Jeremy Hronek

Reading between the lines, you'll probably be able to figure it out if I continue to respond to posts in this thread.

I think gun violence is related to many things (both conservatism and liberalism are to blame). Conservatives typically support the right to bear arms which often leads to school shootings, etc. Liberals typically tend to want a smaller police budget (which obviously gives way to more crime). So no, I don't think gun violence is solely a liberal problem. And yes - I think legalizing weed was a colossal mistake because now that the envelope has been pushed, people will want to continue to push the envelope further. What's next? Making Oxy over-the-counter? Legalizing cocaine? Less stringent rules, enforcement, and accountability. Now we see people in Vancouver 'shooting up' on public transportation.

I'd prefer not to say but it's an Asian country.

Agreed. Street corners are not one of these places however.

Do you live in Vancouver? If so, how can you *not* agree with what I'm saying? I lived in Vancouver last year and made frequent trips to Vancouver throughout the 90's and 00's. Compare Vancouver to what it was 15-20 years ago. Want to see something even worse than Vancouver? Take a trip down the I-5 down to Seattle. I was there in September 2022 to watch the Seahawks home opener against the Broncos. Drug needles on the streets. Homelessness, the city smelling like a combination of vape, weed, and human waste. Open prostitution on street corners during the day and night. Numerous examples of rude and aggressive customer service due to workers themselves being stressed over tough living conditions. This is just personal observation. How many times do we hear about someone getting shot and murdered in Vancouver now? And now this crap in Philadelphia. I'm proud that I live in another country now........a country that prioritizes having a strong military, strong police, and having a huge investment in technology and infrastructure. No homelessness, drug use, etc, in sight. No vape aroma ruining the city. Young adults are very respectful here for the most part. Little to no crime because people fear and respect the police. Clean air. Affordable rent. Relatively low cost of living. LGBT issues, while respected and addressed, are not seen as the most important issue in the country. People that support Green technology do so because they genuinely want to see us address Global Warming.........as opposed to numerous "fake environmentalists" in North America that only pretend to support green initiatives because they see it as a vehicle for punishing rich and successful people (i.e. "let dem big corporations pay for it!"). It's a collaborative effort over here. 50% of the cars here are battery operated now. Those thugs in Philadelphia that chose to loot all of those stores would have never even dared to do that here because they would have had the living shit kicked out of them by the State Police and would have rightfully so been tortured. Compared to this, I absolutely stand by my comment. America and Canada are turning into 3rd world country trash, and they'd better step up their games fast.

Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Beauvillier Mikheyev-Miller-Boeser Suter-Bluegar-Garland Podkolzin-Raty-Hoglander Hughes-Soucy Cole-Hronek Hirose-Myers Demko DeSmith

Agreed. In retrospect, Benning's post bubble off-season was quite disastrous. I think Benning got too obsessed with puck-moving defensemen and didn't fully consider the fact that guys like Edler and Tanev were the ones putting their bodies on the line on the PK and on defense. Guys like OEL, Schmidt, and Myers were pegged as "two-way defensemen" by Benning (which is why Benning believed that they could fill the void of Edler and Tanev), when in reality, these guys were stylistically closer to being "offensive defensemen." None of those three guys are willing to sacrifice their bodies in the way that both Edler and Tanev did for us, and also did not provide that stay-at-home presence like those guys. OEL did for his first 2/3's of his 1st season here but had a porous season last season since he couldn't train properly in the Summer. In retrospect, here is what I would have done differently if we could do the 2020 off-season all over again. 1) Toffoli over Holtby 2) Tanev over Schmidt 3) Markstrom over Demko 4) 1st rounder as a sweetener to move Sutter and Virtanen 5) Sign cheaper back-up 6) Trade Demko for a 1st rounder to recoup the pick lost in the above Sutter/Virtanen deal 7) Use Podkolzin and the 1st rounder as part of a packaged deal to try and trade for Hampus Lindholm at some point. I don't know if my above idea would have worked given that Markstrom's body is and was starting to break down, but that's loosely what I would have tried to do.

In my opinion, the current Canucks are actually pretty close to being a Top 12 calibre team IF they get another top Pairing RD Ideally, it would be on a short-term contract since we already have Willander in our system. Here is how I see our current roster under 100% full health. Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Beauvillier Mikheyev-Miller-Boeser PDG-Suter-Garland Podkolzin-Bluegar-Hoglander Aman Hughes-??? Soucy-Hronek Hirose-Cole Wolanin Demko DeSmith So looking at my above line-up, you might be asking yourself (or me I guess) two questions: 1) Why do you have a ??? beside Hughes? 2) Why isn't Tyler Myers in your line-up? 1. I've put a "????" beside Hughes because I don't think anyone currently on our team is worthy of playing on the top pairing with Hughes IF we want to be a competitive team. Soucy, god bless him, is a solid defenseman, but should be playing as a #4 on a good team. Therefore, I think Soucy-Hronek would make for a very strong second pairing. Same thing with Cole. Cole should be playing as a #5 on a good team. As it currently stands right now, both Cole and Soucy will be slated to play higher than they should.....and this is with a fully healthy defense! And as we all know, no defense is 100% healthy most of the time...meaning that even more defensemen on the Canucks could be playing higher than they should. 2. In a perfect world, we would simply wait for Myers' contract to expire at season's end and then go after another UFA to make more efficient use of that extra cap, but the truth of the matter is that the Canucks need to take a significant step this season given management's plan and what's in front of them. Pettersson has already more or less stated that he'll make a decision about his long term future here after this season. On top of that, not only are guys like Beauvillier and Hronek RFA's at seasons' end, but guys like Kuzmenko and Demko are only signed for 2-3 more years respectively. Peak Miller probably only has around 3 seasons left as well. So basically, given management's plan, we basically need to start being fairly aggressive with our short term moves. Since we have Tom Willander in our system already (a guy who has a reasonable shot of being a top pairing RD in 1-2 seasons), my solution is that we target a top pairing RD that has one year left. I think the Canucks should trade for Matt Dumba, and then let Dumba walk at the end of the season (to which we then sign Chris Tanev). Tanev then plays with Hughes on the top pairing until Willander is ready to take the reigns. Tanev then becomes what Cole (should be) to us right now and moves down to the 3rd pairing to help anchor that pairing. So, Step 1: 2023/2024 season: Trade Myers + ??? to Arizona for Matt Dumba Step 2: 2024 off-season: Let Matt Dumba walk and then sign Chris Tanev Step 3: At some point in the future: Willander replaces Tanev on the top pairing with Hughes, to which Tanev moves down to the 3rd pairing. Why not just trade for Chris Tanev right now? 1. Although inter-divisional trades are not impossible, they are extremely rare......and we are not 100% certain if Calgary wants to rebuild just yet. 2. Tanev will probably be expensive to acquire. Better to just wait for the off-season 3. Unlike Calgary, AZ is basically a non-rival team and are looking for future pieces. Myers + A future piece might make sense for AZ. Updated post: Another idea that I have is for Seth Jones. Yes, I am aware of Seth Jones' warts. He'll be turning 29 in a few weeks and his AAV is $9.5 million. The guy gets paid like an elite franchise defenseman and yet he is probably closer to being a #2 defenseman on a good team. I get all that. BUT.....given all of that, his acquisition cost would very likely be much lower than someone like.......say.......Dahlin or Devon Toews per se. Or a Brett Pesce (all three teams by the way which are competitive teams and will not be looking to sell off pieces for futures). In other words, Seth Jones could realistically be had in my opinion if Seth Jones would be willing to waive his NTC/NMC. Hughes-S.Jones Soucy-Hronek Hirose-Cole That's pretty good no? Jones plays here until he's 35 and then a hopefully elite Willander takes over the reigns from Jones at that time (to play with what would hopefully be a re-signed Quinn Hughes). Updated post #2: Another idea that I had was the following: 1) Trade Andrei Kuzmenko for a #2A or #3 calibre defenseman that can play with Hughes. 2) With Kuzmenko gone, take a calculated gamble on guys like Garland, Hoglander, Beauvillier, etc., "stepping up" with more responsibilities and ice-time. Now obviously, it's not ideal to move Kuzmenko but lets face facts: -Guys like Garland, Boeser, and Beauvillier aren't going to fetch you a right-handed defenseman that wouldn't look out of place on a top pairing. -The Canucks are in no position to be moving prospects and/or draft picks to land a short-term piece. Update: -Islanders need scoring and could probably use better wingers than Palmieri and Engvall. -Pulock (6.1 million cap hit) has been replaced by Dobson as the Top RD. -Kuzmenko for Pulock would make sense would it not? Update: -Kuzmenko to Calgary for Rasmus Anderson?

So I stand by my original argument. Neo-liberalism and the radical left have destroyed, and are destroying, North America.

Trudeau and Biden seem to be nice enough people (I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt), but neither guy should be Prime Minister/President.

People have a right to express their opinion and I don't mind if people disagree with what I've said, but what exactly will their defence be? Take a look at the city of Vancouver (of which used to be my hometown). Gangs, violence, people 'shooting up' and doing drugs on public transit, the embarrassment of East Hastings, legalized marijuna use, vaping, and just all around pure stupidity. Philadelphia is a perfect example of why we need to #RefundThePolice. Neo-liberalism and this entire stupid "woke" movement has crippled, and is crippling, North America.

America and Canada are turning into 3rd world trash countries. Senseless crime, liberalization, homelessness, decriminalization, #defundthepolice, lax drug policies, etc., etc.

Are the Canucks one Top Pairing RD away from being a Top 12 NHL Team? I'll try and add a different element to this thread rather than post a line-up which will likely be similar to other line-ups in this thread. Without the risk of sounding homeristic, I think the Canucks would actually be a Top 10 calibre team this season if they had another top pairing defenseman. Lets have a look: Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Beauvillier Hoglander-Miller-Boeser (Mikheyev replaces Hoglander upon returning) PDG-Suter-Garland (Bluegar moves to 3C + Suter moves to wing if Raty makes team) Podkolzin-Bluegar-Joshua (Hoglander replaces Joshua + Maybe Raty makes the team). [pretty decent up front overall] Hughes-??? Soucy-Hronek [very strong 2nd pairing] Cole-Myers [very strong 3rd pairing] Hirose is NHL ready and should be playing with Cole. Hirose, McWard, Wolanin, etc. [very good depth] Demko [elitę starter] DeSmith [good back-up] For me, the only real weakness is our defence. Ideally, 1) Soucy would be a #4 2) Cole would be a #5. So, if we could somehow bring in another Top pairing RD to play with Hughes, we'd be at or close to the Top 12 in the league in my opinion........which ultimately results in the Canucks having taken that "next step,"..........which ultimately convinces guys like Pettersson and Hronek to sign long term with us (which is ultimately what all of this is about). The good news? The Canucks likely have that RD within our system in Tom Willander. The bad news is that Pettersson is going to make his long term plans dependent on how we do this season + the Canucks need to start winning NOW if they want to maximize the years they have Kuzmenko, Demko, and Hughes under contract. So long story short, I think the Canucks still need to find a way to move and upgrade on Tyler Myers while simultaneously bringing in a (superior) defenseman that has a cap hit equal to or lower than Myers and is signed short term......so that we can walk away from said player once Tom Willander is ready. One guy that I have in mind is Chris Tanev but I can't see Calgary trading us such an important piece. So - basically someone like Chris Tanev? (i.e. an aging top pairing d-man that can be with us for 1-2 years until Willander is ready to replace said d-man).

D.Sedin-H.Sedin-Smyl Adams-Linden-Bure Miller-Pettersson-Mogilny Naslund-Kesler-Bertuzzi Burrows Hughes-Edler Ohlund-Salo Jovanovski-Tanev @PunjabiCanucks replaces Lumme (7th dman) Luongo McLean

Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Beauviller Mikheyev-Miller-Boeser Suter-Bluegar-Garland Podkolzin-Raty-Hoglander

I'm happy for Quinn but I personally would have run with four assistants.

San Jose says, "omg lolololol", farts in the receiver, and then hangs up.

You might be surprised. Despite the 10-0 shellacking that we received, Akito Hirose was not on the ice for any of the goals. Not only that, but he had one of the highest ice-time totals and was also on the ice for a few of Calgary's PP's.

Head is saying Henrik but heart is saying Bure.

This team is in dire need of another Top 4 defenseman........and I'd even go as far as saying Top 2. We need to get to a point where 1) Soucy plays in a more ideal #4 spot 2) Cole becomes the "alpha" of the 3rd pairing. By the sounds of things, Alvin feels the same way as he's rumoured to be in on both Devon Toews and Nikita Zadorov. Toews in particular would be a massive win for us and would be exactly what this team needs in terms of what this management group is trying to achieve (i.e. taking a significant step forward this year so that Petey wants to stay long term). Toews-Hronek Hughes-Soucy Cole-[Woo, McWard, Wolanin, Hirose] And then somewhere down the road.... Toews-Hronek Hughes-Willander Soucy-[Woo, McWard, Wolanin, Hirose] Don't get me wrong - getting Devon Toews here is extremely unlikely but if Alvin could ever pull that shit off, we'd definitely take that leap. Myers, Podkolzin, 2024 1st would likely be starting points, but again, given what this management group wants to achieve, it would likely align with their goals.

^^^^^ buddy looks like Loui Eriksson, lol.

Good points. While guys like McWard, EP, Woo, Johansson, and Hirose all look very promising, time will tell if they are able to make the leap to being Top 4 defensemen.....or guys that wouldn't look out of place playing on a top pairing. A few years back, guys like Rathbone and Juolevi also looked very promising. Cole Cassels was supposed to be the McDavid kryptonite. Prospects all look good on paper but you can't 'pencil' anyone in. Up front, even Podkolzin is a question mark right now. Goaltending looks great for now, but again, Demko will be 30 years old in three years and will be a UFA. The guy has also battled injuries all throughout his career. We saw how far guys like Corey Schneider and Jonathan Quick trailed off. Could Demko follow a similar path? Silovs looks quite promising, but again, we still don't know. To your last comment "Forward need one more big scorer and we are there," I guess it just depends on what you mean by "there." Would we be a playoff team and possibly a 2nd round team if all of the above went to plan? Yes, I'd say so. Would we be up there with the Tampa Bay's, Colorado's, and Vegas's? In the immoral words of Al Borlin, "I don't think so Tim."

Theoretically, Vancouver and Columbus should be excellent trading partners. 1) Columbus, with their current players, should be attempting to 'go for it' by bringing in more win now players. 2) The Canucks should be looking to bring in elite prospects that can be long term fixtures for the next core. With the Hronek and Beauvillier moves however, it's clear that the Canucks want to move forward with their current core. The pressure is on. Will Petey want to stay? Realisitcally, how much of a leap can the Canucks take over the next few years with the following potential obstacles? 1) Demko has 3 years left on his contract before he becomes a 30 year old UFA. 2) Kuzmenko and Boeser have 2 years left on their contracts 3) Peak Miller likely has about 3 seasons left before he begins an age-related decline. So even if the Canucks can become an elite team in three years, there's a chance that all of the above players will be no more...........and then you'll have Hughes with one year left. So while I'm supportive of the Canucks, I'm just not sure if I understand what the plan is. -Pettersson (fingers crossed) -Hronek (fingers crossed) -Beauvillier -Silovs (???) -Hoglander -Podkolzin might be our long term core pieces if all goes well but my frustration with the Canucks is that they seem to want to be competitive now AND rebuild which is almost impossible. You can cater to both sides, yes, but you need to lean heavy in one direction or the other. Before the 2020 post-season bubble, I fully supported Benning because I thought he was learning towards wanting to "win now,"........and then he let Toffoli, Tanev, and Markstrom walk (Markstrom was understandable since Markstrom's body was showing signs of breaking down). The 2020 post-season was the time where we needed to be more aggressive in using sweeteners to move bad contracts and then having a mini-run with that core. Anyways - that's my rant for the day. With Management's current plan, we pretty much need to do whatever we can to keep pending RFA's Pettersson, Hronek, and Beauviller happy. We need to find a way to make more efficient use of Myers' 6 million dollar cap hit, and then take a significant leap this season. Our current defense is not good enough and is only one injury away from being one of the worst in the league.

Earlier this year in January, I absolutely would have done a Pettersson to Columbus type deal in which we would have gotten Jiricek, and Columbus' 1st. I would have blown the whole thing up (Hughes, Kuzmenko, Demko for 2023 1st rounders at minimum, with Hughes and Demko landing elite prospects on top of those 1sts as well). But such is life. Prior to that at the start of the 2022/2023 season (before the train wreck of last season which should have prompted a complete tear down), I would have committed to Horvat and moved Pettersson for the simple fact that Horvat wanted to be here long term while Petey was noncommittal. Trade Petey for a 'win now deal' that would have landed us a very good top four defenseman to play alongside Hughes, as well as a very good 3rd line center. So, while rolling with Horvat, Miller and [good 3rd line C] wouldn't have been elite, it would still be pretty damn good. But now, you'd have Hughes with an elite RD beside him which would be our version of Keith and Seabrook. Canucks wouldn't have had the fire power up front with Petey gone, but they would have been far more well rounded with their new 3rd line C (that I would assume would be a strong PK'er), and an elite RD playing alongside Hughes.