Carol Schram: Vancouver Canucks: Sizing Up the Changes on Defense for 2016-17 The Vancouver Canucks will be looking to manufacture more offense from their blue line after a big dry spell in that area during the 2015-16 season.

Are you talking Jake Virtanen and Boeser? Or Demko? I think JV is the only one we can measure with NHL experience. The rest are a question mark.

Is Juolevi this years success? I don't even think that was JB's intended target at all. I expect the management team had their eyes on a bigger prize...



(frank) I love that image.
- bloatedmosquito

blah blah blah...

the best part of that pic is Burkie, wondering what the hell just happened..

Thanks Carol

thundachunk, my guess is that some people are intent on stirring it up just to f up the program, and that last comment section was save by a timely new blog post. imo.

Hudler...whew...

Now that Hudler is gone
I can't wait to see who signs that scrub Kris Russel.

Hopefully not us.

Sadly….the Canucks defence will probably score less this year than last. Hutton & Tanev could score more but Gudbranson surely won't. The bright side is, they'll most likely defend better and allow less goals.

I doubt Tanev gets more than 4 goals... if anything we should be using him as trade bait. Maybe Dallas can trade us Nichuskin and Honka/ Johns...

Now that would be a great deal. They get another legit top 6 dman (people here think top 2/3 dman ) and Nux get a guy who is surplus in big D (Nichuskin) and a guy who'll make the team likely this season (Honka/ Johns)

Sadly….the Canucks defence will probably score less this year than last. Hutton & Tanev could score more but Gudbranson surely won't. The bright side is, they'll most likely defend better and allow less goals.
- LeftCoaster

What basis do you have for either of these points??

Sadly….the Canucks defence will probably score less this year than last. Hutton & Tanev could score more but Gudbranson surely won't. The bright side is, they'll most likely defend better and allow less goals.
- LeftCoaster

Hudler...whew...
- LordHumungous

from the last blog

I find it funny that some fans won't except a tank but will put their entire faith in "if you get to the playoffs - who knows what will happen" strategy. I have a hard time understanding it.
- bloatedmosquito

I'm not advocating that we should be wishing to scrape into the playoffs and hope to win the cup, no one is, but dude it can totally happen - it just did!!

Do you really have hard time understanding how Pitts just won the cup? Admittedly, I do....Cus back in December who would've called it? I'm still blown away at how they won - Bonino, Kessel and Haglin??? their second line?? look at the destruction those guys caused - which disproves the theory of line mates needing time to gel argument. The rookies that played WAY over their potential, a D-core made up of Daley, Cole, Lovejoy, Schultz, Dumoulin and Letang - there's no way anybody would look at that Defense and honestly say "Yeah we're going win the cup with these guys." NO FU*KING WAY. Ever hear of Matt Murray?? nobody did!!! not even Matt Murray had!! So the "we need a goalie with playoff experienced goalie" theory gets thrown out the window too. There's no doubt that Sid, Gino, Hornqvist, 35yr old Kunitz and Letang are a great core but no f&*king way did anyone see them winning the cup this year. The core was surrounded by castaways. And you wanna take a look at their draftees the last 10 years.....cus the only players of any significance were Maata & Rust - Bennett only played one game!

Everybody's going on and on about what it takes to win a cup and be successful but the Pens just proved that we all don't know what the F*& we're talking about. The recipe didn't make a lick of sense.

Playoffs are a different beast and strange things can happen that time of year and this isn't the first time - Kings barely made it into the playoffs in 2011.

this rant isn't directed at you bud - its more of a general statement/observation

Sadly….the Canucks defence will probably score less this year than last. Hutton & Tanev could score more but Gudbranson surely won't. The bright side is, they'll most likely defend better and allow less goals.
- LeftCoaster

from the last blog



I'm not advocating that we should be wishing to scrape into the playoffs and hope to win the cup, no one is, but dude it can totally happen - it just did!!

Do you really have hard time understanding how Pitts just won the cup? Admittedly, I do....Cus back in December who would've called it? I'm still blown away at how they won - Bonino, Kessel and Haglin??? their second line?? look at the destruction those guys caused - which disproves the theory of line mates needing time to gel argument. The rookies that played WAY over their potential, a D-core made up of Daley, Cole, Lovejoy, Schultz, Dumoulin and Letang - there's no way anybody would look at that Defense and honestly say "Yeah we're going win the cup with these guys." NO FU*KING WAY. Ever hear of Matt Murray?? nobody did!!! not even Matt Murray had!! So the "we need a goalie with playoff experienced goalie" theory gets thrown out the window too. There's no doubt that Sid, Gino, Hornqvist, 35yr old Kunitz and Letang are a great core but no f&*king way did anyone see them winning the cup this year. The core was surrounded by castaways. And you wanna take a look at their draftees the last 10 years.....cus the only players of any significance were Maata & Rust - Bennett only played one game!

Everybody's going on and on about what it takes to win a cup and be successful but the Pens just proved that we all don't know what the F*& we're talking about. The recipe didn't make a lick of sense.

Playoffs are a different beast and strange things can happen that time of year and this isn't the first time - Kings barely made it into the playoffs in 2011.

this rant isn't directed at you bud - its more of a general statement/observation
- Brooks_Light

Well said.

I can't seem to quote you Brookslight, but the fun little story about how the Pens are somehow a surprise Cup champ team was amusing, to say the least. Any time you have two of the leagues top 10 center's on your team and one of them is the best player in Hockey--> you should not be surprised!

They added a guy who has got north of 80 points multiple times... come on!

Anyway, even if I did buy that. In what world does that somehow allow for the Canucks to somehow win?! We dont have 1 of the top 10 centers in the league let alone two. we don't have one player in his prime that can score north of 80 let alone 3. I'll admit Eriksson is a longshot to hit over 80 given that he's going to play a lot.

Even all of that aside, the Western conference is simply a different animal. A weaker team can come out of the east, but look at the teams that have come out of the West the last 5 years. SanJose, Chicago and LA. All very hard teams to play, not to mention now there is Dallas in the mix, Nashville is much improved.

from the last blog



I'm not advocating that we should be wishing to scrape into the playoffs and hope to win the cup, no one is, but dude it can totally happen - it just did!!

Do you really have hard time understanding how Pitts just won the cup? Admittedly, I do....Cus back in December who would've called it? I'm still blown away at how they won - Bonino, Kessel and Haglin??? their second line?? look at the destruction those guys caused - which disproves the theory of line mates needing time to gel argument. The rookies that played WAY over their potential, a D-core made up of Daley, Cole, Lovejoy, Schultz, Dumoulin and Letang - there's no way anybody would look at that Defense and honestly say "Yeah we're going win the cup with these guys." NO FU*KING WAY. Ever hear of Matt Murray?? nobody did!!! not even Matt Murray had!! So the "we need a goalie with playoff experienced goalie" theory gets thrown out the window too. There's no doubt that Sid, Gino, Hornqvist, 35yr old Kunitz and Letang are a great core but no f&*king way did anyone see them winning the cup this year. The core was surrounded by castaways. And you wanna take a look at their draftees the last 10 years.....cus the only players of any significance were Maata & Rust - Bennett only played one game!

Everybody's going on and on about what it takes to win a cup and be successful but the Pens just proved that we all don't know what the F*& we're talking about. The recipe didn't make a lick of sense.

Playoffs are a different beast and strange things can happen that time of year and this isn't the first time - Kings barely made it into the playoffs in 2011.

this rant isn't directed at you bud - its more of a general statement/observation
- Brooks_Light

There is always a chance that a team scrapes into the playoffs and wins but comparing that scenario to Pittsburgh is laughable.

The Pens added Kessel to an already potent offense and also shored up their forward depth adding Fehr, Bonino, Perron, Plotnikov and Cullen.

Many people were predicting that the Pens were contenders before the season began.

Murray was coming off his rookie season where he won best rookie, best goalie and lowest GAA awards so yes, many people had heard of him and knew he was a hell of a prospect.

The sharks might of been a better example.

I can't seem to quote you Brookslight, but the fun little story about how the Pens are somehow a surprise Cup champ team was amusing, to say the least. Any time you have two of the leagues top 10 center's on your team and one of them is the best player in Hockey--> you should not be surprised!

They added a guy who has got north of 80 points multiple times... come on!

Anyway, even if I did buy that. In what world does that somehow allow for the Canucks to somehow win?! We dont have 1 of the top 10 centers in the league let alone two. we don't have one player in his prime that can score north of 80 let alone 3. I'll admit Eriksson is a longshot to hit over 80 given that he's going to play a lot.

Even all of that aside, the Western conference is simply a different animal. A weaker team can come out of the east, but look at the teams that have come out of the West the last 5 years. SanJose, Chicago and LA. All very hard teams to play, not to mention now there is Dallas in the mix, Nashville is much improved.
- neem55

Bang on

from the last blog



I'm not advocating that we should be wishing to scrape into the playoffs and hope to win the cup, no one is, but dude it can totally happen - it just did!!

Do you really have hard time understanding how Pitts just won the cup? Admittedly, I do....Cus back in December who would've called it? I'm still blown away at how they won - Bonino, Kessel and Haglin??? their second line?? look at the destruction those guys caused - which disproves the theory of line mates needing time to gel argument. The rookies that played WAY over their potential, a D-core made up of Daley, Cole, Lovejoy, Schultz, Dumoulin and Letang - there's no way anybody would look at that Defense and honestly say "Yeah we're going win the cup with these guys." NO FU*KING WAY. Ever hear of Matt Murray?? nobody did!!! not even Matt Murray had!! So the "we need a goalie with playoff experienced goalie" theory gets thrown out the window too. There's no doubt that Sid, Gino, Hornqvist, 35yr old Kunitz and Letang are a great core but no f&*king way did anyone see them winning the cup this year. The core was surrounded by castaways. And you wanna take a look at their draftees the last 10 years.....cus the only players of any significance were Maata & Rust - Bennett only played one game!

Everybody's going on and on about what it takes to win a cup and be successful but the Pens just proved that we all don't know what the F*& we're talking about. The recipe didn't make a lick of sense.

Playoffs are a different beast and strange things can happen that time of year and this isn't the first time - Kings barely made it into the playoffs in 2011.

this rant isn't directed at you bud - its more of a general statement/observation
- Brooks_Light

First of all, the Penguins DID NOT limp into the playoffs in 8th spot, they had a slow start from a new rookie head coach but they still finished with 104 points, second most in the entire Eastern Conference.

Secondly, they have three super-stars in the prime of their careers with as much personal hardware as you'll find on pretty much any one team. Their depth was tremendous as well.

Comparing anyone team, let alone the Canucks, to them as a "limp-in" candidate is apples and oranges.

Ok….gotta go, it's mens night at the golf club. Cheers boys….keep your sticks on the ice!

Great article Carol. I do think we have a lot of questions on D, it will be interesting. Don't Sbisa and Tryamkin seem a little redundant (similar skill sets) ? could be another trade candidate there(similar to McCann where it's just a tradeable asset). I think were all hoping for a Sbisa trade there, I thought he looked better last year, maybe he'll come in and show more (wishful thinking, but players do improve when they're 24-25)
I think Larsen/Subban is another interesting one. I read one story that Subban has really beefed up for this training camp, I'm pulling for the guy!

Ok….gotta go, it's mens night at the golf club. Cheers boys….keep your sticks on the ice!
- LeftCoaster

(frank)ing Retirees.... mens night prep starst at 1 PM

There is always a chance that a team scrapes into the playoffs and wins but comparing that scenario to Pittsburgh is laughable.

The Pens added Kessel to an already potent offense and also shored up their forward depth adding Fehr, Bonino, Perron, Plotnikov and Cullen.

Many people were predicting that the Pens were contenders before the season began.

Murray was coming off his rookie season where he won best rookie, best goalie and lowest GAA awards so yes, many people had heard of him and knew he was a hell of a prospect.

The sharks might of been a better example.
- belcherbd

I'm not arguing against the Pens having great players but I swear I remember them starting slow, Crosby included, and people questioning Rutherford's moves and if Sullivan was the right choice to coach.

(frank)ing Retirees.... mens night prep starst at 1 PM
- belcherbd

Dinner's between 3:30 and 4, bed by 7

Great article Carol. I do think we have a lot of questions on D, it will be interesting. Don't Sbisa and Tryamkin seem a little redundant (similar skill sets) ? could be another trade candidate there(similar to McCann where it's just a tradeable asset). I think were all hoping for a Sbisa trade there, I thought he looked better last year, maybe he'll come in and show more (wishful thinking, but players do improve when they're 24-25)
I think Larsen/Subban is another interesting one. I read one story that Subban has really beefed up for this training camp, I'm pulling for the guy!
- neem55

I was really impressed with Subban's progression last year and hope he can earn a call up or two but I would be really surprised at this point if he can earn a spot over Larsen. It sounds like mgmt is going to give Larsen a decent amount of rope to show if he belongs, as they should IMO.

Subban and Stecher need prove they can take another step in the AHL before we start penciling them in as saviors.