Rathbone is almost a year older than Romanov and he's shown nothing in the NHL in his 17 games. Rathbone will likely be a Jake Bean type of defenseman, decent offensively but not good enough to be in a teams top 4 and awful defensively,

In Romanov's age 20 and 21 seasons in the NHL he's shown the ability to drive offense. He has been above average at driving play offensively so your statement.
He is already a good two wyay defenseman and is the perfect D partner for Noah Dobson. Listen buddy, if want to have an intelligent conversation, at least use facts instead of making things up to push a narrative.

It was very easy to prove you wrong.

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He’s a very good player. But better than Barzal? That’s doubtful.

Rathbone won’t even be a Jake Bean level player lol

Rutherford gave 4.75 mill x 4 to a 3rd liner and hasn't been able to create cap space like he said he would. Wait until he discovers a mediocre player he really likes and is willing to overpay for him. Remember that Kapanen trade? Expect more of those types of trades.

He's most likely one of those defenseman who's too good for the AHL, not good enough to provide value in the NHL

I like how Canucks fans are gonna sit here and pretend OEL and Rathbone r good lol. Want to take bets on how long it will take them to say that it’s better to have Mikheyev for four years than Bailey for two?

So he’s basically Sebastian Aho lol

lol that's actually a great comparison

The Canucks are wasting Hughes with that D core, you hate to see it. 5 more years and Hughes will be making his way over to America.

Dude has one foot out the door. In five years he will be a member of the Blue Jackets. Everyone knows it lmao.

Is there another Jack Rathbone out there who is good at hockey?

Rathbone was literally good enough to be an NHL defensemen this season, but the management wanted him to spend a full season in the AHL first, because they didn't want to rush him. He was creating a lot of zone exits and was able to make plays happen from nothing in the offensive zone. He already has an NHL caliber tool set, that can give him a 3rd pair job. And he ironed out a lot of chunks in his D-zone game, to the point, that he was being relied upon as a shutdown defensemen towards the end of the AHL season. And even last year, Rathbone was one of our better depth defensemen defensively. He will play a lot of minutes in the NHL this year. Boudreau even told OEL to practice playing RD, if Rathbone earns himself a Top 4 job during the season, which the AHL/NHL coaching staff predicts he would. When Rathbone signed with the Canucks, his Harvard coach put him on the same pedestal as Marino and Fox, who were his teammates early in his career.

And Mikheyev was on pace for 32 goals last season, while playing essentially zero minutes with Matthews, Nylander, Marner. Mikheyev is one of the fastest players in the league and is an elite penalty killer. His defensive game is also very strong at 5v5, he can be used in all situations. He is worth good money at $4.75M, especially playing with better linemates in the Canucks Top 6

And Barzal will join Vancouver, he literally had Canucks pjs as a kid. And btw, he still lives in Vancouver and follows the Canucks. Give me a break. Quinn Hughes signed for 6 years for a reason, not a bridge. He has been our most valuable player the last 3 years. And Canucks will make him the highest paid D-man in the league, if they have too. In an interview to the Athletic, he said he wants to play the rest of his career in Vancouver if he could. And he will be a UFA in 2027, that is a long time away. This is a debate to have 3-4 years down the road, when Canucks start pitching him extension offers. And trust me, there will be no low-ball offers when it comes to Pettersson and Quinn. They get whatever they want.

Rathbone’s most likely outcome is a 3rd pair caliber D who can help PP2. The odds he has a better overall impact than Romanov are very low

Mikheyev is a good play driver, but he’s not shooting 14% next season. Previous two seasons it was less than 10%. He’s not known for his finishing ability. He’s worth 3.5 x 2 at best , VAN were better off signing Milano or Balcers

Mikheyev lacerated his wrist in his rookie season, if the cut was an inch higher, he would be dead. That is a worse injury Boeser ever had, and it even took him 2 years to get his shot back to normal. That is what injuries do. And Mikheyev does not need to be a sniper to score goals. He is very fast and creates a lot of 2v1 rush chances and breakaways. If he can finish those chances at a league average level (which he did last year), he can be a 20 goal guy, based on that alone. Not to mention, what playing with guys like Horvat, Pettersson and JT Miller will do for his game. He won’t have to carry Kampf, Kase, Engvall, Kerfoot and Tavares anymore. Btw, the only winger that gave Tavares a positive 5v5 goal differential was Mikheyev. Even Nylander couldn’t make that slow bum a Top 6 guy, but Mikheyev did





And Rathbone is already at that stage in this point of his career. He has not stopped developing. Also you can teach defense, but not offense. For example, you can’t teach Romanov how to skate like Rathbone. But you can teach Rathbone how to use his body to be more physical defensively. You can teach Rathbone a good gap and how to use his stick to win puck battles. But you can’t teach Romanov how to pass and move the puck like Rathbone. While Romanov may have a higher floor than Rathbone. But Rathbone has a much higher ceiling. Romanov is not going to be anything more than a 3rd pair shutdown defensemen, that can be used up in the line-up in case of injuries. I saw him play a lot in the North division, and trust me, he wasn’t very good. He was arguably even worse this year, apart from a few stretches

Mikheyev will likely be a good play driver but I still highly doubt he’ll be a good finisher on Vancouver. It’s not like he’s 24 YO, he’s entering his age 28 season.

The most wild thing about this discussion is how you completely ignore facts. Romanovs analytics were that of a 2nd pair defenseman in each of his last 2 seasons. He is already better than a 3rd pair D. He also set up high danger scoring chances at an above average so I am not sure why you feel the need to make up things. Do you realize how insane it is to want to be right so bad that you’ll ignore facts.

Rathbone likely won’t hit his ceiling. He has the makeup of a 3rd pair/PP2 defenseman. Romanov’s skating ability is just as good and Romanov’s outlet passing/in some offense is already better at the NHL level than Rathbone will ever be.

It doesn’t matter what your eye test says, Romanovs underlying numbers are already at a 2nd pair level at 22 YO, and that’s while playing with pylons like Chiarot + savard

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A defenseman with top 4 upside will have better underlying numbers than this. Rathbone is a tweener right now . He’s not even on the same level as Romanov, Romanov has put up good results against elite competition

Romanov actually did not have good analytics, he was mediocre at best, and even that is being generous.



And I have seen him play a lot, he gets absolutely killed when he has to defend against Top 6 players. It’s only in a sheltered role, that he can be effective. He really reminds me of a younger Luke Schenn, which isn’t a good thing, considering Lou paid a 1st round pick for him (#13). Romanov has very little upside, and you are delusional if you think he is even half as good offensively as Rathbone. This alone shows you have never seen any of them play.

Rathbone is somebody who is very noticeable offensively. His shot is already better than most NHL defensemen. And his skating is among the best defensemen in the league. Rathbone and Garland have the same skating coach, and Rathbone constantly beats Garland in drills. And Garland is an excellent skater himself. In development camp, Quinn and Rathbone were skating circles around everybody else, they were not that far apart themselves. Quinn has better edges, but their top speed and acceleration is more or less the same. Whereas Romanov will probably get lapped twice by Quinn if they were on the ice together. And let’s not even talk about their shot or passing. They are not even in the same dimension offensively. And btw, if Rathbone played for a trash team like Montreal, he would be playing Top 4 minutes too. That does not mean anything. It is about what’s best for your development. And Romanov should have played the year in Laval too. Except he got exposed in the NHL and did not learn anything. He is still the same player he was last year, as he was this year. Whereas Rathbone played 25 minutes a night in Abby, and learned what it takes to be a Top 4 D man at the professional level, offensively and defensively

Also Mikheyev has only been in the NHL for 3 years. And he has spent most of it injured. He has an extremely raw skill set and his best is yet to come (when he finally plays a full season, with Top 6 line mates). His defensive play and PK alone make him a valuable Top 9 player. His speed and finishing are just extra pieces that will elevate him into a solid Top 6 guy, and that’s all Vancouver need him to be. His 4 year term ensures Canucks get prime years too

Romanov literally does not have good numbers against elite competition. If anything, that is his biggest weakness. The guy was an absolute pylon in the playoffs last year and was healthy scratched for a reason. Again, it is very clear you haven’t seen Romanov play. From saying he is a great skater (wtf?), to praising his offensive skills (excuse me, what?).

And underlying metrics? Rathbone played 9 games last season, when he had an on-ice shooting percentage of 1.6%. He was used on the 3rd pair, and hardly got any ice time because Canucks were losing a lot of games early on and they didn’t want to play rookies. However, in his limited ice time, he was excellent offensively, often leading the attack himself. He was completing a lot of breakout passes, and showed a good amount of physicality and compete in the D-zone. If he played for literally any non-playoff team, he would have spent the whole season in the NHL. Most NHL scouts compare him to a Torey Krug or Goligoski. Corey Pronman said Rathbone is already a solid 3rd pair guy at the NHL level, and should only improve from here onwards

Dom's model is hardly analytics lol. It puts a lot of emphasis on points, which is why a replacement level defenseman like Tyson Barrie has a market value of over 4 mill. Using Dom's chart is the equivalent of using Eklund for NHL rumors. Both Evolving Hockey and Jfreshhockey have Romanov as a 2nd pair caliber defenseman, much more reliable analytics platforms. Romanov's QOC was at about 50% and his numbers against elite competition are very good. Romanovs ceiling is a Dmitri Orlov type, they play a similar style at both ends of the ice. There is no way you are successful in life the way you constantly just make up things, its pretty insane man. I almost feel bad for you.

Rathbone is noticeably offensively in the AHL. He has been absolute trash in his 17 games in the NHL, if he had the upside of a top 4 defenseman he would show something at 22 YO. There is almost no chance he's anything more than a 3rd pair defenseman. He has the makeup of a defenseman that will play 3rd pair/PP2 for a few years before he spends the rest of his career as a great AHL defenseman.

Mikheyev is 28 and he's exiting his prime. Vancouver is getting his worst years. He's a good player, but he should have never gotten more than 3.5 mill and the term should have been 1-2 years. Rutherford overpaid big time.

It's well known that one of Romanov's biggest strengths is his skating, he has great 4 way ability and can consistently evade pressure in the defensive zone.

RAPM isolates for teammates and completion , Romanov is above average at driving play offensively as well the rate his team scores goals. If you're not smart to enough to understand this chart let me know ..... This proves that Romanov is already at a 2nd pair caliber, there is nothing you can say to prove otherwise. It is a fact.
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It seems like you have no idea to evaluate defenseman. You ignore the facts and believe what you want to believe lol. Not surprised considering Vancouver has an AHL level defense besides Hughes.


Rathbone was terrible in his 9 games last season. He was not good offensively , he did nothing to show that he has what it takes to be an NHL defenseman.
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Oh look, Romanov ranks 3rd in Goals Above replacement among Habs Dmen over the past two seasons, with an above average 3.6 OFFENSIVE goals above replacment, I thought Romanov provided no offense?? lol Any credible analytics platform shows he has a solid offensive impact

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Romanov drives offense better than 67% of NHL defenseman over the past two years...Interesting.

Alex Romanov, traded to NYI, is a promising young defenceman who improved his results a lot after the coaching change midseason. #Isles pic.twitter.com/0uqkTuVsmi

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 7, 2022