Monday Mailbag Part Two: Predictions, Resurrecting Loui Eriksson, and Signing Sergei Bobrovsky

It’s possible, but improbable. As bad as the Canucks are, they can probably finish the season somewhere in the neighbourhood of 65-70 points; and as good as Pettersson is, I don’t see him finishing the season with such impressive numbers. Not on this team, anyway.

Please don’t put that on them. I’ve thought for some time now that Eriksson is capable of bouncing back, but frankly, he just looks disengaged. It’s going to take more than just playing with an offensively gifted rookie to reinvigorate his career. As far as the latter suggestion goes, I can’t think of a poorer fit stylistically for Hughes’ game than Erik Gudbranson. I want Hughes playing with someone who can move the puck.

To be honest, I think Travis Green has done a reasonable job of putting his offensive players in a position to succeed. If there’s a qualm to be had with his deployment, it’s how he divvies out ice time. If he wants to squeeze more offense out of this group, he could afford to play Brandon Sutter a bit less than he did last season.

I answered a similar question last week and went with Thomas Vanek. That’s because I had completely forgotten about the prospects/young players they’ve traded away. I’d definitely go with one of Jared McCann or Gustav Forsling.

It’s tough to say. For all the talk of Francesco Aquilini’s meddling in hockey operations, he’s been astonishingly patient over the past three seasons. It’s difficult to pinpoint what would have to happen for him to change his tune. My instincts tell me he’ll wait until near the end of the season to shake things up.

Given the coach has explicitly stated Brandon Sutter will be used in a shutdown role, I’ll go with Loui Eriksson. The team isn’t going to have a lot of offensive firepower so this has to be the year he’s finally put in positions to score, right? Right?

I could absolutely see the Canucks chasing Bobrovsky in free agency. If the rumours are true and the remaining members of the Canucks’ brass are pursuing a quick turnaround, nothing can cover up for a poor on-ice product like an elite goaltender. I think they had hoped that goaltender would be Thatcher Demko, but his preseason performance indicated that he may not be as ready as some had hoped. Whether signing Bobrovsky is a good idea is another question entirely. I lean towards no, given where the Canucks are in their life cycle, but I could be convinced otherwise under the right circumstances.

Who?

I’m a little late to the party on this one, but I’m glad they passed on both players. I was once one of Jordan Subban’s staunchest defenders but he just hasn’t been able to put it together. In Lazar’s case, he’s shown virtually nothing at the NHL level and I don’t think there’d be the slightest hint of interest if not for the fact that he was once a first round pick. No thanks.

Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Here we are, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.

As I said last week, this season is going to be painful. Whether it is going to be historically painful remains to be seen. With that in mind, I still think the most likely trade piece will be Ben Hutton. He’s improved his conditioning, but he’s still the market’s (and the team’s) biggest pariah at the moment, for some reason. I could see him being shipped out before the end of the calendar year.

He plays more than 65 games.

That seems almost impossibly low. In the modern era, even teams designed from the get-go to lose generally still manage to win one in every four games. So even in the absolute worst-case scenario they should finish with at least 20+ wins and 50+ points. I’d say they’ll finish with a point total somewhere in the high sixties or low seventies.

I dislike this format, as far as questions go.

I’ll say this, I’ve heard from people who’ve met him personally that Willie Desjardins is a very kind and friendly man.

I also think it’s basically immoral to have as much money as Francesco Aquilini.

I’ll let you figure it out for yourself.

This is a great question. Would robotic limbs be considered performance-enhancing? If so, what would be the response from disability advocacy groups? Would players with robotic limbs be forced to form their own league? It’s possible that could lead to a rivalry similar to the one that currently exists between the KHL and NHL. The catch would be that playing in the Robotic Limb Hockey League (or RLHL) would come at a grisly price.

It sounds like the plot of a low-rent Steven King-knockoff, but I’m intrigued.

I would say somewhere in the neighbourhood of four or five. They’ll face some stiff competition, but even the league’s worst team has a chance of beating the league’s best team on any given night, especially that early in the season. Six of the teams they play look beatable, and we can pretty much bank on them providing at least one upset, so five wins seems like a pretty conservative estimate. Even a team as bad as the Canucks appear to be should be able to pull that off.

I’d imagine it will go unnoticed at first. If it ever gets to the point where NHL ice looks like the photo above, you’ll defeinitely hear complaints, especially from purists.

Let’s make sure he skips the games, but keeps tabs on Ryan Biech’s twitter account, so he can stay up-to-date on Elias Pettersson gifs.

Based solely on their current rosters, I think I’d stick with the Canucks. All three teams have some interesting young talent, but I don’t think the Red Wings or Senators have two young players that look to be as dynamic as Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. I’m almost tempted to say Detroit simply because of all the rookies that look like they’ll make their debut this season, but I don’t think they’ll be as fun to watch as the Canucks youngsters.