WWYDW: Roberto Luongo

There usually isn’t much news to dissect in mid-August, but a story with a Canucks connection did come down the wire on Monday morning, as the Florida Panthers announced they would be retiring Roberto Luongo’s number on March 7, 2020 at a ceremony preceding a game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The announcement sparked a debate among Canucks fans as to whether or not the home team should do the same. After all, Luongo is the most decorated goaltender in Canucks history, he played many of his best years in Vancouver, and is a sure-fire hall-of-famer. At the same time, his relationship to the city of Vancouver was fraught at times, eventually demanding a trade and retiring in South Florida, leaving the Canucks with $3 million in cap recapture penalties. The Canucks also already have an awful lot of retired numbers for a team with zero championship rings, so there isn’t exactly a lot of room for his jersey in the rafters.

Last week I asked: Who would you like to see play with Boeser and Pettersson?

I’d like to see them balance their finishers, playmakers, toughness, and defense throughout the lineup. The potential problem with putting Miller with Petey & Bo on line 1 is that it could leave you with a Ferland-Horvat-Pearson second line where neither player would excel at setting up their linemates. I see both Petey and Bo as playmakers, and both are prone to getting bullied by opponents, so I think you put Ferland with them to finish their setups and “make space” for them. Hopefully Ferland also inspires Bo not to shy away from contact and defense as often as he has.

Put Ferland there for puck retrieval, driving the net and to cause havoc with opposing D who we want more concerned with being hit by him than they are with where Petey and Brock are going. Also Ferland should help cut down on any abuse Petey gets. But one piece of advice for EP, stop doing that “death stare” at thee opposing bench. It is the type of thing that invites retaliation. If I was playing against you and you did that, i’d punch you in the face first chance I got. Disrespectful and not cool at all.

Leivo. Fixing the first line is walking into a trap: Pettersson Boeser Leivo is one of the few lines/pairings that were not a going concern last year, along with Rousell and Horvat.

Construct a third line you can actually play (Pearson Miller Ferland?), then bolster Bo’s line, then worry about the rest.

There has been a lot of discussion of whether it should be Ferland or Miller on a line with Petey and Brock.

I think the two best suited to play together are Miller and Pettersson. Keep in mind Miller is the same size as Ferland, a better passer and has stronger puck possession stats. Miller plays with an edge. He has a long list of scraps on his resume and although not as skilled a pugilist as Ferland he isn’t shy about dropping the mitts when the time comes. Miller seems the best suited to work a cycle game with Pettersson.

Boeser’s strongest skill is as a shooter. I’m not advocating he move off Petersson’s wing but with two very strong forecheckers like Ferland and Horvat he could be that line’s finisher.

One of Baertschi, Goldobin or Pearson could take Petersson’s other wing and make that line a puck possession machine.

stick luigi aqullini on pettersson’s wing to open and play him on every line without water or rest until he’s gotten 15 goals