Monday Mailbag Part Two: Olli Juolevi’s Injury; Evan Bouchard’s skating; Trades, Trades, and More Trades

Hanifin is a unique case. Players of his age and potential don’t usually become available. If there’s another young defender with high upside on the market, I haven’t heard about him. Looking through this year’s crop of restricted free agents, there doesn’t appear to anybody who stands out as being both a possibility to move and a good fit for the Canucks. Harman Dayal wrote a great piece about targeting Columbus Blue Jackets defender Markus Nutivaara, but it’s unclear whether or not the organization would part with him.

I did not. It was very disappointing. I was in town already but my reason for extending my visit got cancelled so I took the ferry back home. It looked delicious, I was truly heartbroken.

No, I don’t. I think there’s too many players in front of him for that to happen. The team’s going to want to give Pettersson ever opportunity to make the team, and Adam Gaudette is probably more appealing in a limited bottom-six role than Jonathan Dahlen. The team is also likely to add at least one forward in free agency. That’s a lot of bodies. I think it’s more likely he starts his season in Utica in a top-six role with plenty of time on special teams.

It would absolutely be fair value for O’Reilly, but no, there’s no way I would do it. Ryan O’Reilly is a good player but he’s not going to turn the team into a contender. If I’m the Canucks, I’m out on acquring a player of his age unless it’s in free agency.

Teams traditionally value picks that come later down the road less than they would a pick they’re going to make in the near future. That doesn’t mean that the picks are actually worth less in the long run. For the Canucks, emphasizing 2019 picks makes a lot of sense because the draft will be held in their back yard. So yes, I’d be just as happy to get picks in next year’s draft as I would to get 2018 picks.

I’d say there’s at best a one in four chance they trade the pick. The Hanifin rumour has legs, but I’m not so sure about the idea that the team is actively shopping their first rounder.

Only a little. It sounds like he’ll make a full recovery, and a microdiscectomy isn’t a particularly invasive surgery in a relative sense. It probably won’t have a huge effect in the long-term. What would worry me is the fact that he’ll be losing most of this summer to rehab. It’s definitely a setback, but it could be a lot worse.

It’s tough to say, because I don’t know what deals are on the table. Sutter and Gudbranson would have both been traded by now, I can tell you that much. I’d also sign Valtteri Filppula to a short deal so that the team would have a pair of offensive centres to keep Pettersson on the wing as long as he needs to be. I’d probably hold on to Tanev in the hopes that he can have a bounce-back year and deal him at the deadline, but again that’s based on my very limited knowledge of both his health situation and what deals are on the table.

I think acquiring an additional defenseman would make the team more open to dealing Tanev, but I also think they’d be very open to Hanifin and Tanev coexisting. Hanifin’s a left shot whereas Tanev plays the right, so it’s not like the team couldn’t make room for both players.

This is a very astute observation. Bo Horvat’s very unique development has allowed many in this market to brush off concerns about skating that might arise with a draft-eligible prospect. Just because one player could improve their skating doesn’t mean we should assume every player can. In Bouchard’s case, it’s more a question of how much his skating is going to diminish his ability to be effective. The puck moves faster than any player can and Bouchard has excellent puck skills. He also projects to do a lot of damage on the power play, where he’s likely to remain stationary for the most part.

To give a simple answer, Bouchard’s skating won’t necessarily improve much between now and when he begins his pro career, but that also might not matter. He’s a good prospect regardless and definitely worth taking a chance on at seventh overall.

Why bother? Eriksson’s been a better player and is signed for one less year. He’s also probably poised to have at least somewhat of a bounce-back season for reasons I explored in a deep dive last month.

You don’t want Milan Lucic. He’s not the Milan Lucic you remember.

I haven’t the faintest idea. That picture has been in my family for generations.

Yes, I would. Dahlin is just that good. I wouldn’t feel good about dealing Brock Boeser, though.

I’m not sure, but I can tell you if it does appear somewhere it will be complete crap. If they say they’re done, that’s it. Players almost never get to go out the way they did. Why mess with a good thing?