W-GDT: Nucks @ isles mar26/25 4:30 pst SN

[Hockey Widow]

I guess we can with without the Alien. Imagine how much better we would be with a decent return on him. To Buffalo for Norris plus.

[Todd Bersnoozi]

Our new Swedish Touch line: Karlsson-Aman-Lekkermaki.

Demmer has been great the last couple games, but I still fear he could tweak something any minute. Every time he does the splits or if some dood bumps into him, I just kinda cringe. For the luv of god, if Blankenen is rdy next game... Tocc, plz play him! Plz ease Demmer's workload, load mgmt.

[Nuckertuzzi]

Typical Canucks, trying to give us hope after they're out of it.

This is where I'm at. Not that they haven't been impressive, they have. It's good to see some fight for sure, but let's not get fooled by this. It's not just a Canuck thing, you see it all the time when a bad or undermanned team comes together for a late season surge to give everyone hope for next year. We've done it before and remember the pre-McDavid bad Oilers doing it every year the moment the pressure was off?

Not that the pressure's off these Nucks by any means given how tight the race is, but in a way it is because they know within the group that there's no top-end talent up front and expectations have changed. They're much looser, they're playing for each other and it's working, but it's something that's not going to be sustainable for a long stretch. Take this group as is into the start of next year for a full season and the wheels will come off at some point. Make no mistake, major surgery is in the offing. At least up front.

Not trying to revive the Canadians vs non-Cans debate, but I definitely would not mind seeing a few more locals added back to the lineup this Summer. I mean how the F do the Whitecaps and Lions have more Canadians on their teams than the local hockey club?!?

[Blob Mckenzie]

I guess we can with without the Alien. Imagine how much better we would be with a decent return on him. To Buffalo for Norris plus.

Yuck

[Hockey Widow]

I guess we can with without the Alien. Imagine how much better we would be with a decent return on him. To Buffalo for Norris plus.

Yuck

I was joking. But we do need to upgrade on Chytle. I wonder if they think Suter can hold down a top six centre role? I would target Traverse on a z2 year deal while we try to improve.

[Picker of Cherries]

Don’t see the need for major surgery for next season. The club really needs a top six centre. To me their goalies and defence are pretty much set. They’ll live and die with Demko’s health while they try to develop another NHL goalie in the AHL (Tolopilo, Young, Koskenvuo, Silovs).

They have lots of options for the bottom six forwards. For third and fourth line centres they can choose two from Chytil (if healthy), Raty, Blugers, Aman, and Sasson and they can all do okay in bottom six centre roles. I don’t think management is moving Petey, so he is one top six centre, but they’ll need to add one more.

They have seven wingers signed now who look like legitimate NHLers next season Garland, Joshua, DeBrusk, Hoglander, Lekkerimäki, O’Connor, Sherwood. They need a couple more. In time, maybe Karlsson, Bains, Klimovich, Mueller or Alriksson can grow into that group, but they are not legitimate NHLers yet.

They can swing for the fences and try to add a difference maker on the wing (Ehlers, Marner types) but it’s not a huge priority, especially if Lekkerimaki has a good summer. If they can’t sign a difference maker, just adding a couple more gritty wingers would help a lot. That’s probably at a lower cap hit, and not a huge priority (unless Tom Wilson becomes available:). Worst case scenario, they’ll probably be able to find a couple late summer cheap UFA signings that will help on the wings if they miss out on all the big fish.

Trader Jim and Alvin have one priority this summer, getting one legit top six centre. That’s not major surgery.

[5thhorseman]

Trader Jim and Alvin have one priority this summer, getting one legit top six centre. That’s not major surgery.

Can't see it being done without letting Willander go. I doubt anyone want Chytil +.

[Chef Boi RD]

They need to get rid of Chytil for a bucket of pucks as fast as they got rid of Sprong. Sign Suter, they have no choice. Centre is in a dismal state of affairs.

[2Fingers]

I don’t think what Suter is doing is sustainable and Canucks will be mesmerized by his play this year and over pay and too many years. That is how this team works.

[theman]

Agree they will have to unload Chytil, unfortunately. Wouldn’t be surprised if he stays on LTiR over the summer, if his contract is insured the Canucks should be able to trade him to a team that will need to use the LTIR for futures.

Wouldn’t go crazy to re-sign Suter either, if the Canucks can move Chytil that should create enough space to land another top 6 center.

I would offer Suter no more than 2.5 mil per for 3 - 4 years. I would go an extra year to secure him though.

[dangler]

Agree they will have to unload Chytil, unfortunately. Wouldn’t be surprised if he stays on LTiR over the summer, if his contract is insured the Canucks should be able to trade him to a team that will need to use the LTIR for futures.

Wouldn’t go crazy to re-sign Suter either, if the Canucks can move Chytil that should create enough space to land another top 6 center.

I would offer Suter no more than 2.5 mil per for 3 - 4 years. I would go an extra year to secure him though.

$2.5M won't get it done, but I agree on the term.
I'm hoping he flies under the radar and the Canucks pick him up for a little less than the $4M estimates that are being made. The guy is versatile, smart and can play anywhere up and down the lineup. I wouldn't want to rely on him for 2nd line C duties, but as we've seen he is very capable when called upon.

[Hockey Widow]

Ya, projections range from 3.75-4.25. The Swiss Army knife is worth re-signing if they can get the right term. I think he will want 4-5 years. He has to cash in now if he can.

[Nuckertuzzi]

It just depends on what you want from the team next year. If you want one that's good enough to make the playoffs and possibly challenge for a division title. Say a team whose ceiling is somewhere between this year's and last, then you probably don't need to do anything more than add another good centre and retain Brock and Pius or replace them with like players. Health alone can probably get them there. So if you have Aquilini level expectations, then major surgery is not necessary.

If you want a team that's a true Cup contender, not just for one year but one that can challenge for multiple years, then you'll need to do much much more. Even if Petey does regain his form, you'll still need to add another elite centre, PLUS several elite or legitimate top-6 level wingers. Even if you retain Brock who is our best winger, he is not an elite difference-maker. Our next best winger after Brock is DeBrusk or Garland. They're both fine as middle 6 wingers but elite top-6? No. Unless Lekk takes a superstar level jump next year, there needs to be major upgrades on wing. Beyond that you need to improve the overall speed/depth of the team to be a bona-fide contender. Major surgery.

It's good to see the fight and while the recent depth scoring is promising, it's a mirage. Last night's game looks a whole lot different if you flipped the goalies. There's no world where Blueger and Forbort are scoring goals like that in the same game again. We don't get to play a shaky Markstrom and Sorokin for 80 games next year. Let's not kid ourselves.

[JelloPuddingPop]

DPetey is fast as fuck…

[Cousin Strawberry]

DPetey is fast as fuck…

Jesus wept!

Wait...which Elias Pettersson?? (Nevermind... Just saw the defensemen tab)