Canucks Army Monday Mailbag: July 24th – Part Deux

I feel like the only way to do that question — and it’s a damn good question — justice would be with a full article response.

Where to start? Philosophically, I think the Canucks suffered that series for years afterwards. I feel like they strayed from what made them so great a team for so long a stretch. They stopped emphasizing skill and started to place a premium on size.

I also sometimes wonder if Roberto Luongo’s poor performances in Boston might’ve impacted their willingness to part with Cory Schneider before the situation turned toxic. That then-head coach Alain Vigneault went to Schneider the very next playoff run suggests that might be a possibility.

A Stanley Cup doesn’t change NHL ageing curves, and I think it might make the franchise even less willing to do a full rebuild, so the impact it has on this team, at this moment, might not be so distinct as you’d hope. Then again, we’re dealing in a world of hypotheticals with the ability to cause chain reactions, so who knows?

In that same vein, I’d think the league would react in the short term to the Canucks victory by playing a pure skill game that was based on puck protection and possession. One would certainly hope so, in this reimagined NHL. Perhaps we could avoid the awful Stanley Cup Final of the next season if that was the case.

I’m not even going to lie, that’s pretty low on my list of demands to improve the NHL experience.

I’d check back at some point later in the week for an article on something of this ilk.

As firm a believer as I am in the merits of the #TradeTanev movement, I wouldn’t say under that Chris Tanev can’t be of any benefit to the Canucks as they work their way back towards contention. My argument’s always been that the assets the Canucks could secure for a player like Tanev would be of more use to them when they’re working towards that end than Tanev will be. If the Canucks were to trade Tanev for a package of futures, one should also consider the cap space that frees and the many ways they can leverage it to secure even more futures.

I don’t think that’s the likely outcome of the season for the Sedin twins, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if Bo Horvat took over as the anchor to the team’s top line.

Me.

But also, check out Grainne’s article on that very topic!