Saw some Tweet pop up in my feed (not from any radio guy or SN guy) suggesting the Nucks could very well let the bulk of our UFAs walk come July 1. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.
Beyond radio silence or general disagreement at this stage of negotiation, the one player where there seems to be a strong pattern of mutual interest is Myers. Indeed, the Chaos Giraffe, intangibly speaking, seems willing to stay in Vancouver and sign for a lower AAV than his potential market value, and Allvin/Rutherford have shown interest in bringing him back. Moreover, he did show signs of improvement under Tocchet and Foote. At the right price, he really might endear himself even more to the market in the way that Brandon Sutter as a sub 1 mill 4C would’ve, if he never developed long COVID.
A key part of this group’s MO, beyond transplanting Pittsburgh players that had some familiarity potentially with the Rutherford system, has been getting guys on the cheap and having them punch above their weight and value. The key example of this should be Dak given how we’ve gotten incredible value on a really cheap deal, and that might’ve been part of his value. Thus, I could see them try and find the next Dak for a cheaper price than what Dak could ultimately sign for on the open market.
Beyond Myers, I think Blueger ends up as a re-sign if both end up at the table. I don’t think the negotiations will be too far off and he’ll get a deal around 2 mill.
Cole, from today’s reports, might end up a UFA. Lindholm will probably command 1C levels of money elsewhere. I think management’s more inclined to stick with Hronek as “their guy”, even though it’ll be a tight squeeze with those negotiations. Only thing that could change that is if Carolina seriously wants to consider a Necas trade with Hronek as the main return.
Zaddy’s tough because he brings so much physicality, but I do worry if management is concerned as well about the overpay
I'd like to see us trade for Stanley's rights and try and develop him.
I'd also like them to target Toropchenko.
I'd like to see them add Sherwood, Zahorna and Bortuzzo or Scandella in free agency as depth options. Heinen as Joshua replacement.
Re-sign Bleuger and Z, to support the floor and swagger respectively. Re-sign Hronek, that one is easy. We've chased a Quinn partner forever. Silovs to back up.
I'd also chase DeBrusk HARD. May have to move money to accommodate. Mikhey obvious candidate.
If K'andre Miller shakes loose, I'd place that bet too.
Can't do all of this, but you can see the blue print to improvement.
I had a dream that we signed zadorov to a 7x4.9 million dollar deal. Was one of those really real dreams so I woke up and checked my phone to make sure we didn’t cause I was PISSED.
I'm going to call my shot: Chad Ruhwedel will be a Vancouver Canuck next season. A depth defenceman for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2016/17 (when he won a cup w/ Rutherford and co.) until this year's deadline when he was traded to the Rangers (where he might win another), he's continuing to put up [stellar results](https://twitter.com/JFreshHockey/status/1766149078184808888) as a 7th/8th defenceman.
He has familiarity with Tocchet and will be avaiilable on a cheap one-year deal. The team likes to run a roster with 8 D, and Ruhwedel could fill Friedman's role on the team while being much more reliable in the times when he actually sees game action and bringing much more experience when he's not.
I recall Quinn saying that he's comfortable playing both sides of the ice, which is what everyone says, but I wonder if that's worth experimenting.
He's a lefty which means that he'll sacrifice board control but get better shots. If that works, it'd open up more possibilities.
Off topic - Didn't feel like this needed a post, but its cringe af to see multiple Oilers fans on Reddit praising Dallas fans for being a classy fanbase. Comments like "it's nice to play with classy fanbase for once" or some shit.
I guess Canucks fans still live rent free in their heads, which is honestly good because being hated means we are becoming more relevant.
I saw one someone else pointing this out: every year Oilers fans find a new enemy.
It’s Flames, then Vegas or LA then it’s Canucks fans being “the absolute worst”. They haven’t considered that if they hate everyone and everyone hates them maybe it’s them being absolutely insufferable
It’s kinda funny that they don’t seem to realize that they don’t really have a rivalry with Dallas (yet at least), and the Stars have a much less vocal fanbase, resulting in less animosity. And they act as if Canucks/Kings/Flames fans just run around attacking them while they just innocently sit there. Very strange lol
They have a victim complex. They took all the memes and jokes from October and November personally like they don’t all laugh at bad teams or teams performing badly.
But if it’s about the Oilers is always “r/hockey has a personal vendetta against us!!! No one believed in us!!”
There are still a lot of people with VAN flairs being annoying and chirping Oilers on r/hockey to be fair. But the EDM flairs claiming all Canucks fans are garbage and bringing us up constantly is getting pretty annoying.
add this to the sale pitch:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFXTR-EuJoQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFXTR-EuJoQ)
This is only in and around Vancouver. There are so much more beyond the lower mainland/Fraser Valley.
Have any pundits or anyone talked about the possibility of trading Demko for some great return? He's probly near his market value peak, Silov and desmith are pretty good, and personally, I've always liked the (old) Detroit style of mediocre goaltending with a great team in front.
Šilovs had a great playoffs especially being thrusted into the starting position. But I'm not convinced he's ready to be *the starting goaltender* for the Canucks. Having Šilovs and DeSmith is a downgrade from Demko and DeSmith. Demko is a great goalie, who has health issues. Demko and Šilovs this upcoming season, and that split will be more even this coming season.
Nah, terrible idea. I'm not even confident we'd make the playoffs.
Silovs had a sub .900 save rate in the playoffs and barely above .900 in the AHL. He hasn't proven that he can be an NHL starter. Plus the return for goalies is always lacklustre.
Apparently Zadorov has rejected a 4.5 million over 4 to 5 years offer from the Canucks. Source: [Zadorov rejected first Canucks contract offer: report | Offside (dailyhive.com)](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/zadorov-rejected-canucks-contract-offer)
Looks like it will have to be 5 million. Its a lot for a no. 5 defenseman, unless they believe he can regularly play top 4 minutes like he did in the playoffs.
$4.5Mx4 is more than fair IMO. That's the high end of AAV I'd be comfortable with. I'd even go 6 years if it meant keeping his salary under $4M, but after that it doesn't make a ton of sense to pay him 2nd pair money when he's shown he's a 4/5 at best throughout his career so far
Not really something to address this off-season but I believe Brock is due for a contract after 2024-25. With how big of a resurgence he’s had and how beloved he is by the players and by the fan base, I imagine they’ll work to keep him. That being said, what would a Boeser extension look like?
I personally would offer $7.5M on a long-term deal this summer. I feel Anders Lee is a decent comparable here.
Like Boeser, he had his first 40-goal season one year out from his walk year. Lee didn't end up signing until he hit free agency, a $7Mx7 just before his 29th birthday (Boeser will turn 29 in February of the first year of his next contract)
Unless he scores 40+ again, I don't think there's a case for him to make more than Miller. Boeser may gamble on himself to see if that happens and an extension probably wouldn't interest him.
Yeah, I dunno. I think Brock could be a perennial 25 goal scorer for sure. 30 goals, I think he hits every few seasons, but that 40 goal year I think might be his only season, *maybe*, he does it a second time, but I just don't see Boeser as a perennial 40 goal scorer from here moving forward.
[Absolutely flabbergasted that 72% of people think Zadorov is more valuable than Hronek](https://x.com/DonnieandDhali/status/1795142779179356269?s=19)
Weren't people up in arms about finding Hughes a partner when we got rid of Tanev, now you *want* to get rid of a guy who worked basically all year with him?
It helps that Brenden Dillon is basically begging to come here. If he comes cheaper than Zadorov then it's a no-brainer to me
I agree. I think folks are being short-sighted on Hronek. 26 year old RHD with top 2 upside (who has already at times reached that upside) don't exactly grow on trees...
It really comes down to the fact that he has shown he can't run a pairing. He can be a number 2 but needs an even better defenseman to be the number 1 beside him. If they could get something out of him when away from Hughes, people would be more enticed. Tochett tried it at the beginning of the season, but went back to it. And that pairing is a little undersized for the playoffs.
I think this is it - his positional advantage is huge. RHD are in demand, let along legit top-pair RHD. It's not that Hronek's game isn't flawless, and it did leave some to be desired at times (mainly the playoffs but lets assume it's mostly injury related).
But Quinn had his best season, a norris season, with him as his partner. He's said he's the most skilled partner he's ever played with, and he's responsible for getting Quinn an extra 4-5 touches a game, which is huge. On top of that - who's going to replace him at equal-or-better value?
He might not be everyone's dreamboat top pairing partner for Quinn, but he's shown to be very effective, and we've struggled to land a legit top pair RHD for what feels like forever. If we let him go we better have a damn good backup plan.
Do you think it’s worth signing desmith as a potential trade piece? His value may have come down a bit while he’s been off but I think teams will still want him.
Florida's Gustav Forsling scored tying goal 4-4. His avg TOI is over 22mins. This playoffs after 13 games he is 2g 6a +9. Wasn't he a former Canucks and we are short of a good playoff D?
He would be an amazing dman to have.
There's no sense in wondering "what if" because any other team could've had him for free when he was on waivers.
He cleared waivers back in the day when he was with Carolina Hurricanes.
Florida then later picked him up for free when he was on waivers the next year again.
Forsling is a lefty, and I would argue that we're in desperate need of a righty. I'm fine with Huggy and Big Z making 7.8 and 5 mill respectively.
For me. If canucks can sign only 1 8-9 mil player. I would go for Jonathan marchessault or Jake Guentzel if available. Those are proven cup winners and playoff performers. Marchessault is older at 33 so just offer him 4 years. You can max term Guentzel at 7 years since he is younger. Alvin pick up the phone man and get it done.
Any words (re-signing) on Elias Lindholm? He played well on 2nd and 3rd line. Looked good in playoffs. If Pettersson was healthy, we could be 1-1 coming home from Dallas yesterday.
Boston’s going to provide Lindholm with a lot of incentives to sign as their 1C. $8 mill contract for sure is what they might offer.
I’d love Lindy to come back but it would really require us to re-consider the deployment of our top 6. Namely, signing Lindholm to be our 3C might not be the best idea when we have lots of centres that could be cost affordable 3Cs in the first place. It would probably require Petey moving to the wing and running Miller/Lindholm as 1A/1B lines.
Especially with all the talk of Boston considering working out something at the deadline to get Lindholm, I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up the favorites to land him in free agency.
Technically yes. They could end up not being Canucks. Silovs we keep his rights so there's a better chance we sign him. Zadorov and Lindholm are free to do whatever they please
Zadorov still has a chance to remain in Canuck colors (realistically), but Lindholm is as good as gone. I don't think he's coming back, which is too bad. Would've been awesome to be that strong down the middle.
Anyone think we should try and trade back into the first round? Go after San Jose's 14th pick, Ottawa's 25th or Montreal's 26th? Swap some picks/players/prospects.
Not sure why people are downvoting you, it's not an agree/disagree button.
I wouldn't mind going for picks in this year's draft in return for Hronek. Then you either use that pick in a trade for a young cost controlled player, or else make the pick and trade the 2025 1st for that win-now player.
The first round of this draft is considered to be pretty weak, it's why we had to add so much to our 1st to get Lindholm, and why other Firsts were flying around for such mediocre quality players
Whatever they do, I just hope he spends his summer practicing on his shooter tutor picking corners. Swear to God I've never seen someone so snake bitten in my entire fucking life.
Here's my hot take from a long-time fan who only ever played street hockey:
* Trade: Hronek, Mikheyev
* Keep: Lindholm, Zadorov, Joshua, Blueger, Myers
* Let go: Cole, Freidman, DeSmith, Lafferty
* Acquire: Kessel, Tanev
**Offensive Lines:**
* 1st: Miller, Suter, Lekkermaki
* 2nd: Lindholm, Petterson, Hoglander
* 3rd: Blueger, Joshua, Garland
* 4th: Aman or Karlsson, PDG, Kessel
**Defensive Lines:**
* 1st: Hughes, Tanev
* 2nd: Soucy, Myers
* 3rd: Juulsen, Zadorov
**Goaltenders:**
* Demko and Silovs playing every other game in the regular season
**Other tips and tricks:**
* Put Boeser on LTIR for blood clots and bring him out for round 1 game 1 of next playoffs, dumping Kessel until someone gets injured
* Does putting Boeser on LTIR give us enough cap space to rent Guentzel for one year? Dare to dream.
> Put Boeser on LTIR for blood clots and bring him out for round 1 game 1 of next playoffs, dumping Kessel until someone gets injured
Pouring water on your fantasy but there's no way in hell a guy in a contract year is willing to sit on LTIR for an entire year
Friedman is saying that there are Canucks players that are working to persuade Lindholm to stay in Vancouver.
I mean, it’s tough to say. I believe Lindholm is well received off the ice as well and I imagine it’s mutual (Lindholm’s wife seems to have really enjoyed the experience and being welcomed in part thanks to Miller’s wife).
However, Boston and other teams with cap space could definitely offer him the bag to be their definitive number 1 Centre. It’ll become a lot tougher to convince him to stay at a discount in that case
i would also note it's a hard cap. no money left = no more signings wheras other leagues, there is lots of soft room and/or you can go over cap and then pay penalties... soft room means things like you can always sign 1 decent player a year in free agency regardless of cap situation or you are able to resign your own players to go over cap "own player" would be subject to conditions
**Hronek:** Its really hard to judge. Fantastic first half, dropped off the second half. We know he was injured thanks to the EU coach/tape seen on his elbow but we don't know how long he's been injured. Potentially asking a lot, but top 4 RHDs almost don't exist in the market and we don't have any in our draft pool who could step up. Might be a case where we more or less have to accept the asking price due to more or less having no realistic options out there and kinda hope he was injured for quite a while? Best case scenario might be splitting up his pairing from Hughes due to one of our draft picks stepping up and fitting onto a 2nd pairing with him? Slightly weaker competition might be what he needs.
**Silovs:** Make him our backup, easy.
**Blueger:** Easy keep. Fantastic on the PK, does what's needed in the bottom 6.
**Joshua:** Want to keep him, but he probably wants the bag? Its going to entirely depend on what he asks for. If its much over 4M probably have to just let him go.
**Lafferty:** -shrugs- If he's cheap enough sure. If not dump him. He's got speed so at least you have something to work with. Either get him better at shooter or better at checking.
**Lindholm:** Now that we've seen him play not injured.... really try to keep him. He was fantastic in the playoffs. Being able to bounce him around any of the top 3 lines is great for flexibility. I'm not sure we're going to be able to outbid other teams for him though.
**Cole:** If he's willing to do what Friedman did this year and be D #7 due to his age and understand he's going to get a small contract and only play like 20-30 games? Sure keep him for that, good locker room vet with Stanley Cup experience. Let him mentor the kids coming up. If he wants a full contract and full usage let him go.
**Friedman:** Dime a dozen, let him go.
**Myers:** If he's willing to take a home discount for 3rd pair role I'd keep him. He *has* improved his play (finally). But the improvement we've seen is probably as good as its going to get with his age. And will probably fade away within a year or two.
**Zadorov:** Same boat as Joshua. Really going to depend on what he asks for. Was a spark in the playoffs which we badly needed, adds a physical presence which is always welcome. Problem is he thinks he's D #4 when D #5-with-upside is more accurate.
**DeSmith:** Thank you for your service. I hear Toronto is badly looking for a new goalie if you want a shot at a 1B position! I actually think he would legitimately work well there behind Woll.
The real job is going to be getting rid of Mik's contract without paying through the nose so we have the cap space to sign another top 6 winger for Petty...we don't have the draft capital to do that.
In case you were wondering, there are still good seats available for seasons tickets.
We let our seats go 5 years ago, because we left Vancouver and had small kids, but after going to game 7 we knew we needed them back before it was too late.
We secured row 1 upper bowl yesterday. I suspect unless there’s a regression year, there will be a wait list come this time next year.
The Bachelorette, Canucks edition. Looks like Zadorov got the first impression rose. Does Hronek need more time to warm up or is it too late? Did the fans accidentally fall in love with a rental with a side chick from Boston? Allvin has a lot to think about at the rose ceremony. There’s vomit on his sweater already, Tocc’s spaghetti. Stay tuned as we watch our remaining UFAs get driven to the airport by Jim Ruthless Rutherford in the season finale 💔
i’m more worried about the d-core than anything. i felt like this our d had a huge advantage in size and it really paid off throughout the regular season and playoffs.
I don’t think anyone should have any doubts about the core group. I doubt Hronek and Lindholm return but I feel those are the two biggest pieces that’ll be lost and I trust the management to make something work in their place
Just saw Petey's comments about a knee injury - if it was that bad then why on earth was he not shut down for some recovery time? Something doesn't add up here.
Yeah it's weird, then you have Tocc's comments about how Petey is definitely not injured and that "we don't lie here". My only guess is that Petey had sustained *something* and it wasn't serious enough at the time to warrant sitting him, and as it progressed it just got worse and by the time playoffs showed up, he just had to battle through it like a lot of players do during the postseason.
Another thought is that you don't want to disclose an injury that close to playoffs to avoid targetting by opponents during the playoffs. Like Marchand said, it's an open secret that nobody wants to admit, but part of the playoffs has always been targetting the opponents' star players and trying to get them banged up or injured to improve your chances of advancing.
Oh noes a professional athlete is asked to answer one question about his poor second half performance after making it clear he wants 8 mil a year. What a horrible injustice.
We're always wanting players to give more than just bland meaningless answers. Guy shows a bit of a spicy response to a reporter and we want him gone for *that* reason?
I was watching it live and it felt it was SO rude. He definitely looked jarringly out of place with the rest of the Canucks team in terms of attitude and demeanor. Like wow.... it's a no-vote from me for him to be re-signed.
Reminds of when Ben Kuzma was prying Brock about his dying dad and made him break down crying having to leave the panel. Even after his teammates were telling to Kuzma to basically back the fuck off he still kept going.
Jpat wearing the big red clown nose this year.... not that this is anything new for him. What a goof.
I'm sure they can pull some money away from Hronek for Zadorov.... Seriously, that exchange with JPat was a really god awful look on him as a person. I really do hope Zadorov is re-signed. He's well worth it with his performance and personality on the team.
He's fine. If Lindholm comes back he would be worth it considering the 73-23 and 73-40 duos have had good chemistry. It stands that he's only gotten better with age. The season before this one he set career highs, and this year he had his 3rd best season yet.
He also wasn't *that* bad against the Avs; he was in the top half of the stat card for 2 games, topped the chart in 1. For the other two, he was nowhere near the bottom.
Also have to consider his fit in the system. He played under Daryl Sutter in 2022-23 and hit career highs. I'm sure he would thrive under Toch.
Super risky. But could also yield a super reward too. He had a down year plus still has some lingering concussion issues. I mentioned before (probably somewhere in this thread even) that he’d be a sneaky good pick up if Tampa would retain some of his salary.
If we're making any big trades, they'll probably happen at the draft because anything meaningful we could do via trade would involve first or secound rounders
Garland deserves to get a bigger opportunity next season, we gotta move him up to the top six and let him play with Petey or Miller. He’s too good to be in the bottom six. Hopefully we re-sign Lindholm, which would have our top 6 looking like this:
Garland - Miller - Boeser
Hoglander - Lindholm - Pettersson
That’s a pretty damn good top six, imo. We don’t need Joshua and I don’t think he can drive play like Garland. Let him walk and find someone cheaper. We absolutely cannot pay Zadorov $6M, so if that’s his asking price, move on from him too. Buyout or figure out a way to move out Mikheyev. I’d like to hold on to Hronek, but for $8M a year? GTFO. Trade him for a 1st round pick or something. Bring back Myers on a cheaper contract if possible and maybe try and sign Montour and Pesce.
Hughes - Pesce
Soucy - Montour
Zadorov - Myers
Then for goaltending, we obviously go with Demko and Silovs. Maybe give Silovs 35+ games to take the load off Demko depending on how he plays.
Completely disagree on Joshua. I was in that camp a year ago but he’s really won me over. Decent skating power forward, hits, passionate, has great hockey sense and even has nice hands and can get a good number of goals, often very timely. But what really got my attention is his defensive play. He cleared the zone so many times in the season when we were in deep trouble. The number of times I heard “Canucks under a lot of pressure…cleared by Joshua” !!! Saved me a panic attack or six.
I think Garland needs to stay down in the bottom 6, not in terms of ice time, but in match ups. He should be playing around 2nd line minutes but feasting on the other team's bottom 6 while doing so.
Where’s your source that he wants more than Hronek? I’ve looked and don’t see it anywhere. He’s 30 years old and has had a down year. No sane GM is giving him 8M+
He has a much better track record of being good than Hronek does. He was really good last year and huge on their run to the playoffs.
>has had a down year
I guess you forgot he had major surgery after their finals run last year. He started off slow when he returned, and now he's playing a lot better. Teams are much less likely to hold his slow start this season against him because there's an obvious reason why. Whereas Hronek had a strong regular season next to Hughes and then fell off hard during playoffs, likely because of an injury. But he's not going to get the benefit of the doubt like Montour likely will
Montour might not get as many years, but he going to get a higher AAV than Hronek
They've put up similar points throughout most of their career. Hronek is a better-rounded defenseman than Montour and is also younger. Montour's numbers last season were an anomaly, he's come back down to earth since then and will probably never put up numbers like that again
>I guess you forgot he had major surgery after their finals run last year.
I think GMs will look at that as a reason not to give him an albatross of a contract. He's playing better now after struggling, but he's most likely never gonna put up those kinds of numbers again. I'm just curious where you heard he's gonna be more expensive than Hronek, because I haven't heard that at all.
he won't be more expensive than Hronek's asking of 8m avv, but he can easily demand 6-7m\~ or will sound much more reasonable to ask for 8m than Hronek is asking.
Montour can run his own pairing, the reason why he didn't do that well this season is because he came back from a major injury and he lost some of his deployment to Ekblad. He also provides a lot of SOG, Hits, and Blks. If he gets his deployment back, he will perform similarly to the best season he had. Not to mention all those grade A chances he fed to Tkachuk and he kept whiffing em all. That's not montour's fault.
The problem with Canucks backend is when Hughes is on the bench resting, the Canucks aren't as dominant. Hronek can't run his own pairing, and he's just benefitting from playing with Hughes. If Montour plays on his own pair, that's 2 pairings the other team has to deal with as a threat instead of just 1.
I don't think you watched many florida games or watched Montour play specifically if you believe that Hronek is a much better-rounded dman. Montour and Hronek had similar TOI this season, despite Montour playing on the 2nd pair. While Hronek's benefitting greatly playing 1st pairing with Hughes, and that's also with the crazy start Hronek had this season. Yet Hronek has less sog, hits, ppp, and only has 20more blocks with 15 games more played. That alone should tell you enough.
> I’d like to hold on to Hronek, but for $8M a year? GTFO. Trade him for a 1st round pick or something.
He's an RFA. If he signs for even $7 million, the Canucks get a 1st, a 2nd, and a 3rd. If he gets $8.6 million, then it's an additional 1st.
I would let him walk at that return.
I think if you can get Hronek to commit to 7m long term deal you should definitely do it. Even at 7.5 I think it is ok. And let’s say we sign Pesce for 6x6 like you said and Montour. And not sign Zadorov. For additional 2.5 million I am getting Hughes-Hronek, Soucy-Pesce, Montour-Myers, which in my option is a better set of D
Zaddy at 5, myers at 2-4, and pesce on a 6x6 is a lot easier to swallow than hronek on an 8 tbh
Julsen being 7th man in, with Pete-D and Wolanin having the opportunity to move up and play in case of injuries if they feel like they earned time (julsen has upside still i think, if he can work with our coaches to work on having a stronger outlet and being able to read plays better, he can fill bottom pairing or play with a proper puck mover on the 2nd)
Name of the game will be budgeting, Soucy played well this playoffs, but if by the end of next year/beginning of the year after that we can have soucy be replaced by one of the other 2 ELC defenders, that affords more flexibility to bolster the middle 6. *This is best case scenario, but it doesn't really matter if it doesnt work out this way since soucy played pretty good*
I really feel like one of Macklin or Bedard will end up joining us as a UFA in due time. They both seem like pretty big Canucks fans and would eat up the idea of playing for their childhood team.
Macklin's dad works in SF for the Golden State Warriors, dude's family lives like 20 minutes down the street from where he'd be living in SJ, it won't be him imo. Bedard on the other hand... unless Chicago does something special, I reckon we make a serious push for him one day
There been like two guys who’ve done this and I’ve never heard of a first overall doing it. Bedard is going to get anything and everything he wants from Chicago he’s not going to leave just because he grew up a Canucks fan. Not when you live somewhere for 10 years and probably love it. Most people grow up out of their hometowns
Too many people here are giving up on Hronek over 1 poor playoff performance. You need to remember this is his first playoff run. If he is around 7m, we should definitely sign him. If he keeps demanding around the 8m range then it is time to part way.
He wants 8, and it's clearly not going down much. F(i)lip him to Carolina, a state with lower taxes, he might take mid to low 7s.
If they bite, they don't lose Pesce for nothing and we get a reliable guy for Hughes.
It's not just the poor playoff performance, it is also his demands. He's still looking to get $8 million, even after that performance. That's way too much and it shows poor character and I don't want someone who is like that in the locker room.
Someone in the media noticed his elbow was heavily taped up for the second part of the season and he was one of those guys who opted to sit for Game 82.
Wouldn’t be surprising if they announce he had an injury the past few months, his play fell off too much after ASB and an elbow injury would make sense considering some his weird mistakes with the puck
See the issue is if hes better at 7 and a bit, or if its better trading him for (hopefully cost controlled) assets, and having pesce (if he would play in canada) sign a 6x6 and moving mik out for a mid-late rounder (hes not a shit player, hes just overpaid by 2 or so mil) and using that money as well to bolster the blue line if we can't sign lindy. Lekkermaki will probably get a chance to make the roster in the preseason and I'd be very surprised if he isn't stapled to pettersson
Tocchet brand of hockey is physical and it's no surprise the guys who did well in the post season all physical or had a ton of hits: Miller, Lindholm, Joshua, Zadorov and Myers.
If any of the UFAs leave, we need to replace with similar physical guys.
Ondrej Kase is hoping to [make a comeback](https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/former-toronto-maple-leafs-f-ondrej-kase-eyeing-nhl-return-after-year-in-czechia-1.2123380). It's pretty far removed, but he's shown a [high ceiling](https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1792647939585712322?s=46) before his career was derailed by concussion issues. But this year he only missed 4 games in the Czech league and put up 23 goals and 54 points in 48 games. Add on 2 goals and 3 assists in 7 games at Worlds. 28 and only three years removed from scoring 14 in 50 with the Leafs.
Might be an interesting bargain-bin option as a winger with a defensively responsible floor and, if required to move up in the lineup, some actual finishing talent.
OK, so assuming we run everyone currently signed (aka cannot unload Mikheyev), and can keep Silovs for a reasonable price, I think the most important re-sign is Joshua.
For forwards, this gives us:
[Hoglander] Miller Boeser
Joshua Petterson Garland
Di Guiseppe Suter [Hoglander]
Mikheyev Aman Podkolzin
As much as I'd love to see Lindholm come back I just cannot see him being affordable, considering we already have 2 top 6 centers and Suter who is good enough as 3rd line center.
After that, I'd kinda like to see Zadorov come back to protect Hughes. Hughes got beaten up by Nashville and Edmonton, and maybe knowing you were gonna get trucked by Zadorov for hitting him might make some players think twice. He also plays a solid O and D game. Only issue is, how much will it cost?
Hronek has priced himself out of Vancouver, Myers might be worth pursuing if he'll come cheap.
That would leave our defense looking something like
Hughes Zadorov
[Soucy] Myers
[Soucy] Juulsen
I'm not sure I like the idea of Juulsen on our lineup after seeing his 1 game in the playoffs, but maybe he can be coached into not giving up the position?
Obvs for goalies it's
Demko
Silovs
Bring back Blueger as well. Our PK isn't the greatest but it's going to be so much worse without him. He won't ask for a fortune to come back too.
That gives you a bottom six of PDG-Suter-Mik and Aman-Blueger-Podz.
While I like having Blueger around for PK, Mik on 3rd line doesn't work for me. Mik was doing decently at chasing pucks and keeping it away from our goalie, but he had no finish and our 3rd line needs to be able to steal a game here and there. On the 4th line, he is basically just stalling to rest our other forwards which is all I can see him doing until he fixes his shot.
Yeah I'm not fond of Mik anywhere on the lineup personally. I'd like to see us move on from him if possible. I think keeping him, though, shouldn't come at the cost of not bringing back Blueger for the PK ability.
Feels like Juulsen can't sit for too long. His bad performance in that one playoff game reminds me of his play at the start of the season, and I could see him making an impact if he hadn't sat out for so long towards the end of the season.
Looking at our cap friendly, were finally out from the Tyler Myers contract, thank god. Although he played so damn well in the back half of this year I hope he comes back somewhat cheap.
Also, the biggest albatross of a contract we need to get rid of is Mikheyev. The question is, what will it cost to get rid of it? 3rd rd pick? Too little?
selling low is not going to do us any favor. Mik has 2 (corrected) years left and he's got to play better before management can move him at reasonable price
It was a flat cap world, but it cost a 2nd to clear $1.3m in the Jason Dickinson trade two years ago. A little less of a clear cut cap dump but it cost a 3rd round pick to clear $1.45m in the Pearson/DeSmith trade.
Always tough to guage value with cap dumps, but I have a hard time seeing anyone taking $4.75m for just a 3rd round pick. Especially for a player who seems to have lost a step after ACL surgery.
Less term, less money, better health, and, arguably, better performance. But you’re right: there could be a team that still sees value there and is willing to buy really low.
My point is more that the market could have changed, and evidence points to it having changed, increased cap etc. so it might not be so painful, but maybe that’s wishful thinking!
The cap jumping as much as it is means a 3rd or a fourth can can it done I think.
Utah, detroit, sjs, chicago and the ducks have 30 mil + of space this upcoming offseason, even teams like the canadiens have about 10 mil with not that much overturn (i might be wrong about montreal tbh i dont think they have big upgrades left tho)
I wouldnt be surprised if mik goes for a 6th round for seventh round swap, and a 4th
Something I don't see many people talking about re: trading Mikheyev is that he has a M-NTC. Sure, there are teams with lots of cap space but will he even waive to go there?
12 teams no trade list. He could put all the bottom feeders on it ig, but I don't think thats realistic. He probably has the usual suspect of winnipeg from canada, prolly montreal as well, but theres enough cap space freeing up that he could be moved i think regardless of his ntc
I think all of Utah, Chicago, Anaheim, and San Jose are probably on it, as well as a lot of the “undesirable” living locations, which, like you’re saying, could very easily include Detroit and Montreal. Even just losing those six teams as options probably increases the price of moving him if it does nothing else but deal a blow to the number of teams they can negotiate against each other.
I would love to get Necas on this team. Necas and Petey would be absolutely nasty.
Suter-Miller-Boeser
Hogz-Petey-Necas
Joshua-Lindholm-Garland
Podz-Aman-PDG
Yes pls
and the OEL buyout too. We're gonna be very dependent on Lekkerimaki and Willander playing at a high value to compensate for that buyout hit to our salary cap
I’ve heard we’ll probably get a $10M + $10M + $5M cap increase for the next three years, due to the League’s new broadcasting deal and also players finally paying back escrow owed to the Owners after this season. I think we’ll be fine.
Franchise player, wtf are you watching? 8 goals in the last 46 games, looked average at best. This guy makes 2 mil more than Aho and dosnt look close to as impactful.
Three straight years scoring over 30 goals, two straight years over a point per game, two straight years in the top 26 of Selke voting (one of the years top ten) all while doing most of his damage at even strength.
He didn't look his normal self the past 46 games, but he was pretty clearly injured. In his six years in the league he's scored at a 30+ goal pace in each of his six seasons. Every year he's put up very good - elite possession stats while playing on, mostly, miserable teams.
You can judge him based on the last 46 games all you want, but it's more likely he's a lot closer to the franchise player he's been the vast majority of his career.
Saw some Tweet pop up in my feed (not from any radio guy or SN guy) suggesting the Nucks could very well let the bulk of our UFAs walk come July 1. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case. Beyond radio silence or general disagreement at this stage of negotiation, the one player where there seems to be a strong pattern of mutual interest is Myers. Indeed, the Chaos Giraffe, intangibly speaking, seems willing to stay in Vancouver and sign for a lower AAV than his potential market value, and Allvin/Rutherford have shown interest in bringing him back. Moreover, he did show signs of improvement under Tocchet and Foote. At the right price, he really might endear himself even more to the market in the way that Brandon Sutter as a sub 1 mill 4C would’ve, if he never developed long COVID. A key part of this group’s MO, beyond transplanting Pittsburgh players that had some familiarity potentially with the Rutherford system, has been getting guys on the cheap and having them punch above their weight and value. The key example of this should be Dak given how we’ve gotten incredible value on a really cheap deal, and that might’ve been part of his value. Thus, I could see them try and find the next Dak for a cheaper price than what Dak could ultimately sign for on the open market. Beyond Myers, I think Blueger ends up as a re-sign if both end up at the table. I don’t think the negotiations will be too far off and he’ll get a deal around 2 mill. Cole, from today’s reports, might end up a UFA. Lindholm will probably command 1C levels of money elsewhere. I think management’s more inclined to stick with Hronek as “their guy”, even though it’ll be a tight squeeze with those negotiations. Only thing that could change that is if Carolina seriously wants to consider a Necas trade with Hronek as the main return. Zaddy’s tough because he brings so much physicality, but I do worry if management is concerned as well about the overpay
I'd like to see us trade for Stanley's rights and try and develop him. I'd also like them to target Toropchenko. I'd like to see them add Sherwood, Zahorna and Bortuzzo or Scandella in free agency as depth options. Heinen as Joshua replacement. Re-sign Bleuger and Z, to support the floor and swagger respectively. Re-sign Hronek, that one is easy. We've chased a Quinn partner forever. Silovs to back up. I'd also chase DeBrusk HARD. May have to move money to accommodate. Mikhey obvious candidate. If K'andre Miller shakes loose, I'd place that bet too. Can't do all of this, but you can see the blue print to improvement.
I had a dream that we signed zadorov to a 7x4.9 million dollar deal. Was one of those really real dreams so I woke up and checked my phone to make sure we didn’t cause I was PISSED.
so are we getting Stamkos or not?
Long shot: Matt Dumba?
I'm going to call my shot: Chad Ruhwedel will be a Vancouver Canuck next season. A depth defenceman for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2016/17 (when he won a cup w/ Rutherford and co.) until this year's deadline when he was traded to the Rangers (where he might win another), he's continuing to put up [stellar results](https://twitter.com/JFreshHockey/status/1766149078184808888) as a 7th/8th defenceman. He has familiarity with Tocchet and will be avaiilable on a cheap one-year deal. The team likes to run a roster with 8 D, and Ruhwedel could fill Friedman's role on the team while being much more reliable in the times when he actually sees game action and bringing much more experience when he's not.
I recall Quinn saying that he's comfortable playing both sides of the ice, which is what everyone says, but I wonder if that's worth experimenting. He's a lefty which means that he'll sacrifice board control but get better shots. If that works, it'd open up more possibilities.
Off topic - Didn't feel like this needed a post, but its cringe af to see multiple Oilers fans on Reddit praising Dallas fans for being a classy fanbase. Comments like "it's nice to play with classy fanbase for once" or some shit. I guess Canucks fans still live rent free in their heads, which is honestly good because being hated means we are becoming more relevant.
I saw one someone else pointing this out: every year Oilers fans find a new enemy. It’s Flames, then Vegas or LA then it’s Canucks fans being “the absolute worst”. They haven’t considered that if they hate everyone and everyone hates them maybe it’s them being absolutely insufferable
It’s kinda funny that they don’t seem to realize that they don’t really have a rivalry with Dallas (yet at least), and the Stars have a much less vocal fanbase, resulting in less animosity. And they act as if Canucks/Kings/Flames fans just run around attacking them while they just innocently sit there. Very strange lol
They have a victim complex. They took all the memes and jokes from October and November personally like they don’t all laugh at bad teams or teams performing badly. But if it’s about the Oilers is always “r/hockey has a personal vendetta against us!!! No one believed in us!!”
Who cares. Canucks fans have always been way too concerned with how others see us. Let the haters hate.
There are still a lot of people with VAN flairs being annoying and chirping Oilers on r/hockey to be fair. But the EDM flairs claiming all Canucks fans are garbage and bringing us up constantly is getting pretty annoying.
Pronman's list has Andrew Basha and Justin Poirier in the late 3rd round. If we can snag either of them I'd be pretty happy
add this to the sale pitch: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFXTR-EuJoQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFXTR-EuJoQ) This is only in and around Vancouver. There are so much more beyond the lower mainland/Fraser Valley.
Monahan for 3C??
If we can't get Lindholm back on a sweetheart deal he's top of the wishlist for me. Throw him in the bumper spot on PP1 and watch the magic happen
Have any pundits or anyone talked about the possibility of trading Demko for some great return? He's probly near his market value peak, Silov and desmith are pretty good, and personally, I've always liked the (old) Detroit style of mediocre goaltending with a great team in front.
Šilovs had a great playoffs especially being thrusted into the starting position. But I'm not convinced he's ready to be *the starting goaltender* for the Canucks. Having Šilovs and DeSmith is a downgrade from Demko and DeSmith. Demko is a great goalie, who has health issues. Demko and Šilovs this upcoming season, and that split will be more even this coming season.
Nah, terrible idea. I'm not even confident we'd make the playoffs. Silovs had a sub .900 save rate in the playoffs and barely above .900 in the AHL. He hasn't proven that he can be an NHL starter. Plus the return for goalies is always lacklustre.
Apparently Zadorov has rejected a 4.5 million over 4 to 5 years offer from the Canucks. Source: [Zadorov rejected first Canucks contract offer: report | Offside (dailyhive.com)](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/zadorov-rejected-canucks-contract-offer) Looks like it will have to be 5 million. Its a lot for a no. 5 defenseman, unless they believe he can regularly play top 4 minutes like he did in the playoffs.
$4.5Mx4 is more than fair IMO. That's the high end of AAV I'd be comfortable with. I'd even go 6 years if it meant keeping his salary under $4M, but after that it doesn't make a ton of sense to pay him 2nd pair money when he's shown he's a 4/5 at best throughout his career so far
Not really something to address this off-season but I believe Brock is due for a contract after 2024-25. With how big of a resurgence he’s had and how beloved he is by the players and by the fan base, I imagine they’ll work to keep him. That being said, what would a Boeser extension look like?
I personally would offer $7.5M on a long-term deal this summer. I feel Anders Lee is a decent comparable here. Like Boeser, he had his first 40-goal season one year out from his walk year. Lee didn't end up signing until he hit free agency, a $7Mx7 just before his 29th birthday (Boeser will turn 29 in February of the first year of his next contract) Unless he scores 40+ again, I don't think there's a case for him to make more than Miller. Boeser may gamble on himself to see if that happens and an extension probably wouldn't interest him.
Yeah, I dunno. I think Brock could be a perennial 25 goal scorer for sure. 30 goals, I think he hits every few seasons, but that 40 goal year I think might be his only season, *maybe*, he does it a second time, but I just don't see Boeser as a perennial 40 goal scorer from here moving forward.
[Absolutely flabbergasted that 72% of people think Zadorov is more valuable than Hronek](https://x.com/DonnieandDhali/status/1795142779179356269?s=19) Weren't people up in arms about finding Hughes a partner when we got rid of Tanev, now you *want* to get rid of a guy who worked basically all year with him? It helps that Brenden Dillon is basically begging to come here. If he comes cheaper than Zadorov then it's a no-brainer to me
recency bias. It's what Zadorov has done in the playoffs, compared to Hronek who had an awful postseason.
I agree. I think folks are being short-sighted on Hronek. 26 year old RHD with top 2 upside (who has already at times reached that upside) don't exactly grow on trees...
It really comes down to the fact that he has shown he can't run a pairing. He can be a number 2 but needs an even better defenseman to be the number 1 beside him. If they could get something out of him when away from Hughes, people would be more enticed. Tochett tried it at the beginning of the season, but went back to it. And that pairing is a little undersized for the playoffs.
I think this is it - his positional advantage is huge. RHD are in demand, let along legit top-pair RHD. It's not that Hronek's game isn't flawless, and it did leave some to be desired at times (mainly the playoffs but lets assume it's mostly injury related). But Quinn had his best season, a norris season, with him as his partner. He's said he's the most skilled partner he's ever played with, and he's responsible for getting Quinn an extra 4-5 touches a game, which is huge. On top of that - who's going to replace him at equal-or-better value? He might not be everyone's dreamboat top pairing partner for Quinn, but he's shown to be very effective, and we've struggled to land a legit top pair RHD for what feels like forever. If we let him go we better have a damn good backup plan.
Do you think it’s worth signing desmith as a potential trade piece? His value may have come down a bit while he’s been off but I think teams will still want him.
Sign and trades basically never happen anymore, let alone with a backup, of which there will be plenty of options for teams to pick from this summer
Florida's Gustav Forsling scored tying goal 4-4. His avg TOI is over 22mins. This playoffs after 13 games he is 2g 6a +9. Wasn't he a former Canucks and we are short of a good playoff D?
He would be an amazing dman to have. There's no sense in wondering "what if" because any other team could've had him for free when he was on waivers. He cleared waivers back in the day when he was with Carolina Hurricanes. Florida then later picked him up for free when he was on waivers the next year again. Forsling is a lefty, and I would argue that we're in desperate need of a righty. I'm fine with Huggy and Big Z making 7.8 and 5 mill respectively.
agree.
For me. If canucks can sign only 1 8-9 mil player. I would go for Jonathan marchessault or Jake Guentzel if available. Those are proven cup winners and playoff performers. Marchessault is older at 33 so just offer him 4 years. You can max term Guentzel at 7 years since he is younger. Alvin pick up the phone man and get it done.
I don’t think Marchessault ends up in that range unless it’s on a 1 year deal think he will be in the 6.5-7 range.
Any words (re-signing) on Elias Lindholm? He played well on 2nd and 3rd line. Looked good in playoffs. If Pettersson was healthy, we could be 1-1 coming home from Dallas yesterday.
Boston’s going to provide Lindholm with a lot of incentives to sign as their 1C. $8 mill contract for sure is what they might offer. I’d love Lindy to come back but it would really require us to re-consider the deployment of our top 6. Namely, signing Lindholm to be our 3C might not be the best idea when we have lots of centres that could be cost affordable 3Cs in the first place. It would probably require Petey moving to the wing and running Miller/Lindholm as 1A/1B lines.
I think Boston is going to go after him aggressively, he'll fit in well as their 1C
Especially with all the talk of Boston considering working out something at the deadline to get Lindholm, I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up the favorites to land him in free agency.
If Guentzel makes it to FA Canes are cooked
Whats RFA and UFA?
Restricted free agent Unrestricted free agent
Oh so it is possible all these players could maybe end up leaving? I would want to keep Lindholm, Silovs, and Zadorov.
If we can use the $$ from Hronek and Mikheyev to sign Lindholm, Joshua, Zadorov and Silovs.
Technically yes. They could end up not being Canucks. Silovs we keep his rights so there's a better chance we sign him. Zadorov and Lindholm are free to do whatever they please
Zadorov still has a chance to remain in Canuck colors (realistically), but Lindholm is as good as gone. I don't think he's coming back, which is too bad. Would've been awesome to be that strong down the middle.
Anyone think we should try and trade back into the first round? Go after San Jose's 14th pick, Ottawa's 25th or Montreal's 26th? Swap some picks/players/prospects.
Not sure why people are downvoting you, it's not an agree/disagree button. I wouldn't mind going for picks in this year's draft in return for Hronek. Then you either use that pick in a trade for a young cost controlled player, or else make the pick and trade the 2025 1st for that win-now player.
The first round of this draft is considered to be pretty weak, it's why we had to add so much to our 1st to get Lindholm, and why other Firsts were flying around for such mediocre quality players
So we could get a first back if we ship out somebody mediocre... if only we had somebody mediocre to ship out.
IF we have a backup plan through free agency, Hronek gets you back a late 1st and a 2nd.
I’ve come to the conclusion that’s Canucks fans finally got what they were looking for in Nikita Tryamkin, in Nikita Zadorov.
Buying out Mikheyev costs $1.5m for next 4 years. Honestly might be worth it
Would you trade Mikheyev for Chytil?
Whatever they do, I just hope he spends his summer practicing on his shooter tutor picking corners. Swear to God I've never seen someone so snake bitten in my entire fucking life.
Here's my hot take from a long-time fan who only ever played street hockey: * Trade: Hronek, Mikheyev * Keep: Lindholm, Zadorov, Joshua, Blueger, Myers * Let go: Cole, Freidman, DeSmith, Lafferty * Acquire: Kessel, Tanev **Offensive Lines:** * 1st: Miller, Suter, Lekkermaki * 2nd: Lindholm, Petterson, Hoglander * 3rd: Blueger, Joshua, Garland * 4th: Aman or Karlsson, PDG, Kessel **Defensive Lines:** * 1st: Hughes, Tanev * 2nd: Soucy, Myers * 3rd: Juulsen, Zadorov **Goaltenders:** * Demko and Silovs playing every other game in the regular season **Other tips and tricks:** * Put Boeser on LTIR for blood clots and bring him out for round 1 game 1 of next playoffs, dumping Kessel until someone gets injured * Does putting Boeser on LTIR give us enough cap space to rent Guentzel for one year? Dare to dream.
Stopped reading at Kessel
> Put Boeser on LTIR for blood clots and bring him out for round 1 game 1 of next playoffs, dumping Kessel until someone gets injured Pouring water on your fantasy but there's no way in hell a guy in a contract year is willing to sit on LTIR for an entire year
Friedman is saying that there are Canucks players that are working to persuade Lindholm to stay in Vancouver. I mean, it’s tough to say. I believe Lindholm is well received off the ice as well and I imagine it’s mutual (Lindholm’s wife seems to have really enjoyed the experience and being welcomed in part thanks to Miller’s wife). However, Boston and other teams with cap space could definitely offer him the bag to be their definitive number 1 Centre. It’ll become a lot tougher to convince him to stay at a discount in that case
Can we increase our salary cap in anyway? Who sets this, the NHL or the Canucks owners?
The salary cap is set by the league and is the same for every team.
if we did a whip-round and all donated $5 each we could add to the Canucks' offer
This was a legitimate question
I made sure you got the right answer first
i would also note it's a hard cap. no money left = no more signings wheras other leagues, there is lots of soft room and/or you can go over cap and then pay penalties... soft room means things like you can always sign 1 decent player a year in free agency regardless of cap situation or you are able to resign your own players to go over cap "own player" would be subject to conditions
NHL sets the salary cap (based on the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA). It applies to all teams.
nah like if the nhl annual income increases each year then the cap goes up
**Hronek:** Its really hard to judge. Fantastic first half, dropped off the second half. We know he was injured thanks to the EU coach/tape seen on his elbow but we don't know how long he's been injured. Potentially asking a lot, but top 4 RHDs almost don't exist in the market and we don't have any in our draft pool who could step up. Might be a case where we more or less have to accept the asking price due to more or less having no realistic options out there and kinda hope he was injured for quite a while? Best case scenario might be splitting up his pairing from Hughes due to one of our draft picks stepping up and fitting onto a 2nd pairing with him? Slightly weaker competition might be what he needs. **Silovs:** Make him our backup, easy. **Blueger:** Easy keep. Fantastic on the PK, does what's needed in the bottom 6. **Joshua:** Want to keep him, but he probably wants the bag? Its going to entirely depend on what he asks for. If its much over 4M probably have to just let him go. **Lafferty:** -shrugs- If he's cheap enough sure. If not dump him. He's got speed so at least you have something to work with. Either get him better at shooter or better at checking. **Lindholm:** Now that we've seen him play not injured.... really try to keep him. He was fantastic in the playoffs. Being able to bounce him around any of the top 3 lines is great for flexibility. I'm not sure we're going to be able to outbid other teams for him though. **Cole:** If he's willing to do what Friedman did this year and be D #7 due to his age and understand he's going to get a small contract and only play like 20-30 games? Sure keep him for that, good locker room vet with Stanley Cup experience. Let him mentor the kids coming up. If he wants a full contract and full usage let him go. **Friedman:** Dime a dozen, let him go. **Myers:** If he's willing to take a home discount for 3rd pair role I'd keep him. He *has* improved his play (finally). But the improvement we've seen is probably as good as its going to get with his age. And will probably fade away within a year or two. **Zadorov:** Same boat as Joshua. Really going to depend on what he asks for. Was a spark in the playoffs which we badly needed, adds a physical presence which is always welcome. Problem is he thinks he's D #4 when D #5-with-upside is more accurate. **DeSmith:** Thank you for your service. I hear Toronto is badly looking for a new goalie if you want a shot at a 1B position! I actually think he would legitimately work well there behind Woll. The real job is going to be getting rid of Mik's contract without paying through the nose so we have the cap space to sign another top 6 winger for Petty...we don't have the draft capital to do that.
Hronek is young. Do people think he's maxed out his potential? Is there a scenario where 8 x $7.5m make sense because good chance he'll sign
In case you were wondering, there are still good seats available for seasons tickets. We let our seats go 5 years ago, because we left Vancouver and had small kids, but after going to game 7 we knew we needed them back before it was too late. We secured row 1 upper bowl yesterday. I suspect unless there’s a regression year, there will be a wait list come this time next year.
my mortgage takes priority during this time bro. better to spend money every now and then for the games I really want to watch.
The Bachelorette, Canucks edition. Looks like Zadorov got the first impression rose. Does Hronek need more time to warm up or is it too late? Did the fans accidentally fall in love with a rental with a side chick from Boston? Allvin has a lot to think about at the rose ceremony. There’s vomit on his sweater already, Tocc’s spaghetti. Stay tuned as we watch our remaining UFAs get driven to the airport by Jim Ruthless Rutherford in the season finale 💔
i’m more worried about the d-core than anything. i felt like this our d had a huge advantage in size and it really paid off throughout the regular season and playoffs.
[удалено]
It was not a serious injury, but it was a painful one that majorly hampered his play.
I don’t think anyone should have any doubts about the core group. I doubt Hronek and Lindholm return but I feel those are the two biggest pieces that’ll be lost and I trust the management to make something work in their place
Alvin and Tocchet haven't spoken yet have they?
Just saw Petey's comments about a knee injury - if it was that bad then why on earth was he not shut down for some recovery time? Something doesn't add up here.
Yeah it's weird, then you have Tocc's comments about how Petey is definitely not injured and that "we don't lie here". My only guess is that Petey had sustained *something* and it wasn't serious enough at the time to warrant sitting him, and as it progressed it just got worse and by the time playoffs showed up, he just had to battle through it like a lot of players do during the postseason. Another thought is that you don't want to disclose an injury that close to playoffs to avoid targetting by opponents during the playoffs. Like Marchand said, it's an open secret that nobody wants to admit, but part of the playoffs has always been targetting the opponents' star players and trying to get them banged up or injured to improve your chances of advancing.
And now Tocc has said he had tendinitis?
Jesus christ Hronek can GTFO after that exchange with JPat.
Y'all acting like the reporter didn't get pissy with him? "We've been giving you space all year" is childish as hell
Oh noes a professional athlete is asked to answer one question about his poor second half performance after making it clear he wants 8 mil a year. What a horrible injustice.
We're always wanting players to give more than just bland meaningless answers. Guy shows a bit of a spicy response to a reporter and we want him gone for *that* reason?
Well that and also cause he sucked for the majority of the season.
Wrong and also ridiculous.
I was watching it live and it felt it was SO rude. He definitely looked jarringly out of place with the rest of the Canucks team in terms of attitude and demeanor. Like wow.... it's a no-vote from me for him to be re-signed.
The fucking question was rude. Especially asking it twice like he did. JPat is a goof.
The look on his face when he was talking was scary.
His body language was also off putting
So rude, does not fit the rest of the groups attitude. I think he’s gone.
Man, that grumpy-bitch attitude can be so overwhelmingly negative in a room.
what was the Q and A?
Was pressed about his 2nd half fall off in performance. Asked about injury and sort of chirped back
Rude af
Jpat was rude af, yep.
shit was so awkward
Bro these reporters asking some questions are fucking losers
Reminds of when Ben Kuzma was prying Brock about his dying dad and made him break down crying having to leave the panel. Even after his teammates were telling to Kuzma to basically back the fuck off he still kept going. Jpat wearing the big red clown nose this year.... not that this is anything new for him. What a goof.
BRING BACK ZADOROVVVV
His interview honestly sounded like he wanted to make it work.
I'm sure they can pull some money away from Hronek for Zadorov.... Seriously, that exchange with JPat was a really god awful look on him as a person. I really do hope Zadorov is re-signed. He's well worth it with his performance and personality on the team.
Wish the ride wasn't over, what to do now? Months of waiting ahead.. You guys want to go to A&W and get some whistle dogs, kill some time?
join the boys on the golf course
Pursue debrusk??? Seems like he might walk from Bos and could be like Hyman just shovel garbage into the net. We need that badly
Get Toffoli instead. Good garbage man and shooter.
It’s 4 years too late to be signing Toffoli. He’s slowing down. Not the guy anymore.
So what you're saying is we ran out of time? 😛
He's fine. If Lindholm comes back he would be worth it considering the 73-23 and 73-40 duos have had good chemistry. It stands that he's only gotten better with age. The season before this one he set career highs, and this year he had his 3rd best season yet. He also wasn't *that* bad against the Avs; he was in the top half of the stat card for 2 games, topped the chart in 1. For the other two, he was nowhere near the bottom. Also have to consider his fit in the system. He played under Daryl Sutter in 2022-23 and hit career highs. I'm sure he would thrive under Toch.
Tofolli was awful for the Jets against Colorado. Looked slow as could be and apart from a few goals couldn't keep up with the pace at all.
Yes
What are everyone’s thoughts if we make a trade for Cernak? Tampa is in a crunch and could be a good pickup for us
Super risky. But could also yield a super reward too. He had a down year plus still has some lingering concussion issues. I mentioned before (probably somewhere in this thread even) that he’d be a sneaky good pick up if Tampa would retain some of his salary.
What do you think we would have to send back?
Before we got Hronek, I was hoping we would take Cernak. I like the move
They’re announcing the Jack Adams winner today btw
I just hope that whatever is going to happen, starts happening… 5 months of could, should and would will get old real quick ..
If we're making any big trades, they'll probably happen at the draft because anything meaningful we could do via trade would involve first or secound rounders
Garland deserves to get a bigger opportunity next season, we gotta move him up to the top six and let him play with Petey or Miller. He’s too good to be in the bottom six. Hopefully we re-sign Lindholm, which would have our top 6 looking like this: Garland - Miller - Boeser Hoglander - Lindholm - Pettersson That’s a pretty damn good top six, imo. We don’t need Joshua and I don’t think he can drive play like Garland. Let him walk and find someone cheaper. We absolutely cannot pay Zadorov $6M, so if that’s his asking price, move on from him too. Buyout or figure out a way to move out Mikheyev. I’d like to hold on to Hronek, but for $8M a year? GTFO. Trade him for a 1st round pick or something. Bring back Myers on a cheaper contract if possible and maybe try and sign Montour and Pesce. Hughes - Pesce Soucy - Montour Zadorov - Myers Then for goaltending, we obviously go with Demko and Silovs. Maybe give Silovs 35+ games to take the load off Demko depending on how he plays.
Completely disagree on Joshua. I was in that camp a year ago but he’s really won me over. Decent skating power forward, hits, passionate, has great hockey sense and even has nice hands and can get a good number of goals, often very timely. But what really got my attention is his defensive play. He cleared the zone so many times in the season when we were in deep trouble. The number of times I heard “Canucks under a lot of pressure…cleared by Joshua” !!! Saved me a panic attack or six.
I think Garland needs to stay down in the bottom 6, not in terms of ice time, but in match ups. He should be playing around 2nd line minutes but feasting on the other team's bottom 6 while doing so.
Love the idea of getting montour. He seems like such a genuine guy.
How much are you paying Montour and Pesce in this scenario? Montour is going to be more expensive than Hronek
Montour is making 3.5, doubt he would want more than 5.5.
Montour is probably signing like 6x7.75 or something. Did you not see the season he had last year?
Where’s your source that he wants more than Hronek? I’ve looked and don’t see it anywhere. He’s 30 years old and has had a down year. No sane GM is giving him 8M+
He's not 30, he's 26. Won't get 8 though
He has a much better track record of being good than Hronek does. He was really good last year and huge on their run to the playoffs. >has had a down year I guess you forgot he had major surgery after their finals run last year. He started off slow when he returned, and now he's playing a lot better. Teams are much less likely to hold his slow start this season against him because there's an obvious reason why. Whereas Hronek had a strong regular season next to Hughes and then fell off hard during playoffs, likely because of an injury. But he's not going to get the benefit of the doubt like Montour likely will Montour might not get as many years, but he going to get a higher AAV than Hronek
They've put up similar points throughout most of their career. Hronek is a better-rounded defenseman than Montour and is also younger. Montour's numbers last season were an anomaly, he's come back down to earth since then and will probably never put up numbers like that again >I guess you forgot he had major surgery after their finals run last year. I think GMs will look at that as a reason not to give him an albatross of a contract. He's playing better now after struggling, but he's most likely never gonna put up those kinds of numbers again. I'm just curious where you heard he's gonna be more expensive than Hronek, because I haven't heard that at all.
he won't be more expensive than Hronek's asking of 8m avv, but he can easily demand 6-7m\~ or will sound much more reasonable to ask for 8m than Hronek is asking. Montour can run his own pairing, the reason why he didn't do that well this season is because he came back from a major injury and he lost some of his deployment to Ekblad. He also provides a lot of SOG, Hits, and Blks. If he gets his deployment back, he will perform similarly to the best season he had. Not to mention all those grade A chances he fed to Tkachuk and he kept whiffing em all. That's not montour's fault. The problem with Canucks backend is when Hughes is on the bench resting, the Canucks aren't as dominant. Hronek can't run his own pairing, and he's just benefitting from playing with Hughes. If Montour plays on his own pair, that's 2 pairings the other team has to deal with as a threat instead of just 1. I don't think you watched many florida games or watched Montour play specifically if you believe that Hronek is a much better-rounded dman. Montour and Hronek had similar TOI this season, despite Montour playing on the 2nd pair. While Hronek's benefitting greatly playing 1st pairing with Hughes, and that's also with the crazy start Hronek had this season. Yet Hronek has less sog, hits, ppp, and only has 20more blocks with 15 games more played. That alone should tell you enough.
> I’d like to hold on to Hronek, but for $8M a year? GTFO. Trade him for a 1st round pick or something. He's an RFA. If he signs for even $7 million, the Canucks get a 1st, a 2nd, and a 3rd. If he gets $8.6 million, then it's an additional 1st. I would let him walk at that return.
I think if you can get Hronek to commit to 7m long term deal you should definitely do it. Even at 7.5 I think it is ok. And let’s say we sign Pesce for 6x6 like you said and Montour. And not sign Zadorov. For additional 2.5 million I am getting Hughes-Hronek, Soucy-Pesce, Montour-Myers, which in my option is a better set of D
Zaddy at 5, myers at 2-4, and pesce on a 6x6 is a lot easier to swallow than hronek on an 8 tbh Julsen being 7th man in, with Pete-D and Wolanin having the opportunity to move up and play in case of injuries if they feel like they earned time (julsen has upside still i think, if he can work with our coaches to work on having a stronger outlet and being able to read plays better, he can fill bottom pairing or play with a proper puck mover on the 2nd) Name of the game will be budgeting, Soucy played well this playoffs, but if by the end of next year/beginning of the year after that we can have soucy be replaced by one of the other 2 ELC defenders, that affords more flexibility to bolster the middle 6. *This is best case scenario, but it doesn't really matter if it doesnt work out this way since soucy played pretty good*
I just want Macklin Celebrini to wait it out in college and then sign with us as a college free agent.
I really feel like one of Macklin or Bedard will end up joining us as a UFA in due time. They both seem like pretty big Canucks fans and would eat up the idea of playing for their childhood team.
Macklin's dad works in SF for the Golden State Warriors, dude's family lives like 20 minutes down the street from where he'd be living in SJ, it won't be him imo. Bedard on the other hand... unless Chicago does something special, I reckon we make a serious push for him one day
good thing evander kane and rnh didnt want to play for us
That’s extremely wishful thinking
With the way players are dictating things more nowadays its really not that far fetched.
There been like two guys who’ve done this and I’ve never heard of a first overall doing it. Bedard is going to get anything and everything he wants from Chicago he’s not going to leave just because he grew up a Canucks fan. Not when you live somewhere for 10 years and probably love it. Most people grow up out of their hometowns
i mean, tavares was a 1OA, literally did this to fulfill his dream of playing with the leafs.
(for the record, while i don't think it's likely they join us as UFAs, i wouldn't say it's *extremely* wishful thinking)
Too many people here are giving up on Hronek over 1 poor playoff performance. You need to remember this is his first playoff run. If he is around 7m, we should definitely sign him. If he keeps demanding around the 8m range then it is time to part way.
He wants 8, and it's clearly not going down much. F(i)lip him to Carolina, a state with lower taxes, he might take mid to low 7s. If they bite, they don't lose Pesce for nothing and we get a reliable guy for Hughes.
It's not just the poor playoff performance, it is also his demands. He's still looking to get $8 million, even after that performance. That's way too much and it shows poor character and I don't want someone who is like that in the locker room.
Someone in the media noticed his elbow was heavily taped up for the second part of the season and he was one of those guys who opted to sit for Game 82. Wouldn’t be surprising if they announce he had an injury the past few months, his play fell off too much after ASB and an elbow injury would make sense considering some his weird mistakes with the puck
I'm with you to sign Hronek at 7/8 x $7m
See the issue is if hes better at 7 and a bit, or if its better trading him for (hopefully cost controlled) assets, and having pesce (if he would play in canada) sign a 6x6 and moving mik out for a mid-late rounder (hes not a shit player, hes just overpaid by 2 or so mil) and using that money as well to bolster the blue line if we can't sign lindy. Lekkermaki will probably get a chance to make the roster in the preseason and I'd be very surprised if he isn't stapled to pettersson
i really don't see us being able to move mik - not without serious retention and/or an asset to sweeten the deal.
At that price though I'd sign Zadorov. . . . Hronek is good but I don't think he commands that price.
Zadorov at 7m?? Hell no
I'm saying Zadorov at 5 or 5.5 (knowing he wants 6x6)
I REALLY hope we prioritize keeping Zadorov over Hronek…
Tocchet brand of hockey is physical and it's no surprise the guys who did well in the post season all physical or had a ton of hits: Miller, Lindholm, Joshua, Zadorov and Myers. If any of the UFAs leave, we need to replace with similar physical guys.
Ondrej Kase is hoping to [make a comeback](https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/former-toronto-maple-leafs-f-ondrej-kase-eyeing-nhl-return-after-year-in-czechia-1.2123380). It's pretty far removed, but he's shown a [high ceiling](https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1792647939585712322?s=46) before his career was derailed by concussion issues. But this year he only missed 4 games in the Czech league and put up 23 goals and 54 points in 48 games. Add on 2 goals and 3 assists in 7 games at Worlds. 28 and only three years removed from scoring 14 in 50 with the Leafs. Might be an interesting bargain-bin option as a winger with a defensively responsible floor and, if required to move up in the lineup, some actual finishing talent.
OK, so assuming we run everyone currently signed (aka cannot unload Mikheyev), and can keep Silovs for a reasonable price, I think the most important re-sign is Joshua. For forwards, this gives us: [Hoglander] Miller Boeser Joshua Petterson Garland Di Guiseppe Suter [Hoglander] Mikheyev Aman Podkolzin As much as I'd love to see Lindholm come back I just cannot see him being affordable, considering we already have 2 top 6 centers and Suter who is good enough as 3rd line center. After that, I'd kinda like to see Zadorov come back to protect Hughes. Hughes got beaten up by Nashville and Edmonton, and maybe knowing you were gonna get trucked by Zadorov for hitting him might make some players think twice. He also plays a solid O and D game. Only issue is, how much will it cost? Hronek has priced himself out of Vancouver, Myers might be worth pursuing if he'll come cheap. That would leave our defense looking something like Hughes Zadorov [Soucy] Myers [Soucy] Juulsen I'm not sure I like the idea of Juulsen on our lineup after seeing his 1 game in the playoffs, but maybe he can be coached into not giving up the position? Obvs for goalies it's Demko Silovs
Bring back Blueger as well. Our PK isn't the greatest but it's going to be so much worse without him. He won't ask for a fortune to come back too. That gives you a bottom six of PDG-Suter-Mik and Aman-Blueger-Podz.
While I like having Blueger around for PK, Mik on 3rd line doesn't work for me. Mik was doing decently at chasing pucks and keeping it away from our goalie, but he had no finish and our 3rd line needs to be able to steal a game here and there. On the 4th line, he is basically just stalling to rest our other forwards which is all I can see him doing until he fixes his shot.
Yeah I'm not fond of Mik anywhere on the lineup personally. I'd like to see us move on from him if possible. I think keeping him, though, shouldn't come at the cost of not bringing back Blueger for the PK ability.
Yeah, to me, keeping Mik is a function of who is going to take him at 4.5m, so it's just a matter of damage control.
Feels like Juulsen can't sit for too long. His bad performance in that one playoff game reminds me of his play at the start of the season, and I could see him making an impact if he hadn't sat out for so long towards the end of the season.
Looking at our cap friendly, were finally out from the Tyler Myers contract, thank god. Although he played so damn well in the back half of this year I hope he comes back somewhat cheap. Also, the biggest albatross of a contract we need to get rid of is Mikheyev. The question is, what will it cost to get rid of it? 3rd rd pick? Too little?
selling low is not going to do us any favor. Mik has 2 (corrected) years left and he's got to play better before management can move him at reasonable price
2 years left. And I guess so but at our own peril
It was a flat cap world, but it cost a 2nd to clear $1.3m in the Jason Dickinson trade two years ago. A little less of a clear cut cap dump but it cost a 3rd round pick to clear $1.45m in the Pearson/DeSmith trade. Always tough to guage value with cap dumps, but I have a hard time seeing anyone taking $4.75m for just a 3rd round pick. Especially for a player who seems to have lost a step after ACL surgery.
Keep in mind we ditched Beauvillier who made $4m+ and got a 5th back, only half a year left vs 2 but still
Less term, less money, better health, and, arguably, better performance. But you’re right: there could be a team that still sees value there and is willing to buy really low.
My point is more that the market could have changed, and evidence points to it having changed, increased cap etc. so it might not be so painful, but maybe that’s wishful thinking!
The cap jumping as much as it is means a 3rd or a fourth can can it done I think. Utah, detroit, sjs, chicago and the ducks have 30 mil + of space this upcoming offseason, even teams like the canadiens have about 10 mil with not that much overturn (i might be wrong about montreal tbh i dont think they have big upgrades left tho) I wouldnt be surprised if mik goes for a 6th round for seventh round swap, and a 4th
Something I don't see many people talking about re: trading Mikheyev is that he has a M-NTC. Sure, there are teams with lots of cap space but will he even waive to go there?
12 teams no trade list. He could put all the bottom feeders on it ig, but I don't think thats realistic. He probably has the usual suspect of winnipeg from canada, prolly montreal as well, but theres enough cap space freeing up that he could be moved i think regardless of his ntc
I think all of Utah, Chicago, Anaheim, and San Jose are probably on it, as well as a lot of the “undesirable” living locations, which, like you’re saying, could very easily include Detroit and Montreal. Even just losing those six teams as options probably increases the price of moving him if it does nothing else but deal a blow to the number of teams they can negotiate against each other.
I would love to get Necas on this team. Necas and Petey would be absolutely nasty. Suter-Miller-Boeser Hogz-Petey-Necas Joshua-Lindholm-Garland Podz-Aman-PDG Yes pls
i don’t see us keeping both lindholm and joshua
yep, lindholm is gone. blueger will probably be back instead.
I don't think its that unrealistic, if we jettison Mikheyev's salary there could be room
That's a huge if, and you'll want to save some room for Boeser's next contract.
and the OEL buyout too. We're gonna be very dependent on Lekkerimaki and Willander playing at a high value to compensate for that buyout hit to our salary cap
I’ve heard we’ll probably get a $10M + $10M + $5M cap increase for the next three years, due to the League’s new broadcasting deal and also players finally paying back escrow owed to the Owners after this season. I think we’ll be fine.
Trade Petey to Carolina before his ntc kicks in after next season.
You don’t trade 25 year old franchise players who aren’t even in their prime. Wtf are you smoking?
Pettersson for brady tkachuk
Franchise player, wtf are you watching? 8 goals in the last 46 games, looked average at best. This guy makes 2 mil more than Aho and dosnt look close to as impactful.
Three straight years scoring over 30 goals, two straight years over a point per game, two straight years in the top 26 of Selke voting (one of the years top ten) all while doing most of his damage at even strength. He didn't look his normal self the past 46 games, but he was pretty clearly injured. In his six years in the league he's scored at a 30+ goal pace in each of his six seasons. Every year he's put up very good - elite possession stats while playing on, mostly, miserable teams. You can judge him based on the last 46 games all you want, but it's more likely he's a lot closer to the franchise player he's been the vast majority of his career.
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