AROUND THE LEAGUE - 25-26

[Meds]

But pick 17...well, this could be some pick...Kashawn Aitchison....big kid who plays D with that Brian Burke belligerence.

I believe the word you are searching for here is: truculence.

[donlever]

Burke used to say both...

[Carl Yagro]

Ok...

Yeah, Dobson seemed to have regressed quite a bit statistically last season, but $9.5M probably is fair value these days for that top-pairing Dman.

Their new GM pulled off a ballsy move. Not sure if Lou would have been able to have done this.

Kashawn could be something... hopefully it's not anything like the Male Nurse.

Great for the Fish Sticks.

[Chef Boi RD]

I think it was a good trade for the Islanders future drafting Aitcheson and Eklund with the two picks returned for Dobson. Both are solid prospects. This is the kinda shit I’d like to see the Canucks do. Oh btw, the Islanders are tied with the fourth best record in the eastern conference. Shocking! Being that they sold a good young defenceman for draft picks only in return, AND keeping the picks! Golly Gee Willikers, Batman!! Apparently this is sacrilege in Vancouver, it’s a terrible idea according to ole salty - Jim Rutherford - “A rebuild is not something that we're going to look at doing,” Rutherford told Sportsnet. “Like I said, we're in transition. But we're not trading all these players for draft picks that may or may not end up playing someday”

Interesting, regarding Rutherford’s attitude - the Canucks unlike the Islanders are not in the playoff picture holding the 3rd worst record in the western conference. Bad, bad, bad! No good man, selling vets for picks and prospects AND keeping the picks! Oh, remember they traded veteran Brock Nelson for prospect Callum Ritchie, former 1st rd pick in the 2023 draft? Ritchie is up with the club right now, scored a couple goals recently in just 12 games. Solid right shot centre - 6’-2” 200 lbs.

The Islanders centre depth - Horvat, Barzal, Ritchie. Interesting what a proper centre depth can do for a club.

With how well the Islanders are playing one sure doesn’t get the impression their vets are terribly unhappy with trading a vet in Dobson for picks only and trading Nelson for an unproven prospect in return. In fact, their response shown by the splendid season they are having would indicate the opposite. Apparently in Vancouver they don’t want to upset the players by selling vets for futures. It’s not a good idea, man.

3rd worst record in the western conference. A team in transition apparently, in the words of the great Jim Rutherford. You want to see a team in transition? The Islanders. Wow! Who woulda thunk it?

The mushy middle! Love it!!!

[donlever]

Like going to Church Sunday morning and receiving Communion eh Dude.

You feel cleansed now?

In all seriousness I like the way the Islanders are trending and loved the Aitcheson pick.

Seems like maybe Roy can coach a bit.....(remember the drama when his name came up in these parts...)

[Chef Boi RD]

Like going to Church Sunday morning and receiving Communion eh Dude.

You feel cleansed now?

In all seriousness I like the way the Islanders are trending and loved the Aitcheson pick.

Seems like maybe Roy can coach a bit.....(remember the drama when his name came up in these parts...)

Donny, we are the dumbest organization in the NHL. I’m fairly convinced of it now. What did Megs say where our ownership is ranked in the NHL? 30th?

The disconnect right now between the fan base and ownership is wider than the division between the Democrats and Republicans

“We are not trading players for picks that may or may not make it”

“We are a team in transition.”

Coulda a damn fooled me. 3rd worst record in the WC. Transitioning, you say? What direction, Jim? Looks south to me.

Aitcheson is having a helluva season in the O

[donlever]

Last I heard he had 15 goals Dude....

6 foot 1 200 lbs and just turned 19.

[dangler]

3rd worst record in the western conference. A team in transition apparently, in the words of the great Jim Rutherford. You want to see a team in transition? The Islanders. Wow! Who woulda thunk it?

3rd worst in the league:
https://www.espn.com/nhl/standings/_/group/league

They're a team in transition alright

[rikster]

Like going to Church Sunday morning and receiving Communion eh Dude.

You feel cleansed now?

In all seriousness I like the way the Islanders are trending and loved the Aitcheson pick.

Seems like maybe Roy can coach a bit.....(remember the drama when his name came up in these parts...)

Donny, we are the dumbest organization in the NHL. I’m fairly convinced of it now. What did Megs say where our ownership is ranked in the NHL? 30th?

The disconnect right now between the fan base and ownership is wider than the division between the Democrats and Republicans

“We are not trading players for picks that may or may not make it”

“We are a team in transition.”

Coulda a damn fooled me. 3rd worst record in the WC. Transitioning, you say? What direction, Jim? Looks south to me.

Aitcheson is having a helluva season in the O

I'd like to see an injury report beside every team in the standings...

The Islanders are an older team which happens to be one of the healthiest teams in the league for the first 22 games,and with so many teams suffering so many injuries, especially to core players, I would expect that when its all said and done the teams at the top of the standings will be the teams which sustained the fewest man games lost to injuries...

Toronto is having a Chef sized melt down over the leaves play but my gosh look at their injury report!;

https://www.espn.com/nhl/team/injuries/_/name/tor

Then there is the matter of playing in your time zones, the Islanders have a losing record so far against teams in the West...

Have some patience and let the season play out, especially after the Olympic break and pray that the Canucks injuries are all in the rear view mirror...

[Cornuck]

Injuries through November 20

[Chef Boi RD]

3rd worst record in the western conference. A team in transition apparently, in the words of the great Jim Rutherford. You want to see a team in transition? The Islanders. Wow! Who woulda thunk it?

3rd worst in the league:
https://www.espn.com/nhl/standings/_/group/league

They're a team in transition alright

The “transition” comment is what gets me, especially considering WC teams like Anaheim, Utah, Chicago and San Jose. WC teams I consider to be “teams in transition”. Vancouver? Transitioning? Yeah, no. OR, maybe its just the direction of the transition where I disagree with Rutherford.

[Chef Boi RD]

Cornuck, with a healthy squad, even if they manage to sneak back door into the playoffs, do you honestly see this team getting to the WC Finals anytime soon?

What’s the goal here? Mediocrity? Our Core Four Under 24 was recently ranked 26th in the league. This team is only transitioning sideways and down. Four of the type five core 4 under 24 teams were WC teams. Where is this going to but another decade of mushy middle hockey?

[Carl Yagro]

Chef might need to be sat out a few games by the CC's Department of Poster Safety to help him lower his cortisol.

His Rantanens are hitting it right in the numbers and slamming the followers face-first onto these here boards.

[donlever]

Are you serious?

Or just MacKinnon around....

[Cornuck]

Cornuck, with a healthy squad, even if they manage to sneak back door into the playoffs, do you honestly see this team getting to the WC Finals anytime soon?

At the beginning of the season, I thought we had a reasonable chance to make the playoffs and win a round, possibly 2. That depended on things going right. From there, we would have had something to build on and, in theory, progress each year.

Narrator: "But things did not go right."

This season has proven that we can't rely on things to go our way. Demko is done as a reliable #1. Our 2C is done. Add in the other injuries that were not expected, and we're right where we should be - near the bottom of the division & league.

With that said, the current lineup is not deep enough or consistently healthy enough to compete for the WCF any time soon. We will be hampered by the 2 goaltender contracts, lack of top-six talent, and possibly a thin prospect pool.

I think our D is good to excellent and should get better with time. We have a great centre prospect in Cootes coming - maybe as early as next year. But that's about it for things to forward to. :/

The next question is for management - what do you do about it? Rutherford says that he can fix this. I don't think he can. I don't believe we have the assets to attract top-six talent without decimating our D. Do we have the time to draft our way out of this? That will take 2-6 years, with a likely 4 year window to build, assuming we hit some home runs in the drafts.

The final question is - do we blow it up and start over? Petey has the NTC, but I could see him waiving for a bigger market. We have control over Hughes. After that, we might get a couple of 2nds and 3rds (maybe a 1st or two, depending on how desperate teams are at the TDL.

This season could have gone 2 ways, and it went downhill fast. Every hole we have has been exposed. And that is what makes being a Canuck fan so special.