Hey, what a week, eh? The Canucks won games! Hell, they’ve won two of them since we last met. Of course, the Anaheim Ducks trounced the Canucks on Thursday too, but nobody bats a thousand, right?

If it makes you feel any better, the Ducks were also dragged by the Flames last night. So there’s that!

Best of all, though, is Saturday night’s victory over the Leafs. Don’t get me wrong — I’m #TeamTank a thousand times over. By that same token, Nazem Kadri and the Leafs had that coming. Props to Ryan Miller for pretty much singlehandedly pulling that off.

I feel we’ve addressed this issue on many occasions, so I won’t delve terribly far into this rabbit hole. Let’s make one thing perfectly clear — Jim Benning didn’t want to conduct a teardown rebuild, and from what I can gather he hasn’t shifted gears at any point since. Ownership isn’t holding him at gunpoint. He sold them on a quick turnaround.

Everything that’s come out of Canucks Head Coach Willie Desjardins’ mouth from the off-season onward indicates this isn’t a development year. The Canucks want to win, and they want to win now. You know which goalie gives them the best chance to do that on a nightly basis? Ryan Miller. That was the case last season too. Which, in a vacuum, isn’t necessarily a knock on Jacob Markstrom.

Well, that’s a tough question to answer. The scouting report on Markstrom’s always came with the added caveat that a confounding amount of goals go through him. In about three years in the Canucks organization, that hasn’t changed. He has the 40th best even-strength Sv% among goaltenders with more than 300 minutes to their credit.

Overall, Markstrom’s development in the Canucks organization has been overwhelmingly positive, but that’s looking through a relative lens. There are still very real concerns that I have about his ability to be a 50-plus game goalie at the NHL level.

If only I had a crystal ball. Jeremy Davis did an excellent article highlighting the steps Horvat’s taken in these last few months, and it tells a mostly encouraging tale. If not by the end of this season, I’d think next. That makes sense. 

The Canucks are shopping Subban. That’s not an idle rumour. They’ve been trying to move him since before training camp. The good news? They’re not surrendering him for pennies on the dollar. In fact, from what I can gather they tried putting together a package that was borderline laughable insofar as what the Canucks requested.

Now, it’s entirely possible they’ve changed their stance. I highly doubt that, though. There’s no reason for them to. There isn’t a timeline here to follow. Subban isn’t waiver eligible until the 2018-19 season.

Regarding specifics, I have it on reliable authority that the Buffalo Sabres are scouting Jordan Subban extensively. That’s why they’re following the Utica Comets so closely. I’ve heard Johan Larsson’s available. Markus Foligno is a Benning type of player. Curious to see where this goes.

The Sabres iced a third pairing of Taylor Fedun and Justin Falk. They have Brendan Guhle on emergency recall playing on their second pair. With a healthy blue line the Sabres lack mobile defencemen that can move the puck. Under these circumstances, it’s laughable. I’m not sure Subban is ready for NHL action, but I’d bet the Sabres are willing to find out.

Subban’s a hot topic. To answer your question, though, I really haven’t a straight answer. I don’t think it’s inconceivable that Subban’s better than Philip Larsen at this stage. I was at the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, and contrary to all the negativity surrounding Subban, many of the scouts I spoke to agreed he was on the cusp of NHL readiness.

As an aside, I don’t think Larsen is that bad a defenceman. I don’t even think he’s necessarily bad. You could do a lot worse on your third pairing, truthfully. I just think he failed to hit on the expectations of being a power play saviour, and as a result, people think he’s a failure entirely. 

We’ve been offering roster composition ideas for as long as I can remember. Hell, more often than not, we get flak for how often we do it. Just visit the page often enough, and you’ll see these options almost daily. This weekend, for example, I argued in favour of claiming Teddy Purcell on waivers. The team, naturally, opted not to.

Enjoy: http://canucksarmy.com/2016/4/4/jim-benning-vs-a-vacuum-cleaner

I don’t see Troy Stecher as the type to groan about his number. Maybe it’s something they address for next season. Or maybe he just likes 51?

As for Gaunce, I’ve no clue. He made the team out of camp, so I assume he’d ask for a different number if he’d wanted one.

I keep coming back to the fact that Peter Chiarelli surrendered Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. I imagine anything is possible at this point. This is the landscape we’re operating in. Is it likely? Doubtful. Well, it’s very doubtful. Beyond improbable, even. Speaking of, I’d suggest the Oilers were they not in a playoff spot at the moment.