dudacek

How would you replace him?

I have not heard of this happening in B.C. We are significantly behind you in the percentage of population being vaccinated and the regular population stream of vaccinations is still above 70. The Canucks would not have been eligible until June based on the plan our government is following.

Couldn't agree more. Except I would have had started these conversations few weeks ago, and either have my answer, or contract negotiations well underway.

Is it more unreliable than other positions? Are there more Jeff Skinners and Ryan Johansons in the nets? I don't think there are. If we sign Linus for 5 years and $5 million and get 1 great, one bad and 3 solid seasons, aren't we getting our money's worth? Aren't we better off than signing a different Carter Hutton every year hoping one turns into Darcy Kuemper? Then letting that Kuemper go because we don't give goalies term? So for Jack's $10 million has given us one very good, one great and one bad season.

Bales was behind the bench last night. Typically under Krueger he was the eyes-in-the-sky.

This past week or two is the first time we have seen Casey translating the style of game he showed as a junior to NHL rinks: the pace, and the hands. He has the ability to bury pucks like he did with his wrister last night, he just wasn't able to get open to use it. He has looked like an NHL player, but he hasn't sustained anything yet. It will be interesting to see how good of an NHL player he can be. Luke Adam? Derek Plante?

Even though I agree with your take on how things are trending with those players, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Mitts, Tage, Bryson and Cozens have a combined 10 goals this year and Borgen has played 8 NHL games. Ullmark, that's a different story. That guy is a stud. Sign him right now.

I missed Murray. Good catch. Price and Bob are overpaid, but not at $5 million.

Also, to the ***** I used to read a lot on here about Sam being a passenger who rode Jack's coattails. Better not be the same posters who are saying: "Look at who Skinner has to play with" "Look at who Hall has to play with" Look at who Sam has to play with. I don't see him stuck at 3 goals.

So glad to see him looking like himself again. I'm a big fan, but the first two months of this year he looked done. Maybe those injuries were more troubling than we knew? Also, when was the last time he was used in a top-six role like he is right now?

Ton of good stuff in the OP; Kim, however, needs to be replaced with Terry. I think Eichel, Ullmark, Krueger and COVID created a perfect storm that exaggerated how bad this team is. But it also reinforced the fragility of the core group. I think it would be a mistake to "blow it up" trade for futures, and start from scratch again. But I think it would be an even bigger mistake to come back with the same core and trust a new coach to be the cure.

On topic, I believe Sam has had only two stints of any significance as a centre, his rookie year, and that abomination to start Housley's first season where he skated between Pouliot and Griffith. I've never bought into the sentiment that he got a fair shake at centre and failed. He's played maybe 20 games in the middle over his career and pretty much all of them with replacement-level linemates before he turned 22. I've never bought into the idea that he's too slow for the position either. Never mind that his speed "issues" are overrated, his positioning is so sound it is never really an issue. That was a very fast Ranger team last night and his speed was not an issue at all. I hope this experiment continues for the duration of the season.

Are you talking about the guy that hit 25.4 mph as he blew past a Rangers' Dman last night? Where the heck did that come from?

With all due respect @Curt, was Ryan Miller voodoo? Certainty costs money. I know you're saying there is no certainty with goalies, but that's the case at every position. Even Jack Eichel can have a two-goal season. There are 16 goalies making $5 million, then Kuemper at $4.5 and Bishop $4.9 million. Of those 18, I'd say I'd say maybe four are guys their teams aren't comfortable with anchoring their creases: Schneider, Jones, Rinne and Quick, and the latter two certainly were at that level when they were 30. Ullmark has graduated to that level. You aren't going to get his equal this summer and pay less than that. The alternative is just opening every season not really clear if the guy in your net is going to get it done. We've been in goalie purgatory since Miller left. I'm really tired of it. Ullmark is our ticket out.

Admit it Sabrespace, Ullmark is much, much better than any of you realized. Give the man his money.

I still don't know how good Casey Mittelstadt and Tage Thompson will be. They are both so raw. But they are also legitimately skilled. We're seeing each of them make plays. I absolutely love how Donnie has been throwing them out there in key situations, and it's been nice watching them respond. Dahlin has calmed and is also showing his skill, and Jokiharju is looking like himself again. I'm seeing the Rasmus Asplund I liked so much in Rochester. Granato seems to be making a difference with the players that matter most. And having a legitimate top-15 NHL starter makes everyone around him better. (Sign Linus!)

The games are worth watching again.

Sign him. He is 27. He has improved six years in a row. Give him 5 years and step out of this god-forsaken goalie purgatory. Sign him right now.

That was a goalscorer's goal.

The Amerks roster has a half-dozen ECHL players currently. If it was play-related, that would be...troubling.

It costs us nothing on the ice

They appear to attack better and the goaltending has been much better. Over the past week or two, they look more like a 70-point team than a 40-point team.

Very late to the party on this, but the phantom hold on Risto, the Strome "tripping" call, where he fell down at least a second after being whacked and the ref didn't put his arm up for another second later, the time the ref got in the way to set up a Rangers scoring chance, and the non-slashing-call on the Skinner soccer play were are all pretty egregious, and cost us big time.

I haven't watched a ton, but he did not look overmatched in what I saw. I haven't seen any commentary indicating that from our watchers either. He hasn't produced, but I don't think he's embarassed himself either. He plays a different game, but maybe analogous to Cozens's contribution up here?

I think the most notably improved player has been Brandon Montour. It's too bad he will be remembered most for the 70 games with Krueger, not the 30 with Housley and Granato. What might have been. I predict he will do well if he ends up in a place that allows him to play his game. Another asset squandered.