Canucks Army Monday Mailbag: September 11th

We just might have something like that in the works.

I don’t know if Kole Lind is too cool for school. For my money, the coolest Canuck is Nikolay Goldobin. Lind looks like a hell of a prospect, though.

Here’s how I see the Canucks top-six for the next two seasons:

Sven Baertschi – Bo Horvat – Brock Boeser

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Markus Granlund

That’s probably unfair to most hockey fans. There are NHL teams who seem incapable of understanding the time and effort associated with developing their prospects (any position, not just defencemen) so I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect fans of any kind to be in touch with that kind of knowledge.

Want to know a little secret? I might not know how much time and effort it takes. I’m not behind the scenes. I can speak to a player’s odds of making it and what I think will help or hinder him, but there are limitations to my knowledge. It’s okay not to know everything, too.

I’ve heard a few scouts whose opinions I respect a great deal say he plays the game a similar way to Nicklas Backstrom. That was more a stylistic comparison than that of his ceiling. I think that’s the absolute highest he can go, though.

Griffen Molino’s ceiling is probably that of a 13th forward. He’s fairly old for a prospect, and far along in his development as a result. Molino is fast, but I often see him as someone who is skating a million miles an hour to nowhere. The hockey sense isn’t there and I think that bears out in his results. If he has a future in the NHL, it’s as a fourth line checking forward.

With the added caveat that I had Lind ranked in the late-teens on my own draft board, I think he has first line upside. He sees the ice exceptionally well and seems to find a way to get to and make plays with the puck almost every shift.

One thing that caught me off guard about Lind is that he hasn’t filled out his 6’1″ frame yet. You’d never guess that if you watched him with the Kelowna Rockets. Lind always went to the most highly contested parts of the ice, hung in there and made difficult plays. What happens when he’s physically mature? I expect big things out of Lind.

Assuming the Canucks aren’t a playoff team, which seems more than fair, they don’t have a tonne of obvious candidates for a trade. Here are a few that I’d look into, though, depending on how their seasons go, obviously. Thomas Vanek, Anton Rodin, Erik Gudbranson, Patrick Wiercioch and Ben Hutton come to mind as movable pieces for the Canucks this February.

This is just a guess on my part, but what I think Canucks general manager Jim Benning meant by that was that the Canucks would bring him over for Young Stars, training camp and the pre-season. Maybe they’ll let him stick around in the AHL. I wouldn’t interpret those comments as Benning suggesting they’ve already earmarked a spot for Elias Pettersson on the Canucks lineup next season.

nobody ever listens.

I’ve been following this team for almost my entire life, and the desire from some to split up the Sedins has been a constant throughout. I don’t get it. Why split up the two? The whole has always been better than the sum of its parts — that’s what makes the Sedins so special! I just don’t see any reason to mess with something that works just fine. It’s not like it would make a difference for the team.

Security. If the Sedins want another year with the Canucks, I’m willing to bet they’d take a serious discount to make it happen. So long as there’s no-trade protection, that is.

A lot of Olli Juolevi’s best traits were evident in Penticton. His vision is great, and most of his reads defensively and in transition were sound. When he was going in a straight line, Juolevi was still a relatively strong skater. If you dig deep enough, there are positives to glean from Juolevi’s weekend in Penticton.

What concerned me is how slow he is on his edges and moving laterally. Specifically, his inability to pivot with forwards who attacked the zone with speed. Maybe it’s a focus thing, but at a glance, it looks like Juolevi’s mobility has suffered a fair amount from his offseason weight gain regiment. That’s a huge concern for me because mobility is such an important part of Juolevi’s game.

I was fairly bullish on Juolevi surprising some and making the Canucks in training camp, but that’s not looking likely at this stage. He’s probably bound for the OHL, where he’ll be the league’s best defenceman.

Full disclosure: I haven’t watched a tonne of Zack MacEwen. I’ll say this much, though, the guy has some actual talent. I’ve been almost caught off guard by how well he handles the puck and uses his linemates, which says nothing of what a nuisance he is on the forecheck. I could see a future where he develops into a bottom-six scorer.

Matt Duchene is a hell of a player. He’s definitely a first-line talent who can contribute in every phase of the game. No matter where he goes, I think he’ll perform better there than he has of late with the Colorado Avalanche. That situation is just toxic at this stage.

I have no idea what Duchene would go for in a trade. Every indication at this stage is that the Avs want a tonne in return for Duchene, which makes sense. If the Canucks try to pry him from Colorado, I can’t imagine a package that doesn’t start with either Juolevi or Chris Tanev.

There is some upside on the Canucks blue line, but not a lot. I wouldn’t say the Canucks blue line is underrated by any stretch.

Hard to imagine a scenario where the Canucks lose the Sedins and somehow perform better next season. It’s not like they’re sub-replacement level players.

Loui Eriksson, and it’s not even close.

Let’s go with two draft picks for the Canucks by the end of the trade deadline.

A reasonable expectation for Goldobin is that he can make the Canucks by the middle of the season and play in a top six role.

If I told you, I would have to kill you.

I’m the wrong guy to ask. I’m not a goalie expert. That said, I think we’ll see more streamlining of their equipment down the line.

Stick a fork in it.

Markus Granlund can probably develop into a solid second line winger with 40 point upside and a strong two-way game. That’s his ceiling, I would think.

It’s not looking good for Anton Rodin. If he doesn’t crack the Canucks lineup, he’ll probably go to Utica.

You almost certainly will see Jake Virtanen, yes.

I’m going to write an article on this at some point this week.

I’m going to have to go with Denmark.

The Canucks can counter other team’s physicality by adding skill to their lineup and making them pay on the power play.

Luca Sbisa and Derek Dorsett’s.

Optimistic: Canucks play sound two-way hockey and have good underlying metrics, but their lack of finishing talent keeps them in the bottom-five with a sweet lottery reward of the first overall pick.

Pessimistic: The Canucks ride a percentage wave to PDO heaven and fight for eighth overall right up to the bitter end and just miss the playoffs without having sold any assets at the trade deadline.

A little bit, yes.

I was pretty bullish on Juolevi making the Canucks, but maybe less so at this stage. Look out for Jalen Chatfield. The kid can play.

Sven Baertschi – Bo Horvat – Brock Boeser

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Markus Granlund

Loui Eriksson – Sam Gagner – Thomas Vanek

Alexander Burmistrov – Brandon Sutter – Derek Dorsett

Alexander Edler – Troy Stecher

Michael Del Zotto – Chris Tanev

Ben Hutton – Erik Gudbranson

Anders Nilsson

An abnormally high shooting percentage and save percentage.

Top Three Canucks contracts of the last five years: Markus Granlund, Radim Vrbata, Jannik Hansen

Bottom Three Canucks contracts of the last five years: Loui Eriksson, Derek Dorsett, Brandon Sutter

Probably somewhere between Joe Thornton and Mike Cammalleri.

I could see the Canucks landing a mid-round pick for Vanek at the deadline.

I wouldn’t suggest new rules; I would just ask that they enforce the rules that are in place for the entire regular season and playoffs.

I don’t think Ben Hutton’s last season was bad enough that we need to think of this season as a potential return to form. I think he’ll improve steadily.