Author’s Note: I went through some personal stuff this week that made it impossible to complete part two of last week’s mailbag. It’s very important to me that everyone gets an answer, so I’ll be responding to last week’s questions today.
what’s it going to take to get Guddy out? do you think this is the year guys like MDZ go in a trade? he can’t be happy about sitting.
— nucks fanucks (@nucksfanucks) October 22, 2018
I think Erik Gudbranson is going to have to be closer to the end of that 3-year contract before he gets moved. Maybe if Dale Tallon comes calling about his old player a deal could get done, but I can’t imagine there’s a ton of interest at the moment. As far as Del Zotto is concerned, I don’t think he has enough leverage for his opinion on being a healthy scratch to matter. I could see him getting moved at the deadline, but wouldn’t expect much in return.
Do the Canucks have a higher PK% with Guddy in the box?
— Lou Slips (@louslips) October 22, 2018
It’s too early to draw any firm conclusions about this season, but traditionally the Canucks have allowed more shots and scoring chances with Gudbranson out for the PK than without him.
Are we going to keep winning
— Howard Ng (@howardng02) October 22, 2018
Probably not. The Canucks boast the league’s fourth-worst shot share and it’s fourth-highest all situations shooting percentage. That’s a pretty good indication they’ll come back to earth soon. Then again teams have ridden unsustainable performances to a playoff spot on multiple occasions, so it’s not out of the question.
How about that brady tkachuk?
— John Puck (@johnpuck1992) October 22, 2018
He’s certainly making me look foolish for leaving him outside my top ten this summer. I shouldn’t be surprised, though, given the fact that he had almost a full year of development on many of his peers in the 2018 draft. As impressive as he’s been, I’m still not convinced he can keep his pace up.
Is Baertschi better suited to a 1st or 2nd line role? I feel like on a better team he would be a 2nd liner am I wrong?
— Chris Bertenshaw (@noideas89) October 22, 2018
You’re not wrong at all. It can be tough to gauge what Baertschi is exactly because he’s yet to play anything close to a full season, but when looking at points-per-game his pace is pretty consistent with that of an average second-line winger. Playing on the first line is largely a symptom of the team having been short on talent since his arrival. That’s not a knock on him as a player, it’s just hard to put up legitimate first-line offence.
2 Questions = Jumping way ahead to the 2019 draft – as you see it today, would you say the need is still defence or would you choose a centre? (Obviously it would be JH if we're 1st) I'd go defence. Woo's potential is exciting, does he have the skill to make the nucks next year?
— John Butler (@Whostheboes) October 21, 2018
I’m always in favour of taking the best player available. That feels like a bit of a cop-out, but it’s true. The Canucks only have maybe four or five truly untouchable players, they’re going to need a lot more if they want to be contenders in the near future. There’s such a good crop of centres available this year that it’s hard to envision passing on them all to draft a defenseman. Obviously, if Bowen Byram is available in the right spot then you take him, but that’s the direction I’m leaning in at the moment.
When it comes to Jett Woo, I’d advise you to be patient. He’s a long way off, assuming he ever makes the team at all.
Should we be worried about the logjam of forwards down in Utica affecting prospects development this year? Would a prospect like Jonah not be better off returning to Owen Sound?
— Nathan Copeland (@NathanC47616536) October 22, 2018
I think at this point it’s fair to be at least a little concerned about how the rookies are being handled at the AHL level. Utica has played ten games, Kole Lind has sat for four of them and Jonah Gadjovich for six. At this stage in their development it seems like it would be really important for them to get their reps in and instead they’re spending a good portion of their time out of the lineup. If they aren’t ready, I’d rather see them spend time in junior or the ECHL than in the press box.
It's early but looking ahead towards the 2019 draft, what position will have the best crop of talent and which will be bountiful?
— Silver (@DannyH_52) October 21, 2018
It’s early, but so far this year’s draft looks like it will have a centre-heavy first round. Even after Jack Hughes, you’ve got Dylan Cozens, Alex Turcotte, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Raphael Lavoie, Peyton Krebs, and Ryan Suzuki who all look like they could go in the top ten.
Who would you rank starting at the top as the 5 most important players to the organization? Both roster and in the system.
— Silver (@DannyH_52) October 21, 2018
Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes would be the clear top two, followed by either Bo Horvat or Brock Boeser. I’m tempted to give Horvat the edge because he plays the premium position and he’s looked so good recently, but I think Boeser may turn out to be the more talented player. After that, it’s really a judgment call. Olli Juolevi makes sense but so does Thatcher Demko or even Michael DiPietro given the importance of the goaltending position.
If I absolutely have to give a ranked order, I guess it would look like this:
- Elias Pettersson
- Quinn Hughes
- Brock Boeser
- Bo Horvat
- Olli Juolevi
Is Dylan Suzuki any relation to Ryan Suzuki, who is also a top centre in this year’s draft?
I think that he meant to say Ryan Suzuki, not Dylan. And Ryan is brothers with Nick Suzuki whom Vegas traded to Montreal recently.
Gudbranson is on a three year contract. Why is even simple fact-checking so difficult for this author?
Seems a little petty to go after him for that.
It’s an ongoing pattern with this guy and this weekly feature in particular. If it was a one-off I might agree with you.
It’s the second time he’s made this mistake and I refrained from correcting him last time. With all the criticism about the Canucks’ contracts and signings I don’t think it’s out of line to call him on the carpet for it at all, that’s a big difference for a much-maligned player.
Seems petty to go after these writers for anything. I really appreciate the free articles. Don’t like it move along to the next article, webpage.
Well said Dan. Bitter, nasty piece of work isn’t he – would love to see if he can back up his tough talk in real life… cluck cluck.
Replying to yourself again? I would love to meet up with you sometime you multi-troll loser. Just let me know where.
It was a typo. I don’t know if you’ve seen a keyboard before but the “3” key is next to the “4”.
Maybe instead of blaming the keyboard for your lack of proof-reading abilities you could do something about the 5 different accounts that your troll buddy is posting under today.
Funny, cuz the last time you wrote about the Guddy contract you said 4 then too. Nut up and admit your mistakes man, thats sad
Jackson O’Latern 🎃
@failsonmcdonald
· Oct 14, 2018
Send me your questions for the week’s @CanucksArmy mailbag
Matt Whitten
@nedlead
Will Guddy finally be traded now with last nights non response to Matheson? He’s definitely showing he’s not very tough to play against.
1:25 PM – Oct 14, 2018
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It seems unlikely to me that Gudbranson would be moved in the first year of a four-year extension. I also think the fact that he’s right-handed will keep him on the roster for the time being. I also think we should probably give the Canucks a bit more credit. I’ve been as critical as anyone of them over the past few years, but even I don’t think they’d be so reactionary as to trade a player because of a single game.
Oh and finally, you wrote four that time, your fingers that fat?
What can I say, sometimes mistakes happen. I have a tendency at times to mix up dollar/year figures. I have this problem in other areas of life, too. (If a cashier says my total is $5.40, sometimes I will pull out $4.50.) Because the mailbags are generally more time-sensitive, more mistakes can slip by in the effort to consistently churn out content in a timely matter. If it upsets you so much, I’d suggest maybe going outside and getting some fresh air rather than pulling up old articles to own me. Frankly, it comes across as a tad maladjusted.
Or you could have been a man and owned your mistake. I noticed it last time too and ignored it until you tried to make Canuck4Life feel like an ass by lying and saying it was a typo.
Wasn’t hard to find since it was 2 mailbags ago.
To me lying and not admitting mistakes is maladjusted but I guess we all pick the men we want to be.
It’s a 3 year contract that feels like 4.
lol…good one.
Although I want him to be an elite goalie as articles and ranking agencies seem to suggest. I haven’t seen any evidence demko is shaping up to be anything more than an average potential nhl. Can anyone elaborate on why demko gets such favourable press?
Because the numbers he’s put up for his age are above average.
yep…his numbers in Utica last year were excellent. He should have been here learning the NHL in my opinion.
If we end up say with the 6th pick and draft byram we could use joulevi in a deal for a RHD. Dobson for joulevi? NYI have Pullock and Wilde but no LHD top prospects although that could change for them at this draft.
Byram Dobson
Hughes
One can day dream. But how sexy would j. Hugh’s, ep40, horvat and as our c’s be. Damn. We would still have a turnstile defence.
Both Sutter and Gaudette would be trade bait with value in that scenario. Add in that the team has plenty of cap space and a cap budget, the D issues could be addressed a number of ways.
Nobody wanted to do this but because of all these injuries we have to enter into dialogues discussing potential next year draft picks based upon where the Canucks may end up after 82 games. Personally all the young prospects everyone has discussed all look pretty good to me. It’d be fortuitous though if the VC did actually become successful this year and we didn’t have to talk about the draft next year. Same old same old unfortunately.