(Discussion) An Intriguing looking player

[CanucksFan26]

It’s after midnight. I can’t sleep. I find myself looking at stats of players I want us to trade for. Looking at a team I never pay attention to. Columbus. I notice Dmitri Voronkov. Top 5 in rookie scoring right now but only playing 13 minutes a game. His numbers are really good. I watched some highlights on him. Massive guy not afraid to hit or throw hands. Really good net front presence from his highlights. 
 

Anyone have insight on him? I haven’t watched him play as I just literally never watch Columbus but the stats for 13 minutes a night look awesome. Wondering if given their depth and lack of minutes if he’s a guy that could maybe be had, especially if we are to move on from Kuzmenko. No other rookies in the top 15 in scoring play anywhere near that low amount of minutes. Also it looks like all but one of his points are at even strength which is very impressive. I’m so curious. He looks so good on paper. 
 

 

[Elias Pettersson]

I checked.  He's not a Milstein client.   

 

Voronkov is huge.  6'5" and 240 pounds.  He played centre in the KHL but can also play left wing.  He's probably a Rick Tocchet guy.  He likes to go to the net and get dirty and most of his goals are in close.  He would be nasty as a net front presence, especially on the PP.  He's not a great skater, but he hits like a truck and even fought Arber Xhekaj.

 

Columbus is intriguing.  They have a few players I like.  They do need goal scoring.  Not sure if they would be interested in Kuzmenko.

 

I'd do a major trade with Columbus to try and fill every hole.  If we add Voronkov he could play with Petey.  I also like Sean Kuraly, he'd be fantastic on the 4th line.  And Andrew Peeke would provide good depth at RHD.  Those 3 players I think can fill all of our holes.

 

[CanucksFan26]

5 hours ago, Elias Pettersson said:

I checked.  He's not a Milstein client.   

 

Voronkov is huge.  6'5" and 240 pounds.  He played centre in the KHL but can also play left wing.  He's probably a Rick Tocchet guy.  He likes to go to the net and get dirty and most of his goals are in close.  He would be nasty as a net front presence, especially on the PP.  He's not a great skater, but he hits like a truck and even fought Arber Xhekaj.

 

Columbus is intriguing.  They have a few players I like.  They do need goal scoring.  Not sure if they would be interested in Kuzmenko.

 

I'd do a major trade with Columbus to try and fill every hole.  If we add Voronkov he could play with Petey.  I also like Sean Kuraly, he'd be fantastic on the 4th line.  And Andrew Peeke would provide good depth at RHD.  Those 3 players I think can fill all of our holes.

 

Thanks for the insight. Like his stats are mind blowingly good for a guy playing 13 minutes and a rookie on a bottom feeder of a team. I’m so surprised he’s so under utilized and has those numbers and is one of just a few + players on Columbus. His puck possession numbers on paper are really good too.
 

Andrew Peeke was a big reason I was even looking at their roster. He’s a guy I too have always wanted and if we are serious about moving Kuzmenko, Columbus is one of those weird teams with young guys who haven’t really hit their stride yet and I feel like Kuzmenko for some scenery changing young guys might be a good kind of trade. We can’t really take on salary beyond this year unless they are ELC or near league minimum. But I feel like Columbus with what they are trying to build might be a perfect spot for Kuz. Really wondering if they’d move Voronkov to get a more offensive guy like Kuz. Something with Peeke and Voronkov coming back would be intriguing. I know Kuz is in the hole but I think he still has to have some quality trade value. 

[DownUndaCanuck]

I really liked Kuraly, Roslovic and Peeke in the off-season but wonder now if they're any better than our current pieces. Roslovic would bring a scoring touch to our 3rd line but it looks like RT prefers a defensive-first bottom-6 which makes sense, and Blueger and Suter have filled that role well. Kuraly arguably brings a similar defensive mentality with a bit more offence, and we could play some of these centers on the wing. 

I'm not sure how much of an upgrade Peeke would be over our current guys, but he's a bit of a project and could fill in so we can let Cole and/or Myers go in the off-season. He's played like 7 games so far, averaging 18 minutes and hasn't looked great but not as bad as last season?

 

I wonder if they take Garland/Kuzmenko + Cole/Myers (retained) for Kuraly + Peeke

 

Depending on the player combo, they have 3M in cap space we could play with (hence giving up the highest-value Kuzmenko) which we could really weaponize at the TDL.

 

Again, I'd rather sit put but it might be a trade more for the off-season/future flexibility than right now.

[Pears]

Not sure why Columbus would move one of the few promising pieces they have.

[CanucksFan26]

On 12/12/2023 at 1:56 PM, Pears said:

Not sure why Columbus would move one of the few promising pieces they have.

On paper, Columbus should be far better than they are. They also have a lot of young guys with with Fantilli, Marchenko, Texier, Johnson, Jiricek, etc. maybe some older guys would benefit them more. I think good players get traded quite often if it helps improve a team.

 

We need: cap relief and depth pieces, and maybe a little more physicality on the forward side. 
They need: consistency, leadership, better goalie play. 
 

I don’t think it’s far fetched for these two teams to be able to make a decent trade to help both teams. 

[Bobby James]

On 12/12/2023 at 1:56 PM, Pears said:

Not sure why Columbus would move one of the few promising pieces they have.

While they do have lots of young prospects coming up they also have locked in a surprising amount of prime/veteran talent and I think their intention was more looking like trying to push for a playoff spot. 

 

So maybe adding a Kuzmenko would be a good addition for them. The package coming back would need to be something like this rookie mentioned here, maybe a bottom 6 Dman (they have a surplus) and perhaps a pick or another lower lineup player. 

 

Kuz already feels like he's heating up again and putting him on the wing with Johnny could be a solid pair. 

 

But saying all that, this rookie is having a great start and they are so bad, so maybe they will pivot and just embrace another couple years of bottom of the league (trade off anyone over the age of 25) and keep rebuilding before they try again with their young guns leading the way.