Canucks Army Monday Mailbag: March 20th

I feel like this is the type of question that Jeremy Davis or Ryan Biech would be best suited to answering, but I’ll do my absolute best in their stead all the same.

My list looks a little something like this: Brock Boeser, Zack MacEwen, Guillaume Brisebois, Jalen Chatfield, Lukas Jasek and Tate Olson.

If (more realistically, when) the Canucks fire Willie Desjardins, I think it’s Travis Green’s job to lose. It’s just not a very appealing job, and the field is pretty thin for available coaches this time around to boot.

Whoever follows Desjardins will be defined by their ability to help develop the next wave of Canucks talent. They’ll be tasked with transforming Bo Horvat into a first line player and prioritizing players in that age group. At least I hope that’s the measuring stick we use to judge the next coaches success.

Far as I’m concerned, Nolan Patrick is still the best prospect in this year’s draft. That isn’t to say I don’t think there’s a worthwhile case for Nico Hischier in his stead — I’m just not seeing it yet.

How would you feel in their shoes? Has to be frustrating. It only makes it all the more impressive that the Sedins continue to carry themselves with the utmost professionalism through this difficult stretch in Canucks’ history. As an aside, I’ll take Michael Chaput with the Sedins over Jayson Megna any day, though I’d rather avoid both.

I’d just play Jake Virtanen wherever his play determines he should be playing. I don’t think it a disaster if he spends another year in the AHL. On the other hand, if the Canucks bring him back into the NHL and he falters, then we start hearing the word ‘bust’ thrown around a little more liberally, and that’s no good for anyone.

Even at his absolute worst, Desjardins is far from the problem in Vancouver. He is a problem, and a relatively small one at that. When the Canucks inevitably move on from Desjardins, what will his legacy of lasting harm be? Will there be one?

The way the Canucks have managed this team the last three seasons — that is the problem. They’ve operated like a rebuilding franchise for all of one week. Between the trades, contracts and overall message that the Canucks front office is responsible for, this team’s been set back a long, long time.

If the Canucks fire Desjardins and don’t change their management strategy to fall in line with their most recent trade deadline, there isn’t a coach in the league that could make a competitive team in this scenario. The pressure on management should be intense.

The pressure on management should be intense. Even after the deadline, their prospect pool isn’t good enough and their draft picks not plentiful enough.

Brendan Gaunce is expansion draft eligible. If I’m the Vegas Golden Knights, and the choice is either Gaunce or Luca Sbisa, I probably take the former of those two. I don’t know if that’s the route the Golden Knights will decide to follow, but I’d suggest there’s a better than zero chance they do.

I’m not sure the two are connected, to be frank. Two of the Canucks’ best prospects are in college, for starters. I’d hate to judge the Canucks’ system based on a league where most of their players just won’t play for much time at all.

The AHL is mostly driven by veterans anyways, I find — could be wrong. That said, there is a slightly positive correlation with an NHL club’s farm team winning the Calder Cup and prospect success rates.

I’m a firm believer that people are going to need to be patient with Boeser. He’s not the saviour, but he’s a hell of a prospect all the same. If he’s in the NHL and contributing between 20-30 points next season, that’s a victory for everyone involved. By that same token, don’t be disappointed if he needs a year in the AHL.

It’s hard to judge where he’ll ‘realistically’ be next season. He’s spent so much of this one hobbled by a wrist injury, so getting a read on where he’s at is difficult. I just hope everyone is patient and fair with the kid.

The Canucks have so many problems in their lineup. This isn’t one of them. Not even close. Besides, next year they’re going to have Derek Dorsett and Erik Gudbranson. So if you’re into that kind of thing, worry not.

I’m nowhere near smart enough to run era adjustments. Sorry, man.

Cody Glass is for real. He’s a hell of a player, too. One scout I spoke with made the Ryan Getzlaf comparison. I think he’s thrown his name into the conversation as a top ten pick, and he’s not going anywhere between now and the draft. Hell of a prospect.

I’d expect Thatcher Demko to join the Canucks in time for the 2018-19 season as a backup to Jacob Markstrom.

I wouldn’t rule out injuries, but I think the main culprit here is age. The Sedins are getting up there, and on most nights it’s readily apparent. Their QoT (quality of teammate) metrics indicate they’re not getting much help this season, either. There are many factors working against the Sedins.

I know it’s fashionable to turn every high draft pick into a #LOLCanuckz moment, but I don’t fear they’ll take Michael Rasmussen that early in the draft at all. I’ve just heard nothing to indicate they have interest in taking him with a high pick — or that they have interest period.

I wouldn’t rule out Timothy Liljegren at three. Similarly, I wouldn’t rule out the Canucks moving back to take Cale Makar. I’m a huge fan of both, but I think in terms of value, the latter of those two moves might work out best in the Canucks favour. That Makar kid is for real. Might be the best pure skater in this draft class, and he can sure as hell run a power play. Makar is the complete package as an offensive defenceman.

That’s a hell of a question. I can’t speak to most of this, because we just haven’t any idea how the expansion or entry draft are going to play out.

I’ll do my best to answer this all the same. Firstly, I’d expose Brandon Sutter in the expansion draft. I would qualify Erik Gudbranson, end contract negotiations, and find a trade partner. I would try to make the roster as young as possible, and find free agents who are willing to sign for one year to fill out the rest of the roster — think Thomas Vanek types — and flip those veterans at the deadline.

I wouldn’t re-sign Ryan Miller. I’d look to find a reclamation project like Steve Mason to pair with Jacob Markstrom and run with the pair as a tandem. At the draft, I’d take the best player available, unless the lottery moved me back to fifth overall, at which point I’d find a way to move back in the draft. I’d trade back with at least one of my two second round picks too.

It’s scorched earth, baby.