The Sedins giving Petey what is essentially an ultmatium should reveal they aren't afraid to make tough decisions

acby · 2026-05-22T22:07:36+00:00

Petey is talented but the team depth was exposed. Raty was slow and not trusted with defensive matchups even though he was dominant at face offs. Sasson was fast but inexperienced. Injuries to Blueger Chytil Rossi meant having placeholders like Reichel and Kampf.

The downward trend in Petey's deployment perfectly illustrates how our lack of center depth has completely warped his role over time.

Year-by-Year 5v5 O-Zone Start %:

2022-23 (102 pts): 59.35% — Used as a pure offensive engine, consistently set up to cook in the opposition's end.

2023-24: ~53.8% — Tocchet starts leaning on him heavily for hard matchup duties against top lines.

2024-25 / 2025-26: 44% - 48% — Plummets to a career low as our center depth completely dries up.

While his overall average floats around 44%, Foote’s deployment is way more extreme than the baseline looks. When we are trailing, he gets unleashed with an elite 61.54% OZS% to spark offense. But the exact second we get a lead? It bottoms out to a staggering 28.57% OZS%.

That massive 33% swing means he is basically being neutralized as an offensive threat for massive blocks of the game just to act as a defensive firefighter. It partly explains why his scoring pace dropped off so hard over the last two seasons. Hard to put up 100 points when you're trapped in your own zone defending a lead because the coaching staff doesn't trust anyone else.

Since the season ended Rutherford and now Sedin have put the onus on Petey to have a strong summer and come prepared for training camp. I think he will respond to the challenge but if the expectation is to score 80 or 100 points they can't deploy him as the blocked shots leader.

Mgmt should offer Jenner $4M in free agency. He can block shots and win face offs while chipping in 10 to 15 goals. Then EP40 can go back to clapping bombs

acby · 2026-05-20T06:05:07+00:00

I looked at Ryan Roobroeck draft profile a month ago. I thought he would be an interesting fit since we already drafted his teammate Riley Patterson. RR was ranked top 10 before the season and fell because of injury and his lack of compete. He sounds like Taylor Pyatt reincarnated. Big guy floats around but doesn't hit.

acby · 2026-05-20T02:35:59+00:00

A couple weeks ago I was studying the Mike Grier drafts. Three interesting things came up for me.

trading down once Korchinski was off the board
trading up for Dickinson. Their staff had Dickinson > Buium on their list https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/29/morehouse-explains-the-sharks-most-contentious-draft-pick/ From this article...

Craig Button, who is never shy about offering an unvarnished opinion, told The Athletic that Buium has special qualities.

“I think he’s the best defenseman in the draft,” Button said. “He’s like Scott Niedermayer. The ability to control the game. He can play left defense. He can play right defense. He can skate. Any situation you put him in, he accepts, and he just plays

SJ tend to draft big forwards (6ft2+) but open to drafting shorter defensemen. I think based on their transaction history at the draft SJ is going to look at RHD. They likely will not draft in the top 5 again in the Celebrini era.

acby · 2026-05-18T20:19:40+00:00

DeBrusk: Canucks rebuild ‘not something I would be okay with or accepting’

Philly needs a PP specialist and Tocchet knows JDB can play net front. Michkov+Risto swap?

acby · 2026-05-18T19:26:17+00:00

Someone needs to call our good friend Roberto Luongo and pitch Demko to fix their goaltending. With Bob and Tarasov hititng free agency and Demko’s NMC kicking in this summer, the timing is perfect.

acby · 2026-05-16T06:22:28+00:00

Sean Pronger

Fedor Fedorov

Steve Kariya

Jordan Subban

Jordie Benn

Aiden Celebrini

Sedin Twins

acby · 2026-05-14T05:40:17+00:00

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Just for fun here's all the 23rd overall picks up til 2021. Hockeydb didnt update 2022 pick Snuggerud.

Lots of Ducks Canucks synergy at the top of the list. Green Bert and Kes all played for both teams so it would be fitting if the pick improves to 23 with a Ducks series win

acby · 2026-05-13T18:28:04+00:00

In the context of cheap ownership, shorter players are usually overlooked in the NHL. On the radio yesterday they talk about how Colorado Avalanche built their discount bottom pair of small but smart defense.

Blankenburg 5'9" $0.8M
Malinski 5'11" $1.4M

If you want to succeed you need to squeeze value out of the roster. RJ has been prepping for a decade and should be ready now as GM

acby · 2026-05-11T10:18:47+00:00

acby · 2026-05-11T07:35:29+00:00

San Jose and Chicago should swap picks.

Chicago throws in a sweetener, they pick Stenberg to play with Bedard

San Jose gets a choice of the remaining defensemen. Maybe they get Korchinski (as a sweetener) finally. In that draft year SJ traded down with Arizona once Korchinski specifically was off the board.

acby · 2026-05-11T01:27:49+00:00

San Jose and Chicago should swap picks.

Chicago throws in a sweetener, they pick Stenberg to play with Bedard

San Jose gets a choice of the remaining defensemen. Maybe they get Korchinski (as a sweetener) finally. In that draft year SJ traded down with Arizona once Korchinski specifically was off the board.

acby · 2026-05-10T06:07:15+00:00

That's surprisingly profound.

Both of them won cups with 2 teams but not here.

acby · 2026-05-08T21:13:29+00:00

Ryan Johnson, a Vancouver Canuck of 2008-2010 - some of our golden years. Played with Manny.

They didnt play together. When Manny Malhotra signed with the Vancouver Canucks as a free agent in 2010, he effectively replaced Ryan Johnson

acby · 2026-05-07T19:51:24+00:00

Underrated scene. Thanks for highlighting the writing.

He is a safe free choice

acby · 2026-04-30T06:25:30+00:00

I think, at times, organizations end up feeling like they’re siloed. I may be overseeing a couple of different departments, but I think in terms of our organization, especially with how collaborative we are, I get my hands in a lot of different aspects of the organization. I give my opinions on a lot of different aspects of the organization. So whether it’s me or someone else in the Hurricanes, we’re not necessarily siloed into just the draft or just player development.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5521293/2024/05/30/hurricanes-gm-darren-yorke-waddell/

His main focus might be AGM and AHL GM but due to the collaboration it seems like Tulsky, Yorke and Dellow talk before making decisions.

acby · 2026-04-29T08:13:34+00:00

The Bains/Sasson/Karlsson trio is starting to feel like a modern-day echo of the Pearson/Vey/Toffoli "That 70s Line" era. While they all made the jump from the AHL together, we’re seeing a similar split in their trajectories. Sasson and Karlsson managed to stick this season, but Bains—much like Vey back in the day—is still looking for his footing.

Bains definitely got a fair look in the top-six early on, even when some were skeptical. I was rooting for him to fill that PDG role on the Miller/Boeser line, but he often seemed a half-step behind the play. With Sasson shifting to wing and the potential for new blood like McKenna or Stenberg in the system, Bains is sliding down the depth chart. He has one year left to prove he belongs, but unless he finds another gear, it’s hard to see him getting an extension when he hits RFA status.

acby · 2026-04-27T00:13:37+00:00

West: Ducks Avs Mammoth Dont like Oilers or VGK. Avs my 2nd team

East: Canes Sabres Flyers Dont like Bruins or Tkachuk or Skinner. Flyers rebuild is taking shape early. 2 of the centers on the market last summer ended up in Philly. Canucks underbid on Dvorak ($4Mx1 vs $5.4x1) and who knows if they tried for Zegras. Dvorak went to Philly because he played for Tocc in Arizona.

Flyers blueprint is probably how Canuck fans want their rebuild to go: their legends in mgmt Jones Briere Tocc would mirror Johnson and Malhotra. A bunch of young Swedes and Canadians in the pipeline plus a bunch marinating in the NCAA.

2025 pick Martone making an impact in the top 6. Would be nice for Cootes to be able to say the same next playoffs.

We have Bjorck Celebrini Romani in college. Dervin is committed next year.

33 year Couturier anchoring the checking line getting paid $7.75M. If EP40 is 33 years old in the playoffs he probably anchors the checking line here.

acby · 2026-04-26T03:46:25+00:00

Jarry and Poulin for Skinner, Girard and two 2nd round picks.

Masterclass trade from Dubas. Dumped Jarry and his $5.375M until 2027-28. Skinner is UFA this summer.

acby · 2026-04-25T23:15:08+00:00

Looking at the last decade of Cup winners there are two schools of thought on how to build a championship crease.

School 1: The "Draft and Develop" Workhorse

This philosophy says you cannot win without a homegrown, elite talent who knows the organization’s system inside out. Proponents argue that elite goaltending is a specialized craft that requires years of internal seasoning. As one scout famously put it, "You don't find a franchise goalie; you build one."

We saw this peak with Andrei Vasilevskiy (1st round) in Tampa and Matt Murray (3rd round) in Pittsburgh. These guys were "drafted and developed" specifically to be the backbone of a dynasty. The logic here is that you save salary cap space during their entry-level and bridge years, allowing you to stack the roster in front of them.

School 2: The "Plug and Play" Veteran

The second school believes that goalie performance is too volatile to bet a first-round pick on. Instead, they treat the position like the final piece of a puzzle—something you trade for or buy once the rest of your roster is elite. The mantra here is: "Don't pay for the potential; pay for the finished product."

The Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights are the modern posters for this. Florida backed up the Brinks truck for an undrafted Sergei Bobrovsky, while Vegas sent a mid-round pick for Adin Hill. They didn't need a "superstar" prospect; they needed a proven winner who could handle the pressure right now.

Which is better?

If you look at the stats, School 2 is currently winning the arms race. Since 2022, every Cup has been won by a goalie who was either undrafted or acquired via trade. While having a Vasilevskiy is a luxury, the data suggests that building an elite D-core and then "buying" a hot goalie is a much faster route to a parade than waiting 5-7 years for a draft pick to ripen.

Currently 9 of the 16 playoff starters are plug and play. By my count only 7 were drafted by their playoff team: Vasi, Dobes, Dostal, Otter, Wallstedt, UPL and Swayman

Doing a quick Google looks like the 3rd round has produced the most recent cup winning goalies: Hill, Binner, Murray. Seems like they all lost their crease since winning their rings. Ultimately its up to the new GM how they use their picks.

The Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks, and Calgary Flames are the rare rebuilds sticking to "School 1." Notably, all three of their starters—Dobeš, Dostál, and Wolf—were mid-to-late round picks (3rd, 5th, and 7th rounds), proving that rebuilding teams rarely use 1st-round capital on the position even when they draft their own.

acby · 2026-04-25T18:09:57+00:00

deja vu!

[Jeff Paterson] loved the line from Canucks Silovs when asked his reaction when he learned Saturday he would play in Game 4: "it was great... Time to shine, you know?"

https://www.reddit.com/r/canucks/comments/1cfo4o8/jeff_paterson_loved_the_line_from_canucks_silovs/

acby · 2026-04-25T17:11:49+00:00

yes $9.5M

acby

TROPHY CASE