CanucksArmy Monday Mailbag: December 18th

I don’t think that either Troy Stecher or Ben Hutton are exceptional players by any means, but are they good? Certainly. Ben Hutton’s one of the Canucks better defenders from a puck possession standpoint, and as Jeremy Davis alluded to in his piece on Hutton from earlier in the season, a lot of his micro statistics check out at the top of the pack among Canucks defenders. Troy Stecher’s having a rough season — injuries and usage being the issue — relative to my expectations going into this season, but he’s still been relatively fine.

For the Canucks’ sakes, I hope that it’s more of a Sam Reinhart or Sam Bennett type than it is an Evander Kane. Perhaps they look into a prospect with real potential that’s wearing out their welcome with their current team, a little like Nic Petan with the Winnipeg Jets or Michael McCarron from the Montreal Canadiens.

If the Canucks are going to acquire a top-nine forward, they’re going to draw from their defensive pool to do so. One has to think that Erik Gudbranson is the player they’re dangling the most, and that should be able to get the Canucks a top-nine forward, and maybe even more. I worry, though, that they might be just as eager to move on from someone like Ben Hutton too though.

I can’t speak for the writers at CanucksArmy, but for myself, it’s more of an item that I would explore next season, frankly.

Maybe a 25% chance?

I don’t think so, but frankly, I’m not an expert on the collective bargaining agreement. That’s more Ryan Biech or Jeremy Davis territory. Biech does a prospect mailbag on Fridays, so maybe try to ask him about that topic then and he’ll get back to you.

If Olli Juolevi can’t crack the Canucks next season, then there should be some concern about what’s going on with his development. He should be on the Canucks next season, and if I were to handicap his chances, I’d say he’s rocking about a 75% right now.

That depends on who is available. If the Canucks part with someone on their blue line for a band-aid type of quick fix or someone without a long-term future on the team, that would be a massive mistake.

I have to be honest, I never heard much about the specifics of the situation, just that the Canucks were fielding offers for Erik Gudbranson based on significant futures. Are those same pieces available to them at this juncture? That’s hard to believe. Gudbranson hasn’t been good this season no matter how you slice it. In fact, he’s been quite the opposite.

There probably isn’t a game plan for Dowd. He’s a 13th forward. You don’t usually invest much in the way of game planning in that type of player.

Petbugs and I would be doing the cooking, that much is a given. I would smoke a turkey in my ugly drum smoker, and it would be amazing. Petbugs would control all of the sides, and he’d kill it. I’d expect sweet potato yams ala Vernon Davis, and probably some stuffed mushrooms and the like. And stuffing. So damn much of it. I’d go for seconds and thirds.

Let’s call it an even tie between the Sedin twins.

There are no circumstances in which I feel the Canucks should make Evander Kane a part of their team. They could trade MacKenze Stewart for him, and I’d call it a loss. I’ve written at length about this topic, and you can find my thoughts on that in this article.

Hopefully not one, I guess.

Andrei Svechnikov on Team Russia, Miro Heiskanen on Team Finland, Robert Thomas on Team Canada (sorry, I broke the rules), Rasmus Dahlin on Team Sweden, and Timothy Liljegren on Team Sweden all jump out at me. And Quinton Hughes on Team USA, of course.

That depends on their age and their league, so it’s hard to pin down any one number. In fact, if it is possible, I’d suggest Ryan Biech is the one to have the answer. Or Jeremy Davis. But it’s easier to ask Ryan because he does the prospect mailbag on Fridays, so I’d reach out to him.

Kole Lind is producing at an elite clip — of this much, I am most confident. Jonah Gadjovich is doing well for himself, but I wouldn’t call his production earth-shattering by any means.

For me, it’s Michael DiPietro.

That’s a difficult one to answer. I think Kole Lind should have made the roster to begin with, but so too should have Nick Suzuki, Owen Tippett and Cody Glass. So even though Lind is playing out of this world hockey, I’m not sure he’d get the inside track on any of those other options.

Unfortunately, he is probably done.

The Canucks recalled him last night, so I guess there’s your answer.

When I last checked, Derrick Pouliot led the team in even strength ice-time from about mid-November onward. I would expect his spot in the lineup is secure at this stage.

Ah, fuck.