This week, we’re doing the mailbag a little bit differently. We recieved hundreds of questions in our AMA on /r/Canucks yesterday, and since many people who read this site aren’t in that community, I figured that it would make sense to take this opportunity to give a taste of what the staff discussed with the people of Reddit! Here were a few of our most popular questions and answers: 

Jeff Veillette answered: As much as anything can happen in the playoffs and the Canucks aren’t horribly far off, the end game is long-term success. The Canucks have had that for a while, but its time to take a brief step back and reload the system. I wouldn’t be flat out trying to lose games, I’d want the players to be giving their best effort, but management should be selling assets where they can.

Jeremy Davis answered: I still like to poke fun at Rhys every so often for that article. He is often quick to point out that he did alter his opinion on Horvat prior to the start of his rookie season, but as is often the course, far fewer people have read the follow up than the original.

Even when takes turn out to be off, you’ve gotta admire the conviction it takes to put solid opinions out for public consumption (especially when they are so well written and bursting with convincing evidence) knowing damn well it could come back to bite you. I was always impressed with Rhys because of that, and clearly the Vancouver Giants were too.

JD Burke answered: Lukas Jasek. Arguably the best value pick of Jim Benning’s tenure, as he was selected in the sixth round of the 2015 NHL Draft, in spite of his having already played against men in the Extraliiga. Hopeful he makes it to North America for his Draft+2 season.

Thomas Drance answered: I was bored while working as a clerk at an IP law firm (patents and trademarks) in my early 20s, so I started an account called @artemchubarov on Twitter in the summer of 2010 and just made jokes and argued with people. Mostly I spent time arguing that trading Kevin Bieksa would be a mistake because he was a 1st pair defenseman and that Mason Raymond wasn’t a perimeter player.

During the 2010-11 season I got a tonne of followers because the Canucks were good and I guess my feed was OK. I used those followers to get a job in social media marketing, which I enjoyed more, and which gave me an excuse to spend all day tweeting. And then people like NM and Cam Davie (then at CA) asked me to write for them. I wrote a guest post for CA about Naslund’s retirement ceremony just because I had a personal anecdote to share (my first ever blog post can be read here).

What happened next was pretty funny. My good pal was in Mexico at an all inclusive and bumped into the owners of the Nation Network. They were drinking and started talking about the Canucks and hockey, and they mentioned that they wanted to add writers to their Canucks site. He said he had a buddy – referring to me – who wrote about the Canucks sometimes and had a bunch of Twitter followers. So they googled me, and realized that the site I’d written for was their own site. Laughs were had, and they offered to pay me a very little bit to write about the team.

I started writing weekly. Within 6 months I was managing CA. Within 18 months I was covering the NHL draft for the Vancouver Sun. Within two years I was making enough money freelancing that when I got laid off from a marketing job I’d taken after leaving the patent firm, I decided to see if I could turn this into a career. Six months after that I got a job as an NHL news editor with theScore. The rest is history.

So the key is just to start, but you also need a lot of luck to make it in this industry, especially as things get dire with print media etc.. You also need to work hard. My advice is find a hook – whether it’s a goofy Twitter name or a particular angle on the game (mine was adv. stats, obviously) – that sets you apart and be disciplined about beating that drum. Work every day. Prioritize getting better. Go all in.

That’s the only way I know how to do it.

Ryan Biech answered: I’ve watched Neill 8 times this year (and then some extra periods here and there); and watch Olson 6 times (he was injured for the game I went to here in Van)

Neill – I am honestly surprised that he was still available in the 5th round. I had some serious concerns that it was Jeremy Roy (SJS 2nd round pick) driving the bus, but that is not the case at all. Neill plays in all situations, has good speed, good stick and reads the play well. With that being said, he will need to improve his pivoting and puck decision in the D zone to make it. But based on conversations I’ve had with a local reporter, the kid wants to make it, so I don’t that will be a concern.

Olson – Looking like a late round steal, at this point, I will need to see him in the AHL but he is very good IMO.

I think any form of draft picks is a win. I think we all know that the cupboards need to continue to be restocked, may as well turn those players into potential prospects for the team.

Josh Weissbock (RIP) answered: Florida is a nice team I’ve heard.

The full AMA can be read here.