Vancouver Canucks

[CMSpiced]

Because Benning.

This, lol.

Benning has done some great things regarding the draft, but has really messed up from a cap perspective. This isnt even counting Ferland, which I would assume will be on LTIR now. The amount of money we have locked up in bad bottom 6 money is staggering.

Priority is to get ride of one of Sutter or Eriksson (assuming Beagle cant be traded). Sutter has one year at $4.3M, eat half of the cap, turns into a $2M player for 1 year, that seems doable to me. Hopefully, you can get the same result with Sven, eat half he turns into a $1M player, maybe someone takes a low risk play on him. With the Rooster, I wouldnt prioritize his trade, he was very strong before his injury last year, and if one person can turn it around, it would be him, who knows though.

I think the Marky vs Demko comes down to his ask. If it is greater than $6M per season, I just dont see how it works.

Regarding Boeser, he is still very young, and has had multiple injuries. I would want to see him with a healthy off-season, before discussing the trade scenario (unless getting a very good young Dman). I dont see Taffoli being a replacement for Boeser, I think that would be a mistake.

Defense will be the hardest situation to fix, and I dont see a ton of strong options. I would be very concerned with giving Tanev significant term.

[stevegamer]

I admit to not having seen a lot of him over the years, but Baertschi doesn't really seem overpaid to me. I was surprised he wasn't moved to another team before they decided to bury him. He seemed like a decent middle-six guy.

Was there a good reason they chose not to bury Eriksson, Sutter or Beagle? I thought it was just they were more veteran than Baertschi.

[Daydream Nation]

What do you think the trade value is for Demko?

Andersen was traded for the 30th pick and a 2nd round pick but he was more established. So maybe a late 1st or a 2nd and a midlevel prospect for Demko? What if the Canucks trade Demko for cap space. Marleau at 6.2 M for 1 year cost a projected late 1st. What if you packaged Demko and one of Sutter/Beagle/Rousel for a late 2nd? This doesn't feel like enough but goalies do not have a lot of trade value and cap space is expensive. Think Ottawa would bite? These are the things I think about....

[tweetdrivr]

What do you think the trade value is for Demko?

Andersen was traded for the 30th pick and a 2nd round pick but he was more established. So maybe a late 1st or a 2nd and a midlevel prospect for Demko? What if the Canucks trade Demko for cap space. Marleau at 6.2 M for 1 year cost a projected late 1st. What if you packaged Demko and one of Sutter/Beagle/Rousel for a late 2nd? This doesn't feel like enough but goalies do not have a lot of trade value and cap space is expensive. Think Ottawa would bite? These are the things I think about....

All reasonable with the one glaring exception - they won't trade Demko. I just can't see it. They'd be much better off letting Markstrom go and keeping the younger/cheaper guy and try to fix their cap issues later in the season - maybe nearer the trade deadline when someone wants a vet without much term. It looks like they'll be able to LTIR Ferlund maybe? They have controll over Virtanen, McEwan, and Motte. Tanev and Fantenberg are UFAs - there should be plenty to sign both of those guys. And you've kept your roster intact. Be patient and let the (at this point toally unknown) season unfold. Trading Demko would feel like a completely unwarranted panic move.

[Daydream Nation]

All reasonable with the one glaring exception - they won't trade Demko. I just can't see it. They'd be much better off letting Markstrom go and keeping the younger/cheaper guy and try to fix their cap issues later in the season - maybe nearer the trade deadline when someone wants a vet without much term. It looks like they'll be able to LTIR Ferlund maybe? They have controll over Virtanen, McEwan, and Motte. Tanev and Fantenberg are UFAs - there should be plenty to sign both of those guys. And you've kept your roster intact. Be patient and let the (at this point toally unknown) season unfold. Trading Demko would feel like a completely unwarranted panic move.

I already posted that I think they should keep Demko and let Markstrom walk but then the question is where does the improvement come from on the team? I agree with what Drance spoke about how getting to the 2nd round is the absolute peak for this team and that they need depth. They have a Cup-contending core but need a lot more pieces. And even if Demko plays well it is still a step back from Markstrom. I am looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.

[tweetdrivr]

I already posted that I think they should keep Demko and let Markstrom walk but then the question is where does the improvement come from on the team? I agree with what Drance spoke about how getting to the 2nd round is the absolute peak for this team and that they need depth. They have a Cup-contending core but need a lot more pieces. And even if Demko plays well it is still a step back from Markstrom. I am looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.

Me too. What I'm saying is, given the bad spot Benning has put them in cap wise, there isn't really a way to improve the team just yet. Not without doing something stupid like trading Demko. They just need to be patient, wait to see what next season will even look like, and hope that sooner or later someone wants to take a vet contract off their hands. If the price to get someone to do that now is Demko, for the love of god don't pay it. Suck it up and go into next year with pretty much the same group. That's really the only sane option at this point.

[bondon]

The Markstrom decision is such a difficult one, one i'm glad i don't have to make.

On one hand you've got a team that is cap strapped and can't really afford to pay a top goalie 6M+ and continue to bury a budding young goalie who has shown flashes of promise.

On the other hand, if you let your 6M+ goalie go, you can no longer operate under the assumption that you're that close to being a contender(let's be real, Markstrom should honestly be in contention for the Hart Trophy if people actually followed the meaning of the thing), and you risk making moves that put you in a state of mediocrity for a long time (a la a lot of the contracts that are holding this team down right now).

Unfortunate thing is as discussed, young goalies don't really hold a lot of trade value since they're pretty much dime a dozen now/so easy to build up within your org/sign cheaply on the market.

It's really such a shame that we have the weight of these terrible contracts just hanging on the team when it would otherwise be in such a good spot to make a serious push for the ucp.

[Axeman33]

The Markstrom decision is such a difficult one, one i'm glad i don't have to make.

On one hand you've got a team that is cap strapped and can't really afford to pay a top goalie 6M+ and continue to bury a budding young goalie who has shown flashes of promise.

On the other hand, if you let your 6M+ goalie go, you can no longer operate under the assumption that you're that close to being a contender(let's be real, Markstrom should honestly be in contention for the Hart Trophy if people actually followed the meaning of the thing), and you risk making moves that put you in a state of mediocrity for a long time (a la a lot of the contracts that are holding this team down right now).

Unfortunate thing is as discussed, young goalies don't really hold a lot of trade value since they're pretty much dime a dozen now/so easy to build up within your org/sign cheaply on the market.

It's really such a shame that we have the weight of these terrible contracts just hanging on the team when it would otherwise be in such a good spot to make a serious push for the ucp.

Lets not forget as well that teams are focusing more now on two good goalies to get them through instead of a true #1 who's expected to play 70+ games.

[tweetdrivr]

Lets not forget as well that teams are focusing more now on two good goalies to get them through instead of a true #1 who's expected to play 70+ games.

Some teams are. Not everyone. Needs to be commensurate with your situation. And if you're in a bad cap situation as the Canucks or, for example the Coyotes, the two good goalies thing is not an option. Look at the Pens, they have two decent goalies and have made it pretty clear they are trading one (Murray). The Hurricanes had "two good goalies" and neither one proved capable of getting them out of the first round. Of the four teams playing in the conf finals half have gone that route and the other two have not. Neither has the clear advantage with the possible exception of Tampa....a clear number one starter situation. So no, not all teams are buying into that.

[Axeman33]

Some teams are. Not everyone. Needs to be commensurate with your situation. And if you're in a bad cap situation as the Canucks or, for example the Coyotes, the two good goalies thing is not an option. Look at the Pens, they have two decent goalies and have made it pretty clear they are trading one (Murray). The Hurricanes had "two good goalies" and neither one proved capable of getting them out of the first round. Of the four teams playing in the conf finals half have gone that route and the other two have not. Neither has the clear advantage with the possible exception of Tampa....a clear number one starter situation. So no, not all teams are buying into that.

There's going to be a LOT of B2Bs next year. There will never be a more important time to have two quality goalies if you want to compete.

[tweetdrivr]

There's going to be a LOT of B2Bs next year. There will never be a more important time to have two quality goalies if you want to compete.

So what do you think Vancouver, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Vegas will do? What will teams with zero quality goalies do (I'm looking at you Oilers and Flames)? Shoot, the Leafs are talking about trading Andersen. Then what? I'll bet the Flyers think Carter Hart can handle the load. I'm sure plenty of teams will compete without a 1A/1B situation.

[Axeman33]

So what do you think Vancouver, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Vegas will do? What will teams with zero quality goalies do (I'm looking at you Oilers and Flames)? Shoot, the Leafs are talking about trading Andersen. Then what? I'll bet the Flyers think Carter Hart can handle the load. I'm sure plenty of teams will compete without a 1A/1B situation.

I guess we'll see. I'm just saying that next year will be different if they plan on trying to play 82 games and not starting until January as Bill Daly has mentioned. If you honestly believe that every team doesn't want two quality goalies to share the load you're snoozing.

[tweetdrivr]

I guess we'll see. I'm just saying that next year will be different if they plan on trying to play 82 games and not starting until January as Bill Daly has mentioned. If you honestly believe that every team doesn't want two quality goalies to share the load you're snoozing.

Yes - and every team would love to have 9 Connor McDavids. Or no salary cap and be able to spend like drunk sailors. I agree next year will be a very different season - but many teams just are not able to, don't need to, or don't see the need to have essentially two starting goalies.

[Canucks_fan18]

I think you sign Markstrom no matter what. Kick the can down the road one more year and let the youth continue to get better. Good goal tending masks a lot of deficiencies and keeps the team competitive. This will help grow the youth by playing meaningful games. I would hate to end up like the Oilers who have struggled for years with bad to average goaltending and have never really gotten it going because of it.

[tweetdrivr]

I think you sign Markstrom no matter what. Kick the can down the road one more year and let the youth continue to get better. Good goal tending masks a lot of deficiencies and keeps the team competitive. This will help grow the youth by playing meaningful games. I would hate to end up like the Oilers who have struggled for years with bad to average goaltending and have never really gotten it going because of it.

So Markstrom signs a 1 year deal?