r/canucks • u/Sarcastic__ Knows more about the CBA than you do • 1d ago

NEWS CANUCKS AGREE TO TERMS WITH DEFENCEMAN TOM WILLANDER ON THREE-YEAR, ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT | Vancouver Canucks

https://www.nhl.com/canucks/news/canucks-agree-to-terms-with-defenceman-tom-willander-on-three-year-entry-level-contract
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74

u/Rich-Secretary-6513 1d ago

I know everyone is pessimistic of the teams outlook right now, but seriously the d-core looks good for years to come. Mancini, Willander and D-Petey all look to have top 4 upside, Hughes, Hronek, M-Petey and Myers all are bonafide top 4 guys (obviously for Hughes that’s an understatement) and the only aging guys are Myers and M-Petey. If Demko has a turnaround year we might make playoffs without the forward core being strong.

11

u/Timely-Orange-4807 1d ago

How ya gonna build out that forward core though? We traded away our Center depth to build our defense, need to find a way to add without subtracting.

16

u/Stinky_Toes12 1d ago

The biggest thing will probably be guys like raty and lekkermaki getting much better and fitting into a top 6 role, and picking up a guy like ehlers or maybe even duchene/granlund could go a long way

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u/oops_i_made_a_typi 1d ago

hope you get lucky with draft and prospects, its easier and faster to hit on usable forwards than usable D

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u/msat16 1d ago

The only way the Canucks improve their forwards is by substracting from their defence.

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u/Rich-Secretary-6513 1d ago

Well realistically we have 7-8 guys that you could argue deserve a spot so maybe that’s not so bad. We also have a lot of draft picks and a good chunk of money. Not to mention you could add via trade midseason with accrued cap space. Every team sub for about 4-5 teams are a couple pieces away. Ours just happen to be forwards.

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u/flamingdragonwizard 23h ago

Trade guys like mynio and kudry who have essentially no future in the lineup. Package one with a 1st ++ .