Canucks News N Notes 25-26

[UWSaint]

If it's a cap dump, why now? Is there a UFA they want to sign right away? Even so, they can be over the cap, right? Not getting this deal at all.

Why now as opposed to closer to camp is a good question. Best guess is that Joshua's been floated all offseason without a ton of significant interest and they decided to make the move before that interest went away entirely. It could also be they are working on another move now and don't want to make the trade from a position of "everyone knows you have to make a trade."

[Blob Mckenzie]

If it's a cap dump, why now? Is there a UFA they want to sign right away? Even so, they can be over the cap, right? Not getting this deal at all.

Why now as opposed to closer to camp is a good question. Best guess is that Joshua's been floated all offseason without a ton of significant interest and they decided to make the move before that interest went away entirely. It could also be they are working on another move now and don't want to make the trade from a position of "everyone knows you have to make a trade."

^^^^ This ^^^^

[Ronning's Ghost]

it will be nearly a 4% cap hit for a guy who is playing 30 games a year and not in the playoffs (unless Demko is unhealthy or falls apart).

To me, the imperative to keep Demko from falling apart means that they should have Lankinen scheduled to play more than 30 games.

Demko seems to have fully recovered and entered the off season fully healthy.

If true, that would be great news for the Canucks, and absolutely essential if they are going to win any playoff games.

But I don't think that "fully recovered" and "fully healthy" necessarily mean "fully returned to his youthful levels of durability", and I would be unwilling to test the proposition to destruction.

Lots of long eastern road trips to start the season. Having a pair of capable goalies is absolutely essential especially considering Demko and his popliteus

I agree. I think that we (and the ownership/management group, and especially, the coaching staff) should think of Lankinen not as a back-up, but as junior-position regular who will get about 40 starts. For that position, he seems to me to be just right: good enough to keep the Canucks in as many games as he has to play, but not so good -- or with so much upside -- as to create a goalie controversy.

I don't know if any of that justifies his salary in the current goalie market, but it does justify signing a more-capable-than-average secondary goalie.

[Ronning's Ghost]

For exactly one season in his career Dakota Joshua played better than the guy you can pick up on waivers or every summer as the "remainder" in a free agency class (edit: how the Canucks got him to begin with).

That season got him a $13M contract. Well played, Dakota. Godspeed to you.

The Canucks were wrong to resign him -- its not that they overpaid (he would have gotten that deal more or less if he had become a UFA -- and the fact there was some return (even if minimal) shows this), its that they could have found another Joshua (and they did -- Sherwood), and that $3.25M/AAV might have been better spent making different moves with the D and the roster spot better used for keeping Podkolzin around.

And I've commented here before -- while the Joshua, Hoglander, and O'Connor contracts are not bad in isolation -- the marginal benefit you are getting from their play vs. replacements in those roster spots is relatively small, so when you stack those contracts (esp. with dead cap), you eliminate a chance to find a more significant marginal improvement. Joshua made the most sense to move, IMO, given (1) he made the most, (2) some of what he brought will be matched by Kane (toughness, thoughtless stupid penalties), (3) the rest of what he brought was "pre-replaced" by O'Connor, and (4) while Hoglander will probably not become much more, he's more likely than the others to improve trade value or outperform contract as time moves on...

I agree with that assessment. Fans on this board are so hungry for sandpaper that they are willing to over-pay for any player who brings any.

The Canucks should be able to plug in someone 90+% as good for less than half as much just by watching the waiver wire.

[Hockey Widow]

The Canucks felt backed into a corner when they resigned him and he essentially priced himself off the team. Most saw him as a nice piece but overpaid. I like Dak. I like what he brought. When he is on his game he adds a great dimension to our forward group. His willingness to stand up for teammates will be missed. But as others have said we have added a more offensively gifted top six who can fill that role and Sherwood adds the grit. Not sure who will drop the gloves when we need it though.

Is he also not one pf the players that does not always show up to camp in tip top shape? Last season aside. I remember he was called out by Tocchet the year before last for showing up not ready to go.

This is a our cap dump. So the question is, would we have rather kept our 4th and not added Kane? It really is a choice between the two. Time will tell what the right move was.

But this cap frees us up to add another centre.

[Chef Boi RD]

I’ve never been overly impressed with Joshua, he had some moments but they were short lived. Super inconsistent. I find his motor to be frustrating, a bit to casual and too often, if he had another gear he’d be a good player.

[Megaterio Llamas]

Joshua is making $3.25, a little more than I had thought. I was thinking it was more in the $2.5 range.

Presumably, this frees up the cap room to squeeze Roslovic in there. But I guess we're going to find out in due course.

[UWSaint]

Joshua is making $3.25, a little more than I had thought. I was thinking it was more in the $2.5 range.

Presumably, this frees up the cap room to squeeze Roslovic in there. But I guess we're going to find out in due course.

Maybe, but I don’t want Roslovic. He and Chytl are redundant; can’t afford two suspect-in-their-end centers. Roslovic has been deployed a fair amount on wing, I think largely due to the holes in his defensive game. But if the Canucks are to add an offensive wing (who is not a sure thing) with holes in his defensive game, I am more intrigued by Chinakov due to age and the shot.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Chinakov is interesting as is Sillinger. Columbus is loaded with young talent. Not sure what they would want from Vancouver.

Bottom line is they freed up 3.25 million. Joshua had a good year in 23/24. But he's showed up obese to 2 of 3 camps.

[Megaterio Llamas]

Joshua is making $3.25, a little more than I had thought. I was thinking it was more in the $2.5 range.

Presumably, this frees up the cap room to squeeze Roslovic in there. But I guess we're going to find out in due course.

Maybe, but I don’t want Roslovic. He and Chytl are redundant; can’t afford two suspect-in-their-end centers. Roslovic has been deployed a fair amount on wing, I think largely due to the holes in his defensive game. But if the Canucks are to add an offensive wing (who is not a sure thing) with holes in his defensive game, I am more intrigued by Chinakov due to age and the shot.

Yeah, Chinakov is more interesting even if he is a temperamental Russian, but he's going to cost, as @Blob mentioned. I don't really want Roslovic either, I'm just reading the tea leaves.

[Hockey Widow]

There are rumours that Florida is looking to make a cap dump and that someone may be Evan Rodrigues. He is listed as a centre/winger and his cap is 3m for the next two seasons. Perhaps they can snag him on the cheap.

[Picker of Cherries]

Evan Rodrigues could be worth a try but he is nothing special especially in the regular season. He has produced well in the last two playoff runs as Bennett’s winger - when Bennett heats up, but those point burst have more to do with Bennett at centre. I don’t think he is a 2C, but he might fill in just as well as Chytil, Roslovic, or Sasson. All three of them are speedy players who don’t score a ton and are below average defensively. I think Rodrigues would be better defensively, but he is probably a mid-30 point type player in the regular season. He’d try to play with Florida grit, but he’s 5’11, 182, so when push comes to shove there isn’t much there. If they can get him as a cap dump for a mid to low draft pick, he could be worth a try, but his acquisition could mean they are just adding to more winger depth which isn’t a high priority especially since Chytil, Roslovic and Sasson will probably ultimately end up as wingers, too - unless they can improve their defensively play dramatically. With Rodrigues, the Canucks would still be looking to trade for a legit 2C or develop one from Raty, Mueller or Cootes - who all play better defensively if they can generate enough offence to move into the top six.

[rikster]

I'

m not ragging on Lankinen. I think he's fine as a player, not a bad backup at all. An "elite" third liner perhaps... But you know what he does better than goaltending? Hire agents who could sell this team on that contract.....

Echoing that famous coaches rant, he is what he is and what he has always been...

That gives managment the confidence to sign him to 5 years and coaches the confidence to play him ...

Any complaints about the contract without considering that it reaches into an expected cap north of $120 million is naive in my opinion...

Like many longer term contracts it might be considered an overpayment in year one and below market value in its later years...

As for hiring an agent who can sell the team on the contract, I think the opposite...the agent was pushing for a shorter term contract because the total value of shorter term contracts over the next 5 years would have been much greater than the value of the 5 years he signed in Vancouver...

Take care...

[Chef Boi RD]

Joshua is making $3.25, a little more than I had thought. I was thinking it was more in the $2.5 range.

Presumably, this frees up the cap room to squeeze Roslovic in there. But I guess we're going to find out in due course.

Maybe, but I don’t want Roslovic. He and Chytl are redundant; can’t afford two suspect-in-their-end centers. Roslovic has been deployed a fair amount on wing, I think largely due to the holes in his defensive game. But if the Canucks are to add an offensive wing (who is not a sure thing) with holes in his defensive game, I am more intrigued by Chinakov due to age and the shot.

I agree, UW. I’ve never understood the Roslovic obsession. He doesn’t move the needle. Might as well just keep Chyt For Brains

[Chef Boi RD]

The new crew have traded quite a few players within a year of signing or trading:

Ilya Mikheyev
Danton Heinen
Anthony Beauvillier
Sam Lafferty
Vincent Desharnais
Dakota Joshua
Lazar

Who am I missing?

Do these cats not think things through before pulling triggers? They remind me of Pakistani parade goers firing off AK-47’s into the sky.