This may sound bizarre, but bear with me here:

Much like Kessel, it's not the Goat's fault that he was taken in the 1st round.

Leafs Nation needs to lay off of this kid. His upside may only be a 3rd line checker, but what the hell, he's our 3rd line checker prospect, so we need to stop calling him a stiff because he isn't the next Connor McDavid.

Let's see how he does on the Marlies this year.
- Atomic Wedgie

Definitely. And he's got a U18 gold, WJC gold, and QMJHL championship under his belt. I'd want to keep those kinds of guys around, even if they weren't the next gretzky in the process.

I ain't going to lie to you Scooby. This season is going to be bad; real bad.
- Aetherial

We are in the same boat. It will be good for both franchises in the long run.

We are in the same boat. It will be good for both franchises in the long run.
- Scooby_Doo

Yeah, not sure wtf Vancouver is doing lately.

I find it hard to take anyone seriously who tries to pull out this kind of logic. If you can even call it that. Placing the failures of people who no longer work for the organization, at the feet of people who currently work there, makes zero sense.

Dubas, Hunter, etc. are in year one of their plan to rebuild. Look at it like that. They took all of last year to evaluate this organization and make their assessments. They concluded these players weren't worth the contracts, and would rather roll the dice again with other players.
- jnwood2517

my default position will always be "this sucks" after each move until they prove they aren't idiots. my success rate is near 100% using this method going back to the 05-06 season.

you should try it

I find it hard to take anyone seriously who tries to pull out this kind of logic. If you can even call it that. Placing the failures of people who no longer work for the organization, at the feet of people who currently work there, makes zero sense.

Dubas, Hunter, etc. are in year one of their plan to rebuild. Look at it like that. They took all of last year to evaluate this organization and make their assessments. They concluded these players weren't worth the contracts, and would rather roll the dice again with other players.
- jnwood2517

That's not what I was saying at all.

I was saying that IF the event someone were to question why exactly a management group was stepping all over its own words, that given history, blind faith may not be the most practical approach.

I really don't care what people support and what they don't. But when the team is contradicting itself, I reserve the right to raise an eyebrow.

If that's not good enough for ya, I'm not sure what to tell ya...

This may sound bizarre, but bear with me here:

Much like Kessel, it's not the Goat's fault that he was taken in the 1st round.

Leafs Nation needs to lay off of this kid. His upside may only be a 3rd line checker, but what the hell, he's our 3rd line checker prospect, so we need to stop calling him a stiff because he isn't the next Connor McDavid.

Let's see how he does on the Marlies this year.
- Atomic Wedgie

Wholeheartedly agree.

my default position will always be "this sucks" after each move until they prove they aren't idiots. my success rate is near 100% using this method going back to the 05-06 season.

you should try it
- daeth

well you do have a point there.

They gave up 5 prospects for a chance at drafting 4 in later rounds if teams take these guys, it is what it all boils down to. A slim gambling chance.
- LeafMan

I'd take 4 Hunter draft picks over 5 BB/DN picks any day even if they are later picks. Look at timashov in the 5 round for example or Bracco with the 31st pick in the second round.

just think of the opportunities for the Canucks to add at the trade-deadline - and then sign these guys next year for more than they're worth.
- BorjeFan4Ever

Canucks will be trading Burrows, Vrbata, Hamhuis and Higgins or Hansen if anyone will take them.

Looking forward to losing and drafting some studs the next couple drafts.

Yeah, not sure wtf Vancouver is doing lately.
- Pecafan Fan

how many players do the Canucks have in camp.... if they have more than 60 they are doomed!

We are in the same boat. It will be good for both franchises in the long run.
- Scooby_Doo

Except, one team actually seems to be expecting a rough season/tank and the other is trying to do everything at once and is stuck in the middle.

We didn't need Gibson.

We have James "Dominik Hasek" Reimer on our team.

I'd bet it's better than last year

Zero let down and probably finish with more points
- Garnie

Ya. Have the faith. I know this is hard to understand, but we can't do much worse than last year.

I did a quick check - it's actually worse than you could imagine.

Burkie's first Leafs draft was 2009.

Kadri in the 1st round.

Jerry D'Amigo in the 6th: 31 NHL games, 1 goal, 2 assists.

Jesse Blacker and Jamie Devane have combined for 3 NHL games.

Nobody else has played a game.

2010 draft: 28 total NHL games.

2011 draft: 30 total NHL games (and that's with 2 1st round picks)

2012 draft: Morgan Rielly. No other player has played an NHL game (still hopeful ona few though: Brown, Loov. Finn if you want to be a party-pooper today).

2013 draft (beginning of Nonis era): 0 NHL games. Gauthier, Verhaeghe, Herzog, Bibeau, Andreas Johnson. I'm not exactly drooling.

2014-15: not fair to judge yet.

http://www.hockeydb.com/i...aft/teams/dr00008490.html
- Atomic Wedgie

Outside of the top-10 picks and 1st overalls, this is similar to Edmonton's draft record.

People think JVR will have a down year without Phil but let me tell you why they're wrong..

He will be motivated under Babs obviously and i think JVR will become a better player especially defensively. I think at times JVR fell into phils laziness. Personally think hes better off without phil.

Why did we just give up 5 prospects for Michael Grabner?
- ThePresident

Because the prospects are terrible and won't sniff the NHL

Canucks will be trading Burrows, Vrbata, Hamhuis and Higgins or Hansen if anyone will take them.

Looking forward to losing and drafting some studs the next couple drafts.
- Scooby_Doo

If Henrik blows out his knee then I see a high pick, otherwise I wouldn't hold your breath for a top 3 pick or even top 5 would take some bad injuries/luck.

how many players do the Canucks have in camp.... if they have more than 60 they are doomed!


- BorjeFan4Ever

I see you still fail to understand what my point was.

Well done.


(not that it surprises me, mind you)

I'd take 4 Hunter draft picks over 5 BB/DN picks any day even if they are later picks. Look at timashov in the 5 round for example or Bracco with the 31st pick in the second round.
- HealthyScratch6

Well I could say the same with Finn and Verhaeghe, their stats were impressive. Brown or Johnson wasn't a hunter pick, it is BS, imo.

I'd take 4 Hunter draft picks over 5 BB/DN picks any day even if they are later picks. Look at timashov in the 5 round for example or Bracco with the 31st pick in the second round.
- HealthyScratch6

I definitely remember reading pretty much those exact same words with regards to Finn and verhaeghe.. And a few others.

The hunter draft looks solid, but they're completely similar in the sense that they haven't proven a damn thing.

I would just like for once to see something good come out of it, and not be watching people here trying to validate how timashov and bracco were never really going to be anything special in two years. Only way to accomplish that is to actually put some time into developing our prospects. Just like they've been telling us was the plan for months...

We are in the same boat. It will be good for both franchises in the long run.
- Scooby_Doo

If Vertanen keeps hitting McDavid like that. I'm going to become a Canucks fan.

Which one of the five stiffs we unloaded could actually be called assets?

Leafs Nation needs to relax.

Our criticism of the team for the past 25 years has been that they have been willing to trade the future for the present.

None of the five stiffs we just traded could in any way be considered to be part of the Leafs' future (or at least not going to make any significant impact on the future).

We gave up absolutely nothing, lowered the contract count, and improved the power play.

Edit: we improved the PK. Sorry

It won't win us a Stanley Cup, but what the hell, we are marginally better today than we were yesterday, and it won't negatively affect our future.

Although maybe I'm just sweet on the Leafs today, because I just picked up my tix, and they gave me a Leafs shaving kit!!!!!
- Atomic Wedgie

Cool. Because they've been consistently shaving years off my (frank)ing life...

That's not what I was saying at all.

I was saying that IF the event someone were to question why exactly a management group was stepping all over its own words, that given history, blind faith may not be the most practical approach.

I really don't care what people support and what they don't. But when the team is contradicting itself, I reserve the right to raise an eyebrow.

If that's not good enough for ya, I'm not sure what to tell ya...
- joel878

It's only 'contradicting itself' if you look at it in short-sighted way. It's not like they announced a contract extension for Grabner. Clearly he's a guy with upside they think can be flipped at the deadline. Like all the other PTO guys.

And they're doing this because they want to leave their (good) prospects in the minors and let them develop. That's their plan. And they're sticking to it.

By dumping poor prospects that were holding them back from making moves to acquire better prospects, they are now able to continue with that plan. Nothing about this move 'contradicts' their stated intention. The only difference is that you believe these players they traded were good. The Leaf management does not. I'll take their word over yours.

Ya. Have the faith. I know this is hard to understand, but we can't do much worse than last year.
- bixll

Yes

my default position will always be "this sucks" after each move until they prove they aren't idiots. my success rate is near 100% using this method going back to the 05-06 season.

you should try it
- daeth

This is remarkably similar to my incredible success at predicting the Leafs.

Always assume the worst will happen. You'll have a damn good track record.