CanucksArmy Monday Mailbag: October 23rd

I heard Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman float the idea of Matt Duchene to the Vancouver Canucks briefly on Hockey Night in Canada briefly. I think TSN’s Darren Dreger made the connection not that long ago, either, though he quickly walked those tepid claims back.

Usually, I hold to the belief that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. In this case, there’s about a vape sized cloud hanging over the Canucks as it concerns Duchene. That doesn’t mean that they’re willing to engage in a no-holds-barred bidding war for his services. It’s more likely that this just means the Canucks are doing their due diligence on a player who’s likely to cost less in a trade than he probably should.

One could argue that Derek Dorsett, who’s riding a near-40% shooting percentage and sub-50% goals for to go with his sub-50% five-on-five on-ice shot attempt differential is already there in most respects. In fact, the only area in which Dorsett’s been decent this season is by, well, goals. And that’s not going to last. I think by next week, we get more of the same old Dorsett.

That depends on what type of cookies are available to me. If we’re talking the white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies at Subway, well, that’s going to be hard for an ordinary brownie to top. Compared to the average cookie, though, I think brownies are the superior treat.

Let me ask a local celebrity and get back to you on that.

Eh, not really.

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the Canucks are doing their due diligence on Duchene. I’m not convinced it will go much further than that. They’d almost certainly have to part with Olli Juolevi to make such a deal happen, and that’s probably a non-starter.

To answer this question I’d have to operate under the notion that I think Sven Baertschi is a poor playmaker, and I just don’t think that’s the case. I’d also have to grant you that Markus Granlund is more a playmaker than a finisher, and again, I just don’t know if that’s the case. Nikolay Goldobin, however, intrigues me. I think he has a really well-rounded offensive toolkit but can distribute the puck exceptionally well.

Sure?

Nobody is “bad by analytics”, in my humble opinion. Using analytics, along with other data sets, which yes, includes the eye-test, are ways to evaluate players use. A player doesn’t analytics well, per say, but what they do well to contribute to wins is generally captured through the lens of an analytics-based approach. They’re measurement tools, not things one does.

As this pertains to Sutter, I think coach’s are overvaluing one the tools I’ve mentioned, that is the eye test of course, and ignoring everything that shows up in the underlying data to counter the assumptions they’ve already made. For example, Green wants to play with pace and tempo, and Sutter, a good skater by everyone’s estimation, should be a good fit for that right? Well, not quite, because the Canucks are a lower even team with Sutter on the ice than off.

Neither? I mean, at his absolute worst, you can still rely on Jake Virtanen to generate shots and shot attempts at a really high rate, and he still hits like a freight train. If I had to choose between the two, I guess it would be the hit.

Jalen Chatfield.

Not even in jest, man.

Honestly, the only time Sam Gagner hasn’t looked out of place on this Canucks’ roster has been when Canucks head coach Travis Green used him on a line with Alexander Burmistrov and Jake Virtanen. I’d use Gagner on that line at even strength and then put Gagner off the half-wall on the right side of the Canucks second-unit power play; maybe the high-slot, but not the point.

While everyone is caught up in the Canucks recent success against the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings, let’s remember that those wins came against the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. This team is still pretty bad.

Most of Bo Horvat’s territorial woes stem from his play in the defensive zone. Contrary to his draft reputation, he’s far better at generating shots than he is suppressing them. I’ve heard one person posit that it’s because Horvat is easily drawn out of position by the first move by opposition forwards.

Unfortunately, my go-to resource for hockey analytics doesn’t have anything in terms of high-danger scoring chances for me to reference.

Uhh…

I don’t know if I’d say “finally”. I thought Alexandre Burrows was a pretty damn good linemate for the Sedin twins for a fairly long time. Do I like Jake Virtanen on their right wing, though? Yeah, it’s looked way better than I thought it would.

No, I don’t think it’s safe to say the Canucks made the “wrong pick” with Olli Juolevi. Yes, I do think it’s far too early to write off Juolevi. Would I trade Juolevi for Sam Reinhart? I’d give it serious consideration, but only because I think Reinhart is far better than most give credit, and not because I think Juolevi is a sunk cost or anything of that ilk. I still think Juolevi is going to be a hell of a defenceman at the NHL level. It’s just taking longer than I might have expected.

Vegas Golden Knights.

Dorsett is breaking out with a case of the shooting percentages if he’s breaking out with anything. I think Virtanen’s played fairly well — he looks like an NHL calibre third liner. And yeah, I liked the Thomas Vanek signing for Vancouver from the start, and I think Canucks fans will like it more when he becomes a valuable trade chip at the deadline.

If Virtanen can get to around 30 points this season, then I’ll start to believe in it as a possibility. At the end of the day, Virtanen is the same player to me today that he was when the Canucks drafted him — someone with high-end third line upside who could develop into a player like Raffi Torres in his prime.

I could see Jake sticking with the Twins for a little while. It makes sense. The Sedins need someone to carry the puck in the neutral zone and work in puck retrieval, and Virtanen can do those things relatively well. And if the coach is going to play the Twins for third line minutes, that means he can play Virtanen there and manage his minutes effectively in an organic way, too.

As for Gagner, I think the Canucks are really struggling to find a way to use him at even strength effectively. Too early to say, but I haven’t been impressed.

They’re both really good, but Aleksi Heponiemi is just an amazing prospect.

You know who else wrote an exceptionally good piece on the Canucks power play? Canucks Army’s newest contributor Janik Beichler. Read it, as he has a couple great ideas to fix the Canucks power play.

Should Dorsett retire while he’s ahead? I’m not so sure. But if he settles for anything short of what Connor McDavid got on his most recent contract extension, then he needs a new agent.

At the rate Green is playing Dorsett, I could honestly see him getting close to 30 points.

They rank 18th in the league right in all situations goals for per game.

By playing such an incredibly slow brand of hockey. Seriously, the Canucks event rates are so slow that they almost defy logic.

I thought he had a few looks in Detroit, no? Either way, I don’t know if the power play is ever going to be a strength of Virtanen’s. He doesn’t do his best work in the offensive zone off the cycle, and he still doesn’t have the greatest hockey sense. That doesn’t make him a great candidate for the power play.

I highly doubt it.

Meh. I’m not seeing much to indicate he was worth trading for considering the waiver wire options available to the Canucks just a day prior to that move. It’s early, though.

No.

Probably not. That contract is just terrible. Good luck convincing another NHL GM to trade for the privilege of an okay-ish fourth liner with an extra year and over $2.5-million due in cap charges the next season. That contract is just a special kind of awful.

Sure, why not? Trade him, if you can, I guess? If the Canucks retain salary, maybe they can get a fifth-round pick, too!

I’m not sure I’m the one to answer this. I just don’t know that much as it concerns the AHL’s veteran rules or how Utica Comets head coach Trent Cull likes to operate. I’d like to think Anton Rodin deserves an extended look in the AHL, certainly.

I think the Canucks will keep trying to make Derrick Pouliot work on their power play. I don’t think he’s been especially bad with the man advantage. He just hasn’t been great either.

Honestly, the best advice I can give anyone in this field is to go to www.metahockey.com and just dive right in head first. It’s such a great resource for hockey analytics. And if you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out on Twitter, and I’ll do my best to help out along the way!

Sure.

$10-million annually.

Considering Virtanen would be lucky to develop into half the player Matthew Tkachuk is, I’m not sure I see the connection.

The Province’s Jason Botchford broached the possibility of a Ben Hutton trade to the Buffalo Sabres as part of a Sam Reinhart package in The Provies the other day. That suggests to me that the Canucks might be using him as a bargaining chip, at the very least.

We might tackle an article like this or something similar to this. It’s a little early to review most of the drafts we’ve covered but it could be an interesting exercise all the same.

Nothing jumps out at me, no.

Rodin is a veteran by the AHL’s set of rules, and there is a veteran minimum. He’s just getting caught up in the numbers game, unfortunately.

I’d certainly consider that trade scenario, yeah. If it included prospects, it’s probably a no-brainer.