Looking to next season after the Horvat deal, the Canucks have a big hole at 2C. Now I will say that they addressed this by bringing in Aatu Raty in the return for Horvat, but you have to think that a centre is still one of the top priorities for the Canucks this summer. That is unless Miller gets back to centre form and can be trusted as a 2C.
Another point is that the Canucks have a lot of middle six wingers. A lot. Boeser, Garland, Mikheyev, Beauvillier, etc. You have to think that if Hoglander and Podkolzin make the jump up to the NHL, they'll need to get out of the doghouse and become productive in a bigger role, like Hoglander was when he played with Bo and Pears.
Another big concern in the defensive situation. Myers is someone who likely won't be a Canuck at the beginning of next season, neither will Schenn. While the Canucks have a decent pool of LHD prospects with Pettersson, Rathbone, Truscott, Jurmo, and even guys like Christian Wolanin and Riley Stillman, they have nobody on the right side.
That's where I think the Canucks should really use their draft positions this offseason. Guys like Sandin-Pellikka and David Reinbacher are still sleeper picks in my opinion in what looks like a stacked forward class. But imagine if the Canucks took a chance on these two and it panned out.
Hughes Reinbacher
OEL Sandin-Pellikka
That sounds...actually like a good D core.
The Canucks don't need another small dynamic winger unless its a top end talent. Defencemen should 100% be the target for the Canucks at the draft, especially if they want to continue to compete and push to play better towards the end of the season. Frankly outside of the top 5 of Bedard, Fantilli, Benson, Carlsson, and Michkov, I don't see the Canucks being high enough to draft Will Smith, and I'm not super high on Sale, Yager, Dvorsky, etc. I think the Canucks should snag both RHD and build a stacked defensive core.
Now they also do have options at the trade deadline and in free agency to try and address these areas, but I don't think they have the assets to bring in a game changing piece. Cal Foote maybe could be a decent top 6 guy but Boeser and Garland likely return a B level prospect and a mid pick, and free agency doesn't look insane this year apart from Larkin and Pasta. But the Canucks don't have the leverage to make that happen, so the draft is really the only option.
It's a decent top 6. Definitely need help on defense. I think the biggest need is the lack of quality prospects in the system. Where are you guys ranked? 29?. They need to build up from within. It took the Devils a long time.
Draft picks, especially dmen that you expect to play top 4 take 3-5 years
Yeah totally, but stocking the cupboards with top defensive prospects would be the best course of action. Look at how bad Lekkerimaki has been in his D+1 year. I'd rather draft a defenseman than a guy who will likely be a fringe NHL winger in 5 years.
Let me start off with a minor side issue: I sense from your Team Description that the only reason why you show Reinbacher and Sandin-Pellikka on the current roster is to indicate what you think the future could look like, and thus the two prior objections are moot; I don't believe for a minute that you think they might be ready for the NHL straight out of juniors.
As usual, your insight and analysis are accurate and you present a reasonable overall strategy. (I really like reading detailed Team Descriptions.) One thing I would mention is that I see two teams interested in the same two prospects (as well as, perhaps, Lukas Dragicevic) as you: Both Buffalo and Detroit are in great need for help at RhD, and you may have to hope that both of them select after the Islanders' slot.
I have a suspicion that Anaheim might take Myers off your hands for a third. We have only Jamie Drysdale under contract at RhD for next season right now.
Let me start off with a minor side issue: I sense from your Team Description that the only reason why you show Reinbacher and Sandin-Pellikka on the current roster is to indicate what you think the future could look like, and thus the two prior objections are moot; I don't believe for a minute that you think they might be ready for the NHL straight out of juniors.
As usual, your insight and analysis are accurate and you present a reasonable overall strategy. (I really like reading detailed Team Descriptions.) One thing I would mention is that I see two teams interested in the same two prospects (as well as, perhaps, Lukas Dragicevic) as you: Both Buffalo and Detroit are in great need for help at RhD, and you may have to hope that both of them select after the Islanders' slot.
I have a suspicion that Anaheim might take Myers off your hands for a third. We have only Jamie Drysdale under contract at RhD for next season right now.
Nice work.
Let's say this is a look at three full years of development down the road at the start of the 2026-27 season. By then Petey will be 27, Hughes 26 just entering into their prime (if they are still the cornerstones of this franchise) at the start of the 4th season of Sandin Pellikka and Reinbacher's development. If Sandin Pellikka and David Reinbacher develop properly over those three years, and the Canucks use their money wisely, we could see a d-core of Hughes (27), Sandin-Pellikka (22), and David Reinbacher (21).
Now in the meanwhile, the Canucks would have Rathbone coming in 2023-24, Joni Jurmo in 2024-25, Elias Pettersson 2.0 coming in 2025-26, Ethan Bear, OEL, and whoever else. I think the best way to go about this draft would be to draft a defenseman with their first pick and then take the forward after. This draft is so deep on offence that you could end up with a Quentin Musty, Matthew Wood, Riley Heidt, Noah Dower-Nilsson, or even an Andrew Cristall. Especially if multiple teams go for a defender in the top 15.
Best case scenario would be to draft Reinbacher or ASP at their 7-10 pick in the first round and then take the best available at 13-16.
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Podkolzin,
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