Canucks Managerial Thread

[Verviticus]

Not to mention is Scott Walker has never stopped being involved in the game, from owning and coaching Guelph (to an OHL crown and the Mem Cup final) to being part of Hockey Canada coaching staffs.

At the very worst, he's going to help us continue to pluck good kids out of the OHL.

ya. i think this is a good hire

 

[y2kcanucks]

He's obviously a better matchup physically than Richardson or Bonino.



http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/rat...5000&teamid=0&type=goals&sort=A60&sortdir=ASC

And he has a good history of preventing goals despite not having played with great defensive players.

Physically I would take a healthy Richardson over Sutter.

That's nice. I maintain he will continue to be about average here.

 

[Canucker]

He's obviously a better matchup physically than Richardson or Bonino.



http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/rat...5000&teamid=0&type=goals&sort=A60&sortdir=ASC

And he has a good history of preventing goals despite not having played with great defensive players.

Why would he be an obvious better match up physically than Richardson? Sutter is still a lanky, sub 200lb forward with zero grit. At least Richardson has some tenacity. If you factor in contracts, I'd take Richardson over Sutter pretty easily...but to each their own.

 

[Scurr]

Why would he be an obvious better match up physically than Richardson? Sutter is still a lanky, sub 200lb forward with zero grit. At least Richardson has some tenacity. If you factor in contracts, I'd take Richardson over Sutter pretty easily...but to each their own.

In a one on one matchup I'd like the player to be bigger/stronger or faster than who they're playing against. A player that is smaller and slower is at a real disadvantage imo. That's what I look for. Sutter is faster than the big guys and bigger than the fast guys. Bonino got destroyed by Monahan because he's bigger and faster than he is.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Why would he be an obvious better match up physically than Richardson? Sutter is still a lanky, sub 200lb forward with zero grit. At least Richardson has some tenacity. If you factor in contracts, I'd take Richardson over Sutter pretty easily...but to each their own.

This is primary reason I dislike that trade. Sure, if Sutter does put up 50 points, then I'll happily eat crow. But the odds of that are slim. While I know there is an inherent risk, we should have at least waited until he played half the season here before gifting him a fat new contract. If he sucked, well, cut your losses and move on. Now he could be a center version of Higgins/Hansen and get paid almost double what they garner.

 

[Hit the post]

In a one on one matchup I'd like the player to be bigger/stronger or faster than who they're playing against. A player that is smaller and slower is at a real disadvantage imo. That's what I look for. Sutter is faster than the big guys and bigger than the fast guys. Bonino got destroyed by Monahan because he's bigger and faster than he is.

A pity the coach didn't see fit the give the Sedins more minutes to mitigate that. Got to maintain that 1-2-3-4 strategy.

Here's to hoping that the old guy learned his lesson and will actually use Sutter in that manner (eg., checking line vs Monahan) rather than go with the "roll four lines" that was so "successfull" for the Canucks this past post-season. Frankly, I ain't holding my breath...

 

[arsmaster*]

ya. i think this is a good hire

It's a minor hire but it's one I like. I know he wasn't the GM in Guelph but they've been able to pluck some pretty talented kids and turn them into NHL draft picks. Hopefully he can help is in that aspect.

 

[Scurr]

This is primary reason I dislike that trade. Sure, if Sutter does put up 50 points, then I'll happily eat crow. But the odds of that are slim. While I know there is an inherent risk, we should have at least waited until he played half the season here before gifting him a fat new contract. If he sucked, well, cut your losses and move on. Now he could be a center version of Higgins/Hansen and get paid almost double what they garner.

The centre version of Higgins/Hansen is twice as valuable because of the added defensive responsibility of playing centre.

Getting points! isn't the only way to have a significant impact on a hockey game.

 

[Upoil]

http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/rat...5000&teamid=0&type=goals&sort=A60&sortdir=ASC

And he has a good history of preventing goals despite not having played with great defensive players.

What do you make of the GF%? Sutter is the only guy in the top 10 of your list with a less than 50 GF%. The other guys on the list that are good at limiting goals but still end up on the wrong side of GF/GA aren't particularly the guys I'd be targeting to be going up against the big centers in the west.

From your 8 year list:
Travis Moen
Paul Gaustad
Boyd Gordan

From the last 4 years:
Travis Zajac
Brian Boyle
Patrick Dwyer

I'm sure I'm using the stats wrong but doesn't that mean that these players are relatively low event but still end up allowing more goals than they get?

 

[Scurr]

A pity the coach didn't see fit the give the Sedins more minutes to mitigate that. Got to maintain that 1-2-3-4 strategy.

Here's to hoping that the old guy learned his lesson and will actually use Sutter in that manner (eg., checking line vs Monahan) rather than go with the "roll four lines" that was so "successfull" for the Canucks this past post-season. Frankly, I ain't holding my breath...

I get the frustration over how that worked out but realistically we didn't have a good matchup for Monahan. Horvat might have been the best… but I'm all for the team avoiding that while he's still maturing offensively. IMO that's what Bonino for Sutter is all about.

 

[arsmaster*]

Weird. We heard all year from the same guy that bonino are up "Kesler's minutes". Now after a poorly coached playoff he's not good at it.

 

[Scurr]

What do you make of the GF%? Sutter is the only guy in the top 10 of your list with a less than 50 GF%. The other guys on the list that are good at limiting goals but still end up on the wrong side of GF/GA aren't particularly the guys I'd be targeting to be going up against the big centers in the west.

From your 8 year list:
Travis Moen
Paul Gaustad
Boyd Gordan

From the last 4 years:
Travis Zajac
Brian Boyle
Patrick Dwyer

I'm sure I'm using the stats wrong but doesn't that mean that these players are relatively low event but still end up allowing more goals than they get?

His scoring rate has been affected by playing with bottom of the roster players on a shallow team imo. He should see his scoring rate increase with better QOT despite still playing that 3rd line centre role.

 

[F A N]

As much as we love McCann and Hutton, do we really want McCann to be playing in between two plumbers? (i.e. Prust/Dorsett), OR, is there a benefit in seeing McCann go back to Juniors where he potentially dominates?

As long as McCann is given regular minutes (i.e. the Horvat treatment) and not yo yoed around, I think McCann will be fine.

Ditto for Hutton. Do we really want him playing 5/6 with limited minutes, OR, is there a benefit in getting him more ice-time down in Utica in a dominant "alpha" role (and then being the 1st guy to get called up in case of injury).

As long as Hutton is in the lineup it's fine. WD spreads out the minutes quite a bit. Realistically, Hutton can be expected to log 15-16 minutes if he is in the lineup if last year is any indication.

With WD, I see him as a good development coach in the sense that if a player is in the lineup he is given steady minutes. He's not going to bench a young player after one defensive mistake and have him end up averaging less than 8 minutes. The key question is whether WD will give the young player a chance to be in the lineup.

 

[tc 23]

Thoughts?

So when's McCann ever going to get opportunities to crack the roster then? Henrik's here for 3 more years, Bo's here for hopefully a very long time, and Sutter's locked in for 5 more years. Those are the team's top-3 centers in the eyes of current management for the present and distant future.

If McCann's ever going to break in at center, it'll have to be on the 4th line anyways or he'll have to somehow push Sutter down to take his spot on the 3rd line.

do we really want McCann to be playing in between two plumbers? (i.e. Prust/Dorsett)

Then why even acquire these plumbers in the first place? Weren't they brought in to "mentor" young players (such as McCann, Gaunce, etc) who are going to be cracking the line-up? They were also guaranteed to be playing in the bottom 6 from the moment they were acquired, which is basically the only part of the roster where there's room for young players to break in. If management's reason for sending guys like McCann down because they don't want them to play with plumbers, it doesn't make sense at all and would be inconsistent with what they've been saying and doing.

 

[Fat Tony]

In a one on one matchup I'd like the player to be bigger/stronger or faster than who they're playing against. A player that is smaller and slower is at a real disadvantage imo. That's what I look for. Sutter is faster than the big guys and bigger than the fast guys. Bonino got destroyed by Monahan because he's bigger and faster than he is.

How did Richardson suddenly morph into Bonino in this response?

 

[VC]

Weird. We heard all year from the same guy that bonino are up "Kesler's minutes". Now after a poorly coached playoff he's not good at it.

I'm guess that he looked good going it in the regular season but exposed in a 7 game series?

 

[Hit the post]

I'm guess that he looked good going it in the regular season but exposed in a 7 game series?

"Exposed" because the coach didn't believe in "line matching" then (again, we can only hope 'you can teach an old dog new tricks').

 

[Wisp]

Gaunce and Kenins getting sent to Utica while Jake and McCann stay up is either a step towards the wrong decision or right decision.

 

[VC]

"Exposed" because the coach didn't believe in "line matching" then (again, we can only hope 'you can teach an old dog new tricks').

But isn't that the centre that was supposed to be handling that duty?

I like the idea of Sutter the player even if I strongly dislike the acquisition and contract cost.

 

[Hit the post]

But isn't that the centre that was supposed to be handling that duty?

I like the idea of Sutter the player even if I strongly dislike the acquisition and contract cost.

I have my doubts had we Sutter on the team (based on TOI of players in the Flames playoff series) - Willie would've line matched. Hopefully, I'll be proven wrong this upcoming season.

 

[arsmaster*]

But isn't that the centre that was supposed to be handling that duty?

I like the idea of Sutter the player even if I strongly dislike the acquisition and contract cost.

No, because the coach wasn't giving duties, he was going 1....2.....3.....4 rinse, repeat.

Bo Horvat and Hank Sedin had Monahan neutered, Desjardins Peewee coaching tactics were the problem, not Bonino.

 

[VC]

No, because the coach wasn't giving duties, he was going 1....2.....3.....4 rinse, repeat.

Bo Horvat and Hank Sedin had Monahan neutered, Desjardins Peewee coaching tactics were the problem, not Bonino.

I like 1 2 3 4 in the regular season but it is no bueno come playoff time, that I think most can agree one. The talk of Bonino's defensive game should of been fine when 1 2 3 4 put him out there in stead he was targeted?

Do you want Hank to do the shutting down and create the offense? Or do you want those duties split up a little? I saw a need for a different kind of defensive centre that what the team had, just didn't like how Benning went about getting it.

 

[Hit the post]

I like 1 2 3 4 in the regular season but it is no bueno come playoff time, that I think most can agree one.

Doubt anyone (at least rationally ) would argue against that.

 

[arsmaster*]

I like 1 2 3 4 in the regular season but it is no bueno come playoff time, that I think most can agree one. The talk of Bonino's defensive game should of been fine when 1 2 3 4 put him out there in stead he was targeted?

Do you want Hank to do the shutting down and create the offense? Or do you want those duties split up a little? I saw a need for a different kind of defensive centre that what the team had, just didn't like how Benning went about getting it.

I hate 1-2-3-4 period. I have no problem playing your 4th line 8-10 minutes in close games, and 10+ in blowouts, I will never like games where the 4th line LW plays more than Daniel.

I want Henrik on the ice pinning other good players in their end, matching with Sutter just wastes too many minutes on guys unlikely to score.

Bonino was a flawed player, but so is Sutter. I appreciated the cost of Bonino and the flexibility it provided, I don't really agree with targeting defensive players to combat offensive players, I want offensive guys to force the other team to play defense.

Ie. lots of Horvat's.

 

[Horse McHindu]

So when's McCann ever going to get opportunities to crack the roster then? Henrik's here for 3 more years, Bo's here for hopefully a very long time, and Sutter's locked in for 5 more years. Those are the team's top-3 centers in the eyes of current management for the present and distant future.

If McCann's ever going to break in at center, it'll have to be on the 4th line anyways or he'll have to somehow push Sutter down to take his spot on the 3rd line.



Then why even acquire these plumbers in the first place? Weren't they brought in to "mentor" young players (such as McCann, Gaunce, etc) who are going to be cracking the line-up? They were also guaranteed to be playing in the bottom 6 from the moment they were acquired, which is basically the only part of the roster where there's room for young players to break in. If management's reason for sending guys like McCann down because they don't want them to play with plumbers, it doesn't make sense at all and would be inconsistent with what they've been saying and doing.

Good post overall. My only response to that is perhaps McCann plays some LW up here as well? Or, you can have a guy like Sutter move to RW to accommodate McCann.

Perhaps after this season, when Prust's contract expires, Benning will change the "meaning"/role of his 4th line. With Prust gone, maybe Benning elevates Gaunce and McCann to play with Dorsett?