Jeremy Hronek

I won't speculate since I don't have all the facts but this guy declined very fast in the NHL. Injuries and his style of play were also probably contributing factors but no guy in their mid-to-late 20's should decline as fast as he did. Hard pass on Monahan.

He had a good game last night but would it be fair to say that he’s looked out of place at times on the 2nd line this season? Could Hoglander and Mikheyev work as a 2nd line? Yeah probably. Would this line be an elite second even with someone like Lindholm as their center? That I’m not sure.

I don’t mind the proposed Anaheim deal.

Agreed but Suter mainly left wing in Detroit did he not? The reason why I mention Suter here is because it would give that line an identity (instead of seeing them as a prototypical second line, think of them as a bottom 6 line on steroids whose sole purpose would be to match-up and shut down the top lines of other teams while occasionally chopping in offense). Don’t get me wrong - I wouldn’t mind switching Hoglander and Suter in the above scenario Hoglander-???-Mikheyev Aman-Suter-Lafferty but it would change the identity and complexion of that 2nd line. Even with a good center, would this line be able to produce consistent offense at the second line level? I’m not so sure. Would a line like this be an elite match-ups line? I’m not so sure because Hoglander isn’t particularly known for this skill. Right now, the Aman, Hoglander, and Lafferty line has been a really good 4th line.

Huberdeau with Elias Lindholm as a sweetener. We give them Kuzmenko, Mikheyev, and Myers. I personally wouldn’t do the deal but it’s interesting to ponder. Pettersson-Miller-Boeser Huberdeau-Lindholm-Hoglander Joshua-Bluegar-Garland Aman-Suter-Lafferty

Oilers and Kraken are going to be very dangerous first round opponents if they make it into the playoffs. Both teams got off to slow starts to start the season but have been absolute fire ever since. As happy as I am with how the Canucks have performed this season, Edmonton is not one team that I’d like to play in the first round.

I would even argue that this has been the case since 1993. Outside of some minor playoff upsets against Dallas and Colorado during the late 90’s (the Weight/Arnott era), the Oilers were pretty lackluster through the mid-late 90’s as well.

My guess is that the Canucks will pull a stinker against one of Buffalo or Columbus and will lose one of these games. Aside from that however, it goes without saying that this has been an outstanding road trip so far.

No way the Nucks break up the lotto line at this stage.

This is an excellent point about Hughes/Hronek. So far, we are lucky that we haven’t had any injuries to either of these two. The gap between Hronek and our 3rd best defenseman (Soucy?) is quite significant since the Canucks really have a #3 calibre defenseman. 1. Hughes 2. Hronek 3. MIA 4. Soucy 4B. Zadorov 5. Cole 5A. Myers The Canucks still might need that #2A/#3 calibre dman that can realistically play with Hughes on a top pairing and still be considered an elite pairing as a while. Zadorov and Soucy, god bless them, I don’t think fit that bill.

very true…….unless one or more of Raty, Podkolzin, Lekkerimaki, Willander, Silovs, and Hirose can take significant leaps during their ELC time period.

It would cost more than that I think. EK has one of the best contracts in the entire league. I don’t think Minnesota will ever part ways with him but he’s exactly who I’d want on this team.

Buying low on Pierre Luc Dubois perhaps? (Something around Kuzmenko+ and PLD). (edit - nevermind, it wouldn’t work from a cap perspective. Not realistic).

I would love Eriksson EK but I think he’d cost an arm and a leg. Would love to be wrong though.

I proposed Leo Carlsson for a similar package the other day btw.

Never forget.....I started the Lindholm thing on here. :-p. But yes - Suter-Lindholm-Mikheyev would have the makings to be a phenomenal shut down line even if they couldn't necessarily produce consistent offense. Get them in a match-ups role, and then have Petey and Garland's line rip up the rest of the competition. The 4th line as well.

I'd love to get Eriksson EK but I just can't see it ever happening. I'd be wary of Zegras......there's rumours out there that he's a bit of a lockkeroom cancer.

Who do you have in mind exactly with that type of proposal? Matty Berniers?

I'll try and differentiate this thread from the other dozens of "let's get **** as our 2nd line guy!" Here is our current line-up: Pettersson-Miller-Boeser Mikheyev-Suter-Kuzmenko Joshua-Bluegar-Garland Hoglander-Aman-Lafferty PDG Hughes-Hronek Zadorov-Myers Cole-Soucy Juulsen Demko DeSmith Now, the general consensus on this board seems to be that we should package Kuzmenko, 2024 1st, + ??? for that coveted 2nd line Center (the ??? has significant variation and so I won't go into detail here as to what that would entail). So basically, Pettersson-Miller-Boeser Suter-????-Mikheyev Joshua-Bluegar-Garland Hoglander-Aman-Lafferty PDG Hughes-Hronek Zadorov-Myers Cole-Soucy Juulsen Demko DeSmith Now here's my thought - Instead of viewing things through the lens of, "We need a good, offensively talented, 2nd line Center that can provide significant 2nd line scoring playing alongside 2/3 of Suter, Mikheyev, or Hoglander, why not view things through the following lens? "While Suter and Mikheyev know how to put the puck in the net, their greatest strengths as forwards lies in their superb defensive play.........so why not bring in a 2nd line Center that is just as brilliant defensively (while still decent offensively), and can form a formidable shut down line that can go against the top lines of the opposition? (which can free up Pettersson's line for more offensive deployment, while the Garland line can continue to throat-pump other 3rd lines). Would a Suter-Lindholm-Mikheyev line be extremely formidable from a match-ups/shut down perspective? What about Suter-Couture-Mikheyev? Suter-O'Reilly-Mikheyev? Think Tocchet would feel comfortable throwing those guys out on the ice to defend leads? This 2nd line Center that we get........he should be an "alpha" on the PK. We've already got enough talent on our PP. Let this new 2nd line C come in and be our top PK'er. Because let's face it. With 2 of Suter, Mikheyev, or Hoglander as wingers on this new 2nd line, prolific offence isn't going to be a strength of this line no matter who the Center is..........but this line would have the potential to be the best shut down line in the league with Suter and Mikheyev as the Wingers. Maybe it's just me but Lindholm, Ryan O'Reilly, and Couture are. three guys that are coming to mind for me. What say you?

Crosby will retire a Penguin. There's a 0.0000001% chance that one could get Malkin however.

I can't see Calgary or Minnesota moving Andersson or Eriksson Ek respectively. In Calgary's, they will likely lose Tanev (RD) in the off-season and so they'll need to keep Rasmus. With Weegar, Huberdeau, and Kadri all in Calgary (signed to long term immovable contracts), I don't think Calgary will have a choice to rebuild. They'll need to keep throwing money and smelling urethra so to speak. Hence, they'll keep Andersson. As for Minnesota, I can't see them moving EK either since he's a 1st line calibre center that's being paid like a 2nd liner......for a LONG time. Eriksson EK would probably cost the Canucks BOTH Lekkerimaki and Willander at minimum if the Canucks went that route. Anaheim needs more guys like McTavish (young budding superstars) and so I can't see them moving him either. Carlsson and McTavish as a 1-2 combo is going to be fucking dangerous. If the Canucks are dangling Lekkerimaki like Michael Jackson dangled that baby from the balcony one time, then Chicago might be a good fit. The Hawks will need some snipers to play with Bedard and JL would definitely fit that bill (although outside of Bedard, I don't really know anyone on the Hawks......looking at their line combos, I just see a whole bunch of ex Canuck retards, lol).

Thank you for clarifying that. Alright, then it's settled. Kuzmenko, 2024 1st, and Hunter B for some alpha male 2nd line center.

Tomas Hertl? Elias Lindholm? That's what I've been thinking about these past few days and so I've been exploring different scenarios out loud. On one hand, we could offer only a 2024 1st...........and where that would take us. On the other extreme, we could offer Willander, Lekkerimaki, 2024 1st, etc............and see where that would take us (I'm not recommending this by the way, just highlighting the other extreme). I guess I'm just trying to find an appropriate package that would give us significant help for the short term while also bearing the future in mind. I mention Hunter B because we already have Willander in our system, and we'll also likely be able to re-sign Hronek for the long term. Lekkerimaki also comes to mind because as talented as he is, I'm not sure if he's going to fit Tocchet's system. Lekkerimaki is talented as fuck, but he has the upper body strength or Drew Barrymore and may not be willing to "blow other men into the boards" on the forecheck a la "Tocchy hockey." I love Rick Tocchet and what he's done for this team, but he definitely wants certain types of players on this team. I'm not sure if JL will fit RT's mold.

You know it's funny.....after I made that initial post and then logged off. I was walking around and came to the same realization. Defensive depth will be absolutely KEY come playoff time. I also came to the conclusion that I would not like to see Podkolzin get traded. The guy seems to be finally "getting it," and he seems like a Tocchet type player. Another thought that came to mind - as much as Jonathan Lekkerimaki impresses me, will he be a Rick Tocchet kind of player? So - given the above, I'm now wondering the following: Kuzmenko, a 2024 1st, and Hunter B gets you...........................? Kuzmenko, a 2024 1st, and Jonathan Lekkerimaki gets you.....................?

FANS NEED 2 STAY COOL LIKE HOCKEYGOD77