me2
Go ahead foot
I think that horse has bolted. He's a bargain at $4m and they won't trade him, he's their best LHD IMHO. Opportunity is gone.
Speculation: Who do we target on D after OEL Buyout?
- Thread starter Canucks LB
- Start date
I think that horse has bolted. He's a bargain at $4m and they won't trade him, he's their best LHD IMHO. Opportunity is gone.
Unless there's a 'hockey trade' out there that appears out of thin air, I'd rather see the Canucks just roll the dice with the d-men they already have.
It worked just fine in the last 15 games of the season, where guys like Wolanin, Juulson and Brisebois filled in admirably. It probably wouldn't work for 82 games, but it would give the Canucks time to get the season underway and maybe trade for somebody midway through the season.
There's almost nobody on the UFA market that moves the needle, and they'd want far too much money and term to come to Vancouver anyway.
For the first time in what seems forever, the Canucks aren't pressed up against the cap ceiling. They need to preserve that flexibility entering the season.
It worked just fine in the last 15 games of the season, where guys like Wolanin, Juulson and Brisebois filled in admirably. It probably wouldn't work for 82 games, but it would give the Canucks time to get the season underway and maybe trade for somebody midway through the season.
There's almost nobody on the UFA market that moves the needle, and they'd want far too much money and term to come to Vancouver anyway.
For the first time in what seems forever, the Canucks aren't pressed up against the cap ceiling. They need to preserve that flexibility entering the season.
This post is as likely as all the people hoping we gain additional draft picks. This team isn’t rebuilding. This team will be using all of their cap space to pursue the playoffs
I agree, but I think that the opportunity to get an asset may not come on July 1st, so not blowing our cap at the draft isn't the same thing as rebuilding, it's just acknowledging that the best bet to strengthen the team for a playoff run might be something we have to wait for a hockey trade for sometime into the fall or even mid-season.
I think everyone would prefer we are patient and not get in a bidding war on July 1st but that’s not the Canucks way. I fully expect a rather large move at the start of free agency
I feel the most important thing to consider about who we should target on d after the OEL buyout, is will Kuzmenko maintain his high scoring ability with a high shooting percentage. Solve that issue and the thread is complete 
Yes, but if something comes a long you still have to jump on it. You can't get caught not having a chair. So if Soucy for instance could be had for what you think is a good cap hit, and maybe a year more than you want, so not perfect, you still have to take it.
I think the Canucks will target at least one name brand dman like Soucy in UFA, to take some of the recency pressure off Hronek at the very least. Worried about our fan base and media overscrutinizing since that trade was a lightning rod.
Soucy and Schenn would be lower-cost ways of stabilizing our defence until young help (Reinbacher / Willander / Simashev) arrive.
Pastor Of Muppetz
Registered User
- Oct 1, 2017
- 26,164
- 16,024
Nobody has forgotten about Dumba..we’re just trying not to think about him.
Cancuks
Former Exalted Ruler
I think some team will offer close to $5 million to Soucy. And I'm hoping it's not Vancouver.
Really can't see that, just the worst fit.
That's approaching Benning-level incompetence, but if it happens I'll fall out of my chair and ask why we didn't trade Myers to them.
MarkusNaslund19
Registered User
- Dec 28, 2005
- 5,466
- 7,800
Wait, you think they will sign a D exclusively to reduce 'fan pressure' on a trade acquisition?
No team operates like that.
Cancuks
Former Exalted Ruler
Canucks operate differently than any other team in the league. Imagine if they hadn't made the Hronek trade and had the #17 right now. They could have still made the deal and kept the second round pick given Hronek's injury and uncertainty for next season.
MarkusNaslund19
Registered User
- Dec 28, 2005
- 5,466
- 7,800
This is all entirely based on conjecture.
Rutherford/Allvin have been after Hronek for years. We knew he had a minor (in broad terms) injury when we acquired him and he would have played down the stretch if we were in the playoff race.
We struck while the iron was hot and used a short bet on the Islanders pick to do so. Detroit hoped it would be 13th or a lottery pick next year, we hoped it would be a playoff draft pick. We were right.
Getting uptight about conjecture is like when people say we could have had Miller for less because...they want it to be so.
I would be happy with both at a decent cost.
Put Schenn back beside Hughes while we shop for a true top pairing RD and the Myers contract comes off the books. If/when that happens, schenn moves down to the physical 3rd pairing anchor, which is a role he can fill for several more years.
Soucy at the right price is worth a shot. Likely as a partner next to Hronek, but he can play both sides so testing him next to Hughes would be worth a shot.
All of this fully depends on the cost though.
biturbo19
Registered User
- Jul 13, 2010
- 25,672
- 10,666
He had that sort of brief resurgence with the Blues...but at his age, with his deteriorated skating, and all that injury time with a lower body thing? I can actually see the idea there and it's not outrageous if he comes cheap. But i just don't think he's likely able to skate at an NHL level anymore. That's mostly why i hadn't even really considered it.
Nobody is forgetting about Dumba. He just stinks and is completely the wrong sort of defenceman for what we need, at a price that is probably going to be massively too high for what he offers.
It'd basically be like re-doing the Myers mistake all over again. Just to extend the misery.
PuckMunchkin
Very Nice, Very Evil!
biturbo19
Registered User
- Jul 13, 2010
- 25,672
- 10,666
Other than the fact he got injured, what was the problem with targeting something they badly needed with Mikheyev's speed, two-way ability, PKing, etc.?
I was a bit skeptical of it initially. But what he was able to play when healthy, he brought all sorts of the things we were badly missing, and continued to be missing when he was shut down.
50pt pace who contributes much needed speed, PK ability and flexibility to move up and down the roster due to two-way reliability isn't so bad. As far as UFA premiums go...i don't even think it's anywhere near as bad as it initially looked.
Last edited:
PuckMunchkin
Very Nice, Very Evil!
They went and bough high (it was the first moments of UFA after all) on yet another winger when the need was so obviously elsewhere in the lineup. The process was reckless.
Results were fine, in a vacuum. Until we hear they let him play through a torn ACL...
I'm personally not buying his sudden scoring efficiency. That has never been his game.
Unrelated to the UFA process, I'm nervously waiting to see how his skating looks post knee surgery.
biturbo19
Registered User
- Jul 13, 2010
- 25,672
- 10,666
That's fair. If the guy they went out got for his skating has suddenly...lost that edge in his skating, that's a disaster. Though not one you can really predict on UFA Day.
I agree that it seemed a bit puzzling to go after another Winger at that point, when we were already so full up on them. But there was an obviously focused attempt to bring something to our winger group that we really didn't have. It'd be one thing if they'd gone out an spent big on another soft skill guy who is slow and doesn't offer anything else. That'd be absurd. But Mikheyev at least...i can understand the thinking there. It's a premium price as always in UFA...but it's a premium because you can get small slow skill wingers cheap as dirt at any time, but big fast two-way guys tend to be more expensive.
It took me a while to come around to understand it, where...i think the intent is to basically jettison as much of this dead weight, soft, slow, point-producing winger group as possible. To reshape the forward corps into something actually respectable.
Speed. Size. Physicality. Two-way responsibility. That's how you build something. Long ways to go. Lot of bodies to move out. Still clearly lacking an actual #3C which isn't great and is going to cost a fortune for a good one.
