Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet that never goes on backorder.

Speaking of order, congratulations are in order! If you’re reading these words, you’ve officially made it to the last month of the offseason. Within four weeks or less of right now, the Vancouver Canucks will be back on the ice for Training Camp 2025, and after that comes exhibition action, and after that comes the genuine regular season.

We are almost there.

Which means it is probably time to switch gears slightly and change from talk of seasons past to the season to come.

And why not lead with a strength? The Vancouver blueline is the strongest it’s been since about 2011, and that’s quite an accomplishment for this front office. As we approach 2025-26, we can count at least nine defenders on the roster who probably deserve NHL minutes this year: Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, Marcus Pettersson, Tyler Myers, Derek Forbort, Elias Pettersson, Victor Mancini, Tom Willander, and P-O Joseph.

And there are also a couple of fellas in Abbotsford, namely Kirill Kudryavtsev and Jett Woo, who would love to extend that list even further.

Who remains on the roster right until opening night will be determined by a number of factors, including who performs best in the preseason and who might be best served by further developmental time in the minors. But whatever happens, the team is still going to need a ‘starting six’ on the blueline.

So, who you got?

This week, we’re asking you:

Let it be known in the comment section (and feel free to sort your six into three pairs, too!)

You answered below!

Messier? Myers?

There should be some interesting responses to this question.

Being underrated is such a subjective thing. The first name that came to mind was Brendan Morrison. Not because he was such a great player, but because of how completely overshadowed he was by his wingers.

I’m going with Alex Edler. Solid defenceman seemed to be the designated whipping boy during much of his time here. People didn’t notice the 125-foot bank passes that sprung a 2-on-1, but they noticed when his stick would break (like he meant for that to happen).

Took a $1.5 million home-team discount in exchange for an NTC, then spend the next four years being criticized for not waiving his NTC.

Alexandre Burrows is the most underrated Canuck of all time. People always consider him a passenger on the Sedin line, but the truth is that line only became great when he joined it. He was the only player to form true chemistry with the Sedins.

He was the work horse that would retrieve the pucks in the corners and get them to the Sedins, and he always worked hard to get open to receive a pass from the Sedins at any moment.

People forget how may players failed to play effectively with the Sedins.

The Sedins themselves have always said the Burrows was a big part of their success.

I still remember the time he scored eight goals in three games; two hat tricks, and a two-goal game with a shorthanded goal.

Burrows never truly got the respect he deserved for his offensive output and he was a true first line player.

I am debating between two diminutive players who are unfairly overshadowed in Canucks history: Tony Tanti and Cliff Ronning.

While Tanti was a premier goal scorer, I am going with Ronning. Listed at 5’8″ (might be smaller) and 170lbs he played first/second line center in one of the most dynamic teams in Canucks’ history.

The local kid was underrated at the time (and now), but was always a key guy in the playoffs. As a Canuck, he has more playoff goals than Kesler and a higher playoff goal per game rate (33% vs. 21%). Yet many Canucks’ fans would probably think it would be the other way around.

It’s funny, even when the NHL was arguably more physical, a short skinny player was a very good top-six center for the team. Today, many would complain if the team acquired a player like this.

I don’t think Christian Ehrhoff gets enough credit for his contributions in his short time here.

One of my favorite players from the 1994 era was Greg ‘Gus’ Adams and he is a guy that I find quite underrated. This member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame played eight seasons for the Canucks, topped 20 goals in five of those seasons and topped 30 is three of those.

He was the Sami Salo of that era, meaning he was often getting banged up, but that was because he sacrificed everything for his team and left it all on the ice when he played. Adams was definitely a guy I would want on the ice when game was on the line. He ranks 10th in all-time Canuck PP goals and 7th in all time 30-goal seasons… sure, there are players ahead of him on those charts, but those are all former Canuck stars players.

Adams was a great up and down the wing player who had very underrated speed and could blow past and out-power defenders with ease. He was also a very clutch scorer… remember the famous call in ’94? “Greg Adams, Greg Adams… and the Vancouver Canucks are going to the Stanley Cup Finals!”

Sergio Momesso and Gerald Diduck were two players that were overlooked by most.

Dana Murzyn.

Fans didn’t appreciate how feared he was. Players hated to face him. First name opponents brought up.

Routinely started a game with a solid hit…to set the tone.

When fans called him a pylon, it was because defence partner Jyrki Lumme backed in too far, giving up the blueline to a puck carrier when Murzyn was lined up to break up a play if Lumme forced a pass. By backing up, it was a green light for a player without the puck to step around Murzyn at the line…making him look flatfooted.

Happened way too often, which is why Lumme was not as good in my mind as people often thought he was.

He never learned how to defend the blueline and hung his partner out to dry.

Patrik Sundstrom.

Going with Druken or Chubarov.

I’m gonna say the greatest Canucks D of all time until the arrival of the great Quinn Hughes: most underrated Canuck of all time is Jyrki Lumme.

Gary Smith in the ‘70s, Petri Skriko in the ‘80s, Jyrki Lumme in the ‘90s, Matthias Ohlund in the 2000s, Jannik Hansen in the 2010s. They all got some props but not nearly as much as they should have. Smith only had those two seasons, but stood on his head for outrageously bad teams. Skriko had four straight 30-goal seasons during a time when it wasn’t clear a lot of the team even knew how to skate. Outside of Paul Reinhart, Lumme was one of the few d-men we’ve ever had who has had such incredible offensive abilities prior to Hughes. Ohlund stepped into an absolute mess during those late ‘90s transition years and provided stability where we had none, was really not credited with how much he helped the emergence of the WCE and then Sedin years. And Hansen brought a Honey Badger energy that we’ve very rarely seen on what are often criticized as some pretty country club vibes for Canucks teams.

Sami Salo did it all.. Booming shot, great in his own end, and decent first pass.

He blocked everything and was often injured because of it. Yet the Top-50 Canuck list

that is playing out on this site right now has Bieksa better then him. So there you go.

Underrated.

Mike Gillis for management.. Yes his drafts were sucky, but the mandate was to win now. Since were not rebuilding, I rather him over the current duo of Allvin and Rutherford.

Thomas Vanek… That guy was great!!

Until this year I would have said Alexander Mogilny. A player that good not being in the HOF was a severe underrating. Now I will have to go with another Alex, Alexander Edler. He was good his entire time with the Canucks and still got dumped on by a segment of the fanbase.

Couldn’t do overrated because too easy.

This one!

Dan Hamhius! The Hammer got hurt and the Canucks 2011 dream was dead.

Then he left.

A lot of good names have been mentioned already, but when I think about who was the most underrated Canucks in my lifetime, I’d have to say that honour goes to Ryan Walter. Before Walter came to Vancouver, the Canucks went 15 straight seasons finishing below .500. The two years Walter was with the Canucks they broke the then franchise record for wins, points, and winning percentage and then broke that record the following year with back to back .600 seasons. The year Walter signed with the Canucks, it was Linden’s first year as the sole captain of the team. Doug Lidster, Dan Quinn, and Trevor Linden were rotating captains the year before. Walter provided stable veteran leadership and mentorship to a young Canuck roster.

Cam Neely – hands down. They should have rated him higher.

Underrated? Tony Tanti or Jyrki Lumme. What these two did with VERY little talent around them was amazing. On elite teams, these two would have been legitimate stars in the league at their respective times.