2026 NHL Draft

[Ronning's Ghost]

I've always considered BPA as "highest floor, highest ceiling" independent of a team's needs.

What if the highest floor and the highest ceiling are different players ?

[5thhorseman]

That's what I was thinking. High ceiling, low floor versus less high ceiling, medium floor.

[UWSaint]

...not even mid point in the season...Demko could blow out a groin at any time and Lankinen can then take us to the promised land of top 5 picks.

Or -- as long as we're thinking happy thoughts -- Demko could put together six healthy weeks of 9.36 SV%, and some team could offer the Canucks such a desirable trade package for him that the ownership/management group can't refuse.

Not opposed to moving Demko for a real return, but I think that part of what stifles rebuilds is crappy goaltending. You want positive reinforcement (wins) from the games the young guys play well. While the process is important, results are the reinforcement when the play is good.

Now it might just be that moving him is the calculated decision that the Canucks goaltending will be crappy with or without him on the roster because he's not going to be healthy. And that's fair enough. But if its not a potential difference maker in a return (as you said, "can't refuse") I think you hold on to Demko because even if he only has a 50% chance to play 50 games, that is the best expected value in net the Canucks currently have.

I might feel differently if it weren't for the fact that the Canucks have a slate of defenseman that are playing in the NHL and could be pretty darn good pretty soon and all of the sudden have a couple more young forwards in the mix. The rebuild is not a 5 year process given the group they have. To be sure, they can tear down that group to and really start fresh, but I fully expect that the acquisitions are going to get a year and a half audition to determine whether they can be part of a future contending team.

[Meds]

...not even mid point in the season...Demko could blow out a groin at any time and Lankinen can then take us to the promised land of top 5 picks.

Or -- as long as we're thinking happy thoughts -- Demko could put together six healthy weeks of 9.36 SV%, and some team could offer the Canucks such a desirable trade package for him that the ownership/management group can't refuse.

Not opposed to moving Demko for a real return, but I think that part of what stifles rebuilds is crappy goaltending. You want positive reinforcement (wins) from the games the young guys play well. While the process is important, results are the reinforcement when the play is good.

This.

Although I will add that I don't think it is just the wins as it is knowing that not every mistake you make is going to end up in the back of your net. Young, rebuilding teams, know that they are in a process, so the L's are expected. But even in the losses, the goaltending can keep things from being demoralizing blowouts.

[Ronning's Ghost]

...not even mid point in the season...Demko could blow out a groin at any time and Lankinen can then take us to the promised land of top 5 picks.

Or -- as long as we're thinking happy thoughts -- Demko could put together six healthy weeks of 9.36 SV%, and some team could offer the Canucks such a desirable trade package for him that the ownership/management group can't refuse.

Not opposed to moving Demko for a real return, but I think that part of what stifles rebuilds is crappy goaltending. You want positive reinforcement (wins) from the games the young guys play well. While the process is important, results are the reinforcement when the play is good.

I appreciate that we are dealing with very young men, but they are professional athletes, and mental toughness is one of the characteristics the organization prizes and should be trying to cultivate. Just put an Alain Vigneault "process" speech on repeat, and roundly mock any member of the media who brings up goals for or against for the next 2 and a half seasons. All the training video reviews are just players doing what the coaches asked correctly, or failing to do it, or do it correctly. Never even show the goals.

I think what stifles a rebuild is finishing any higher in the standings than absolutely required by the coaches continuing to emphasize the right way to play, and the players trying their best to execute, and personally develop. It's up to management to ice a roster that will not win in spite of that.

If there isn't a strong goalie in the system ready for promotion to the NHL by October 2027, there is usually at least competent goaltending available on the free agent market at relatively modest prices.

[UWSaint]

I appreciate that we are dealing with very young men, but they are professional athletes, and mental toughness is one of the characteristics the organization prizes and should be trying to cultivate. Just put an Alain Vigneault "process" speech on repeat, and roundly mock any member of the media who brings up goals for or against for the next 2 and a half seasons. All the training video reviews are just players doing what the coaches asked correctly, or failing to do it, or do it correctly. Never even show the goals.

I think what stifles a rebuild is finishing any higher in the standings than absolutely required by the coaches continuing to emphasize the right way to play, and the players trying their best to execute, and personally develop. It's up to management to ice a roster that will not win in spite of that.

If there isn't a strong goalie in the system ready for promotion to the NHL by October 2027, there is usually at least competent goaltending available on the free agent market at relatively modest prices.

I think these are all good points, but I think you underestimate the effect that being a loser has on the psyche, whether a person it a professional or not, and how outlook/disposition can affect individual development and team cohesion.

But fair point that there will be another somewhere between Lankinen this year and Lankinen last year on the market every offseason (for half of Lankinen's current price....the Canucks played one last night).

While all other things being equal I'd rather finish lower in the standings and get a better pick, I think there is so much variability in the tank (both how well it works, the number of other teams doing it, the draft lottery, the uncertainty of all but a handful of draftees) that I'd rather pay attention to what things are not equal and maximize what's best for current player development. There will be some overlap between that and the tank -- young players without anything to left learn in the AHL (Raty) or very little left to learn (Sushi; maybe Mancini) need to play in the NHL, even if they wouldn't be here if the team were better. More than play in the NHL, the scorers need more minutes on the PP, etc. And if Silovs were still part of the system, I could see giving him a real go at it. But unless there's an NHL ceiling in Tolopio that I am not aware of, the Canucks don't have a potential NHL goalie in the pipeline that's going to learn more getting shelled in the NHL than developing in lower leagues.

[Chef Boi RD]

Always nervous trading goaltending when you got it, being how challenging it is to fix once you don’t have it. That being said going into next season with that much money tied up in goaltending is questionable. Also, Demko’s history with injuries is something that needs to be considered. It would be wise to consider moving him at the deadline if he’s on top of his game and we are out of it. Just not sure we will do it because Canucks management has a way with avoiding being wise. I imagine he’d return a pretty good return at the deadline if he’s on top of his game.

[donlever]

Yeah....it's an interesting conversation/delimma with Thatcher and overall goaltending.

Not to bang the same drum continuously here but....

Why did our Crack Management team give the deed to the town to Lankinen?

What purpose did it serve?

(...our ex DeBackup DeSmith makes 3 X 1 million in Dallas as a comparable...)

....do they have an actual plan with these guys or is it the standard cross our fingers and hope Canuck approach.....that's meant to be tongue in cheek for the stick up the ass crowd....

[Cornuck]

Why did our Crack Management team give the deed to the town to Lankinen?

Ok - I might be grasping at straws here, but maybe they had a plan / deal in place to trade Demko and wanted a steady "we know what we have" goalie to hold the fort until the youngsters came up through the ranks. It still doesn't make a lot of sense for term, NTC, but it's all I got.

[Ronning's Ghost]

...If there isn't a strong goalie in the system ready for promotion to the NHL by October 2027, there is usually at least competent goaltending available on the free agent market at relatively modest prices.

But unless there's an NHL ceiling in Tolopio that I am not aware of, the Canucks don't have a potential NHL goalie in the pipeline that's going to learn more getting shelled in the NHL than developing in lower leagues.

I was under the impression that folks were pretty high on Medvedev's ceiling. Has that changed, or do you just consider him to be too early in the development process to count as "in the pipeline" ?

[Cornuck]

I was under the impression that folks were pretty high on Medvedev's ceiling. Has that changed, or do you just consider him to be too early in the development process to count as "in the pipeline" ?

He could well be our goalie of the future, but he hasn't even hit the A yet - so give him about 3 seasons until he might get a sniff of a call-up.

[Hockey Widow]

...If there isn't a strong goalie in the system ready for promotion to the NHL by October 2027, there is usually at least competent goaltending available on the free agent market at relatively modest prices.

But unless there's an NHL ceiling in Tolopio that I am not aware of, the Canucks don't have a potential NHL goalie in the pipeline that's going to learn more getting shelled in the NHL than developing in lower leagues.

I was under the impression that folks were pretty high on Medvedev's ceiling. Has that changed, or do you just consider him to be too early in the development process to count as "in the pipeline" ?

Way too early in his development. He is still very much a project prospect and we are a few years away from knowing what we have. Even if he develops the way we want he is a few years away from getting a sniff in Vancouver. We need to hold the fort until then. By the time he is ready Demko should be almost done.

So the age old question, are we better served organizationally to keep him for the highs or trading him as high as we can at the right time, whatever the right time is. I love the healthy Demko and what he brings but I have little faith in him being there for us for the long haul. So I am all for trading him IF we could get a decent return, a 1st plus a young prospect/roster player. A good one.

[Chef Boi RD]

It takes goalies a long time to develop. See Knight and Askarov, two highly thought of goalie prospects who were drafted quite high in the first round, they are now 24 and 23 years of age. They are still essentially learning. Wasn’t Markstrom mid 20’s when he finally arrived?

[Meds]

It takes goalies a long time to develop. See Knight and Askarov, two highly thought of goalie prospects who were drafted quite high in the first round, they are now 24 and 23 years of age. They are still essentially learning. Wasn’t Markstrom mid 20’s when he finally arrived?

Markstrom was 24 going 25 halfway through the following season when he came to Vancouver.

He spent 3 more seasons between the NHL and AHL letting in the first shot of the game before he put it together and became a reliable top-10 starter. He was certainly a late bloomer…..but some of that had to do with Florida’s complete lack of goaltender development coaches between their big club and the farm.

[donlever]

It moves and shakes.

Bobs and weaves.

Vaslilevsky was playing NHL games at 20.