CanucksArmy Monday Mailbag: Free Agency, Training Camp, and Existential Angst

Brock Boeser sure was fun to watch last season. Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes are probably going to be, too. That’s all I’ve really got. I would never call for a person’s job, but it really does not seem like this current management group has any desire to even get acquainted with putting the team on the right track.

I have bad news for you, Noah. Half of the $12 million Beagle is owed over the duration of his contract is through signing bonuses. As a result, his contract is essentially buyout-proof.

That experience would invaluable covering the Canucks. Shoot me a DM.

There was a time when I thought I had a pretty clear idea of what the Canucks were doing. I didn’t necessarily like it, but it was easy enough to understand. That’s not the case anymore. As recently as last month I assumed there was no way the team could come back with the same defense next season, so I pinpointed Ben Hutton as the most likely trade candidate. But at this point I really have no idea.

As far as who gets sent down to Utica, you have to think that Adam Gaudette is the odd man out. Dan Murphy would seem to agree, and he’s probably got the best handle on how the Canucks’ brain trust thinks of anyone in the Vancouver media.

I’ll be taking an in-depth look at the Canucks’ UFA signings within the next 24 hours, but I will say that I don’t think they got good value at all on July 1. The Tim Schaller signing was fine, but still a slight overpayment. The Roussel contract is awful, but at least the player in question is pretty good. The Beagle contract is just indefensible.

As far as how other teams did, I was surprised Riley Nash signed for so little. The rest of the day’s contracts were about you’d expect from the silly season. Philadelphia and Arizona paid market value for Van Riemsdyk and Grabner, respectively, but I think both teams are likely to be happy with those contracts.

I don’t hate this idea. It’s worked well in the past for teams like the Leafs and the Lightning. The issue would be ticket sales. I’m not sure a veteran-heavy lineup would draw much interest in this market.

Well, there are three less roster spots than there were on Saturday. I doubt it effects Elias Pettersson, but it seems unlikely now that bubble guys like Gaudette and Dahlen will make the team out of camp.

It’s a different league now, for one. We’re seeing young players make an impact like never before as the league realizes that players peak at a younger age than was previously thought. As far as the Sedin comparison goes, I have a couple of thoughts. First, that was nearly two decades ago, before the 2004-05 lockout and the significant changes to way the game is played that came in it’s wake. I’m not sure it’s a fair comparison. Second, Daniel Sedin had 20 goals in his rookie year. That’s making an impact. People misremember the beginning to the Sedins’ careers because they played a depth role behind the West Coast Express and didn’t light the world on fire out of the gate. They were still good players.

I understand your point, though. I wouldn’t expect Pettersson to put the team on his back in year one. It’s a little early for saviour storylines. He hasn’t even played an NHL game yet.

In a vacuum, Schaller and Roussel are both fine players. I’m not too worried about their skating abilities breaking down over the course of their contracts. Beagle’s a bit of a different story. I wouldn’t call his mobility a problem yet, but it will be at 35 or 36 when his contract is in its final stages. I wouldn’t be surprised if we start to see a sharp decline as soon as next season.

This is a very good question and a valid concern. Luckily, the only players that require protection in the expansion draft are those with no-move clauses, no-trade clauses are fair game. The Canucks are in the clear.

I’m so glad you asked this question, because there’s one training camp invitee in particular that I’m fond of. Tyler Soy was a recent seventh-round pick who went unsigned by the Anaheim Ducks and then undrafted upon re-entry into the draft in 2018. He’s got speed and skill and he put up good numbers in each of his seasons for the WHL Victoria Royals. The Royals’ top line of Soy, Matthew Phillips, and Dante Hannoun was absolutely deadly at the WHL level and a joy to watch. I live in Victoria and had the opportunity to catch a lot of Royals games, so I’m a bit biased, but I think Soy has the potential to be a very good AHL player at the very least, so he would be my pick.

Ah, you think you’re clever, but riddle me this: can these “less expensive pile-ons” win faceoffs? Didn’t think so.

Life is short. Eat them.

I’m not convinced yet. He played well towards the end of the season and the Canucks don’t have anyone outside of Boeser and Horvat who can be reliably counted on to score goals. For what it’s worth, Goldobin’s put up better numbers at this stage of his career than Sven Baertschi had when the Canucks acquired him. A breakout season isn’t out of the question.

These questions are difficult to answer for a number of reasons. Prospect quality and depth are two different things, and teams can often rank high in one area but low in the other. There also isn’t really an industry-standard definition for what a “prospect” is. Is Adam Gaudette still a prospect or just a young player? If a prospect makes the NHL right out of the gate, he was by definition the best type of prospect a team can have, but now that team’s “prospect pool” is being punished for that player’s success.

If we’re talking about players outside the NHL, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes stack up fantastically against the top two prospects on most NHL teams. After that things get a little less convincing. The rest of the 2016 first round is quickly passing Olli Juolevi by, and I think the world of players like Kole Lind, but there’s less certainty there. In my highly subjective rankings, I’d put the Canucks prospect pool somewhere between just inside and just outside the top ten. Off the top of my head, I think the Islanders, Panthers, Hurricanes, Golden Knights, Blues, Wings, Sabres, Jets, and Kings all have excellent pools that I think are in the same ballpark as the Canucks. But the team’s pool can at least be described as significantly above average and that’s a big step.