Monday Mailbag: Extending Boeser, John Tortorella, and Erik Gudbranson for Captain?

A successful season for the Canucks will have more to do with how certain players perform than how many wins they have at the end of the season. If Olli Juolevi can play well enough to make the team, we see improvement from Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser, and Elias Pettersson can make an immediate impact, I think that counts as success even if the club finishes more or less in the same spot they did last year.

Adam Gaudette has already outperformed his potential based on where he was drafted and how he performed in his draft and draft+1 years, so he seems like a good bet. I would also nominate Jonah Gadjovich. He’s generally perceived as a future bottom-six player, but the pGPS machine churned out a few pretty impressive statistical cohorts in his draft year. I could see him surprising people, especially if he can improve his speed over the next year or two.

It depends on who you ask. If you’re like me, and stand to be very happy if the Canucks get a capable bottom-six centre out of Adam Gaudette, you probably won’t be disappointed when the logjam forces him to start the season in Utica. If you’re like some of the more pie-in-the-sky prognosticators in this market and think he’s the second coming of Ryan Kesler, you may have a different reaction.

I just don’t see how a player that’s seen barely any time at centre in Europe will be able to suddenly transition to arguably the sport’s toughest position in the best hockey league in the world at 19. In the long term, he may be able to stick at centre, but next season he’ll be on the wing.

I don’t see any reason why the Canucks are in any less need of draft picks than they were two years ago. Acquiring more would be a worthy pursuit. Chris Tanev is probably their best movable asset unless they can get Alex Edler to waive his no-trade clause, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Brandon Sutter has some value as well.

Olli Juolevi is a superior prospect in just about every way. There’s a reason he was drafted fifth overall whereas Palmu slipped all the way to the sissy round in his final year of eligibility. In all likelihood, Olli Juolevi will see NHL ice this year. It’s equally likely Palmu never sees NHL ice at all. But I was much more enthused with Palmu’s selection than I was with Juolevi’s. It’s all relative.

The going rate for a once-highly regarded prospect who’s played in the NHL but hasn’t lived up to expectations generally seems to be somewhere in the neighbourhood of a second-round pick. The Lightning got two for Brett Connolly, the Senators got one for Curtis Lazar, and the Canucks even recently gave up one of their own second-round picks in exchange for Sven Baertschi. I’m not sure there’s much interest in cutting ties with Virtanen among the Canucks’ brass at this stage, though.

Obviously, Elias Pettersson will be the big draw assuming he’s healthy and ready to go; and recent additions like Kole Lind, Jonah Gadjovich, and Jett Woo will get a lot of attention as well. As far as less well-known prospects go, don’t be surprised if Petrus Palmu is a standout among the group the Canucks bring to Penticton. He’s already got a year of pro under his belt, and had an excellent season at that.

I’m not sure what the future of the CanucksArmy Podcast is at the moment. What I can tell you is that a friend and I have been trying to get a hockey podcast with a focus on the Canucks off the ground for quite some time now, but need to find the right person to serve as a third host.

I think that assumption stems largely from how the team has spoken about the two players. The coach, GM, and now-departed team president have spoken highly of Markus Granlund over the past season, while having only faint praise for Nikolay Goldobin. Overall, the team hasn’t been tremendously complicated when it comes to their messaging regarding player performance. I think we can take them at their word.

The general consensus has always been that Henrik was the better Sedin, but if I had to pick the one who would be the most help at this stage in their career, I would pick Daniel. Over the past two years, I thought Henrik’s decline was more severe and precipitous than Daniel, who tied for the team lead in points last season. Then again, if there’s one thing the team needs right now, it’s depth at centre.

Damn. This question was tougher than I thought it would be.

To be completely honest, I never thought John Tortorella was a bad coach. As far as tactics, systems, or X’s and O’s go, Tortorella is probably an above average coach. Where he struggles is his management of different personalities. He’s proven to be stubborn and at times belligerent when it comes to resolving conflicts within the organization that employs him. For that reason alone, I would pass. I think forging relationships is extremely important when it comes to coaching young players.

Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, and maybe Elias Pettersson. That’s it.

I think it’s more likely they replace one of the existing teams, but it’s tough to determine the future of the Young Stars Classic at this juncture. It all feels very up in the air right now.

I would probably go with Ashton Sautner. I actually really like McEneny as a player, but his injury definitely set him back a fair bit. In contrast, Sautner played in a few games this season and played reasonably well. At the end of the day, I’m not really sure there’s a ton of separation between the two.

Probably. I think any GM worth his salt would use whatever leverage is available to him in any negotiations. It’s tough to know for sure what the nature of Francesco Aquilini’s role in hockey operations is, but if I was an opposing GM and I knew the team was eager to win I would absolutely use that information to my advantage.

I can’t see him finishing out his contract, either. That’s not even a knock on Jay Beagle… it’s just the reality of age-related decline. My guess is the last year of his contract will be bought out.

It really depends on what the team’s motivations are for wanting to get a deal done. I would hope their intention is to save on AAV in some way. That probably means a long-term deal, but I can’t see why Boeser’s camp would want to risk leaving money on the table. I’m not sure why they’re rushing towards an extension, even with the amazing rookie season Boeser had. If I had to guess, I’d say both sides eventually agree on a bridge deal.

Citation needed. I don’t want to rag on Erik Gudbranson too much since it’s like beating a dead horse at this point, but I haven’t heard much about his leadership qualities as far as his time in Vancouver is concerned. At any rate, I think it makes sense to give the captaincy to a player who’s going to stick around for a long time, and I’m not sure Gudbranson fits the bill. The Canucks haven’t had a defenceman as their captain since 1990-1991 when Doug Lidster co-captained the team along with Trevor Linden and Dan Quinn, but I’m not sure novelty is a good enough reason to give the captaincy to a player who hasn’t exactly made a name for himself since arriving in Vancouver.