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donlever wrote: ↑Mon Jan 12, 2026 8:54 pm Barring a miracle we should be solidly in 32nd @ the break.

It's great to see a return of optimism to this board !

I've been optimistic about our failures for some time.

Season commencement arguably.

If they can somehow manage to get another 1st for Sherwood, and move out a couple more to grab something in the 2nd and 3rd, this could be a killer draft year for the Canucks.....possibly the best ever.

Nuckertuzzi has been promoting 4 of the top 35 as a possibility.

Liking the optimism 'about our failures' in the last several posts.

If anything the doom & gloom is what will ultimately derail our rebuild. The reason it won't fly here is our fan base is way too emotional. The amount of pissing and moaning on sm and post game shows the past couple games alone. I mean my god, we're trying to tank here folks. If we can't handle a 7 game losing streak, how the hell are we gonna last the next 3 to 5 years!? Because that's how much losing we will have to endure for a proper rebuild to work. The fear is ol' itchy Aquapants will feel the ire and we all know how that goes.

Anyhoo, back on the optimism train…

Yep, like Donny said, a successful season for me is having the 1st overall pick (or at worse a top 3) plus 3 more in the top 35. Also on board with Mëds in snagging another couple of 2nd & 3rd's. As miserable as the team has left us on the ice, I don't think I've been as stoked in the past 15 years as I would be to have all these lottery tickets come draft weekend. If we can accumulate 6/7 picks in the first 3 rounds, and actually use them all to select draftees, it will signal the first time during my fandom that this team is approaching things the right way for a change. Remains to be seen if they carry it through. It's the only thing I'm looking for.

I think if the Canucks get a good superstar they can handle a rebuild.
Even if they lose a lot, a team with a Celebrini type, packs the building.
Quinn Hughes sold tickets.
If they screw up the draft picks fans will lose interest.
Seats will soon empty watching this current core flounder.

Picker of Cherries wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 4:43 am Seats will soon empty watching this current core flounder.

...we are well into this phase already PoC.

Seats are not only empty but the level of "panicked" ticket promotion is beyond levels I have seen for years.

Topper had taken note and penned a post about this many weeks back to RG like fanfare thus little response, might have been a whoosh post, so it has been ongoing for some time.

We are also at jersey on ice, bags on heads levels now.

I imagine that once the team returns tail between the legs crushed post current roadie we may start hearing sell the team or fire jr chants in the barn.

Good times....

Adam Foote.

Your Tank Commander.

...at your service.

Yup this year is a write-off with more and more empty seats and panic in the front office.I was more responding to the next few seasons, and fans being able to handle a rebuild. A Gavin McKennan would fill a lot of seats, and the good thing is the Tank will go on with or without Foote for at least one more season with all these non-preforming contracts locked in for next season. Old Tank Commanders never die, they just fade away.

donlever wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 5:47 am

We are also at jersey on ice, bags on heads levels now.

I imagine that once the team returns tail between the legs crushed post current roadie we may start hearing sell the team or fire jr chants in the barn.

Good times....

And this is just the beginning of the rebuild.
It will take years before they'll be worth some optimism.
Most of us will be dead.

The next 2 drafts are good years to be near the top and this year in particular seems to be very deep.

With some decent luck and solid drafting we could be a very solid team in a few short years.

At that time the cap should increase substantially. OEL buyout is done in 2030/31. With a good young core on ELCs we could then add some talent with the cap space we have.

Anyways, its a great idea if it works but we all know how our luck typically goes!

Aaronp18 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 8:29 am Anyways, its a great idea if it works but we all know how our luck typically goes!

And we all have to live long enough to see it happen!

Aaronp18 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 8:29 am The next 2 drafts are good years to be near the top and this year in particular seems to be very deep.

With some decent luck and solid drafting we could be a very solid team in a few short years.

At that time the cap should increase substantially. OEL buyout is done in 2030/31. With a good young core on ELCs we could then add some talent with the cap space we have.

Anyways, its a great idea if it works but we all know how our luck typically goes!

I think if the Canucks finish bottom of the league the next 2 years and stay in the top 3, then I'm with you. Having said this, the management needs to hit with multiple draft picks, not just the top pick (which alone has risk).

Without relitigating the whole Benning era, the team had 4 top 10 picks and actually hit on two of them (despite resisting that rebuild). One of them turned into a likely HOFer. Quinn Hughes is the equivalent of a 1OA pick and a good one at that.

Put simply, the best case scenario is that the Canucks finish dead last and are guaranteed to draft one of Mckenna, Stenberg or Verhoeff. I think it's safe to say that if any of these turns into the equivalent of a Quinn Hughes, we'd be happy.... and yet we all know that won't be enough. So in my view, to accelerate a rebuild, we'd need the following:

• 2026 Draft - Elite Forward/Defenseman (Top 3 pick) + 2 more quality players

• 2027 Draft - Elite Centre (Top 5 pick) + 2 more quality players

• Astute trading and drafting to maximize our chances of fostering this new core

• Successful development of our prospects

Hockey Widow wrote: ↑Mon Jan 12, 2026 3:45 pm Partly both. There is or was internal division about Demko going back 3-4 years. Rutherford and Allvin wanted/needed more time to evaluate. There is a strong believe he is mentally fragile. It is a delicate situation because while they believe he is injury prone they have been left confused by his recovery times. I think there is a belief that he can be a difference maker but confidence in his durability have worn thin. Perhaps extending him was meant to send a message to the rest of the league that they had full confidence in him. The rest is my conjecture.

Interesting. I didn't remember this about Demko specifically but it adds up. Reminds me of Gillis first coming into town and challenging the Sedins' place as franchise players... that changed quickly and he's lucky they didn't bolt!

Overall I still think the Canucks made the right call, choosing Demko over Markstrom but it feels all for nought right now. It's tough to be a Canucks fan these days.

As several people here were fans of the Canucks from the '70s/80s, I'm curious to know if you would agree with me that this is the worst era in franchise history. I started watching the Canucks in the early '90s, so frankly speaking they had a pretty good 20 year stretch - yes they had low moments but overall they were competitive most years and had some exciting players and teams. For that reason, I never considered them a disaster of a franchise but rather a moderately successful one with a few really painful moments.

The futility of these last 10-15 years really puts this franchise in a different perspective. Every franchise has down years/eras but this stretch is way too long.

rockalt wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 10:01 am

Aaronp18 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 8:29 am The next 2 drafts are good years to be near the top and this year in particular seems to be very deep.

With some decent luck and solid drafting we could be a very solid team in a few short years.

At that time the cap should increase substantially. OEL buyout is done in 2030/31. With a good young core on ELCs we could then add some talent with the cap space we have.

Anyways, its a great idea if it works but we all know how our luck typically goes!

I think if the Canucks finish bottom of the league the next 2 years and stay in the top 3, then I'm with you. Having said this, the management needs to hit with multiple draft picks, not just the top pick (which alone has risk).

Without relitigating the whole Benning era, the team had 4 top 10 picks and actually hit on two of them (despite resisting that rebuild). One of them turned into a likely HOFer. Quinn Hughes is the equivalent of a 1OA pick and a good one at that.

Put simply, the best case scenario is that the Canucks finish dead last and are guaranteed to draft one of Mckenna, Stenberg or Verhoeff. I think it's safe to say that if any of these turns into the equivalent of a Quinn Hughes, we'd be happy.... and yet we all know that won't be enough. So in my view, to accelerate a rebuild, we'd need the following:

• 2026 Draft - Elite Forward/Defenseman (Top 3 pick) + 2 more quality players

• 2027 Draft - Elite Centre (Top 5 pick) + 2 more quality players

• Astute trading and drafting to maximize our chances of fostering this new core

• Successful development of our prospects

I don't disagree with that assessment at all and it's pretty much in line with how I feel about the next couple years.

At this point we really have 3 first rounders with Ottawa forfeiting theirs this year if we stay dead last. As everyone keeps saying, hopefully we can pick up another with Kiefer. Maybe a later pick for Kane. Not sure about the rest of the players if there is any interest at all!

donlever wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 5:47 am

Picker of Cherries wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 4:43 am Seats will soon empty watching this current core flounder.

We are also at jersey on ice, bags on heads levels now.

I imagine that once the team returns tail between the legs crushed post current roadie we may start hearing sell the team or fire jr chants in the barn.

Those things will happen, however, I think that if the Canucks embrace rebuild, and we see a couple of vets shipped out for picks and futures, the fans seats won't remain empty for long (provided ownership has half a brain.....which is of course the crux of it all).

There is one pathway I can see for them to avoid the jersey on the ice.....

The first key thing is that Rutherford and Allvin have to go. This will be a tricky one as it will cost ownership as they both have contracts running through the end of next season. But this needs fresh eyes, there's too much water under the current bridge for anyone to have confidence in this crew seeing this through.

Sherwood, and two or three of Myers, Boeser, Garland, Kane, M. Pettersson, Petey, DeBrusk, Demko, and Lankinen, get moved out.

A 1st has to come back. A 2nd and/or a decent prospect under 21 has to come back. Quantity of picks/prospects will depend upon number of vets moved out.

All returns are kept and we see them picking multiple times in the first 2 rounds. OR.....we spin a draft pick (the lowest first) in a package that brings a really good young player in return. But still pick twice in the first round and a couple more in the 2nd and 3rd.

If those things happen, the empty seats might drive ticket prices down and the real fans (the ones who like hockey) might come back because a real rebuild is what we have been screaming for since GMMG's last season at the helm. Maybe it's just me, but if they committed hard to a rebuild, and picked and traded for young talent that we saw potential in, if that happened, I would not loathe paying an average of $100/ticket to watch that team develop into a winning team and contender.....but $400 or more for two people to go to a game? No.

The rub in this plan is the no-trade/no-movement clauses that they have handed out.

E. Pete, Boeser, DeBrusk, Myers, M. Pete, and Lankinen, all have full no-moves right now.

Kane, O'Connor, and Blueger, all have M-NTC's.

Demko? Well Wids more than covered off any thoughts that could be shared regarding Mr. Injury in her post of a day or two ago.

That leaves Sherwood and Garland, ironically they are probably the best of our two trade chips, however Garland is the guy that I would be most sorry to see go.....but for his sake, I hope he gets dealt somewhere he can chase a Cup.