Today hasn’t been the best of days for Canucks fans, but we’re going to try to make it a little bit better! It’s another edition of the Canucks Army Monday Mailbag, where we try to answer the burning questions on your minds. Let’s begin!

Random distribution more than anything; the NHL is close enough talent-wise that any team can beat another at any given point, so the Canucks are due for the odd bounce; especially when the Twins are a thing that exist. Now, terrible games? Well, the Canucks rely on a lot of players to be good and a lot of opponents to be bad, which isn’t really a formidable strategy.

Both are quality players, but the fact that that Nikita Tryamkin is averaging nearly 18 minutes a night in the world’s second best league (the KHL) and holding his own in that time is very impressive to me. The KHL uses four defensive pairings too, so that makes the minute spread all the better. Also, you can’t deny that gigantic 6’7 frame; if you can put a quality hockey player into it, the sky is the limit.

I know Leafs fans are happy that everything that they touch seems to turn into prospects, picks, and Steven Stamkos rumours, but it’s a little too early to be smug. The Canucks remind me a lot of the Leafs from Summer 2013 to Winter 2015; which is both a shot at the Canucks for being an absolute disaster and an affront to common-sense management and a reminder that the Leafs haven’t exactly shown competence for very long. The previous eras weren’t much better, either; if you’ve if you’ve survived your entire life bragging about the times the team won two playoff series in the same year, I’m sure Canucks fans can survive Jim Benning.

For now.

Common sense would imply Linden Vey, no? Both Horvat and McCann are much better producers by rate and are younger while Granlund appears to be a younger, quicker version of Vey. Which isn’t particularly hard to do, really.

The Capitals. Ovechkin needs a cup, and outside of the Stars, they’re the only team that is truly exciting night in, night out. The Stars aren’t allowed to win because Jerk will be insufferable if Nichushkin picks up a ring before Horvat. I’d straight up watching hockey if that happened.