Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet to somehow get snubbed at the latest Academy Awards.
Speaking of errors in judgment, the fine folks at Sportsnet may have made one when they aired a graphic during Monday’s matchup between the Vancouver Canucks and the Detroit Red Wings labeled “Three Keys to Vancouver’s Turnaround.”
If you haven’t seen the list yet – or, more likely, the online lampooning of the list – it would have you believe that all the Canucks really need to turn things around are 1) a defenceman (any defenceman?!), 2) Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Andrei Kuzmenko to play even better, and 3) a healthy Thatcher Demko.
Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of those three items, and they all definitely qualify as something that the Canucks need. But as the sum total of all that separates this team from future success, we’re more than a little skeptical.
Somehow, we just don’t think trading for Justin Holl at the Trade Deadline is going to do it.
The lacklustrousness of the list, however, does raise an interesting question.
In fact, let’s make it a hypothetical.
You have just been hired by a regional broadcaster to produce a graphic highlighting the three things – and only three things – required to turn this Canucks team around in point them in a positive direction.
If you don’t come up with a list of three, you’re fired.
Alright, with that motivation in mind, we’re asking you:

What three things do the Canucks need most to turn their franchise around?

Let it be known in the comment section.
Last week, we asked:

If you could undo any Canucks’ decision over the past year, which would it be, and why?

You rewrote recent history below!
CptPodz:
The OEL and Garland trade, that one is worth inventing a time machine to undo…and if I invented a time machine, I won’t stop at one year when that awful mistake is so close.
JCOX250:
The Dickinson trade. Absolutely brutal. Stillman seems to be showing better under the new coach, though. Sigh…
A close second is, if the rumours were true, not taking the JTM trade last year from NYR. Chytil is showing well this season.
Brouxby:
(Winner of the author’s weekly award for eloquence)
It’s gotta be the decisions with Miller. He should have been traded last deadline, or at least in the summer. Not trading him cost us draft capital, cap space, morale, and Bo Horvat.
RagnarokOroboros:
I would not have re-signed Miller. I was have traded him while his value is at an all-time high. I don’t understand why the Canucks destroyed their salary cap with that signing when they could have got a first round pick and defensemen instead.
defenceman factory:
I’d undo a number of moves. The Lekkerimäki draft pick is at or near the top of the list. Re-signing Brock Boeser is right up there, too.
Jean-Daniel Gagnon:
As much as I hate the fact that they prioritized Miller over Horvat, I really, really hate the Dickinson trade, especially seeing how the season has gone. Seriously, the cap relief was nowhere near having to give a second round pick for. This was the absolute “buy high, sell low.” We basically paid a third and second round pick for one disastrous season of both Dickinson and Stillman, unacceptable.
Kearnsie:
Obviously, if the Noox had a do-over, they would not have hired Rutherford and Allvin and instead would have turned the team over to a manager that understands the principles of MoneyPuck.
Canuck Dog:
As far as bad trades, I think more about the FA signings of Curtis Lazar and Dakota Joshua that upset me. Not really gritty, heavy, or mean enough. Nor do I like the fact that they never picked up MacEwen on waivers a few months ago. We are so in need of some real grit, to dig the puck out, and keep the high talent safe up front. Guys that can get hurt or sit in the box, but play up once in awhile, like Zack if developed properly. After, they more or less failed in the summer with this department’s additions.
CRobinson:
In order or priority: drafting Lekkerimäki, extending Miller, and the Dickinson trade.
BeerCan Boyd:
Drafting a small, slow winger with their first pick when they have zero A1 prospects on the back-end. This will not age well.
Jon0:
With the power of hindsight, I would’ve let Bruce walk into the sunset in the offseason and started this new Tocchet era from the beginning of the season. Based on his small sample size so far, he’s found a way to get more out of a lot of our underperformers.
K-Dawg:
Undo: signing JT Miller. I wish they dealt him last year at the deadline when he was red hot. As long as the return yielded a combo of picks/blue chip prospects etc.
Brian Togri:
The one “move” I would undo is the decision to retool vs rebuild. To me, that means trading Miller at the TDL last year and quite possibly Horvat as well. The cascading effect would have impacted last year’s draft and the offseason in such a significant manner. Trading Demko in the summer would have then been a literal no-brainer. The assets from those three alone would have started a rebuild at lightspeed. There would have been no urgency to trade the Garlands, Boesers, Dickinsons etc. of this team until they had rehabilitated their values and riding out Myers/OEL would actually fit a progressive timeline. IMO, Rutherford et al missed a glorious opportunity.