Monday Mailbag: Happy Canucksgiving and Holy Mailtrimony

Folks, this week our beloved managing editors Chris Faber and David Quadrelli are off celebrating a truly joyous occasion, and it’s Stephan Roget who has the honour of getting one last preseason call-up for the Monday Mailbag.

You asked questions, and now you get answers, below!

Always nice to hear from DSto!

Given that I just published an article suggesting a Conor Garland for Andrew Peeke swap, most can probably guess what my answer is to this question.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Garland has plenty of value in a vacuum, but we’re not operating in a vacuum. The tail-end of the flat cap era is what it is, and that’s drastically reduced his trade value. If the Canucks are able to swap Garland out for someone at a position where they need more (like RHD), they almost have to at this point.

If that trade brings with it some extra cap space, that’s just gravy. Gravy that might be worth throwing in an extra draft pick for, at that!

So, short answer: Yes.

For the record, these are always better questions to ask when Faber is on-duty. But you asked me, so get ready for Roget’s Prospect Corner, where the players and the analysis are both decidedly amateur.

Forsell seems to be stuck pretty far down the depth chart in Farjestad right now, so his two points in eight games probably shouldn’t be overly concerning. They’re a powerhouse team, having gone 7-1-0 on the year so far, and cracking into any top-six minutes is going to prove a challenge for Forsell, barring injury.

Whether that translates to him eventually being loaned to the the lower Allsvenskan remains to be seen, but it might not be the worst thing for his development. The strength of Farjestad could also be seen as a reason to get Forsell over the North America next year as quickly as possible.

Zlodeyev is in Abbotsford participating in their camp right now, and seems to be set to join them officially as of the regular season. EliteProspects has him as having completed a transfer to Abbotsford, despite having signed a two-year KHL deal earlier in the year, and that probably means that he either already has or is about to ink an AHL contract.

There’s always the chance that he is unsuccessful in cracking the Abbotsford roster and goes back to the KHL anyway, but it sure reads as though he is here to stay.

Ah, Wayne King. One of Twitter’s finest.

For those not in the now, Google “Karl Pilkington Rockbusters” and you’ll find the rules to this little riddle-game.

As for the answers? Pretty simple. About what you’d expect when the questioner is someone with a head like an orange.

“He asks for nothing before he ends the prayer? Initials NA.” Nils Åman. (Nil, Amen)

“This Halloween decoration is stealing wall brackets? JS.” Jack Studnicka. (Jack O’Lantern Stud-nicker.)

“They’re moving this national park to a different state? DJ.” Dakota Joshua. (As in they’re moving Joshua Tree to one of the Dakotas.)

I’ll be watching my mailbox for that VHS, Wayne. Play a record.

Oh gosh, I haven’t even thought about the 2024 Draft yet, but kudos to you for being optimistic enough to ask about the mid-to-late first round!

A cursory glance around at some draft lists shows the class to be a little light on RHD talent. Some names to keep an eye on are Henry Mews, Adam Jiricek (brother of David), and Domink Badinka, who has an excellent hockey name at the very least.

Plenty of interesting centers to choose from. Two coming out of the WHL specifically are Medicine Hat’s Cayden Lindstrom and Tri-City’s Maximilian Curran.

But the real answer is that it’s far too early to say.

I’m sure that my colleagues at CanucksArmy are already hard at work on some breakdowns. But here’s what I can say right this very moment, which is about 30 minutes after news broke of the Lafferty trade.

Lafferty is pretty much a human checklist for what teams want from a depth forward. He can play all forward positions, including center, and is a right-hander who is decent at faceoffs. He’s a fantastic skater who isn’t afraid to use that speed to catapult himself into opponents. He’s had some success playing higher in the lineup, but mostly seems to fit as a fourth liner extraordinaire, which is about what he’s paid to be at $1.15 million. He also has a limited history of stepping it up in the postseason, where a game like his can really thrive.

Speed, physicality, versatility, a little hidden skill? That’s all the boxes, checked right off.

And the dude can scrap! Here he is standing tough against Brendan Smith, someone who regularly throws down with heavyweights:

What Lafferty probably does right now is slot onto a fourth line with Teddy Blueger and Dakota Joshua, probably proving a better fit there than Nils Åman, who can now go down to Abbotsford.

One specific thing that Lafferty brings that the Canucks are currently lacking is some genuine agitatorial attributes. He’s a shift disturber, and it’s been a fair bit since the Canucks had one of those in the fold.

Lafferty makes sense if he’s just an addition to shore up the fourth line. If he’s the precursor to the trade of another winger, he makes all that much more sense due to that aforementioned versatility.

No, I don’t think so.

If the Canucks are in real playoff contention still by late February, they’re going to make a push, and that doesn’t jive with trading their pending UFAs.
Maybe, if Ethan Bear has been signed and Myers has been pushed to the bottom of the lineup. But almost certainly not.

If this is the situation come the Trade Deadline, expect the Canucks to buy a couple players, not sell. At that point, a Myers extension is more likely than a Myers trade.