Coconuts

Complimentary winger, could be a decent buy low candidate if San Jose continues to sputter more often than not They've been better of late but they're still likely to be bad most of the time Wasn't as productive last season with 2 goals and 9 points, but he also only played 20 regular season games, 11 points in 20 playoff games though which isn't bad Been pretty decent 3/4 seasons, could bet on him being better when surrounded by more skill

We're only likely to keep one of Boeser and Kuzmenko imo, I think that takes care of itself. Mikheyev is also only signed for two seasons after this one, hardly a longer-term roadblock. Boeser, Kuzmenko, Garland, and Mikheyev will be pending UFA's sooner than later and the time is going to fly by. There will be room for Lekkerimaki. Of the guys currently in our top six the ones I'd venture to say stay are: Pettersson, Miller, Boeser, and Hoglander (if he cements a spot). I'm not interested in trading Lekkerimaki because he'd be a potential top six guy on an ELC, or just coming off an ELC. Gonna need cost effective youth to step in as guys like Boeser, Pettersson, Demko, and eventually Hughes go on to their next deals. We need some of the younger guys in Klimovich, Hoglander, Podz, Lekkerimaki, Raty, and Bains to turn into something. It's one thing management has going for them right now, a lack of longer-term deals on the books.

That's a neat bit about Ballard

3-2 Carolina Kotkaniemi

Still a 1C, even if a lower end one, they got at a good price, even if he is overpaid by a bit If you're gonna overpay players it may as well be your top players, even Lou said it was too much for too long But so long as he's productive it'll probably work for NYI Last year was more an anomaly, he's always been more a 25-30 goal guy

Probably wouldn't break the bank either Duclair and Monahan could be interesting too, but Monahan could be pricy given his cap hit

Yeah, this could be one the better teams LA's ever had and Vegas still looks dangerous Pretty much identical to their championship roster and they've got loads of playoff experience at this point Won't be easy, but it rarely is

Wouldn't be surprised if it was, kinda hope it is I see nothing to be bitter about, Bo was a good soldier here and the return has worked out for all teams thus far

Never forgetti

Mitchell is my favourite of the bunch, but he's also one of my favourite Canucks ever, loved his game here and in LA Maybe part of the last wave of old school, tough as nails defensive D alongside guys like Robyn Regehr and Douglas Murray Not a coincidence that LA won a cup with both Mitchell and Regehr in 13-14 The 2000's era to about the early to mid 2010's era still featured several big, tough D whose defense and physicality were their bread and butter That's coincidently what I consider to be the timeline for old school hockey's last gasp, game has changed

Appreciate it, thanks for stepping up

Agreed, and if they want to advance they'll likely have to go through one of them or Vegas

Hard to say how he'll age but the Isles ultimately got their top line center for a middling 1st, a B prospect, and a cap dump I wouldn't have paid him what he got but that doesn't mean what they gave up for him wasn't good value Sometimes things just work out, I still like Bo and Hronek has been better than many of us probably thought he'd be thus far (even the biggest homers probably didn't see him having 25 points in 27 games) The real question marks are what Detroit ends up getting out of it and how Hronek's value matches his next contract, because he's on pace to be quite pricy

For both teams, he's been very good for the Isles

Its just easier to tune him out sometimes tbh, he's never letting that shtick go Kings have been very, very good and it's not as if they came out of nowhere after thr past couple seasons

I'd be trying to bump Garland or Hoglander up with Kuz gone, weaker winger depth might just have to be a reality this season imo if we want to further upgrade our D But could always make subsequent moves Getting Pesce is more a building for the present and future sort of trade, whereas I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't extend Kuzmenko

Based

Rooting for Carlsson, Ducks are actually likeable

There isn't just one way to build a team, certainly, but it's no coincidence that if you look across the league that most team's stars are players they drafted and developed themselves. Same goes for us. Gotta use picks to have a chance at landing those players, but you've gotta develop em too. Hopefully the Canucks get better at both, drafting outside the first round and developing players in house has been a weakness for years. Thing is, the only way to change a narrative like that is to actually put effort into changing it, which will involve drafting and developing players. Using a pick to acquire a player once in a while isn't bad, but I'd prefer we hold on to our picks. We've got a lot to prove before we can be considered contenders, bit early to go "all-in". Gotta balance competing with an NHL roster vs building the future, our prospect pool still ain't great despite it finally having some blue chip prospects again. Players stepping in on ELC's will be all the more important as we sign Pettersson, Boeser, Demko, and eventually Hughes to their next deals. Hronek won't come cheap either.

Booth seemed a bit eccentric but I don't think I'd describe him as being nuts

BMO is def the guy who sticks out most for me, though I had higher hopes for Booth once upon a time We'll see how Soucy does

I disagree, and you've highlighted why. The value of 1st round picks is dependent on an organization's ability to draft well, which is something the Oil have largely struggled with for years. Despite his being reputed as a draft guru when he came in, most of our picks under Benning were misses, at least beyond the 1st round. Drafting and development have been weaknesses for years, but the 1st round was still the only round we had a whole lot of success in. Virtanen was an NHL'er but underwhelmed, McCann never got a shot here but turned out eventually elsewhere. Boeser worked out. Juolevi wound up busting, but injuries derailed his development. Pettersson would go higher in a redraft, Hughes fell to us but we still grabbed him. Podz is up in the air, but he'll probably at least be an NHL'er. Three of our core pieces are former 1st round picks. Folks home in on Olli and Jake but overall, but we still had some big hits in the 1st round. Could we have done better? Certainly, but we could have also done worse. Beyond the 1st round though, it's been ugly. Demko turned out for us from 2014, 2nd round. Forsling went on to have success elsewhere, 5th round. Tryamkin got a chunk of a season and then never came back. Gaudette was a 5th rounder who wound up being an NHL tweener. 2015. Lockwood is a 2016 3rd rounder, never amounted to much but has still gotten a taste. Lind, a 2nd rounder from 2017 is a tweener, Gadjovich has carved out more of a role for himself, also a 2nd rounder. Rathbone, a 4th rounder, another tweener. Hughes is the only 2018 player to actually amount to anything, Woo is in the system as a 2nd rounder but has yet to play an NHL game. 2019, too early to say. Hoglander has been a hit, Silovs and Mcdonough might be. 2020 onward is up in the air. But yeah, lot of missed picks outside the 1st round. I'd say we've drafted better the last couple drafts but time will tell. 1st rounders aren't automatic but we've still done pretty well with them when we've actually used them, at least under Benning onward. Allvin and Rutherford seem to be placing emphasis on using their high picks, I look forward to seeing how those players turn out. Can top picks be parlayed into players? Sure, but the best way to get top players is still to draft and develop them yourself.