of weird hate on for a particular team that he doesn’t want to help in any way.

 

[VanJack]

Let's face it.....the job of the current Canuck braintrust will be difficult as long as the Canucks hang around in the playoff race. So they'll probably be forced to wait until the hours before the March 21st deadline, before they decide whether or not to run up the white flag on the season.

But I think Rutherford was pretty clear in his opening statements as President of Hockey Ops. In no particular order: The Canucks have to get a lot faster and younger; they don't want to be a salary-capped out team that struggles to stay in the playoff hunt year after year; and outside of franchise goaltender and maybe a couple of guys like Hughes and Pettersson, the Canucks are open for business on almost everybody else.

So in my mind, it's not a question of 'if' changes are coming, but 'when'. And the 'big picture answers' may have to wait until the off-season.

 

[StreetHawk]

I think it’s inevitable that we trade motte (which feels like something you do closer to deadline). At bare minimum one trade. Wonder if there’s a deal to move ferland to clear up the LTIR or anything so we eat halaks bonus money this season and not let it drag into next.

Boeser is another potential deal that could be made. Don’t see the benefit in dragging it into offseason if you have a good idea he won’t resign for a reasonable #.

Ferland’s contract is not insured. No one wants to pay real money out for him.

 

[Vector]

Ferland isn’t playing again, nor is he likely to have to travel to the city of the team where he won’t be playing. I doubt his NTC really matters all that much at this point, unless he has some kind of weird hate on for a particular team that he doesn’t want to help in any way.

Maybe he doesn't want to travel to the USA every year to conduct a physical? It's just another speed bump.

 

[theguardianII]

How this new management hasn’t come in, made a handful of roster moves and at least waived some players and called up some others is a bit mind boggling to me. It’s just the same roster over and over with new lines of that same roster over and over.

Changes will come. They are not Benning, THEY have probably already decided what to do but it is the cap.

I'm dying of boredom waiting for the new regime to do literally anything. The fact that they didn't even do something simple like shoot Alex Chiasson into the sun is so disappointing to me.

They don't want to give players away for nothing like Benning would do, even a 5th or 6th for Chaisson is a victory compared to Benning's misfits. But he is a TDL guy for sure if he goes. They may keep him because he is cheap.

NHL salary cap. Too many teams are near the ceiling. Too tight to make moves.

Yep, big moves will have to wait to close to the TDL. There is a PLAN

If they were literally trying to just hold their odds at 10% they couldn't be doing a better job. It's actually ridiculous. Doing just exactly enough to hang ever-so-slightly around.

Players are doing enough to be valued or coveted by other teams, it is just the cap.

Team is .500 headed towards another year of missing the playoffs while the Oilers, Flames and Leafs get to watch their team in the post-season.

.500 is still a loser point added fantasy number, real world they are .473

No because I had complete apathy (with bouts of anger) for 6 years or so and understand that if anything is going to happen, it will be a little bit closer to the deadline. If no trades are made? Then I'll be bored and probably check out until the offseason.

Pretty sure some posters will be upset saying "what are they doing?" They have to purge the losing culture, if not done deep enough the team is in danger of a Buffalo type decade.
Next couple of years will be pretty much a step back and when the team is already in the bottom third that means lots of deals and draft picks to come. They might only win 16 games a year but how much worse is that compared to 20 wins?
What will be exciting is that there will be more than just ONE shiny new penny to watch.

The cap goes both ways, Benning screwed the team that they have to careful WHO they trade because of LTIR and bonuses and .....

They are no better than the last 5 years, Pettersson and Hughes are in year 4 of being Canucks, 4 years, time flies when playing on hopes and dreams, how about Horvat? Never played on a winning team except for 30 games or so his first year, 9 years!

Demko is the only safe bet, to correct Benning's genius moves and make this team a contender star players will need to be traded to get more star players, that means Hughes and Pettersson might be on the block.

The team is losing with them now, with Miller now, with Horvat and Boeser now, so is losing any different if they are not there but then losing means maybe getting top draft picks? You can sure that this new management group will do better than 3 players out of nine 1rst round picks, 3 for five top ten.

Rutherford has warned the fans, paraphrasing here "I think the Vancouver fans are knowledgeable what is needed", "we will need to take a step back", "this team is ordinary and slow", "some fans will be unhappy", "team like Tampa (tanked twice), Pittsburgh (tanked twice), Chicago (tanked twice) he named 3 teams that we all know a cup champs that have tanked twice, there are others, NJD, Carolina, Florida most of the top team today, even Washington to get Ovy.

Allvin has avoided calling the group a team, he refers to it as a "roster" which indicates they already see the team as being on paper. Asked if he needed more time to evaluate, he answered Rutherford had been here for 2 1/2 months already. Again Demko is the only name coming up as a 'franchise goalie". Demko's window is longer too, his window could be another 7+years or a lot more. Waste two for tank, two for build if needed and one for polishing. 5 years tops, could be a lot shorter if returns on trades, high value trades come back with superior assets in the long run. Where will Miller's game be in 4 years? Horvat? Both will be on the downside of their prime hockey lives but if here both will be being paid over 7 to 9 mil each. Flip side could be two or more young star players getting paid rookie max, 950K?

Patience, I am also chomping at the bit to see something happen, players may be already tipping off what is up, their agents will be in contact, or not which could mean more, with Rutherford etal.

Just have to wait for the cap so a million in cap space allows for signing on a 6+ mil in contracts. I still think Ferland and Sutter can be traded along with their LTIR to help opposing team get under. Maybe even some 3 way deals.

 

[F A N]

I know JR has mentioned Demko and Hughes in a way that makes you think that they’re untouchable but has he mentioned Pettersson in the same way? Not that I suggest trading him right now but just curious.

Well I think when JR was mentioning Demko and Hughes, Petey was still in a funk so no I don't think JR mentioned Petey in the same way.

 

[racerjoe]

I'm fine we haven't made any huge moves yet. Like I said, I get patience.

But this is tedium. As I said just above, even if we'd jettisoned Chiasson and claimed some other guy off waivers that would at least be something mildly interesting to talk about and follow.

We literally have exactly the same 23 players on the roster as on October 1, except for Dowling going back to Abbotsford because of guys coming off IR.

I think moves like this are the type the team would do after the trade deadline when they can open up the roster.

 

[beachcomber]

Is anyone else just really f***ing bored right now? Like, I don't think I've ever been so bored as a Canuck fan during a season.

As horrific as Benning was, it was never boring and was constantly a fascinating trainwreck.

This is just ... tedium. The team is boring. The players are boring. We have literally the exact same roster in March that we had on opening day. Nothing is happening. For the 6th time in 7 years the entire discussion is the same 'sell at the deadline or chase a 10% chance at the last playoff spot?' being argued by the same people. All the discussion here is about theoretical nonsense trades, not anything that is actually happening.

I mean, I get being patient. But being patient isn't very interesting.

Well, given the diversity of their new management group I bet it takes much longer to come to any sort of unanimous decision.

 

[theguardianII]

Ferland’s contract is not insured. No one wants to pay real money out for him.

There are ways, retention of either of the assets, Ferland or whomever. Ya, another great poison pill Benning took, uninsured, how could the owners have taken so long to remove this cancer when is was so evident that it was malignant?

 

[beachcomber]

I think we are all just ready for some player change or trade. Feels like months Of accessing our roster. So much chatter on how we are not good enough/fast enough/ deep enough… and still same group. At this point we’d take even a minor trade!

The most telling sign of this team was when Burroughs was injured by Deslauriers with zero pushback. That is a sign of a team nowhere near competing for anything. With this management team I don't expect that area to improve much at all in the future.

 

[theguardianII]

Well, given the diversity of their new management group I bet it takes much longer to come to any sort of unanimous decision.

Allvin was asked how long he needed to evaluate? His answer was something like, Rutherford has been here for 2 1/2 months already and he has time to evaluate.
They are planning for the future, an odd concept out here after Benning, but they are likely doing a full plan. Lots of spaces on the white board.

It doesn't take long to evaluate if the team is being torn down. TDL and the draft. Next year the team steps back.

 

[Melvin]

I'm just tired of cheering for this team to lose to push change. Did it long enough under previous management. I've enjoyed parts of these last few months - particularly the play of Demko & and seeing EP get back to what he was - but this "win 1 or 2 games, lose 1 game" treading water the last few weeks which has done nothing but delay the inevitable isn't enjoyable or interesting.

I'm also generally impatient and hate transition periods, so that part is on me.

Same, on all counts.

I keep telling myself to be patient and then I look at the calendar and it's still 3 weeks to the trade deadline and just - how is that possible? This has been the longest, slowest crawl to the trade deadline I can ever remember.

I posted this on January 29th, lol:

This feels like the longest wait that we’ve ever had for a new front office to even make a minor change.

Like seriously, I'd kill for a swap of minor league journeyman or something.

 

[Melvin]

It's boring to follow day-to-day but it is kind of incredible what's been going on. One of the most trigger happy GMs in NHL history lands the job and proceeds to do absolutely *nothing*, for months on end. So many left-shot PK D and right-handed PK centers are hitting the waiver wire and he claims none of them. The biggest story of his tenure is Spencer Martin spelling in well for a few days.

I think Rutherford needs to see this roster fail before he can sell ownership on the detonation he wants to carry out. And that keeps barely not happening. But it will eventually.

Actually I think Boudreau is stealthily on team tank too...that's the only explanation for putting Chiasson with Pettersson the last few games IMO.

I've been thinking about this a lot. Aqua has been very quiet. How much of the inaction is due to him still believing in this core and refusing to give up on the playoffs this year?