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I wish to discuss how much damage can be done by thrusting your top young defenders up waaay before they are ready.

The most obvious one to me was Willander. He was clearly overmatched in the NHL but showed flashes of top end talent for sure I hated the gifting of that roster slot where he hadn't earned his promotion and I hope to fuck his potential is still attainable after riding shotgun through that mess.

The other being Buium of course. He probably should have also spent the majority of last season dominating the A despite the flashes of offensive dynamics.

I won't give Mancini or EP3PO the same concern because they are at best 6-7 defenders who can sub as a #5 occasionally.

Does anyone else worry about this stunting growth or destroying confidence at a critical point in their development?

This is why I'd try and sign both Schenn and Cole if the opportunity arises. Id lov to see those 2young talents spend significant chunks of the season in the AHL while earning their promotions. Perfecting their games against lower level talent til they're banging on the canuck shithouse door

I think the genie is out of the bottle so to speak - so I'm guessing they'll be with the big club.

I would like to see each of them- Buium, Willander, D-Petey, paired with a vet next year.

Buium-Hronek
Marcus Pettersson - Willander
D-Pete - UFA

And we'll need a #7 (vet UFA?) to come in and plug a hole.

How good or bad is Markus Pettersson? He looked like a scrawnier chaos giraffe the way he bobbled pucks.

Is he even tradeable?

D Petey was rushed into the lineup a good two years early. Not papering him down for that Calder Cup run was one of the dumbest hockey decisions I have ever seen. Rutherford was utterly clueless when it came to developing hockey players, it seems. So much damage was allowed to be done to this franchise it's just absurd. Well done Frankie boy.

Cornuck wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2026 4:50 pm I think the genie is out of the bottle so to speak - so I'm guessing they'll be with the big club.

I would like to see each of them- Buium, Willander, D-Petey, paired with a vet next year.

Buium-Hronek
Marcus Pettersson - Willander
D-Pete - UFA

And we'll need a #7 (vet UFA?) to come in and plug a hole.

There's still time for some remedial work on these kids. Send the two Swedes at least down to Abby for most of next year. And hopefully Ryan will stock some quality vets down there so they can at least compete. And punt Rutherford's Americans out of there.

Cornuck wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2026 4:50 pm I think the genie is out of the bottle so to speak - so I'm guessing they'll be with the big club.

I would like to see each of them- Buium, Willander, D-Petey, paired with a vet next year.

Buium-Hronek
Marcus Pettersson - Willander
D-Pete - UFA

And we'll need a #7 (vet UFA?) to come in and plug a hole.

Trading Mancini?

Madcombinepilot wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2026 5:45 pm Trading Mancini?

He's got 15 games of waiver exemption left - he can sit in the A, or we trade him.

Cornuck wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2026 6:20 pm

Madcombinepilot wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2026 5:45 pm Trading Mancini?

He's got 15 games of waiver exemption left - he can sit in the A, or we trade him.

Fair.

No doubt both Zeev and Willander need veteran partners to guide them along the way. I am less concerned about these two in particular because they both showed the skills and smarts to play in the NHL right now.

I also agree they both struggled over the last quarter of the season, as Foote relied quite heavily on them (and even KK)

I chalk it up to a lack of depth on the blueline when injuries began to pile, something RJ must address in the coming weeks.

Further, kids who start their careers after leaving college often run out of steam during the second half, due to the added travel and games played.

I've maintained that Tom W wasn't ready yet this whole time and I hope there hasn't been any irreparable damage to his development.

Its harder to say about Zeev mainly because his immature 19 y/o self didn't look that out of place. I think he'll be ok

LOL, DPete is 7/8 D on a last place team and not in the league if he were anywhere else.

A pylon

Skytrain would bin him as a turnstile because he rotates so slow.

In a draft deep with D talent and possible unicorns, management went for the 2C upside momma's boy.

Zeeb and Tommy will be fine. They would have been bored in the AHL and need to learn from mistakes at NHL pace they'd never see in Abby

Rutherford's plan was to rush Cootes and whoever the first pick was into the lineup next year as well. That seems to be all he knows.

I think DPetey and Mancini could use more seasoning. But Willander and Buium seem ready if surrounded by some quality vets. Both probably could have used last year in Abbotsford. Manny knows Mancini well and relied upon him during their Calder Cup run. He may actually thrive under him again and he does have that size and hard to play against mentality RJ likes.

The key to me is having 3-4 vets to help continue developing. Would love 1-2 of Cole, Gudas or Schenn.

Topper wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2026 10:05 pm LOL, DPete is 7/8 D on a last place team and not in the league if he were anywhere else.

A pylon

Skytrain would bin him as a turnstile because he rotates so slow.

In a draft deep with D talent and possible unicorns, management went for the 2C upside momma's boy.

Zeeb and Tommy will be fine. They would have been bored in the AHL and need to learn from mistakes at NHL pace they'd never see in Abby

That's pretty close to how the main criticism of Keaton Verhoeff has sounded!

Keaton Verhoeff’s primary skating issues center around his mechanical foundations, specifically his four-way mobility, edgework, and backward skating. While he possesses good straight-line speed and explosive acceleration, his pivots and transitions lack fluidity. Because of this, his lateral movement can be clunky, sometimes leaving him vulnerable to quick, shifty forwards