Monday Mailbag: John Tavares, Brandon Sutter, and Sami Niku

I’m back again, playing spot duty due to what I can only assume is a killer birthday hangover currently being experienced by J.D. Burke. Let’s take a look at those questions.

It’s not outside the realm of possibility. I think you could easily make the case that Gaunce can be just as effective at 4C as most of the players that skated in that role last season. It’s also important to consider that while the fans may see Gaudette, Sutter, and Gaunce as similar players, there’s been no real indication the organization feels that way.

This is a tough one. On one hand, acquiring picks will never be more of an obvious PR win than next season. On the other hand, the prospect of a trade being poorly received by the fanbase hasn’t really stopped them before. Either way, I expect the Canucks to be pretty bad next season, so acquiring picks should be in the cards. Dare to dream, Burnsie.

I like Ty Smith a lot. He’s got great hands, great vision, and he can skate. He doesn’t have the shot that some of the other defencemen in this draft have, but the NHL is quickly moving away from Shea Weber types on the man advantage towards players who can move the puck into high-percentage areas. Smith can already do that. I don’t think picking him at 7 would be much of a stretch. He absolutely deserves to be in the conversation with guys like Bouchard and Dobson. Getting a couple of extra assets for the privilege of moving down a few spots and selecting him would be a big win for the Canucks. They’ve had discussions about trading down at prior drafts, so it’s a distinct possibility.

Moving Ben Hutton for a mid-round pick, assuming they can find a dance partner.

Evan Bouchard had 87 points in 67 games on a mediocre team as a defenceman. That doesn’t happen very often. For comparison, Olli Juolevi played for the same organization when they had a top line of Matthew Tkachuk, Mitch Marner, and Christian Dvorak and put up less than half that total in his draft year (albeit in ten less games). If there weren’t legitimate concerns about his speed he’d be a lock as a top five pick. I don’t think he’d be a uniquely risky selection, though. Once you get to that point in the draft, every player has a certain amount of risk attached, especially with regards to defencemen. Don’t sweat it too much if he goes to the Canucks at seventh overall.

For the first time in quite awhile I really think anything could happen at this year’s draft. That goes for every team selecting ahead of the Canucks, too. I wouldn’t say you should expect a trade, but it also wouldn’t surprise me. That’s kind of a boring answer, but I really just have no idea. There’s a million different ways the first round of this draft could play out.

If I’m John Tavares, I’m wondering what Vancouver can offer me that I wouldn’t already get from the Islanders. They’ve got promising young players in spades, even more so than Vancouver does. The only way the Canucks are getting him is if they offer him a league maximum contract and no other team is willing to do so.

Eric Staal would make an excellent stop-gap centre in the top six. Unfortunately, he has a year left on a cheap deal and he just came off an extremely impressive season with the Wild, so his trade value is probably sky-high right now. I don’t see a natural fit, even if they wait a year and take their chances in free agency.

The odds that Tavares signs with the Canucks are roughly the same as their chances of winning the Stanley Cup next season. It’s technically not impossible but it’s highly unlikely.

The Canucks reportedly got calls on Sutter every day for at least a week leading up to the 2018 trade deadline. If he were in play you’d have to think he’d have already been traded.

Pettersson, Dahlen, and Juolevi all have pro experience, so it wouldn’t be outlandish to see all three in a Canucks uniform next season. Gaudette acquitted himself reasonably well towards the end of last season, too, so he might get a look. As long as you aren’t pencilling in anyone coming straight from the CHL I think you’re probably okay.

If you’re asking which player is better right now, I’d say Sven Baertschi. If you want to know who I’d rather hold on to, It’s Nikolay Goldobin, for the reasons you listed.

I’m not sure I agree with the comparison. Gaudette can really skate, whereas Gaunce is still struggling in that department six years after being selected. That being said, if the Canucks are really impressed by Gaudette heading into next year’s trade deadline I could see them being more open to the possibility of a Sutter trade. I’m not sure Gaudette will even be a regular next season, however; let alone if he’ll play well enough to become a fixture in the bottom-six.

I love this idea. Niku’s been an excellent offensive defender at the AHL level and no goaltender played well enough to cement his position in the Canucks’ crease. Mason was awful last season but he’s bounced back before, so there’s a lot to like in this scenario. I don’t know if the Jets have the appetite to make this kind of a move but it’s definitely the type of move the Canucks should look at.

That’s it for now, stay tuned for part two.