Monday Mailbag Part Two: Team Identity, Pro Scouting, and Potential Tanev Destinations

In the first round, the Canucks should just take the best available player, even if that means taking a forward. In the later rounds, where things get more subjective, they should take a volume approach to tackling their lack of defensive depth in the prospect pool.

The Golden Knights have proven so far that the need for a team to have a specific identity is greatly overblown. There’s nothing in the CBA that says a team can only be fast, or big, or skilled. So the Canucks should really just be trying to acquire as many good players as possible and go from there. It’s not something they need to overthink.

Of the players you mentioned, I think Lukas Jasek has the biggest potential to surprise at training camp.

One of the things I came away from my deep dive piece believing was that Eriksson’s disappointing performance thus far hasn’t been entirely his fault. He has yet to be used optimally by a Canucks coach, but I think that could change. Eriksson’s contract is going to get more tradeable as it nears its conclusion, so I would hold off on a trade until next year’s deadline. What I’d really like to see the Canucks do is deploy Eriksson as favourably as possible in an attempt to increase his trade value, in the vein of what they did with Cody Hodgson under Mike Gillis.

If Tkachuk falls to 7, there’s no way the Canucks pass on him. He’d even be a good selection. I think Tkachuk has a much higher ceiling than Virtanen, for whatever that’s worth. His body of work is just less impressive than many of his peers.

I’m not sure which element is a bigger risk but at the moment I’m leaning towards Boqvist as the riskier selection.

The only reason he’s not on the roster at the moment is that he hasn’t been signed. Assuming his thumb injury isn’t nagging and he signs this summer, I’d imagine he’ll make an appearance in Penticton.

The market for Tanev is likely bigger than some are making it out to be. New Jersey, Dallas, Arizona, Edmonton, and Vegas are all teams that could take on Tanev’s contract without too much difficulty and could also use an upgrade at RHD. Another team I wonder about is the Columbus Blue Jackets. David Savard and Markus Nutivaara are capable right-handed defenders, but I wonder if there’s interest given how much Tortorella loved Tanev while he was in Vancouver. It’s not the most natural fit but stranger things have happened.

You can’t go wrong with either player. I lean towards Hughes simply because he plays the premium position.

This is a great question. It’s tough to say, but assuming the team can get another great performance from Brock Boeser, Sam Gagner and Loui Eriksson could both stand to benefit from the subtraction of the Sedins on the power play. My guess is that the power play as a whole takes a step back, however. There were a few things that made them successful last season that may not be repeatable in 2018-19.

They could start by joining the rest of the league in the 21st century and appointing a director of player personnel. Other than that, shuffling some staff and investing more money couldn’t hurt. Jonathan Wall is a smart guy and I can’t imagine he’s been utilized as much as he could be with regards to pro acquisitions. That’s something that could change, too.