A Video on the Canucks As They Add Lukas Reichel

A Video on the Canucks As They Add Lukas Reichel

Welcome back. All right, let us discuss the Vancouver Conucks. Today, they have acquired Lucas Reichel from the Chicago Blackhawks. Uh he was a number 17 pick back in 2020 and going to Chicago was a 2027 fourthround draft choice. Uh it is a small price to pay. Yes, uh it is a future asset, but it is a small price to pay for a player who’s 23 years of age. And when we look at Riel’s numbers, um, one point in 11 games and 2122, uh, 22 23, played 30 23 games, I should say, and 15 points that year. 23 24 65 games and 16 points. 2425. Uh, 70 games, played 22 points that season. And this year, he’s played five games and had two goals, two assists, four points. So, where’s Reichel going to fit into the Conucks lineup? Well, I I grabbed this from um from Puck Pedia. My guess is they’re going to try Riel down the middle. The thing with Riel in the middle is he does have a career faceoff mark of 40.5%. Um got that directly from the NHL website. So, what the Conucks are trying to do here is add some skill. And I’ve seen Patrick Eline talking about the skill and what he thinks he can provide and all that. The thing is that every time the Conucks get a player, they have a very similar statement they’ll put out on what they think that player can do and how excited they are for him. So, I don’t necessarily read that much into it. Uh, the Vancouver Conucks are very much a mediocre looking team when you look at the forward group. Um, I don’t think that necessarily changes at all with Riel being added. Now, if they start getting healthy again, that would help, but at this point in time, they’re just it seems like there’s a new injury every game. So looking at their lineup, Kane, three assists in eight games. I don’t think he’s produced the way that the Conucks would like. Patterson continues to have his struggles. Four points in eight games, a goal, and three assists. I’d really hoped that we’d see a bounceback season from him. We have not. And the reality is that I don’t know that we necessarily will. I hope so. He’s still got the skill and you see enough flashes of it in games to make you think, you know, under the right circumstances, but the right circumstances for Person right now might be in another city, but with his contract, it’s not one you can buy out and it’s not one that can be traded either. So, that’s why I don’t talk about trading him or waving him cuz they’re stuck with him. And all right, so you you try to fix what you what you’re stuck with. Uh Garland’s had a really strong start to the season. Two goals, five assists, seven points in eight games. Uh, De Brusk’s only got one goal in eight games to go with his two assists. Uh, Sassin with three goals in five games, but I I like Sassin, but he’s he’s not a second line center at the National Hockey League level. Uh, Brock Besser, three goals in six games. No assists for him as of yet. Uh, Drew O’ Conor, one assist in eight games. He’s a hard worker, but you don’t get a lot of offense. Uh, Rawu with one assist in six games. Raw’s been a healthy scratch at certain points. I don’t know that I see top six potential in Ratu. I think he can be a regular in the National Hockey League. Yes. I don’t know if top six is where he’s going to end up. I I don’t I don’t think so. Uh Kefir Sherwood, four goals in eight games. He’s had a really strong start to the year. Aman’s played two games since being called up. No points. Uh and of course, Lenus Carlson, two assists in the five games he’s played. Um, Baines has played eight games. He’s got two assists. With the acquisition of Riel, that probably does bump Baines out of the lineup. Lebates played one game since being called up. He’s not an offensively minded player, so you don’t expect points and he didn’t get a point in that game. Now, if you look at their injured reserve, this is where you can see the Canucks have some issues. So, part of the reason this looks so anemic is because you’ve got Heedel and Bluger, both centers, and they’re on the shelf. So, that’s two of your top four centers on the shelf. Uh Leer Mackey scaled forward should be on that third line. He’s on IR. And then on the blue line, you got Forbert as well as Breeze and Woo, who I think have been on IR since the season started. So eventually they will be cleared uh to come back and they’ll probably both be thrown on waiverss if need be to be sent down to Abbottzford. Uh LTI is Hoglander. We were hoping for for a big season from Hoglander. So I would say of their planned top six, Heedle would have been in the top six. and you’ve got Hoglander who would have been in the top six and even when healthy I don’t know that I look at this Canucks team and say that’s a playoff team and that’s the issue that I’ve had. I know there’s a lot of fans in the fandom that want to see them back in the playoffs and believe they can get there. I I don’t see that with the forward group. Now the blue line is very good but Quinn Hughes now there’s talk about how his production isn’t where he wanted to be. A goal and four assists for five points in eight games showing how high the bar is. Uh heronic with four assists in eight games. Um Marcus Patterson, eight games, no points. Um DPD has eight games played. The other Elias Patterson, uh no points for him, but he’s not an offensively minded defenseman. Tyler Myers with a goal and two assists in eight games. And Pio Joseph in the two games he played he’s played. He does not have a point either. So, uh they have two goals from Blueliners that are currently in their lineup. and you want more and and this is this is just the question I have with Vancouver is so if they’re going to be a playoff team where is it going to come from? We know that their most skilled forward is very likely still Person and whether it’s physical, psychological, whatever it is, uh the production is not there. And you can see that Adam Foot doesn’t have a whole lot of faith in him because five on five uh I saw that that Person was six the Monks forwards and five on five ice going into yesterday’s game. So that tells me that Adam Foot doesn’t necessarily have a whole lot of faith that uh that Patterson’s going to go out there and do all the right things and he’s going to help turn things around. Now in net Demco’s been fantastic. 3-2 with a 927 safe percentage. Lanken and one-2 with an 883 safe percentage. Normally when I’m just talking about one team, I’ll be talking about the future schedule and how things could go from here. with the Vancouver Conucks. I don’t think that’s necessary because we saw them on a road trip go in and beat Dallas. They beat Washington and then they kind of laid an egg last night against Nashville. So, you never know what you’re going to get from these guys. And sometimes they play their best hockey against the teams they’re not supposed to beat and then they save their their their least best hockey for the teams that they should beat. And it it is one of the things that can be very frustrating as a Canuck fan. The the one thing that I would say is as as a fan of the team, I have not been upset when they lose this year. And that’s telling because there have been years where I do get upset when they lose. When they lose and I go, “All right, that means that my brains are already decided they’re probably not a playoff team anyways.” And I I just I don’t look at this lineup and say, “Well, these guys could could hang with with the Oilers. We see what the Ducks are doing right now. The Ducks are rising, right? They’re 4-2 and one. They’re looking good. Um, we know the Kings are probably going to turn things around enough that they’ll probably get ahead of the Conucks. The Conucks are four and four so far this year. Uh, the Kings are 33 and two through their first eight games, and they seem to be trending in the right direction. So then for the Conucks, it’ll be a wild card spot they’d have to get. And which two teams in the Central are they going to beat out for a wild card spot? We already saw in a game between them and St. Louis earlier in the season that St. Louis looks like they’re a better team than Vancouver. And I’m okay with that. Um I I think what we’re seeing right now in the market, like I’m okay with them picking up Lucas Reichel. I’m okay with a fourth round draft pick going as well. I don’t think that’s awful, but Lucas Reichel is not going to change the fortunes of the Conucks. He may have a very good start, like being out of Chicago and finally having that behind him. He may have a really good strong start with Vancouver and that could be great. If he has a good strong start and then Heedle jumps back in the lineup or Blugger’s back in the lineup, maybe you’re good. Um, but for the Vancouver Conucks all, how long have we been talking about them needing more help down the middle? Basically, since JT Miller was traded out of town, uh, we’ve been hearing about them needing more help down the middle, which I’ve always kind of felt bad for Heedle because Heedle can be a second line center, but we know he’s going to get hurt. We know that that’s just part of of the the the DNA of Heedle throughout his career is that injuries take place. So, I I don’t have a lot of optimism with Vancouver at this point in time. I I wish I could say that I did, but that’s why I don’t get upset. That’s why I’m not up here yelling. And as for the idea that they need to move heaven and earth in order to make sure Quinn Hughes doesn’t leave in 2027. Um, a anything that I’ve heard about Quinn Hughes is that he really enjoys it in Vancouver and he wants to stick around. But, but if he wants to leave, he’s going to leave. And that’s that’s just the reality. Um it’s just it happens and it happens all the time. Um but if you look at other teams around the league who’ve lost like big key players, as disastrous as it may look on the surface of it, if you have a good organization, if you’re still developing good players, if you’re not mortgaging your future for the present too much, you can absorb that loss. My concern for the Canucks is that they maybe they do part with a first round draft pick at some point. Maybe, you know, whether it’s this year or next year to try to hold on to him and go out and get a player. But what the Conucks are looking for ideally is a second line center who can score and take faceoffs and those just aren’t available. This is why I haven’t been reporting on all these trade discussions about the Vancouver Conucks and what they’re going to do. Where are they getting these players? And the the names that I see out there that are suggested either aren’t going to fix the problem, and I’d rather that they don’t send a first or a second round pick for somebody who’s not going to fix the problem, or it’s just not realistic that those players are headed to Vancouver. So, uh, Patrick Alvine’s kind of up against it. There’s been discussion about how safe his job is this year in Vancouver and whether or not there’s a lot of pressure on him to get them into the the playoffs. I think there is just just and I don’t have any inside information on that. I think there is pressure on Patrick Alvine to get this team back into the playoffs, but I don’t know how realistic it is at this point in time because they just they don’t have the forward depth. Um, and their blue line is good. I think at times Kuck fans overrated it a little bit. Um but their forward group, while they’re hardworking, they just don’t have a finisher. Um you know, Besser’s got three goals, sure, but just the three points in total. Sherwood’s not going to score a goal every two games throughout the season. I’d love to be wrong about that and see a 40 goal season, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. So, it’s just a matter of I don’t know where those goals are going to come from. Uh, Evander Kane is not the same forward he was 10 years ago. And I will once again state that I I thought bringing in Evander Kane was a mistake by the Conucks. And um I haven’t seen anything from Kane so far uh to tell me that bringing him in was was a fantastic move by the Vancouver Conucks. And once again, I want to be wrong. I absolutely I do. I want to be wrong, but what we’ve seen so far, this is just a team that it’s just it’s it’s not quite at that level. And I think that the biggest complaint I’ve had about the Canucks for 10 years, I mean, ever since this channel came into existence, one of my big complaints about the Canucks has been a plan. I want to see a plan. And when it was Jim Benning, the plan seemed to be we’re going to trade our early 20s players for guys that are in their mid20s cuz they’re further along. See what we did there? And they they mortgaged some future guys who turned out to be pretty good. Um, and what we’re seeing right now with the Vancouver Conucks, it’s it’s not the same as it was under Benning, but it’s it’s interesting to me how it’s similar. like this Riel move feels sort of like a Jim Bennett move and obviously management’s going to talk up the new guy they’re bringing in. But even though Riel had four points in five games, I’m not expecting him to score at that rate in the Vancouver lineup. And so we’ll see. Maybe a change of scenery helps him. Uh but yeah, Vancouver I I I don’t see a playoff team over an 82 game schedule unless something dramatic happens. They need all these guys off of the injured list and they need to stay healthy and they need Person to get back to being Patterson. And maybe that won’t happen. Uh, one video that I’ve been wanting to do and I I might uh do this before the month’s out, maybe early November, is look at players who came into the league in their, you know, teens or early 20s and scored really really well and then it just wasn’t sustainable. It feels like with with Person, we’ve just reached that point. I don’t know if it was the wrist injury. I don’t know if it’s something psychological. I don’t know what it is, but he’s just the Jimmy Carson’s the one name that comes to mind as an example of a player who was really good when they were young and as they got older, it just they they they didn’t take that next step. They didn’t stay in that 100 point range. Um, but yeah, let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Hit like and subscribe in the event that you may not have done so already. I just I wanted to talk about this. It’s still very early in the season, but that’s where my expectation is for the Conucks are. They’re going to be good at times. I don’t anticipate them being bottom five in the National Hockey League, but I I don’t look at them right now and say, “This is a team that’s going to be a playoff team when April rolls around.” And I do have concerns that it’s being managed as if they’re going to be a playoff team. That that’s that’s where we’re just going to go back to the playoffs. like it’s it’s just that easy without that plan. I I’ve always wanted to see a multi-year plan with the Canucks and we’ve never really seen that. So, anyways, there you go. Let me know your thoughts. Hit like and subscribe in the event you may not have done so already. Thank you guys so much for all your support. It’s greatly appreciated. I will talk to you again soon.

A trade was made by the Canucks today, so I wanted to look at their roster and stay honest about how I view their chances.

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