Canucks News N Notes 25-26

[Cousin Strawberry]

So is this what we have for 2025-26 season?

Clearly not done yet. Judge their work in October

Or June

Wids id say there is a very good chance one of or both of Willander and Lekkerimaki are used to acquire a center. I sure hope TW isn't the one leaving but if the return is someone like say a Mason McTavish level talent then you aren't getting what you want without having to give something significant up.

As far as I can tell that would be the only way the team holding the center accepts the offer

[Chef Boi RD]

So is this what we have for 2025-26 season?

Clearly not done yet. Judge their work in October

What are you expecting? lol? Roslovic? lol. Does that really make us better?

Our forward group is pretty damn mediocre. Hasn’t been this mediocre for a couple decades. Think the Tanti/Skriko era.

[Cousin Strawberry]

So is this what we have for 2025-26 season?

Clearly not done yet. Judge their work in October

What are you expecting? lol? Roslovic? lol. Does that really make us better?

Our forward group is pretty damn mediocre. Hasn’t been this mediocre for a couple decades. Think the Tanti/Skriko era.

I think they're trading for their center needs and am pretty sure it's Willy heading thataway unfortunately

JR is no better that Chytil and if he was the target it would've happened already

[Chef Boi RD]

From what I understand Anaheim wants to move Gauthier to centre, the kid is going to be a beauty. Unfortunately for McTavish he’s the odd man out in the top 2 as Carlsson and Gauthier have higher ceilings than McTavish. Could see a scenario where we part with Willander for McTavish but I worry we’d end up regretting this. I like McTavish but he’s not an overly dynamic player.

Personally I’d rather move on from Hronek than D-Pete or Willander. Those two look like the future back there. But with Hronek you wouldn’t be able to get what you could with Willander, IMO.

To be honest, D. Pete and Willander ain’t going nowhere until they get an idea on where Hughes mind is at and “where” he’d like to sign his “next contract”

[Blob Mckenzie]

Hronek is a proven top pairing D man. He's a known commodity.

[Blob Mckenzie]

I'm fine leaving it alone till they see what's what. I'm also fine if they can cobble a package together for Mctavish or a lesser one for Sillinger. I'm patient, unlike some folks.

[Ronning's Ghost]

Since I don't see this as a Cup-winning campaign for the Canucks, even if all of the chancy variables on which they are hoping come up favourably, I'm OK with this being another developmental season, and I'd rather not see them trade anything that would make them better in '27 for something that would make them better in '26.

But by now it seems clear that the Little Eagles do not share my perspective on building towards a championship team.

[Tciso]

I'm fine leaving it alone till they see what's what. I'm also fine if they can cobble a package together for Mctavish or a lesser one for Sillinger. I'm patient, unlike some folks.

So, what was the point of dumping Joshua?

[Blob Mckenzie]

I'm fine leaving it alone till they see what's what. I'm also fine if they can cobble a package together for Mctavish or a lesser one for Sillinger. I'm patient, unlike some folks.

So, what was the point of dumping Joshua?

It frees up cap space. I'd rather they dumped O'Connor or Hoglander or even Shityl but they are likely slightly negative value atm. This move opens up flexibility and removes the perception of them having to make multiple rapid fire moves in the event that they land a solid centre.

[Chef Boi RD]

I agree with Grappa Machenzzi, the Canucks are setting themselves up, clearing the space for when they are ready to strike on a deal.

[Hockey Widow]

Part of me thinks it is better to wait to see if Pettersson bounces back. If he returns to the Alien then you know where team weaknesses are. If he is a 45-50 point player then you know where your team weaknesses are. If he shows up as atop six centre then we are still looking for one more top 6 centre. But if he shows again with 3rd line points then we are down 2 top six centres. If we are going to have to trade a blue chip prospect I'd rather wait for us to get a handle on what we already have.

We weakened our centre position trading for D. Seems kind of silly to now weaken our D to land a top 6 centre. Cootes is at best 2-3 years away from being with the big club and even further away from showing what he can do. We are in a pickle but I'd rather see a short term solution using our cap than making a panic trade, again.

[UWSaint]

Picker I disagree "Karlsson plays naturally grittier than Joshua"

Comparing the 2 I'd say DJ is quite decidedly the better player at every facet of the game including bringing grit and scoring.

The question is about risk and return on your cap investment. In this sense, considering DJ's play post nut removal, the value/return on cap investment is a wash or even leaning in Karlssons favour .... especially when you factor in that Dakota may never recover from said nut removal

Correct about risk/return. We are talking about marginal value; even if Joshua repeats his career best 30 point season with a handful of WTF minor penalties and decent penalty killing and Karlsson doesn’t take a step forward, it’s a pebble of a difference compared to, say, EP40 playing halfway decent or Demko playing at all.

But I don’t think we should assume Karlsson will be a worse player than Joshua over the next 3 seasons (or next year). Linus Karlsson has improved his game every season since he’s been Canucks property. He profiles with a bottom 6 game, yet solved the AHL as a top line player. His mitts are decent, his o-zone intelligence is high, his hand eye is good. The knock on his game is skating—and he’s not quick—but while Joshua had decent speed, he had terrible edgework.

Understand that Dakota Joshua accomplished no more than Linus Karlsson at Karlsson’s age. Neither had played more than a few dozen nhl games. Now most guys with such a scant resume at 25 will settle at tweener and never earn a $13 million contract; Joshua did because he improved significantly defensively and provided decent scoring one season—and a good playoff run. I rag on him a bit, but he absolutely improved his game in a meaningful way, especially in the d zone, and that reliability got him the minutes it takes to score a bit more.

I actually think the chances are good that Karlsson can have a 30 point season so long as he can be good enough two ways to earn the coach’s trust. His play around the net is quite good, so he’ll have his chances to convert back door passes, and score on tips, rebounds, and point shots that hit him while he’s battling with a defenseman.

[Chef Boi RD]

Part of me thinks it is better to wait to see if Pettersson bounces back. If he returns to the Alien then you know where team weaknesses are. If he is a 45-50 point player then you know where your team weaknesses are. If he shows up as atop six centre then we are still looking for one more top 6 centre. But if he shows again with 3rd line points then we are down 2 top six centres. If we are going to have to trade a blue chip prospect I'd rather wait for us to get a handle on what we already have.

We weakened our centre position trading for D. Seems kind of silly to now weaken our D to land a top 6 centre. Cootes is at best 2-3 years away from being with the big club and even further away from showing what he can do. We are in a pickle but I'd rather see a short term solution using our cap than making a panic trade, again.

The main focus of the return on Miller should’ve been a centre, one that’s substantially better than Chytil the Lemon. Or the 1st round pick we received from the Miller trade should’ve been parlayed into a centre and not M. Pettersson. Allvin became too obsessed with his former player M.Pete (who turns 30 next May) and lost sight of shit and now we have this massive gaping hole in the middle of the ice with little to no “quality” assets to fix it with, we certainly better not be trading the 2026 first round pick in one of the better draft classes we’ve seen in awhile to fix the problem they created.

Our centre depth was once the envy of the league and now it’s the joke of the league. And yes, Cootes is a few years away from being a legitimate contributor if he ever will be one and Raty’s ceiling is 3rd line centre at best. If the Alien has gone home, we got a problem, Houston. A serious malfunction due to a calamity of errors thanks to Allvin and Rutherfords fumbles.

The only way you can fix the Center ice position is by putting Willander or D.Pete or the 2026 first round pick on the table. And losing any of those amazing assets to fix their fuck up at centre ice would be a damn shame. The team is in no position to be trading futures right now when they barely classify as a wildcard contender. And if they do sneak in through the back door of playoff contention, they will be nothing more than first round fodder

[dangler]

Yeah but the rooms safe now...according to Allvin

[Chef Boi RD]

Yeah but the rooms safe now...according to Allvin

Sure, but what’s not safe is them and ownership understanding where this team exactly is in its cycle. They are not ready for a deep run post season, far from it. They are barely a playoff team contender. So by that, they technically are in a “build” mode.