Canucks Army Monday Mailbag: August 7th

That’s a good question. If I were to wager a guess, it probably has something to do with Bo Horvat’s ask on dollars, rather than term. The figure I most often hear as a floor for any long-term extension on Horvat is $5-million. I’d hardly blame the Canucks if they wanted to bring that cost down, if only slightly. Horvat’s a restricted free agent without arbitration rights who’s a long ways away from unrestricted free agency. The team has all the leverage in this situation.

That probably has as much, if not more, to do with the desires of the Sedin twins who have a full no-trade clause in their contract. I don’t think that at this stage in their respective careers that either of the two has an appetite to split up.

I won’t even try to rank the Pacific Division teams by points or where they’ll sit in the Western Conference or league standings, but I’ll take a stab at which order they’ll be in the standings relative to one another.

As for whether the California teams have any space left in their Stanley Cup contention window, I’m not ready to write any of the three teams off. The Anaheim Ducks have a roster so deep and a prospect pool so rich that they can overcome even the likes of a Randy Carlyle, it seems; the Los Angeles Kings lack finishing power but have been one of the most dominant puck possession teams of the Behind the Net era; San Jose has, it seems, aged out of their window, but again, they’ve a strong prospect pool and an incoming wealth of cap space that could shove it back open in no-time.

I’ve answered this question at least once before, so my apologies in advance if I come up with a different answer now as opposed to when I last responded to this query. It’s not one that I’m personally invested in outside of the mailbag, which would explain the potential lack of consistency.

Keep an eye on Olli Juolevi. I watched a lot of London Knights down the home stretch of last season, and Juolevi left a strong impression in nearly every viewing. He already thinks the game at an NHL level.

The Canucks just signed Michael Del Zotto, and Alexander Edler isn’t going anywhere. That leaves Ben Hutton, who’s probably the worse of the three options and the one that the Canucks can move with the most ease.

Jake Virtanen will probably spend another year with the Utica Comets. The Canucks have too much riding on this player to let him get off to another stagnant start. At that point, the media attention will turn on the player and we’ll start to hear everyone in the market use the “bust” word.

I’d expect Virtanen to play in a top six role with the Comets. The influx of talent around him should help him produce offence at a better clip, too.

I can’t speak for the rest of Canada, but Vancouver is an awful lot like Mordor right now. The forest fires are wreaking havoc on the province, and we’ve had a week of thick smoke covering Vancouver like a blanket.

Hutton’s a fourth defenceman as is, and I don’t expect a tonne of growth beyond that role.

The answer is no.

All I’ve seen of the Summer Showcase are highlights, courtesy of Canucks Army’s own Ryan Biech. I saw his one goal from last week. It was the Cale Makar I’m used to seeing. There’s an opening in the high slot, and Makar rushes into it to take the puck in stride and put it past the goaltender. This kid’s going to be a tonne of fun to watch in the NCAA next season.

Then again, everyone has highlights. I have no clue how the rest of Makar’s exhibition tournament’s played out.

I’ve asked my butcher to order a tri-tip in time for next weekend, so keep refreshing your Twitter next Saturday.

Check my earlier answer for a Summer Showcase question. Sorry, bud.

Honestly, I wouldn’t even know what to do with myself if I had to watch the game. It’s all about the spreadsheet all the time.

Again, all I watched from the Summer Showcase were highlights. I’m on the side of letting people enjoy hockey however they want to enjoy it and as often as they want to.