Kipper & McLean both like the deal for VanCity.
Hockey Central on now.
- Nighthawk

Oh poop

One top 6 winger? bae, Virt and Boeser. Potentially Dubois or Tkachuk. McCann isn't close to any of these guys dude. MAYBE he might be but you are grasping at straws here
- CanuckDon

19 year old NHLer McCann isn't close to 19 year old NCAA player Boeser or 18 year old CHL players Dubois or Tkachuk?

One top 6 winger? bae, Virt and Boeser. Potentially Dubois or Tkachuk. McCann isn't close to any of these guys dude. MAYBE he might be but you are grasping at straws here
- CanuckDon

Talk about grasping at straws, three of the guys you mention haven't even played an NHL game and the other two haven't proven to be top six wingers.

Being tall doesn't make you good, I'm living proof of that!
- LeftCoaster

You just finished posting that you like Tree. So you don't like Gundbranson? I'm really struggling to follow your posts.

If there is one thing I've learned its that you want to be on the side of a pair of guys who praised the David Clarkson and Dave Bolland contracts
- Lindenis#1

Well done. You just discredited all of the Leafs posters in here.

Enjoy the hysteria and trolling today everyone.

Everyone praises Benning for being a great scout and they say that his strength is at the draft table. Why does everybody doubt his talent evaluation at the NHL level?

The think I notice about Benning is that if he sees a player he likes he does what he can to go and get them. Even if he has to overpay a little. I like that alot better then the previous 2 GM's that refused to make trades in the fear that they wouldn't get absolute full value for the asset, which in the long run hurt the team.
- fiveandagame

... and in the end, they rarely got any value anyways.

Too bad the Canucks don't have him guaranteed in the system.

Or that it never hurts to have a lot of talented players who can play center

Or that you could have saved yourself these assets and signed Eric Gryba in UFA for basically the same level of performance
- Lindenis#1

All righty then

Kipper & McLean both like the deal for VanCity.
Hockey Central on now.
- Nighthawk

That should tell you all you need to know.

Those guys on TSN and Sportsnet are God awful. Whatever they say, do the opposite

At some point you are going to have to accept analytics. It’s driving the game now. Look at what the Coyotes have done. Same goes with TO. Analytic guys in key management positions.

Don’t be that “TV is a fad” guy.
- bloatedmosquito

Remember when old school baseball guys said things like OBP, WAR and BABIP weren't valuable in determining if a baseball player was any good? And then they got passed like dinosaurs

Remember when the Canucks went all in on analytics before everyone else and almost won a cup because of savvy buy-low moves on Ehrhoff, Malhotra, Torres, Higgins, etc. and zone starts and changing their zone entries style and everything?

19 year old NHLer McCann isn't close to 19 year old NCAA player Boeser or 18 year old CHL players Dubois or Tkachuk?
- Lindenis#1

If you can't score 50 points as a 19 year old rookie with Dorsett and Prust on your wing you really have no future in the league.

It's hard to do when your GM is throwing draft pick(s) into every trade
- walshyleafsfan

Well making a hockey trade with picks involved is an effort to win.
Trading UFA's & amassing picks is a shell game.
Politicians speak rhetoric as do a Prez or GM.
How does Kaapenen look? Bottom 6 potential?

I disagree. They could trade McCann... and they did. I'd rather Dubois as a center and I like the direction this team is going with bigger wingers. We have Sven as a smaller skilled winger, no need for another in McCann. He was a tradeable asset in JB's eyes. It's going to be a wait and see thingy as usual.

I agree that there is an over payment if you only have a singular mind but I'm not blocking out the fact that you have to overpay for a young RD. I laugh at the people who were making these silly trade proposals for Barrie. Never in a million years would the Avs trade for so little. People just don't get it... hence all this hand wringing about this trade...
- boonerbuck

At least we have something to discuss. It's hard to articulate when typing on a message board.

Spent all day yesterday replacing the four drums on my boat trailer, only six years old and rusted to poop...thankfully I didn't pull it anywhere before I checked them this year. Pretty bad shape!

I'm just really against trying to win now with the poop that is the Vancouver Canucks! They've got some good young pieces Benning put together in two short years, Demko, Virtanen, Boeser & Tryamkin, but they've gotta continue down that path and give up this idea they can be a playoff team!

That train of thought will have them continuing down the path of mediocrity for the foreseeable future...I'm sick of that!!!!!!!!!!
- LeftCoaster

Me too, but as you've always said... Patience.

TBH I've never got the impression that building through the draft was the Plan. Sure Linden and JB state that publicly but their player moves suggest something totally different. If they are going to rebuild while still being competitive then this is how they have to do it.

19 year old NHLer McCann isn't close to 19 year old NCAA player Boeser or 18 year old CHL players Dubois or Tkachuk?
- Lindenis#1

You think Mcann has a brighter future than Boeser or Dubois ? I shouldn't be surprised

I don't....I think it's a ridiculous statement!! You don't call a good third liner checker/penalty killer a foundational piece.
- LeftCoaster

True if he wasn't RW on the 1st line til injured.
He is not in Pitt & its still 2014-15.

You just finished posting that you like Tree. So you don't like Gundbranson? I'm really struggling to follow your posts.
- CanuckDon

Ok I'll spell it out for you, I like Tryamkin and Gudbrason, good 4/5/6 guys for sure, I don't like overpaying assets for Gudbranson...that's my deal.

It's hard to do when your GM is throwing draft pick(s) into every trade
- walshyleafsfan

'Jim Benning Syndrome'

Me too, but as you've always said... Patience.

TBH I've never got the impression that building through the draft was the Plan. Sure Linden and JB state that publicly but their player moves suggest something totally different. If they are going to rebuild while still being competitive then this is how they have to do it.
- bloatedmosquito

I dont think they are building the team through the draft, I think they are going to try to find their top players in the draft and fill out the complimentary pieces through other acquisitions

You think Mcann has a brighter future than Boeser or Dubois ? I shouldn't be surprised
- CanuckDon

I don't know who has a brighter future. But for all the people saying "This way we get a sure bet" and then turning around and saying that players who haven't even played in an exhibition game are better than someone who managed hang in there relatively well in their rookie season is a bit absurd.

At some point you are going to have to accept analytics. It’s driving the game now. Look at what the Coyotes have done. Same goes with TO. Analytic guys in key management positions.

Don’t be that “TV is a fad” guy.
- bloatedmosquito

We'll see.

The Coyotes may not be the best example and neither is the Leafs.

Well making a hockey trade with picks involved is an effort to win.
Trading UFA's & amassing picks is a shell game.
Politicians speak rhetoric as do a Prez or GM.
How does Kaapenen look? Bottom 6 potential?
- Nighthawk

Kapanen? Meh. Don't think he'll make much of an impact. Seems far down the pecking order.

What exactly are you trying to win? Let me rephrase that. What exactly do you think the Canucks have a chance of winning, in these next 10 years, if your GM/owner of whoever keeps making moves like they have been doing. You think Gudbransson, Granlund, Sutter, Very etc.

The moves are more puzzling than anything else. There really doesn't seem like there's a direction. One minute Jim bangs on about drafting and draft picks. The next he forks some over to other teams. One minute he wants to get younger, the next he's picking up the older player in a trade. The guy's bi-polar

Me too, but as you've always said... Patience.

TBH I've never got the impression that building through the draft was the Plan. Sure Linden and JB state that publicly but their player moves suggest something totally different. If they are going to rebuild while still being competitive then this is how they have to do it.
- bloatedmosquito

It might work if Gillis had left them more assets to work with, but he didn't, IMO this will fail unless they can improve the top six through free agency.

If they sign Eriksson and Lucic, well then maybe they've got a chance at a playoff spot, but I doubt that happens.

I'm just really against trying to win now with the poop that is the Vancouver Canucks! They've got some good young pieces Benning put together in two short years, Demko, Virtanen, Boeser & Tryamkin, but they've gotta continue down that path and give up this idea they can be a playoff team!

That train of thought will have them continuing down the path of mediocrity for the foreseeable future...I'm sick of that!!!!!!!!!!
- LeftCoaster

Been awhile since we experienced a long stretch of mediocrity.
Loan me your crystal would ya if it works so well. 😂😂

I don't know who has a brighter future. But for all the people saying "This way we get a sure bet" and then turning around and saying that players who haven't even played in an exhibition game are better than someone who managed hang in there relatively well in their rookie season is a bit absurd.
- Lindenis#1

What I find fascinating is that the 19 year old kid that made the league isn't the big loss, the 2nd round pick with a 50% chance of even making it is.