CanucksArmy Monday Mailbag: The Draft, Tanking and A Trip Down Memory Lane!

Hopefully, sooner than later. There have been a few holdups, one of which is entirely my fault — I was just overwhelmed with work and life stuff, and I couldn’t find the time to write about Cole Candella. If I have to start writing all of them myself to get them back on track this week, then that’s what I’ll do. Thanks for your patience and continued interest in the Mid-Term Prospect Profiles in spite of all this.

That’s a difficult question to answer. For starters, who knows for certain if the Canucks are going to be drafting fifth overall? Secondly, how can I know who they should pick without knowing who is available to them? There’s way too much variance after first-overall to make any assumptions on that front.

If he’s available to them, though, I really think the Canucks should take Rasmus Dahlin at five.

I knew at some point this season that one of you savages would take me to task for an article I wrote two seasons ago about whether the Canucks or Tampa Bay Lightning would win a Bo Horvat for Jonathan Drouin swap, one-for-one. At the time, I felt that Drouin had a better chance of becoming a game-breaking, top of the lineup talent.

In the time since Horvat’s done nothing but shatter any of my preconceived notions about what type of a player he can become. Every time we (and I mean The Royal We especially) put a ceiling on Horvat, he shatters through it with authority. At this point, Horvat is a better point producer than Drouin, and he does a better job of playing a premium position, centre, than Drouin, too. It’s not even close.

I’m ready to take the ‘L’ on this one.

Right now, I have Ty Smith in the third tier of defencemen in this year’s draft. The first tier is Rasmus Dahlin — that’s it. The second tier includes Quinn Hughes and Adam Boqvist, in that order. In the third tier, there’s Noah Dobson, Ty Smith and Evan Bouchard, again, in that order.

Smith is a hell of a defenceman, and whichever team lands him in the draft is going to be so much better off for it, but he’s not getting the hype of a Boqvist or a Hughes because he’s not their equal.

That possibility doesn’t exist.

I want to believe the Canucks have an appetite to acquire draft picks, but there’s nothing about the way they’ve run this team that suggests they have any interest whatsoever in that exercise. They haven’t made a player for draft pick swap since they dealt Kevin Bieksa to the Anaheim Ducks in the 2015 off-season, and then they traded down with that pick in the deal for Brandon Sutter with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The last pick they acquired was part of the Jannik Hansen to San Jose Sharks trade, and it was a conditional fourth-round selection at that.

As for whom the Canucks consider expendable, it’s hard to say — they’re going to have so many options available to them. I feel like Sven Baertschi should be the expendable this off-season, but I’m not sure the Canucks agree with that assessment. They’re as willing to trade Chris Tanev as ever, but I get the sense they’ll want to make a hockey trade if they go that route. They might be able to find a suitor for Anders Nilsson, but they’d probably have to eat salary to do so.

I don’t need to speculate on the impact of Brock Boeser’s absence on this season… just look at how empty Rogers Arena has been since his injury and how disinterested most are in this hockey team. The Canucks are in an ugly place in the post-Boeser landscape.

In the case of the Buffalo Sabres, I think it’s as simple as knowing when to stop the teardown. The Sabres tanked, and while they didn’t get the ultimate prize of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel is hardly a slouch. As soon as you get that calibre of talent in your lineup, the priority has to shift to building the team back up. In defence of the Sabres, they might a lot of good moves to that end, bringing in Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane and Robin Lehner, among others. Time has proven that strategy a few dollars short of hitting the mark, and I think the notable absence of a marquee defenceman in that group is glaring.

For the Arizona Coyotes, I just think it’s a matter of timing. They’re still in a rebuild. That, and they had horrendous luck at the beginning of the season. If they can get a save through October and November, this team is probably a few spots higher in the standings. I believe strongly in how the Coyotes have done business and think that they’re on the right path to contending, and time will reflect that.

Most likely, yes.

A shift towards youth. I don’t want to see Ben Hutton in the press box for Alex Biega, or Jake Virtanen yo-yo’ing up and down the Canucks lineup from shift-to-shift; nor do I want to see Jussi Jokinen playing in prime offensive positions that could go to younger Canucks like Nikolay Goldobin. Hell, what do the Canucks have to lose at this stage? Let the kids decide their fate.

I suppose a move like that is always possible, but if the Canucks passed up on the opportunity last year when players like Henri Jokiharju, Eeli Tolvanen and Klim Kostin kept falling, I have a hard time picturing what type of talent would compel them to make that move.

They are punishment for sins committed in a past life.

The Edmonton Oilers’ failures at rebuilding are so legion as to demand a series of articles unto themselves. They’re not even in the playoffs, and they have the best player in the world playing on an entry-level contract. The lesson to learn from the Oilers? Don’t be incompetent. It’s that simple.

Hughes. Honestly, I think he has the talent to deserve serious consideration for second-overall.