flickyoursedin Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 2 minutes ago, Nucker67 said: My guess is Lekkerimaki plays in Abby next season, but gets in games with the big team near the end of the season. He is a smallish player, so he'll need to bulk up. I think what some people don’t think about though is the AHL has big bodies with boys that are trying to make an impression and finish checks hard. There’s rough and dirty plays there too so if bulking is all he needs but the skill is obvious and is one of our better top 6 wingers in preseason I just don’t see how you could send him down. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bure_Pavel Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 5 minutes ago, Nucker67 said: My guess is Lekkerimaki plays in Abby next season, but gets in games with the big team near the end of the season. He is a smallish player, so he'll need to bulk up. Yeah this is the way. If he has a monster off season and comes in looking like a star it is possible to win a spot but he would really have to impress and I think they will be patient. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bure_Pavel Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 Just now, flickyoursedin said: I think what some people don’t think about though is the AHL has big bodies with boys that are trying to make an impression and finish checks hard. There’s rough and dirty plays there too so if bulking is all he needs but the skill is obvious and is one of our better top 6 wingers in preseason I just don’t see how you could send him down. If he two way game and puck battles are not at a high level, he wont be on the team. Rick wont give him enough ice time. Plenty of top players have played in the AHL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flickyoursedin Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 44 minutes ago, Bure_Pavel said: If he two way game and puck battles are not at a high level, he wont be on the team. Rick wont give him enough ice time. Plenty of top players have played in the AHL. Yes of course all that needs to be up to an NHL standard. All I’m saying is don’t just automatically count him out because you think he’s too small. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 The flex on his stick this kid uses is wild. I imagine it would be difficult to make a normal pass The big club needs more of this on the powerplay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curmudgeon Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 (edited) On 7/10/2024 at 11:25 AM, flickyoursedin said: Yes of course all that needs to be up to an NHL standard. All I’m saying is don’t just automatically count him out because you think he’s too small. For most players, physical size and strength are really important. Gifted goal scorers are different. If you can provide 30 or 40 goals or 80 to 90 points, size doesn't matter. Petey still has his critics who lament that he needs to bulk up, but 412 points in 407 games kind of blows that criticism out of the water. The simple fact is that added wieght and muscle don't necessarily result in greater output. Lekkerimaki will be given an opportunity to make the club, and if he doesn't, it won't be because he's too small, it will be because there is some part or parts of his game that aren't ready. If all those parts are ready, he'll play regardless of his apparent slightness of build. Edited July 11 by Curmudgeon 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook007 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 25 minutes ago, Curmudgeon said: For most players, physical size and strength are really important. Gifted goal scorers are different. If you can provide 30 or 40 goals or 8- to 90 points, size doesn't matter. Petey still has his critics who lament that he needs to bulk up, but 412 points in 407 games kind of blows that criticism out of the water. The simple fact is that added wieght and muscle don't necessarily result in greater output. Lekkerimaki will be given an opportunity to make the club, and if he doesn't, it won't be because he's too small, it will be because there is some part or parts of his game that aren't ready. If all those parts are ready, he'll play regardless of his apparent slightness of build. Think the real issue is being able to withstand the rough and tumble of the NHL...especially during the play offs... Do agree though, if they feel he can contribute without being a liability, he will play... be it at 160 or 200lbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 (edited) Like Willander, I'd rather they allow him to cook. We've finally got some great coaching staff and development folks involved within the Canucks organization, let them do their thing with Lekkerimaki. Sure, aspects of his game may be NHL ready, but he could absolutely benefit from AHL time. It's not even just about his bulking up, he may very well get more offensive and special teams opportunities in Abbotsford and that matters imo. Maybe Podkolzin would be further along if he'd initially gotten AHL time. Edited July 11 by Coconuts 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchesMalone Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Coconuts said: Like Willander, I'd rather they allow him to cook. We've finally got some great coaching staff and development folks involved within the Canucks organization, let them do their thing with Lekkerimaki. Sure, aspects of his game may be NHL ready, but he could absolutely benefit from AHL time. It's not even just about his bulking up, he may very well get more offensive and special teams opportunities in Abbotsford and that matters imo. Maybe Podkolzin would be further along if he'd initially gotten AHL time. Yessir. No need to rush these guys. The object is not for them to have to replace anyone or fill spots in the lineup any time soon. When they're ready they come in as cheap depth, and by the time they're entering their primes in 4 or 5 years they can start to phase out Miller and others. I think the key is you need them providing excess value on ELCs when OEL's buyout gets hairy ('26 and '27). Minnesota has managed to stay pretty competitive through these rough years of the Parise/Suter buyouts, and they had it worse than the Canucks will. Edited July 11 by MatchesMalone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 30 minutes ago, MatchesMalone said: Yessir. No need to rush these guys. The object is not for them to have to replace anyone or fill spots in the lineup any time soon. When they're ready they come in as cheap depth, and by the time they're entering their primes in 4 or 5 years they can start to phase out Miller and others. I think the key is you need them providing excess value on ELCs when OEL's buyout gets hairy ('26 and '27). Minnesota has managed to stay pretty competitive through these rough years of the Parise/Suter buyouts, and they had it worse than the Canucks will. Definitely, which gives the Canucks some runway with both Willander and Lekkerimaki. At the very least, they can afford to give Lekkermaki the majority of a season in Abbotsford, delaying Willander's ELC by having him play in Boston is also very helpful on the ELC front. 25-26 and 26-27 is where things get ugly, having Lekkerimaki step in the season after this coming season with another year of professional hockey under his belt would be a bigger boon than having him step in next season imo. I think how the Canucks manage their picks going forward is really important too, our draft slots are more likely to result in prospects who need time to develop than guys who can step in right away, so hopefully we draft in the first and second round more over the next few years. I get wanting to go for it during the window, but we will need younger talent to step in as Pettersson, Hughes, Boeser, and Miller age. Minnesota definitely had it worse, but to their credit they managed to ice competitive rosters while accumulating talent; they used more than one first or second round pick every draft from 2019 to 2023. They haven't been contenders, but they've been a playoff regular. It'll be interesting to see what they do once all that dead cap is off the books, this coming season will be the last of Parise/Suter's mammoth dead cap hits, they'll go from paying roughly 14.7M to roughly 1.6M. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip The Mesh Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip The Mesh Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 Way to go, old man . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pure961089 Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 On 3/18/2024 at 4:51 PM, Coconuts said: That will forever be a gripe of mine until we change the narrative I'll admit I was a bit skeptical of Rutherford and Allvin at the beginning but they've generally made good moves thus far, I'd like to see them emulate the Dallas Stars more when it comes to draft picks though I wish we had an organizational philosophy that better emphasized drafting, keeping picks, and development Drafting and development are things Dallas has prioritized seemingly forever, it's why there are where they are now, it's why they're such a good team Just as they appeared to be fading with Benn and Seguin they hit gold with Hintz, Robertson, Heiskanen, and Otter. Now they're seeing further success with guys like Johnston (23OA, 2021), Harley (18OA, 2019), Stankoven (47OA, 2021) You can throw Grushnikov (48OA, 2021) in there too as he was a good enough prospect to help them reel in Tanev from Calgary They never really bottomed out the way we did but they just keep managing to find players I'll go back to 2000, nice round number, and take a look at how they've handled their top two picks The 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2023 drafts are the only drafts they haven't picked a player in the first round since 2000 The 2001, 2006, 2016, 2019, and 2020 drafts are the only drafts they haven't picked a player in the second round since 2000 Many of those years they have multiple 2nd round picks The Stars drafting has been unbelievable. Especially in 2021 getting players in the 40s. The only player the Canucks have to show for themselves that was drafted in the second round in the last 3 decades it seems is Hoglander. But it's like no matter who the Canucks management is they keep trading away their 2nd rounder. The Stars have great scouting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook007 Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 50 minutes ago, Pure961089 said: The Stars drafting has been unbelievable. Especially in 2021 getting players in the 40s. The only player the Canucks have to show for themselves that was drafted in the second round in the last 3 decades it seems is Hoglander. But it's like no matter who the Canucks management is they keep trading away their 2nd rounder. The Stars have great scouting. While agreeing about the Stars, Canucks also drafted Demko in the 2nd round... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gawdzukes Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 10 hours ago, spook007 said: While agreeing about the Stars, Canucks also drafted Demko in the 2nd round... Yes fabulous pick. One of the few I get right ... except this year Patterson and Romani were my top 2 guys. @Coconuts is so right though. Stars haven't missed a top 2 pick in 24 years while we've missed both 4 times. We've missed 13 2nd round picks in that time to the Stars 6. This is where a lot of payers come from. Mason Raymond, Hoglander, Demko, for us and far better players from teams that actually keep their picks. One or two ELC players from within can make all the difference in the world. Now this is off tangent a bit but just look at what the Willander pick can do for us. We have Hughes (hopefully) and Hronek signed longer term. Willander is on track and we have stop gaps in Myers, Desharnais, and to a lesser extent Soucy. When Willander jumps in on an ELC We are basically one semi-decent top 4 UFA, Soucy, or trade away from a half decade of being absolutely set defensively. Then you're just filling the bottom 2 spots ... perfect place for prospects like D-Petey to develop. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4ZZY Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 6 hours ago, Gawdzukes said: Yes fabulous pick. One of the few I get right ... except this year Patterson and Romani were my top 2 guys. @Coconuts is so right though. Stars haven't missed a top 2 pick in 24 years while we've missed both 4 times. We've missed 13 2nd round picks in that time to the Stars 6. This is where a lot of payers come from. Mason Raymond, Hoglander, Demko, for us and far better players from teams that actually keep their picks. One or two ELC players from within can make all the difference in the world. Now this is off tangent a bit but just look at what the Willander pick can do for us. We have Hughes (hopefully) and Hronek signed longer term. Willander is on track and we have stop gaps in Myers, Desharnais, and to a lesser extent Soucy. When Willander jumps in on an ELC We are basically one semi-decent top 4 UFA, Soucy, or trade away from a half decade of being absolutely set defensively. Then you're just filling the bottom 2 spots ... perfect place for prospects like D-Petey to develop. I envry the star's scouting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook007 Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 5 hours ago, Gawdzukes said: Yes fabulous pick. One of the few I get right ... except this year Patterson and Romani were my top 2 guys. @Coconuts is so right though. Stars haven't missed a top 2 pick in 24 years while we've missed both 4 times. We've missed 13 2nd round picks in that time to the Stars 6. This is where a lot of payers come from. Mason Raymond, Hoglander, Demko, for us and far better players from teams that actually keep their picks. One or two ELC players from within can make all the difference in the world. Now this is off tangent a bit but just look at what the Willander pick can do for us. We have Hughes (hopefully) and Hronek signed longer term. Willander is on track and we have stop gaps in Myers, Desharnais, and to a lesser extent Soucy. When Willander jumps in on an ELC We are basically one semi-decent top 4 UFA, Soucy, or trade away from a half decade of being absolutely set defensively. Then you're just filling the bottom 2 spots ... perfect place for prospects like D-Petey to develop. Yes spot on. We sucked at drafting for a long time, or rather we should have done better. Just like we should have bottomed out a couple of years instead of trying to be competitive with players neither ready nor able. But now we are where we are and the futute looks brighter than it has in a long time... thank god for JR and PA... they have build a team able to compete within a year and a half.... 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonkers Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 I think we signed Sprong to keep that spot warm. I doubt JL will have a better overall game this season, but hopefully next. Sprong will move on after a career season here and make room for JL. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gawdzukes Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 17 hours ago, spook007 said: Yes spot on. We sucked at drafting for a long time, or rather we should have done better. Just like we should have bottomed out a couple of years instead of trying to be competitive with players neither ready nor able. But now we are where we are and the futute looks brighter than it has in a long time... thank god for JR and PA... they have build a team able to compete within a year and a half.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzan Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 On 8/5/2024 at 12:20 PM, Gawdzukes said: Yes fabulous pick. One of the few I get right ... except this year Patterson and Romani were my top 2 guys. @Coconuts is so right though. Stars haven't missed a top 2 pick in 24 years while we've missed both 4 times. We've missed 13 2nd round picks in that time to the Stars 6. This is where a lot of payers come from. Mason Raymond, Hoglander, Demko, for us and far better players from teams that actually keep their picks. One or two ELC players from within can make all the difference in the world. Now this is off tangent a bit but just look at what the Willander pick can do for us. We have Hughes (hopefully) and Hronek signed longer term. Willander is on track and we have stop gaps in Myers, Desharnais, and to a lesser extent Soucy. When Willander jumps in on an ELC We are basically one semi-decent top 4 UFA, Soucy, or trade away from a half decade of being absolutely set defensively. Then you're just filling the bottom 2 spots ... perfect place for prospects like D-Petey to develop. Unless D-Petey is already a legit NHL defenceman by the time Willander is ready to shine! I'm blue-skying, but I don't think I'm being entirely unrealistic. I think that guy is going to be a beauty. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Pears Posted August 6 Popular Post Share Posted August 6 4 minutes ago, nzan said: Unless D-Petey is already a legit NHL defenceman by the time Willander is ready to shine! I'm blue-skying, but I don't think I'm being entirely unrealistic. I think that guy is going to be a beauty. He reminds me so much of an Ohlund type player. No need to rush him or Willander and that's what JR/PA have been preaching since they've been here. 4 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzan Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 2 hours ago, Pears said: He reminds me so much of an Ohlund type player. No need to rush him or Willander and that's what JR/PA have been preaching since they've been here. Agreed - though I say Edler just cause I like to think he's going to out-pace his 3rd round draft position in a similar way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gawdzukes Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 2 hours ago, nzan said: Unless D-Petey is already a legit NHL defenceman by the time Willander is ready to shine! I'm blue-skying, but I don't think I'm being entirely unrealistic. I think that guy is going to be a beauty. Definitely possible, he's got the right type of steady perseverance to be one of those guys who can provide utility sooner than layer. I'm also cautiously hoping he makes the jump sooner than later. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanucksCup2026 Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 (edited) On 7/10/2024 at 1:35 PM, flickyoursedin said: I think what some people don’t think about though is the AHL has big bodies with boys that are trying to make an impression and finish checks hard. There’s rough and dirty plays there too so if bulking is all he needs but the skill is obvious and is one of our better top 6 wingers in preseason I just don’t see how you could send him down. Management has said a few times they prefer their players to develop in the AHL and quote "be overripe"...so they won't rush anyone. Look at how they've managed Hogs and Podz....Lekker is going to hopefully be a great player. but I guarantee he's not making the team even with a great preseason. He needs time to play a top 6 role, PP and PK duties and learn the North American Pro game in the AHL where errors are seen as learning opportunities vs costing you points to the playoffs in the NHL. Edited August 7 by CanucksCup2026 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pure961089 Posted August 9 Share Posted August 9 Does Lekkerimaki make the team out of training camp? I think he'll be given 9 games with DeBrusk and Petey because he's gonna have a strong training camp. He has so much confidence right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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