CanucksArmy Monday Mailbag: February 12th – Part Deux

At this point, what’s there left to discuss? Is the organization’s opinion of Canucks general manager Jim Benning going to shift that much because of one trade deadline? I have my doubts. I think that they know where they stand on Benning, and that they’re just waiting to see what else is available to them this summer.

It’s looking that way.

Every damn day.

I thought that they had a fantastic game together. It’s funny because you look at all three of them playing together and you can’t help but pick up a serious Island of Misfit Toys vibe. Hell, if they stick for a couple of games, maybe that will become their nickname?

As for whether they stick as a line, I definitely wouldn’t break them up until their play necessitates that. Let them run with the ball and see if they can keep finding paydirt. I just don’t know what this line is though. Is it a checking line? Not with Reid Boucher on it. Is it a secondary scoring line? Not with Nic Dowd on it. It’s a weird mix.

I don’t know if I’d put Virtanen on the power play either so I’m not going to roast Canucks head coach Travis Green for that. I’m just not sure that Virtanen is the type of player who’s going to succeed in set pieces with a strong cycle game. This is a player who does his best work in space, carrying the puck through the neutral zone. The power play mutes all of Virtanen’s best qualities.

Would it have hurt the Canucks to give Virtanen some power play time against the Stars? Probably not, but this team is fragile as hell right now, so I understand Green not wanting to shake things up too much while the going was good.

Alexander Edler has to at least be in the conversation as the team’s best defenceman in history, right? He’s definitely up there.

That Virtanen had one of his best games in weeks and had a goal and an assist certainly builds a strong case for a correlation between dm-sliding and on-ice success. Then you look at what’s happened with Michael Del Zotto’s career, and the argument loses merit. The jury is still out on this.

I don’t think there’s anything Benning can do short of fleecing the league on Erik Gudbranson and Thomas Vanek trades in the most extreme way that would seal a new contract. Even that probably isn’t enough. As I said, I think the team already has a plan in mind for Benning, and the deadline won’t change it that significantly.

As for the ideal subtractions, it’s Gudbranson, Vanek, Chris Tanev and (shocker) Sven Baertschi that Benning should consider trading. Come to think of it, anything short of moving Brock Boeser or Bo Horvat shouldn’t be off the table. This year will make three straight in the bottom-three of the league.

Charm per hour goes a long way to helping with that.

Sorry, Henry. This just isn’t in my wheelhouse. I can understand statistical models to the point that I’m comfortable using them in my analysis, but I can’t predict which one is the next in line or critique the models that are already out there in the public sphere. I wish I had an answer for this, but I just don’t. I appreciate the question though!

I lean towards Adam Gaudette for this question.

I do not predict a contract extension for Alex Edler at the end of his current deal.

I generally find myself liking Baertschi’s hockey sense. He seems to see the ice well, whether it’s finding seams in the opposition defence for himself or setting up his linemates. Baertschi has a well-rounded offensive toolkit and seems to be in position more often than not.

I don’t care. I don’t even care a little bit.

If I were named the general manager of the Canucks, the first thing I’d do is hire an amazing group of executives with a varied skillset and tonnes of experience in their respective fields to insulate me because lord knows I’ll need the help. Then I’d communicate my plan to tear this team down to the foundation to all concerned parties.

That plan starts with aggressively selling off anyone who isn’t going to be a significant contributor when this team turns the corner towards contention. I’m trading Chris Tanev for a first-round pick and a high-end prospect. Next up is Erik Gudbranson, and frankly, I’ll take whatever I can get at this stage. Sven Baertschi is going on the trade block, and I’ll take the best deal I can get because I’m not sure I want to sign him to an expensive, long-term extension this summer. Thomas Vanek is next up, and I’ll gladly take a mid-round pick. Lastly, for the purpose of this exercise, I’m talking to the Columbus Blue Jackets about what they’d offer to get Sam Gagner back; they have the worst power play in the league, and when Gagner was there last year, they were doing pretty damn well.

At this stage in my life, I’m more into cheering for players than I am teams. That said, I usually adopt a team in the playoffs. I used to take the New York Rangers on every year because I want to see Alain Vigneault get a Stanley Cup, but that’s not going to be an option this year if I were to guess. I’ll probably take on the Winnipeg Jets, just because they’re so much damn fun to watch. So there’s your answer, sort of, I guess.

I don’t have a damn clue. That’s not the biggest misstep of that seventh-round for me though. I look at the Rodrigo Abols pick, which is essentially a throwaway. I don’t know if he’ll ever be good enough to even cut it in the AHL.

Seriously, not enough is made of how badly the Canucks fucked that up. Yeah, it’s the seventh-round, but what an easy PR layup to just draft the local kid who probably should’ve heard his name called like three rounds earlier!

I’m not sure I agree with your assessment of Tate Olson. I don’t get why they wouldn’t sign him to an entry-level contract — especially considering how barren their backend is in terms of prospects — but he had a long, long way to go before he was a legitimate NHL prospect. His defensive game needed a lot of work, and that was abundantly clear both in the WHL and at the Penticton Young Stars tournament every year.

I have serious doubts about that. I think that ship has probably sailed.

Well, I’m not really sure that Darren Archibald is any better than Dowd. In fact, I’m almost certain he isn’t. Archibald is just re-establishing him as something that resembles an NHL depth forward at 28-years-old. It’s a great story, and I want nothing more than for the guy to succeed, but let’s not get carried away here. And I say this as someone who isn’t terribly keen on Dowd’s game.

The Blackhawks would have to offer one hell of a prospect and a relatively high draft pick for me to even be willing to consider this deal. Loui Eriksson is only with the Canucks for another four seasons, which sucks, certainly but have you seen Brent Seabrook’s deal? Another six years at $6.875-million. That’s a lot of money for a defenceman who’s barely a top-four player anymore.

I haven’t heard any specifics about what the Canucks plans are for pursuing NCAA free agents this season, so I can’t make any comparisons or draw on any names just yet.

I had to Google the Cascadia Cup, so I’m not sure I’m qualified for the job.

I’d definitely consider this type of a trade, but only after I saw how the draft lottery shakes out.