Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet where the opinions are truly unrestricted.

Speaking of being unrestricted, July 1, 2024 marked the opening day of unrestricted free agency in the NHL, a date better known as the Free Agent Frenzy. And while they don’t always live up to their hypified title, this Free Agent Frenzy absolutely did.

GM Patrik Allvin and Co. made seven signings on the first day alone, inking all of Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais, Derek Forbort, Kiefer Sherwood, Jiri Patera, and Nate Smith to new contracts.

And now, the dust has settled.

We here at CanucksArmy will be hard at work provided you with fairly-instant analysis about all these new players, what they bring to the team, and their implications on the roster and cap moving forward. But there’s no more instant analysis than the good ol’ patented gut reaction, and that’s what we’re asking from you, here, in the immediate aftermath of the frenzy.

By the time you read these words, you’ll have had a handful of nights to sleep on the Canucks’ various signings. Now, it’s time to react.

This week, we’re asking:

Let it be known in the comment section!

 

You answered below!

The all-in strategies and trading away the tw first round picks. The playoffs were pretty good, but we all knew the Canucks were not ready to make that leap, and to trade away two first round picks, and with one walking away, was, in my opinion, weak management. Let’s hope the banner isn’t flying for this management group at the end of this next season…oh, and that crazy contract for Petey. I’m not sure the Canucks will win a Cup with him in the fold.

Round One, Game 4 against the Preds. If they bring that energy (from the last five minutes) to this coming season, anything is possible!

The first thing that came to mind was the comeback win against the Preds to go up 3-1 in that series. The comeback win against Edmonton in Game 1 was memorable, too, but that Nashville game, with Sissons’ empty net backhand off the post, Boeser’s three regulation time goals (I think he had all three) and Lindholm’s overtime winner just stays in my memory.

And if we’re being literal, ‘what was the moment?’, I guess Boeser’s goal with six seconds left to tie. Seemed to symbolize their season.

One of my best memories from last year took place on the first night of the regular season. The 8-1 beatdown of the Oilers.

I attended the Luongo tribute game against Florida. Great game. Joshua scored a goal in tight where he flipped the puck up into the net. Crowd was pumped, and beating Florida on the Luongo tribute night made it even sweeter. But that goal from Joshua was a beauty.

Smokin’ the Oilers 8-1 in the opener with Boeser’s four goals.

Brock Boeser’s first goal this past season.

My single moment from last year was when it sunk in that I wasn’t actually dreaming, and that the Canucks were for real. Happened when they came home from that first road trip and started steamrolling teams.

Opening the season 8-1 over the Oilers. Then following it up with a 4-3 win in the Oilers own barn!!

Lots of bigger highlights, but that sequence signalled that this was going to be a different Canucks team and a different season. It got my excitement level UP.

Big Z hitting the whole Oilers team in the playoffs, especially the coward Kane.

For this author, it’s less a definable moment, and more the moment that it was first noticed that a shift had occur. It’s something that could probably be genuinely tracked through the last few years of WDYTTs, but it can be summed up as the moment that most fans here started to genuinely believe in the Canucks again – and how that made the toxicity-hooked trolls all the more apparent in the contrast thereafter.

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