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Offseason Planning - regardless of outcome


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What an offseason it’s shaping up to be. 
 

My “wish list” would be:

 

-a dynamic RD to pair with Hughes  (Hronek?)

 

-keeping the overall size / nastiness on the defence  (Zadorov, Myers)

 

-a dynamic jack of all trades 3C who can contribute in a 200 foot capacity (Lindholm)

 

-Size / speed in the forward group (Joshua, Mikheyev coming back at 100%)

 

-at least one skilled winger for Petey to play with (Lekkerimaki)

 

-a solid backup for Demko to let Silovs take one more full season in the AHL.  (DeSmith)

 

 

funny enough MOST if not all, of that is found in-house.. but money is the issue. And while there’s other pieces (Dillon, Hakanpaa, Pesce, Toffoli) out there, I’m not sure anyone is a bargain. Going to be an intense offseason. 

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22 hours ago, PureQuickness said:

 

One of those people you butted heads with likely was me. The thing is: Benning made plenty of mistakes to deserve being fired - and I'm clear about that. There's no holding punches about that. However, it sucks that the narratives ABOUT Benning have been focused solely on the negatives while the positives that he did do are continually downplayed.

 

Benning shouldn't have extended Green. It seems one of the many weaknesses of Benning's regime was the inability to assess staff members, with Green being one of those. It's a bit ironic considering Benning's scouting pedigree. Maybe this speaks to Benning being a poor manager in general, which is different than his familiar job of scouting.

 

I recently watched TSN talk about Green's hiring with the Sens and it's baffling to me that they (along with some people in this fanbase) making excuses about Green not having the best tools to work with under Benning. This is a totally untrue narrative as Green, year after year, had requested players that he had worked with. Tocchet has done the same thing, but we see radical differences with Green's coaching and Tocchet's, we CLEARLY see the elevation in the improvements.

 

I think we can both agree that the Canucks are much better off seeing Benning in the rear view mirror, but it's also a good thing that Benning did SOME good things (also an equal amount of bad things in the process) that allowed the Canucks to flourish.

 

We'll see what Green does with his new opportunity in Ottawa, but this is a coach that has seen the likes of: Pettersson, Boeser, Demko, Hoglander, Quinn Hughes, Hischier, Jack and Luke Hughes, and soon Brady Tkachuk.

 

How many more star players on their roster will it take for any of Green's teams to get past mediocrity? How I see it: Canucks were hampered by both Benning and Green (Benning's hiring). Benning would make great moves and then shoot himself in the foot in the process.

 

 

Haha most likely it was. 

 

I think the main viewpoint is that sure Benning had positives, but the negatives outweighed the positives by a large amount. I have no problem acknowledging the good, but I think one of the viewpoints, I forgot if it was yours, also mentioned we fired Benning too early and that he would have been able to see this core into the competitive state that it is today. That I wholly disagree with. Benning did not have the skillset or flexibility to navigate his own cap problems the way JR and PA did, nor was he able to change the culture of the team and front office the way this current management has.

 

Anyways, whoever deserves credit is getting moot now, lets cheer on the team!

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8 minutes ago, DSVII said:

 

Haha most likely it was. 

 

I think the main viewpoint is that sure Benning had positives, but the negatives outweighed the positives by a large amount. I have no problem acknowledging the good, but I think one of the viewpoints, I forgot if it was yours, also mentioned we fired Benning too early and that he would have been able to see this core into the competitive state that it is today. That I wholly disagree with. Benning did not have the skillset or flexibility to navigate his own cap problems the way JR and PA did, nor was he able to change the culture of the team and front office the way this current management has.

 

Anyways, whoever deserves credit is getting moot now, lets cheer on the team!

 

I was behind Benning although it was getting hard in the end, however having seen what has happened under JR/PAs Stewardship has been nothing but sensational, and I highly doubt Benning could have pulled anything close to this off...

 

I keep thinking, what if Oilers ownership had come in ahead of Canucks and taken JR on instead... I have zero doubt they would have been the cup favourite and likely cup winners with their two top stars... For starters they would have had a better D core and proper bottom players to support them...

 

I praise the lord that Aqualinis hired JR before anyone else did... 

 

 

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Posted (edited)

On a side note, don't let Zad slip away... he would be very hard to replace... The rest are replaceable 

 

My list would start with Zad

followed by Lindholm (have been immense during playoffs)...

 

Lindhom doesn't have to be a 3rd C, but can centre a line with Petey on his wing... we'd have two very good top lines

 

After that it would be a mix and match of numbers and how interested players were to stay....

Joshua

Bluger

Hronek...

 

Garland and Bluger with hopefully Joshua, but think PA can find another piece to that line... making 3 good lines... Who ever they find, they need one with strength...

 

And then we have the issue again of RHD.... Myers will be resigned... for a couple of years... (choice will be between Myers and Hronek)

 

What I think will happen is Mika won't leave and We'll resign Hronek, Zad and Bluger and Lindholm and Joshua walks...

 

Alternatively, they swing a deal with Garland as the main piece (his value has never been higher) together with Mika to free up space for Lindholm and maybe Joshua..

 

Edited by spook007
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4 hours ago, The Duke said:

What an offseason it’s shaping up to be. 
 

My “wish list” would be:

 

-a dynamic RD to pair with Hughes  (Hronek?)

 

-keeping the overall size / nastiness on the defence  (Zadorov, Myers)

 

-a dynamic jack of all trades 3C who can contribute in a 200 foot capacity (Lindholm)

 

-Size / speed in the forward group (Joshua, Mikheyev coming back at 100%)

 

-at least one skilled winger for Petey to play with (Lekkerimaki)

 

-a solid backup for Demko to let Silovs take one more full season in the AHL.  (DeSmith)

 

 

funny enough MOST if not all, of that is found in-house.. but money is the issue. And while there’s other pieces (Dillon, Hakanpaa, Pesce, Toffoli) out there, I’m not sure anyone is a bargain. Going to be an intense offseason. 

 

Raty will be here before Lek and likely to start his career on the wing

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10 hours ago, DSVII said:

 

Haha most likely it was. 

 

I think the main viewpoint is that sure Benning had positives, but the negatives outweighed the positives by a large amount. I have no problem acknowledging the good, but I think one of the viewpoints, I forgot if it was yours, also mentioned we fired Benning too early and that he would have been able to see this core into the competitive state that it is today. That I wholly disagree with. Benning did not have the skillset or flexibility to navigate his own cap problems the way JR and PA did, nor was he able to change the culture of the team and front office the way this current management has.

 

Anyways, whoever deserves credit is getting moot now, lets cheer on the team!

 

Haha, no, I wouldn't go THAT far. Benning being fired was due. There was no question about that. Every single time that Benning did something good, there'd be one or two questionable moves that would offset the positives.

 

Tucker Poolman COULD'VE been a solid move, but he got real unlucky and he ended up being another FA dud. Same thing with Nate Schmidt (it was a good move on paper, having taken full advantage of Vegas' cap space). I don't know why things always blew up in Benning's face, but it's clear that he was not the man for this job. Benning was seemingly bad at communicating and he was out of his element for the GM job. As for drafting, there's no question he helped in that area.

 

Agreed though. I'm happy to see the team do well as it is. I just don't like making excuses for people's failures, nor do I like unbalanced narratives. Every person has the potential to contribute in a meaningful way.

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13 hours ago, chris12345 said:

I think 120 games played at the age of 26 (ish) was a red flag.

 

None the less always hope for the best.

 

I don't know if it's fair to say something was a red flag or not. He was relatively fresh. If had taken on a Tanev-lite role, which probably would not have been unreasonable of an unexpectation, the signing would've been fine.

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One objective for the off season should be to find a dynamic winger. Suter although he’s been great should be in the bottom 6 on a cup winner. We need another bonafide winger if Lekkerimaki isn’t ready to make the jump. A Toffoli or Guentzal would have done wonders on our line up. 

MUST trade Mikheyev. He takes up too much cap for just providing speed and checking. Offence is non-existent.

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Posted (edited)
21 hours ago, The Duke said:

What an offseason it’s shaping up to be. 
 

My “wish list” would be:

 

-a dynamic RD to pair with Hughes  (Hronek?)

 

-keeping the overall size / nastiness on the defence  (Zadorov, Myers)

 

-a dynamic jack of all trades 3C who can contribute in a 200 foot capacity (Lindholm)

 

-Size / speed in the forward group (Joshua, Mikheyev coming back at 100%)

 

-at least one skilled winger for Petey to play with (Lekkerimaki)

 

-a solid backup for Demko to let Silovs take one more full season in the AHL.  (DeSmith)

 

 

funny enough MOST if not all, of that is found in-house.. but money is the issue. And while there’s other pieces (Dillon, Hakanpaa, Pesce, Toffoli) out there, I’m not sure anyone is a bargain. Going to be an intense offseason. 

 

I hope they resign Hronek, he was very good with Hughes over the first 3/4's or so of the season. I read an article yesterday mentioning an elbow issue and then recalled seeing a photo of Honker with a huge elbow brace on his right arm (if memory serves me correctly). If his right elbow has an issue then I would hazard a guess that could explain the absence of his usually normal good play and cannon of a shot since then. 

 

However, it does raise the questions, if my recollection is true, (1) what is the injury, (2) does it need surgery in the off-season and (3) how will it affect his play going forward once healed

Edited by Rocket-68
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15 minutes ago, Rocket-68 said:

 

I hope they resign Hronek, he was very good with Hugues over the first 3/4's or so of the season. I read an article yesterday mentioning an elbow issue and then recalled seeing a photo of Honker with a huge elbow brace on his right arm (if memory serves me correctly). If his right elbow has an issue then I would hazard a guess that could explain the absence of his usually normal good play and cannon of a shot since then. 

 

However, it does raise the questions, if my recollection is true, (1) what is the injury, (2) does it need surgery in the off-season and (3) how will it affect his play going forward once heal3ed


Makes sense! I hope his contract ask has come down a little - but I’m still expecting them to try to sign him as plan A.

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Posted (edited)

Joshua is the easiest position to replace. Lindholm is far harder to replace. Joshua could turn into an invisible Dickenson type in the regular season. And the same ppl who want to sign him now will be giving him the Mikeyev treatment "scratch , waive , buy out , Abbotsford har har"

 

Hronek isn't going anywhere so no comment 

 

(Thankfully Canucks Twitter and forums have no baring on Hronek and he will be resigned)

Edited by Blue
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On 5/19/2024 at 8:20 AM, CanuckMan said:

One objective for the off season should be to find a dynamic winger. Suter although he’s been great should be in the bottom 6 on a cup winner. We need another bonafide winger if Lekkerimaki isn’t ready to make the jump. A Toffoli or Guentzal would have done wonders on our line up. 

MUST trade Mikheyev. He takes up too much cap for just providing speed and checking. Offence is non-existent.

I don't think Lekkerimäki is ready to make the jump to the NHL next season. I think he needs at least one season in Abby before being considered a call up. He's such a young player, let him cook in the minors until there's nothing left for him to prove down there, then bring him up. 

 

I'd love to sign Guentzel, but with what cap. 

 

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34 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Wonder what Jalen Chatfield would want, to comeback to the Nucks?

avg 15 minutes a game during the season, and up a couple during the play offs.

 

 

I think EF already said he's working on an extension with the Canes and they're likely to let Pesce walk.

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We need forward depth. Guys who can move the puck and make the PP dangerous 

 

 

We need chemistry so every shot isn't a long bomb

 

We need to keep the D core big and mobile 

 

 

We need to assume that Edmonton will be kings of the West, so we need to build a team that can defeat that 

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Posted (edited)
49 minutes ago, hockeyville88 said:

We need forward depth. Guys who can move the puck and make the PP dangerous 

 

 

We need chemistry so every shot isn't a long bomb

 

We need to keep the D core big and mobile 

 

 

We need to assume that Edmonton will be kings of the West, so we need to build a team that can defeat that 

 We need a powerplay coach that can adapt when the whole Fucking league figured out our PowerPlay 30 games into the season. 
 

 I feel too like maybe we have too many 3rd liners we’re trying to pass off as top 6 players. Need some support for our big boys. 

Edited by Northern_Nuck
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