What’s up with the Canucks? I know their cap situation has historically been tight - do you think it got better this offseason?
The cap situation is the LEAST of the Canucks' worries, honestly. That whole team is a dumpster fire.
More under the cut. Pardon the delay in getting this out, but this is a long one!
So first off, the cap situation is bad. It honestly looks better than it is, mostly because of the LTIR. Plus, there's a ton of players whose contracts are expiring next offseason, most notable of which are Pettersson and Beauvillier that the Nucks really need to keep. The main problem is, management keeps swinging at bad players and overpaying them, then floundering on contracts for good players.
So, uh, that Bo Horvat trade, huh? Let's start with that. You signed JT Miller, a 30 year old, to a 7 year extension that would end when he's 37, for $8m a year with NMCs for the first few years and M-NTCs for the rest, going off a career year that he regressed from (predictably). This is a guy who we know has some character issues as well (see: him screaming at Collin Delia, his goalie teammate, for being unsure whether to leave the crease). And you traded your captain away to make the cap work for him? What did you even get for Horvat anyway? Beauvillier, Raty, and a top-12 protected first? Why didn't you trade Miller instead?
Speaking of a swing and a mess, Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Got signed to an 8x8.25, got traded from Arizona to Vancouver, and... got bought out. Now they're gonna have to deal with that on their books for eight whole years. Just another Benning-era flop. I guess it's still better than paying him for that amount, though.
They did pick up some guys, though, with the cap space they acquired - Teddy Blueger, Pius Suter, Carson Soucy. Oh, and extended Kuzmenko. But none of them move the needle enough. None of those players are going to propel this frankly lost team into the playoffs.
Now let's look at the LTIR list, or should I say LTIRetirement list. We've got Tucker Poolman, who played a total of three games last year and promptly disappeared off the map (and NOBODY knows what's wrong with him - and I asked! - but it's speculated to be concussion-related and possibly career-ending, and migraines - yep, like Nolan Patrick migraines - might be a part of it too). And Tanner Pearson. Oh, Tanner Pearson. Tanner Pearson had a hand injury in November, immediately got surgery, and the Canucks said he'd be out 4 to 6 weeks. Fast forward to January 12, Pearson is undergoing his third surgery and is not expected to return for the season. When Quinn Hughes is asked about this, he says "it wasn't handled right," essentially blowing a whistle to point to some form of incompetence from either the Canucks management, their doctors, or both. The Canucks launch an internal investigation and clear themselves; the NHLPA is also reportedly looking into it. Currently, it's been reported that Pearson has undergone 6-7 surgeries on the hand in question (possibly due to infection) and is working to regain quality of life. Yikes. Here's The Hockey Guy (Shannon), a known Canucks fan, lamenting this:
Okay, let's move on from that depressing stuff with a Stereax story. See, one of my very first hockey memories was seeing Thatcher Demko clutch up for the Canucks in the 2020 playoffs against the Golden Knights. That man was ice cold. I was telling myself "no WAY he doesn't become a star tendie". And then... Vancouver broke him. Oops, I think we're back in depression territory. But the stats don't lie - he went from 64 games (33-22-7) played last year with a .915 save percentage to 32 games (14-14-4) played and a .901. Oh, and he got injured with a lower-body injury (LBI) on December 1, was out "6 weeks" apparently got reinjured in training February 17, and was out another 10 days? Yeah. I mean, the defensive structure in front of him being Quinn Hughes Playing 30 Minutes a Night doesn't help. Plus the whole botching injuries? Not a good look for the Canucks organization. Hell, players could have been knowingly playing injured or hiding injuries because they didn't want to deal with that shitshow.
Speaking of the shitshow, guess whose contract is up soon? That's right: Elias Pettersson is an RFA after 23-24! Think he's going to sign a long-term deal with this joke of a franchise? Or do you think he's going to pull a Matthew Tkachuk and essentially demand to be sign-and-traded? I wouldn't blame him if it's the latter, especially considering the lack of, well, anything the Canucks have.
First off, they have no prospects. Their farm system is nonexistent. They have one of the worst prospect pools in the NHL. And when they're not busy trading away their picks to acquire aging veterans, they're drafting badly. This is an old article, but it really, really drives the point home.
Okay, but like, the Pens and Bruins and Avs and Lightning have no prospect pools and they're still good, right? Well, yes, but actually no. See, the reason those teams have no prospects is because they're pushing all in for more Cup runs with their current cores. The Bruins traded away the future for one last Cup run in 2023. The Pens are close to doing the same for 2024. Ditto the Avs and Lightning. The Canucks are not these teams. Simply put, they're just not competitive. Even if they somehow eke out a wildcard next year (doubtful, given Vegas, Edmonton, LA, and Seattle are all also in the Pacific, but maybe it goes 5/3 and the Nucks get WC2), they lack the depth, defense, goaltending, and honestly offense too to make a deep run. That team is fundamentally flawed at its very core. It needs to rebuild, and rebuild properly this time. But the owners won't allow it.
Speaking of owners, the Canucks' owner, Francesco Aquilini, is a REAL piece of shit. Not only does he refuse to rebuild, he's as crooked of a "businessman" as you'll meet, routinely stiffing workers out of wages, raising rents to exorbitant levels (creating homeless seniors), causing the death of children due to negligence, and more. Wanna hear about the child abuse allegations?
And if none of this was bad enough, look at how they treated Bruce Boudreau. The Canucks were supposed to can him for months in favor of Rick Tocchet due to bad results, but left him to flounder like a sitting duck. Media was asking him what were his future plans for the team when he basically had the pink slip in his hands. Even if Bruce was trying to be a good sport about it, cracking jokes ("See you tomorrow - I hope"), this is no goddamn way to treat your coach. If you're going to fire the man, fire him and move on. (At least the fans understood what they were losing...) And of course this impacted the players down the final stretch of Boudreau's tenure - aware every day that your coach is going to be fired but not knowing when? That'll do a mental number on any team. Christ...
TL;DR - The Canucks are so fucked up that the cap isn't even their biggest issue. They're managing that okay enough, I guess, but they're mismanaging the team to hell and back so even good cap maneuvering means nothing.
If you want to know more, I recommend you watch the UrinatingTree videos on the Nucks. I took most of the main ideas of this from there. And ask your local Canucks fan friend if they need any support, I think they'll appreciate it. :)
HUGE save by Colin Miller who gets in the line of fire after a rebound flies off of Schmid.
That was a desperation play that #NJDevils talked about this morning. Everyone having to do absolutely everything.
Jack Hughes nearly ties the game.
Devils open with four fantastic chances. Stolarz had to make some of his best saves of the game there.
This has been a really excellent start to the second period, lots of energy, lots of shots. Stolarz has eben good. But the life #NJDevils talked about needing back in their game, it is starting to shine through.
It's not perfect - it never will be - but #NJDevils are winning noticeably more board battles, those 50/50's
Luke draws a holding penalty and #NJDevils get a power play.
Ryan Lomberg off for Florida.
Timo Meier has come to life!
That's seven points in his last seven games.
Panthers back in the lead 3-2.
Luostarinen with a wrist shot.
One of the refs is down on the ice. Got hit in the face with a puck and is hurt pretty bad. He's face down on the ice. Both Devils and Panthers trainers on the ice with him.
6:21 left in the second period and #NJDevils will continue on with just one ref - Tom Chmielewski - while Pierre Lambert is being looked at off the ice after taking a puck to the face.
Nico centering peanut butter and jelly is an interesting group. Similar to when you see Draisaitl join McDavid. I don't recall Lindy playing Jack and Nico together at 5v5. Interesting idea
Addison Calen
Andersson Rasmus
Barrie Tyson
Barron Justin
Bean Jake
Behrens Sean
Bertucci Tristan
Bjornfot Tobias
Bonk Oliver
Boqvist Adam
Bouchard Evan
Broberg Philip
Brzustewicz Hunter
Burns Brent
Byram Bowen
Carlson John
Casey Seamus
Ceulemans Corson
Chabot Thomas
Chychrun Jakub
Clarke Brandt
Cormier Lukas
Dahlin Rasmus
DeAngelo Tony
Dobson Noah
Doughty Drew
Dragicevic Lukas
Drysdale Jamie
Dunn Vince
Durzi Sean
Edvinsson Simon
Ekblad Aaron
Ekman- Larsson Oliver
Evans Ryker
Faber Brock
Faulk Justin
Forsling Gustav
Fox Adam
Gavrikov Vladislav
Girard Samuel
Goligoski Alex
Gostisbehere Shayne
Grans Helge
Graves Ryan
Guenette Maxence
Guhle Kaiden
Gulyayev Mikhail
Hamilton Dougie
Hanifin Noah
Harley Thomas
Hedman Victor
Heinola Ville
Heiskanen Miro
Hirose Akito
Hronek Filip
Hughes Luke
Hughes Quinn
Hutson Lane
Ishimnikov Nikita
Jiricek David
Johnson Ryan
Jokiharju Henri
Jones Seth
Joseph Pierre-Olivier
Josi Roman
Karki Arttu
Karlsson Erik
Kesselring Michael
Klingberg John
Korchinski Kevin
Korczak Kaedan
Krug Torey
Kyrou Christian
LaCombe Jackson
Lambos Carson
Letang Kris
Liljegren Timothy
Lindell Esa
Lindgren Mats
Lindholm Hampus
Lindstein Theo
Livingstone Jake
Lundkvist Nils
Luneau Tristan
Mailloux Logan
Makar Cale
Marino John
Mateychuk Denton
Matheson Mike
McAvoy Charlie
McIsac Jared
Miller K’Andre
Mintyukov Pavel
Molendyk Tanner
Montour Brandon
Morin Etienne
Morrisey Josh
Morrow Scott
Moser Janis
Mukhamadullin Shakir
Nause Evan
Nemec Simon
Niemela Topi
Nikishin Alexander
Nurse Darnell
O'Rourke Ryan
Perunovich Scott
Pickering Owen
Pietrangelo Alex
Pionk Neal
Power Owen
Provorov Ivan
Pulock Ryan
Reinbacher David
Rielly Morgan
Rinzel Sam
Samuelsson Mattias
Sanderson Jake
Sandin Pellikka Axel
Sandin Rasmus
Sanheim Travis
Schultz Justin
Seider Moritz
Sergachev Mikhail
Severson Damon
Slavin Jaccob
Soderstrom Victor
Spacek David
Spence Jordan
Strbak Maxim
Suter Ryan
Svozil Stanislav
Theodore Shea
Thompson Jack
Toews Devon
Trouba Jacob
Valimaki Jusso
Wallinder William
Walman Jake
Weegar Mackenzie
Werenski Zach
Willander Tom
York Cam
Zamula Egor
Zellweger Olen
Happy Pride to all. Especially in these times. Here is a smattering of NHLers in Pride gear. Feel free to drop some more.
“We preach hockey is for everyone, and I certainly believe that it is. And if you say you believe in that, you should be able to put the jersey on” - Quinn Hughes
the canucks practice line-up today, which is likely the line-up for the game tonight. ngl i don’t really like it. petey + the rookies line is fine & has been working (usual disclaimer this is not a hoglander friendly zone). our 4th line is, as always, full of my lil babies and no one can or should say a word against them.
i have real big questions about splitting brock & jt when they work so well together & have been the 2 most productive forwards this season & have done so Because they are together. jt manages ok-ish without brock & brock is not a liability but also a bit sparkless without jt. however, i’ll concede that brock has played well with bo in the past (he was brock’s center for most of his rookie year). and millsy has played best at center this year, even if he’s also good on wing — so spreading the playmaking depth is reasonable on paper. we also haven’t seen much of garly with millsy or garly at topline minutes so it’s worth a shot, prolly.
i could maybe talk myself into this forward shuffle, tho i’m not enthusiastic about it & i know bruce’s hands are tied unless allvin starts blowing things up quick. bc bruce can only keep juggling the same pieces and making it look like we have something different.
glad to see OEL is ok and presumably in game shape! hopefully this isn’t a case of putting off a nagging issue to drag the season along (which i have voiced my concerns about previously).
finally, i get why you would pair hamonic & hughes — hamonic’s offensive upside is much bigger & likelier to spark huggy’s. you don’t get quite the same versatility when he’s with schenn, tho the schenn pay-off is an extremely solid defense in the case play turns quick (given the canucks are prone to just losing the advantage, i prefer a sturdier defense). and rn, coaching & management would probably rather let quinn loose to grow/maintain his offensive game than to troubleshoot an inherently flawed blueline. 1) quinn has proven he is sufficient defensively, so he doesn’t need to keep proving that even tho i know that was his self-professed goal this season. 2) what the team wants, needs, & expects from him is to be offense-minded, especially when our scoring has been underproducing this season (reminder: going into this season, every analytics & journo had the canucks ranked with a high-middling offense & an Abysmal defense. we all thought we’d get high scoring with horrific goals against. for the most part, our forwards have been working so hard to backstop neutral zone movement & backcheck that we haven’t been outscored too badly most of the time but our scoring has been measly. also as always, we have A Lot of thanks to give to goaltending when all our skaters are trying but failing hard at defense) 3) hughes making hamonic look good could make hamonic tradeable, and all rumblings are still going that hamonic wants out & management & coaching would love to accommodate that move. so i guess i’ve kinda talked myself into the long con of playing huggy w/ hamonic, but i sure ain’t happy bout it
ok i’m done for now. will come with more updates as it gets closer to game time. happy monday, friends~
Gabriel Landeskog (COL)
Roman Josi (NSH)
Jamie Benn (DAL)
Alex Pietrangelo (STL)
Oliver Ekman Larsson (ARI)
Blake Wheeler (WPG)
Jonathan Toews (CHI)
Sidney Crosby (PIT)
Claude Giroux (PHI)
Anders Lee (NYI)
Nick Foligno (CBJ)
Joe Pavelski (SJS)
Steven Stamkos (TBL)
Shea Weber (MTL)
Justin Williams (CAR)
Connor McDavid (EDM)
Ryan Getzlaf (ANA)
Anze Kopitar (LAK)
Mark Giordano (CGY)
Jack Eichel (BUF)
Aleksander Barkov (FLA)
Mikko Koivu (MIN)
Andy Greene (NJD)
Zdeno Chara (BOS)
Alex Ovechkin (WSH)
I’d say I’m open to constructive criticism but I’m sensitive so...
Shout out to @memequeme for the assist with the rankings
Sorted list of nominations for Hockey Holidays 2021
This list is long, going behind read more. Any errors are mine. Conventions used:
Women's hockey nominations are together because there were not very many of them.
NHL players who played on a team together are listed under that team even if they no longer play there.
NHL players who have never been on the same NHL team but reasonably might have played on a national team together are listed that way e.g. "National: Team Canada".
Other situations (e.g., Nico Hischier/Nolan Patrick, Sidney Crosby/Alex Ovechkin) are listed under "Other cross-team".