dudacek

If they aren't trading Hughes, the Canucks best assets are: Good veteran 2nd-pairing defencemen Hronek and Petterson on long-term deals Good veteran 2nd-line winger Debrusk on a long-term deal Veteran soon-to-be UFAs Conor Garland and Thatcher Demko Good 2nd-tier prospects Tom Willander and Jonathan lekkerimaki. The 14th overall pick in this year's draft 45-point former star centre Elias Pettersson and the 7 years and 80-million-plus left on his contract. What mix of those players would you take for a 23-year-old 1C with 5 years left on an $8M deal? Now how much more would they have to add to also acquire a 21-year-old defenceman who has already topped 40 points twice in his young career. Make New Jersey an offer they cant refuse.

Every good franchise gives kids space to learn. Every top player spent a few years learning, adjusting and getting better. The solution isn't throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

The bold should not and cannot be overlooked as the best reason why he should be in the NHL. The best way for Benson to learn how to beat NHL opponents is to continue playing against NHL opponents. The argument of putting him in the AHL works if he's showing he cannot succeed against NHL talent. By all measures, that's simply not the case.

I was expecting see and hear a lot more on conditioning here after reading this site the past few days. Certainly not getting the vibe that they're leaning in to that as an excuse. Dahlin's comment made it seem like it was a point of emphasis in terms of a way the players can get better, but it wasn't a point of emphasis here. I saw a GM who looked bruised and uncertain. He looks like a guy who feels something hanging over his head. He's expecting to be pushed — either into some moves that he may not want to do, or simply aside. I did hear confirmation that 'culture' is the buzzword for puck management and game management, and got a sense that any moves they make will be made with that in mind. That fits with Cozens for Norris, and to a lesser extent Joki for Docker. The problem, as they've identified it is "hero ball" and "stat-padding": players making high-risk plays when they are up because they want to go Globetrotters, or when they're down because they want to score now. And I got the sense they blame the defence most. That's why I would suspect the next guys to go will be Byram and Samuelsson despite the positive words said about them.I didn't hear the gushing or absolute faith Adams gets when he's touting his guys. (It was still there for Levi). It's pretty easy to read Mule instead of Byram with Dahlin as a deliberate choice for GM reasons, rather than coach reasons. Clifton fits as well, as do Quinn and Peterka up-front. Not sure they were being transparent about UPL though. I got a similar vibe as when Adams talked about Mittelstadt: "We have faith in this player and are not shopping him (but would have no problem moving him if we get the right offer.) I do think they were sincere about Kulich, and are OK with him and McLeod as their middle Cs, behind Norris, with Tage as their ace in the hole, with the caveat of "depending on what else happens in the top 6.

I’m certainly not arguing in favour of acquiring him, just providing my take on the cost. He scares me too.

If you are acquiring 3 or 4 veteran players clearly better than Benson, then I rescind my comment. The way I see it, Benson is better than Lafferty, Kulich, Quinn, Krebs and Malenstyn, so that’s a lot of players to replace and a pretty big investment required to get them. I’m not sure how you’re going to acquire that many Greenways and Zuckers, but OK, let’s agree you will. Because Benson has played 146 NHL games, most of them at maximum effort and 3rd-line effectiveness. You’re effectively undermining his confidence and telling him those games were a lie. You’re also taking away his NHL lifestyle and his NHL salary. Good luck convincing him that he’s not good enough to be in the NHL. Good luck convincing him this is not a punishment. The only way your plan works is if the Sabres have 12 forwards who are clearly contributing more to winning hockey than Benson would and both he and his teammates can clearly see that. As far as I’m concerned, this horse has already left the barn. He’s not going to gain anything but frustration being put back in. He’s already spent two years in the NHL learning the nuance and aspect of the game. Keep riding him.

Botterill made two trades of consequence his entire stint (ROR, Montour) and one of those was forced on him by Terry. He acquired Tage Thompson, which was incredibly sharp if, in fact he pursued him (some have said he did not and that was Armstrong’s call). He overruled the existing scouts in his first draft and picked Mittelstadt over Necas. He picked Dahlin in his 2nd draft. And he chose Cozens over (I believe) Caufield and Zegras in his 3rd. Finally, he traded relative peanuts for Skinner and then signed him to an exhorbitant contract, apparently over his better judgement. That’s it. Everything else was bargain bin shopping and finger-crossing.

The Canucks already signed Lankinen to a 3-year deal as their plan if Demko doesn’t bounce back or isn’t coming back. There’s a slim chance they might think UPL is a better option than one or both. There’s a better chance they watched all three goalies play. If they trade Demko this summer, it won’t be for a goalie coming off a bad year on a long-term starter’s contract. As part of a deal to improve their roster elsewhere sure.

The Canucks aren’t counting on him. They re-signed Lankinen to cover their bases if he fails and to back up if he doesn’t. They have no incentive to trade him for Lukkonen, or really any one short of improving their roster elsewhere.

Two of the last three yes, not sure where you’re getting 3 of 5. He’s been mostly healthy up until 22/23 going all the way back to his college days. The injury he was recovering from this year was an odd one, and a red flag for sure. But I think he’s far, far less of a risk than UPL, Levi, Reimer, Anderson, Comrie, or really any goalie Adams has acquired. Even with the injury, I doubt there are a dozen goalies Id rather have to start next season.

Yes, he is no longer junior eligible and not yet waiver eligible. Personally, unless he has an utterly out-of-character camp, I think this would make the Sabres weaker and send a terrible message to Benson and to the Sabres that do make the roster.

Wonder if Botterill learned anything during his time with the Sabres? I mean besides that Bylsma was a ***** coach. Personally preferred the failed visions of Adams and Murray to the complete lack of vision of Botterill, but I guess that’s like comparing dog turds.

Pretty sure the Canucks are very happy to run Lankinen and Demko as a duo next year. I think the plus would have to be better than UPL to change their minds.

I betcha the Sabres could get EP40 without any of those players. This is a player you'd have to pay $11.6M for the next 7 years. He was at the middle of a dressing room collapse. The fan base has turned on him. The coach and the front office have been very clear they are unhappy with him. He's been accused of poor training practices. He's coming off an injury that seems to have sapped his quickness. Oh, and there's that little thing about the 15-goal, 45-point season. His value can't be any better than Jack Eichel's was in 2021. So Norris, Helenius, next year's 1st and this year's 2nd, give or take? I'd say less. The Norris/Byram package @Flashsabre proposed is 2 talented players just entering their primes that we know the Canucks like. That's probably your base right there and I think the Sabres would push for Willander for a lesser prospect to seal the deal. I think the Canucks would take Power straight across in a heartbeat, but I doubt the Sabres would. I think there's a very good case to be made for the Canucks to trade him for the highest draft pick offered and repurpose that $11.6M in cap space toward Mitch Marner or some other prominent free agent. it's not "he's flawed" and "he will cost a ton if you are determined to buy him", it's "he's flawed" so "he won't cost a ton if the Canucks are determined to sell him." But I agree, it's very much a buyer beware.

I think Demko is fantastic: a rare real deal top 10 goalie who Sabres fans just don’t see enough of to judge. That’s assuming he’s healthy and last year was a blip.

Been talking about this with my Canuck buddy who is hoping for the same thing. My question is what can the Canucks tie to Pettersson to get them to give up Jack Hughes alone, let alone Jack and Luke? Especially when evidence suggests the Devils can get Quinn for free in 2 years by playing the long game and keeping his brothers.

Can’t argue with the first sentence, although I wonder how current his knowledge and connections are. I think management experience should be a POHO requirement.

Serious question: why do you want a 65-year-old coach who has won exactly 2 playoff series in the past 18 years and never worked in management to take over your hockey operations department?

Pettersson scares the crap out of me, but I don’t know if I’d call that crazy. Whatever that does on the ice, it’s the sort of thing that’s needed off the ice to bring fan interest back to Buffalo and salvage the mess that is the Canucks room.

I'm thinking more and more like Pettersson to Buffalo has a real chance. A real chance Van moves him because they think they have to, a real chance Buffalo takes him because they think they have to.

It's not just you, but people need to step past 1989. The 4th liners on the defending Stanley Cup champions were (pick 3): Lorenz 38 1/2/3 Stenlund 81 11/4/15 Cousins 69 7/8/15 Okposo 67 12/10/22 Lomberg 75 5/2/7 Statistically, NHL 3rd-liners (192-288th in scoring among forwards) had between 21 and 35 points. Benson is already a solid NHL 3rd-liner in terms of production while having average goal differential and above average analytics. He slots as a 3rd-liner already.

I'm struggling to see who fits the bolded. Power certainly never was that guy. Neither were/are Quinn and Peterka. It was never beaten out of Dahlin; it took a while, but he embraced it Cozens maybe? One thing that's different there is that Cozens saw himself as a peer to Dahlin and Thompson and struggled to carry the weight of the drought. I don't see that in Benson at all. He's just playing hockey.

He's an outlier. I mean that in the sense of how few 18-year-olds play in the NHL without an elite size/skill/speed combination; Benson's comparables are few and far between. The first one that came to mind was Ryan O' Reilly. Here are his raw numbers in his first 2 seasons: D+1 Colorado 81 8/18/26 +4 D+2 Colorado 74 13/13/26 -7 He broke out with 55 points as a 20-year-old. The guy I like to compare Benson's game to is Marchand, but he took a far more typical path and didn't make the NHL until his D+5 season. He became a 55-point player in his D+6 year and a point/game player in his D+11 year; he needed time to get fast and strong enough to play his game at the NHL level and he kept getting better. I don't think Benson in any way, shape or form has been ruined; analytically he is one of the Sabres best players and the eye test supports this in terms of positioning and compete. He is in the NHL, not as a talented kid in over his head, learning in the deep end, but as a reliable high-energy 3rd-line forward. It's weird, but it's what he is right now. The question remains is how much offence is in there to be unlocked once his brain and body fully develop? I don't know where the ceiling is because his game at 19 is so unconventional. He shouldn't be compared to guys like Fantilli and Michkov because he doesn't have their elite physical tools. Just like Marchand's path should never have been compared to Sidney Crosby's But to your point, being a teenager on a ***** team early in his career certainly didn't ruin O'Reilly. I think the fact that Benson is a 30-point NHL player at 19 should still very much be considered a positive. I'm pretty confident we will see his game continue to grow. It's just the when and how much that are the open questions.

This. I’ve always thought the chaos of hockey translates +/- 10 points over a season. They sacrificed some offence for defence that may or may not have been due to bounces, sniping or crappy goaltending, but they were pretty much the same team they were the previous year.

It’s always a good idea to look at the numbers, what changed and why: Points: 84 last year (22nd overall) dropped to 79 (26th) Goals for: 244 (23rd) improved to 265 (10th) Goals against: 243 (11th) dropped to 287 (30th) Power play: 16.6% (29th) improved to 18.8% (24th) Penalty killing; 79.8% (13th) dropped to 76.4% (23rd) Shots for: 30.9 (15th) dropped to 27.8 (20th) Shots against: 29.3 (9th) dropped* to 28.9 (21st) Shooting %: 8.85% (14th) improved to 10.6 (2nd) Save %: 91.4% (14th) dropped to 89.9% (29th) xG%: 47.4% (24th) stayed the same* at 48.1 (24th) Shot differential: +1.6 (14th) dropped to -1.1 (21st) SAT%: 50.7% (16th) improved* to 49.8 (15th) Faceoffs: 45% (32) improved to 47.8 (26th) Hits: 1,786 (21st) improved* to 1,736 (16th) Blocked shots: 1,201 (27th) improved* to 1,190 (24th) Net penalties: -14 (24th) improved* to -16 (22nd) This year, the were good at exactly one thing: shooting to score. They improved in scoring. Their PK declined and their save % dropped significantly. But my overriding takeaway is that their rankings were mediocre to poor in virtually every category and despite the new coach, very little changed.