CanucksArmy Monday Mailbag: Weaponizing Cap Space, Trades, and of course, the Draft

Here’s something I’m sure you weren’t expecting to hear: I still think David Backes can contribute to a hockey team at a reasonably high level. Whether I think that level is commensurate with the $6-million that the Boston Bruins owe the two-way centre for the next three seasons is another story entirely. What I’m trying to establish is that Backes isn’t quite dead weight just yet.

At 34-years-old, Backes isn’t likely to get better. It’s possible that he represents a significant value-negative mark on the books. Then again, the term is short enough that it’s not much of a threat. And in the short term, Backes could make sense as a third-line centre. He’s not someone I would surrender an asset for, but definitely worth the trouble to acquire one.

I think there’s some desire within the Canucks front office to ‘weaponize’ their cap space — it’s just not in the sense that we might imagine. To them, weaponizing cap space means acquiring a good player that’s on a contract which is just a little bit rich for the team that’s currently on the hook for it. I wrote about this for The Athletic Vancouver a little while ago.

There’s a reason that insiders have connected the Canucks to Ryan O’Reilly — he’s exactly how they picture weaponizing their cap space.

I think so, yes.

That’s a loaded question. I think the Canucks should rebuild their franchise without taking any shortcuts. There’s my loaded answer.

If Elias Pettersson can put up about 35-40 points, that should be viewed as a successful first season. Anything after that is icing on the cake.

Any of those three players would be perfectly reasonable with the Canucks’ second-round pick, 37th overall. Of those three, I would choose Jonny Tychonick. He’s built to play the modern game and has second-pair upside. If you can find that type of player 37th overall, that’s nothing short of a draft day success.

I don’t see Lou Lamoriello and Josh Ho-Sang getting along well in Long Island, no. If the Islanders want to part with their eccentric, productive right winger, then the Canucks should be all too eager to take that “problem” off their hands. Ho-Sang can be a top-six winger at the NHL level as soon as next season, and he’s proven that every time he’s had the chance in the big leagues.

The Canucks are big fans of Boston University winger Brady Tkachuk; based on what I’ve heard, they’d just about sprint up to the podium to select him. I’ve heard mixed reports on University of Michigan defenceman Quinn Hughes. That’s about all that I can offer at this time.

I don’t know if I’d trade up in those circumstances, truthfully. It’s usually a value-negative bet. That said, I wouldn’t begrudge the Canucks if they made that decision either. If they’re trying to move up in the draft, then Sven Baertschi makes sense as a chip worth putting in play.

I do, yes. As for Tkachuk, see one of my earlier answers on the topic of who they’re interested in at the draft. Suffice to say, Tkachuk is quite high on their list.

I could see that happening, yes, and I’d hope the Canucks take advantage of that situation if it presents itself. Then again, if Halifax Mooseheads winger Filip Zadina is there for the Canucks at seventh overall and teams aren’t willing to part with the farm for the privilege, then just draft the guy and count your lucky stars that he was available in the first place.

Yeah, I could see that — the Canucks having interest in New York Rangers forward Kevin Hayes. I’ve always been a fan of his game, but I’ve never contemplated the possibility of his joining the Canucks through a trade.

At first glance, I’m intrigued. The Canucks aren’t going to get a two-way, shutdown centre out of Hayes, but perhaps they can get a middle-six forward with positional versatility and size who can produce offence for them. I’m struggling to see a way the Canucks can make this trade happen though — not in a way that doesn’t hurt their rebuild.

This is a tough one. I’d want Jesperi Kotkaniemi if I was going to stand pat with the seventh overall pick, but at that point, it’s hard to say if I wouldn’t feel better off with Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Noah Hanifin.

It’s that time of year — expect to hear a lot more about possible trades in the coming days and then actual trades to materialize as we get closer to the draft itself.

It’s hard to believe, but Zadina falling to seventh is starting to seem like a distinct possibility.

Zadina shouldn’t make it out of the top five, but it’s seeming more possible with each passing day. If he gets to the Detroit Red Wings and they pass on him at sixth, they’ve made an egregious mistake — unless Oliver Wahlstrom is there, because that might be a justifiable player to take ahead of Zadina. If he’s there for the Canucks at seven, they have to take him if they hold their pick.

I’m confident that Zadina can step into an NHL lineup as soon as next season and make an impact. He’s the type of player that can develop into a consistent 30-goal scorer at the NHL level.

Wahlstrom.

Dobson.

Hughes.

I’m a strong believer in always taking the best player available, so whether or not Nikita Tryamkin returns or Olli Juolevi and Troy Stecher improve, it really doesn’t matter. I’d take Noah Dobson in this scenario, assuming I couldn’t trade down.

I feel like last year you could have reasonably made a case for Hughes to go second or third overall; in the year prior, probably closer to fifth overall; the one before that, fifth overall too.

I have no clue, man. They’ve gone on record saying they won’t let positional priority get in the way of taking the best player available to them. It seems like they might be able to get both birds with one stone, but really, it’s hard to say at this stage.

Now that Alexander Polunin is no longer draft-eligible, I’m going to shift gears to Chicoutimi Sagueneens winger Justin Ducharme (formerly of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan). He didn’t put up a tonne of offence this year, but he was playing so far down the Titan lineup for most of the season. Every now and then I’d see these great combinations of speed and power that suggested he has a lot more to offer. I doubt he’ll get drafted this year, but he’ll be an interesting player to follow.

I don’t think it’s fair to characterize Boston University winger Brady Tkachuk as someone with poor analytics. Tkachuk scored at a decent rate in a difficult league despite surrendering a fair amount of developing time compared to most of his peers. We’re not ready to consider Tkachuk a top-five talent in this space, but top-ten seems about right.

The Coyotes obviously make sense because of the family connection, but I’d think that the Canadiens and Senators seem like they might jump the gun on Tkachuk.

There just isn’t room for Ashton Sautner to crack the Canucks’ defence corps next fall barring a major overhaul this offseason. That said, I could see him being the eighth or ninth defenceman on their depth chart, and that almost certainly means he’ll see game action at some point.

Hughes.

Yes.

They either overdraft Kotkaniemi or Tkachuk.

Sorry, but I just don’t have access to that type of information.

I’d like to see the Canucks do a complete overhaul of their jerseys. Bring back the stick-in-rink logo as the full-time jersey, and then do something with a similar colour-template to the Utica Comets third jersey. That’s what I want to see, anyway.

Definitely not. The back-end of their prospect pool is looking painfully thin.

If the Canucks can even get a second-round pick in this scenario from the New York Rangers, I’d think that it’s worth the trouble.

It’s all relative. To me, a bust is someone who doesn’t live up to what their talent level suggests they should be. That’s why I’ll probably never consider Jake Virtanen a bust. He might not ever perform like a sixth overall pick, but he never should have been one in the first place. If he continues on his current track, he’ll look more or less like the player I expected coming into his draft year.

I like whites and reds and stuff.

I’ve always had a soft spot for San Jose Sharks winger Mikkel Boedker in spite of his uninspiring underlying numbers.

I don’t think this will have any impact whatsoever on the NHL’s participation in the Olympics.

I feel like Alex Edler probably isn’t worth a top ten pick in a trade at this stage in his career. Then there’s the matter of having to convince him to leave Vancouver for Edmonton.

Ben Hutton.

I’ll take the Wahlstrom – Lundkvist duo, please and thank you.