Monday Mailbag: Brandon Carlo, Reuniting the Hughes Brothers, and Jason Botchford’s Greatest Hits

This is a great question because I think it actually has a decent chance of happening. The Bruins need cap space to sign Charlie McAvoy, who is due for a huge raise, and only have a few players on expiring contracts, the most significant of which is Marcus Johansson, who’s deal pays him an AAV of 2.75 million. Unless they move someone, they’re unlikely to be able to re-sign both Carlo and McAvoy.

The obvious fit here would be a one-for-one deal involving Carlo and Jake Virtanen. Carlo’s due for a raise of his own that’s likely to exceed the 1.25 million dollars Virtanen will make next season. The question is whether or not either team really has the appetite for that. What the Bruins really need is cap space, and I think it’s more likely they would dangle a prospect to a cap floor team in exchange for taking back David Backes’ contract. I’m also not convinced Carlo is the answer on Vancouver’s blueline, and I think the Canucks would be interested in someone with more upside if they’re going to give up Virtanen, who many still believe has the tools to be an effective power forward in the NHL.

Overall, I think chemistry is more important than handedness when it comes to lineup decisions, especially at forward. Perhaps the best example of this is Alex Burrows, a natural left winger who shot left, but saw his greatest success as Alain Vigneault’s go-to right winger on the Sedin line. There are advantages and disadvantages to playing a forward on his off-side, but ultimately if it works, they should do it. On paper, a top six of Baertschi-Horvat-Pearson on one line and Boeser and Pettersson with a third forward sounds preferable to most of their other options as the team is currently constructed.

I hate this question but I’ll still answer it to the best of my ability.

Captain America: Bo Horvat

Iron Man: Elias Pettersson

Thor: Brock Boeser

Hulk: Jake Virtanen

Hawkeye: Alex Edler

Black Widow: I don’t know… Jacob Markstrom? I hate this question.

This one is easy.

Frank Sinatra: Bo Horvat

Dean Martin: Brock Boeser

Sammy Davis Jr.: Elias Pettersson

Peter Lawford: Jake Virtanen

Joey Bishop: Alex Edler

I always hesitate to answer these questions because it’s impossible to know who will slip. I never would have guessed Timothy Liljegren would have been available for the Leafs to snag in 2017, for example.

With that in mind, I’m getting some serious Oliver Kylington vibes from Anttoni Honka this year. The data loves him, but scouts aren’t entirely sold and his value appears to be declining as we reach the end of the 2018-19 playoffs. If he’s somehow still there at 40, he’s their man.

I still think Madden’s ceiling is that of a very good third-line winger, who can perhaps play spot duty in the top six when called upon. I don’t really like making player comparables, but Joonas Donskoi is similar in style and role to the player I think Madden could be.

If he stays healthy and has a productive season in Utica, he’ll get an audition at the end of the season. The Canucks appear set on bringing back both of Chris Tanev and Alex Edler, so you know the team’s top four is going to be hit by injuries at some point, and realistically, who is going to get the call-up ahead of Juolevi? Ashton Sautner is probably slightly ahead of him on the depth chart at the moment, but if Juolevi can build on his impressive numbers from last year (albeit over a very small sample size), then he won’t stay out of the conversation for long.

The offer has to start with Ty Smith and another good, young roster player. You don’t have to make this deal, and the Devils have the incentive to overpay to reunite the Hughes brothers, so you should reach for the sky with your starting ask. That would mean asking for someone like Nico Hischier, which would obviously be met with a scoff by Ray Shero. Eventually, you’d probably get talked down to someone like Jesper Bratt or Miles Wood and at that point you have to wonder if the Canucks would have interest. Quinn Hughes is a special prospect, but how much can you really ask for in return for a player who has played less than 10 games of pro? Obviously, it’s not happening, but Ty Smith and a good roster player would definitely give Jim Benning something to think about.

To be honest, when I think of Jason Botchford, I usually think of the personal interactions I was fortunate enough to be able to have with him over the past two years; but I’ll be reflecting on that in due time. As far as the moments everyone else was privy to, there were a few moments that stick in my mind. As a reader, long before I had ever spoken to either of them, I remember being very amused by his feuding with former CanucksArmy Managing Editor Thomas Drance over Jannik Hansen, especially because it’s one of the few times Botch ever had to admit defeat. He did so graciously, for the most part, but not without his trademark sense of humour. I also loved it whenever he’d rib Jeff Paterson over his tweets and goal predictions. More recently, there was the Tyson Chicken controversy, which was the type of meltdown that would have previously gone mostly unnoticed before Botch came along and shined a flashlight on all the weirdest corners of online Canucks fandom.

As far as his writing is concerned, I think his final two editions of the Provies, on the Sedins’ final home and road games, are some of the finest pieces of sports writing this city has ever seen. When I initially got the news of Jason’s passing, I immediately thought of this passage, from his final Provies: