WWYDT: Replenishing the Canucks’ front office

If not for the tragic and infuriating state-sponsored brutality occurring south of the border — and in our own nation, if we’re being totally honest — rightfully dominating social media this week, #Canucks twitter would probably still be talking about Judd Brackett.

Last week, GM Jim Benning announced Brackett’s fairly acrimonious departure from the organization, and in doing so ignited a controversy that had been roiling all season long — and for several seasons, really.

Any way you slice it, the Canucks’ front office has been bleeding talent of late.

Eric Crawford left in 2016, and has been the Director of Professional Scouting in Montreal ever since.

Trevor Linden parted ways with the franchise in 2018, and was not replaced as team president.

Heck, if you’re going to go way back, the Canucks haven’t had a proper capologist since firing Lawrence Gilman way back in 2015.

And now, Judd Brackett is the latest to go in what has to be categorized as an organizational brain drain.

The circumstances and merits of Brackett’s exit can, and will, be debated ad nauseum in other articles, but that’s not what we do here at WWYDW. Here, we’re all about solutions.

With that in mind, we’re asking you to do a little front office scouting this week and answer:

Last week, we asked, in relation to the 24-team postseason format:

Your responses are below!

For me, personally, it’s less about the different format and more about not being able to celebrate. The playoffs are about crowded streets and celebration, enjoying the game in a packed restaurant or pub, or having a dozen or two people stuffed in your living room. So, it’s not so much that the Canucks wouldn’t (finally!) be Stanley Cup champions and bring it home – I’d be so happy for the org and the players – it’s that we’d be cheated of the enjoyment of it.

What’s to debate? If the Canucks go on a miracle run like that and win it all, I won’t give a damn how it happened, I’ll just be glad they won one before I die. There is no chance I’m gonna worry about the details, just tell me where the parade is, and I’ll be driving in from the Kootenay’s to see Stanley!!

I’ve been a Canucks fan all my life; I’d love to see them win a championship. Winning it this year would be no different for me than in any other, except with a fully healthy team we’ve got a lot better odds, I think. I think the long break from play action gives everyone the best chance at icing their best team, and it would truly be the best team that wins it.

Is there going to be anyone in the stands? If not, then it’s going to have a strange feel to it. Maybe we can have automatons in the seats waving white towels and spilling crappy overpriced beer on each other.

But yes, if the Canucks win it all, then it’s a legitimate Stanley Cup victory. If the Flames or Oilers, or especially the Leafs, win it, then no. They get the dreaded asterisk.

Win’s a win.

If Covid’s still around, then I’ll air-five everyone with a mask and sanitizing.

However since the league has decided to play on and we have to play a series to qualify, then I think that only adds to the legitimacy of it all since we’d technically have to play five series instead of just the four. (Qualifying round, then 16, semis, WCF, SCF). Though they lost regular season games, it’d only mean the intensity got ramped up and it might’ve been more grueling of a journey for whoever’s the winner (not to mention they’d be playing in summer when normally everyone’s golfing or at the gym).

The strike shortened 2012/13 win by Chicago doesn’t have an asterisk.

The fans of the team that wins will celebrate and all the haters will say it doesn’t count. As long as all the teams play under the same rules, the winner is the winner.

Should the Habs not claim Cups because there were only six teams and you only needed eight wins?

Yeah, there’s a small asterisk IMO

If the season is shortened, that’s one thing. If they pause the season for months and then dive right into a playoff format, it totally disrupts the flow of the season. Teams and players are going to be cold and out of sync. Others will be healthy and find their flow right away. Look at STL last year. Ice-cold and red-hot. This long pause can flip that upside down for a team

That said, it’s a small asterisk. Once they’ve had a camp and a play-in round, most of the rust will be off. If the rest of the playoffs are four rounds of best of seven, that’s legit enough for me.

Just excited to see both hockey and meaningful games getting played.

I would live the remaining years of my life peaceful and content.

I can’t see the Canucks pulling it off this year. Chew on this one though: the Leafs win the Cup, but can’t have the parade they have been planning since 1968.

I would think younger legs will get up to speed sooner. Pettersson, Gaudette, and Hughes could help overcome long odds. My biggest question is goaltending. If Markstrom stinks in Game 1, what does Green do?! If Markstrom flails, what does JB do next year? Regardless, re-sign Toffoli. I would let Tanev walk and see what Stecher is amicable to. I miss hockey.

I’d feel like I was on the Star Trek holodeck or had won the Lotto Max grand prize. What’s next, a night with Megan Fox?

I guess we would get to figure out who stays with the club and who gets traded.

I have a couple of thoughts on this.

1) It is unfortunate that teams who were hitting their stride and were riding the wave have had the steam taken out of their momentum.

2) This is going to be a test of how they are as teams, as pretty much every club will have the same opportunity to prepare with their best line up possible. Injuries are not a factor heading into the playoffs.

3) This should be pretty sweet and a great indication as to where all the teams truly stand.

If the Canucks win the Cup this year, I’ll ride my unicorn in from Never-Never Land to celebrate with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. One thing is for certain, they’d be the worst team in the modern era to win it. Go on, prove me wrong. The Canucks top two lines and the goaltending are excellent, but the bottom-six and the defensive core outside of Hughes is nowhere close to being good enough to even consider this fantasy. No team is going to win the Stanley Cup giving up 40+ shots a game. I’d say they are 50-50 to win the play-in round.

If the Canucks won it this year, the asterisk beside the win would be infinitesimally small compared to the massive asterisk turd beside the Bruins’ win.

Quinn Hughes has been training hard all quarantine and will lead the Canucks to their first Stanley Cup.