Canucks News, Rumours, & Fantasy GM | Part 2

[credulous]

Every team in the league has a few Aman-level guys.

It's an issue we have like 8 on the roster right now.. but not him specifically.

yeah the canucks could play 1-2 of those names and be fine. maybe even 3 if they're the best 3. the issue is entirely that like half the roster is guys who would be borderline to play on a lot of teams

 

[bandwagonesque]

Balls. That sucks.

Hopefully Malanski is still on our radar.

Hirose looks interesting too, but as far as I know he hasn't been connected to Vancouver by anyone

 

[Soups On]

I'm happy with the way Aman has played, especially since his return to the lineup. He's effective in his role and is cheap - reminds me of the good ol' Brendan Gaunce days. Love that guy.

Also - the Dakota Joshua signing has been great. He looks way more confident out there, is using his body to protect the puck well, and is all hustle. Showing some nice finish too. I think there's more too him - could be a solid 3rd liner as he puts it all together.

RE; Garland - he's looking like Garland of early last year. As others have mentioned, maybe the concussion early on really did a number on him - if I had my head rocked, I'd subconsciously be pretty hesitant to go into the boards, especially if I'm much smaller than everyone else. It's quite clear Garland can still drive EV production and adds a lot of value to whatever line he's on. It's also crystal clear that it should be Boeser that goes to make cap room, not Garland.

 

[MS]

This was also Aman’s first NHL season. I think he’s got room to develop more after doing just fine this season.

Yeah, I'd agree that the Aman we've seen this year is, in a vacuum, a totally fungible sort of depth player and we could sign some 30 y/o UFA for $1 million and replace him and the needle wouldn't move either way.

The difference is that Aman is 22 and performing at that serviceable, solid 4th line/PK level already so the expectation should be that he improves significantly as he moves into his age 23-26 seasons to become a legit quality bottom-6 player.

 

[ahmon]

aman been a great find.

This guy is in his first year in NA, and played at a decent 4th line level.

6'2, skates really well - allows him to cover a lot of ice. If I had to nitpick is that you wish he would be grittier and meaner. But reasonable to expect him to grow defensively as he matures.

production is not what we need to criticize Aman about, over the years I've seen people on this board like to criticize the bot 6 too much. If anything its our top 6 F and top 4 D, top goalie that should be criticize, if those 11 players are good, you are a playoff team every year.

 

[m9]

yeah the canucks could play 1-2 of those names and be fine. maybe even 3 if they're the best 3. the issue is entirely that like half the roster is guys who would be borderline to play on a lot of teams

For sure, And I actually don't even think you're exaggerating.. literally half the roster is fringe NHL players:

F: Aman, PDG, Dries, Kravtsov, Podkolzin, Studnicka
D: Brisebois, Burroughs, Juulsen, Wolanin
G: Delia

If you want to be positive, at least you are seeing all of these depth guys play at the same time when the team is in the same position so it's easy to compare them. I think Aman & PDG have separated themselves from the pack up front and you can slot those guys to 12th/13th forwards on a roster at the very least. Maybe you let Dries/Studnicka fight for that 13th forward spot next year who can provide center flexibility as you'll need a 5th center on the roster. I would give Kravtsov & Podkolzin a run here with a more skilled center for a handful of games and figure out if they are part of the future or not.. I have my doubts.

The blueline is a bit more of a mess. I'm pretty comfortable with those 4 guys being 7-10 on the depth chart, but maybe you can slot one of the LD a spot higher.

Not sure what to make of the plan in goal. Do you re-sign Delia and let Delia/Martin/Silovs battle for the backup job in the off-season? It seemed like an awful idea a couple of months ago but the play of Silovs and the team play under Tocchet make me cautiously optimistic.

 

[bandwagonesque]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that any team who signs a player to an ELC can offer 10 percent of the base salary in bonuses. So in the case of Malinski, for example, who by virtue of his age must be offered a 1-year ELC, despite his salary being prorated a team can give him 95k as a bonus that is not prorated and is cash in hand.

 

[Nucker101]

aman been a great find.

This guy is in his first year in NA, and played at a decent 4th line level.

6'2, skates really well - allows him to cover a lot of ice. If I had to nitpick is that you wish he would be grittier and meaner. But reasonable to expect him to grow defensively as he matures.

production is not what we need to criticize Aman about, over the years I've seen people on this board like to criticize the bot 6 too much. If anything its our top 6 F and top 4 D, top goalie that should be criticize, if those 11 players are good, you are a playoff team every year.

ahmon commenting on aman

 

[MS]

yeah the canucks could play 1-2 of those names and be fine. maybe even 3 if they're the best 3. the issue is entirely that like half the roster is guys who would be borderline to play on a lot of teams

So many are playing because the team traded away several players at the deadline plus a couple more players are injured and out for the season. And Hronek not until yesterday.

The roster we're seeing now isn't representative of what we'll see in October, when guys like Juulsen and Kravtsov will be in the AHL or gone and a guy like Brisebois is on the roster as a 7-8 defender.

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

Aman didn’t cost anything to acquire and makes league minimum

This is easily Jim Bennings greatest achievement without question and it wasn’t even a Benning move !!!!

 

[credulous]

So many are playing because the team traded away several players at the deadline plus a couple more players are injured and out for the season. And Hronek not until yesterday.

The roster we're seeing now isn't representative of what we'll see in October, when guys like Juulsen and Kravtsov will be in the AHL or gone and a guy like Brisebois is on the roster as a 7-8 defender.

that's fine. i'm just saying i hope we don't see more than 1 or 2 of aman, podkolzin, kravtsov, burroughs, brisebois, dries, studnicka...

until players need to earn their spot in the lineup through their play this team isn't a serious team

 

[MS]

that's fine. i'm just saying i hope we don't see more than 1 or 2 of aman, podkolzin, kravtsov, burroughs, brisebois, dries, studnicka...

until players need to earn their spot in the lineup through their play this team isn't a serious team

I mean, every team has some guys like this filling up the 10-13 F and 6-8 D roster spots.

The most important thing for players in those roster spots is that they're cheap, and if they can tread water while making league minimum ... great. Those roster spots really don't move the needle unless you do a Benning and hugely overpay the players filling them and move the needle the wrong way.

And a guy like Aman who is young and doing well doesn't really belong in the same sentence as guys like Kravtsov/Dries/Studnicka who have played like pure filler and provided little. Podkolzin doesn't really either.

 

[m9]

that's fine. i'm just saying i hope we don't see more than 1 or 2 of aman, podkolzin, kravtsov, burroughs, brisebois, dries, studnicka...

until players need to earn their spot in the lineup through their play this team isn't a serious team

This boils down to one specific player/spot on the team to me, and it's the 3C spot. I can kind of get past the rest.

It's completely unacceptable for a team that thinks they are a playoff team to be playing Sheldon Dries as their 3C for the majority of the season (even before the Horvat trade) when there were no injuries to any centers above you. How you don't have a defensively responsible center in that bottom six to play tough minutes/PK/etc is a total joke and makes me question if these guys know how to build a roster. It should not have taken this season to figure out they needed this position.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Good. Serves mgmt right for likely banking on signing a bunch of NCAA players.

 

[Soups On]

Good. Serves mgmt right for likely banking on signing a bunch of NCAA players.

What? What makes you think they were "banking" on a bunch of NCAA players?

Like every team, they should see if there's any quality NCAA players finishing their careers and inquire - it's free assets.

 

[DonnyNucker]

yeah the canucks could play 1-2 of those names and be fine. maybe even 3 if they're the best 3. the issue is entirely that like half the roster is guys who would be borderline to play on a lot of teams

The issue isn’t Aman or Joshua etc. our 4th line is solid. It’s our 3rd line. They absolutely stink.

 

[MS]

The issue isn’t Aman or Joshua etc. our 4th line is solid. It’s our 3rd line. They absolutely stink.

Yeah.

The Miller line and the Pettersson line are both effective, and the Aman-Joshua line (which is ideally the 4th line but playing right now as the 3rd) looks like a solid 4th line.

The issue is that Kravstov-Dries-Podkolzin line. And if they sign, say, a Freddie Gaudreau and then we have a healthy Mikheyev and can run something like Mikheyev-Gaudreau-Di Giuseppe there next year that would make a huge difference.

Basically the roster right now is kind of f***ed because they traded a high-leverage C in Horvat and haven't replaced him yet so we get to watch Dries get manhandled defensively in that role every game.

 

[Hansen]

I dont even know if Id call it a third line, its more like a fifth line that doesnt get much usage. Podkolzin should be in the minors and Kravtsov I still want to see get a look with Petey and Kuz, Dries isnt an NHLer

 

[MS]

I dont even know if Id call it a third line, its more like a fifth line that doesnt get much usage. Podkolzin should be in the minors and Kravtsov I still want to see get a look with Petey and Kuz, Dries isnt an NHLer

I think Dries would actually be fine as a utility 13th forward who played wing and 2nd unit PP when he was in the lineup (kind of like the sort of role Tyler Ennis played for the last few years of his career), but he just gets absolutely caved playing C. He's a tiny little sniper type and is just totally miscast as an NHL C.

 

[Lindgren]

Good. Serves mgmt right for likely banking on signing a bunch of NCAA players.

Not trading Bear and then acquiring Hronek may have made the right side on D look too crowded for Livingstone, if it's an NHL opportunity he's looking for (count me as among those who think it will be much more difficult than many seem to think to move Myers).

 

[DonnyNucker]

Yeah.

The Miller line and the Pettersson line are both effective, and the Aman-Joshua line (which is ideally the 4th line but playing right now as the 3rd) looks like a solid 4th line.

The issue is that Kravstov-Dries-Podkolzin line. And if they sign, say, a Freddie Gaudreau and then we have a healthy Mikheyev and can run something like Mikheyev-Gaudreau-Di Giuseppe there next year that would make a huge difference.

Basically the roster right now is kind of f***ed because they traded a high-leverage C in Horvat and haven't replaced him yet so we get to watch Dries get manhandled defensively in that role every game.

Exactly. Dries can score but he is a major liability defensively. His line is hemmed in for the majority of their shifts. Not surprisingly, one of the orgs main summer goals is signing a 3C. I have actually found Aman, Joshua and PDG’s play quite encouraging. The forward group is pretty strong if they add a 3C and Ilya returns. D is another story

 

[m9]

I think Dries would actually be fine as a utility 13th forward who played wing and 2nd unit PP when he was in the lineup (kind of like the sort of role Tyler Ennis played for the last few years of his career), but he just gets absolutely caved playing C. He's a tiny little sniper type and is just totally miscast as an NHL C.

Yeah, I think the example I used in the past was Andrew Ebbett but same idea. 13th forward who can play center in a pinch. Need a 5C on the roster.

Can play him anywhere in the lineup and do a below-average job of it, but not completely awful.

Not trading Bear and then acquiring Hronek may have made the right side on D look too crowded for Livingstone, if it's an NHL opportunity he's looking for (count me as among those who think it will be much more difficult than many seem to think to move Myers).

Yup. Was a clear negative in terms of timing for the Hronek trade. Even though they're on the other side, Wolanin/Brisebois extensions might not have helped either.

But, we'll probably never know if any of this was actually a factor.

 

[andora]

Yeah.

The Miller line and the Pettersson line are both effective, and the Aman-Joshua line (which is ideally the 4th line but playing right now as the 3rd) looks like a solid 4th line.

The issue is that Kravstov-Dries-Podkolzin line. And if they sign, say, a Freddie Gaudreau and then we have a healthy Mikheyev and can run something like Mikheyev-Gaudreau-Di Giuseppe there next year that would make a huge difference.

Basically the roster right now is kind of f***ed because they traded a high-leverage C in Horvat and haven't replaced him yet so we get to watch Dries get manhandled defensively in that role every game.

That my friend is a third line

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

I just find the bizarre obsession with 4th liners absurd.

Guys like Joshua, Aman, Highmore or Lammikko are never going to eclipse 20+ points nor will they stand out every game. Their objective is to not get scored on. Do this for league minimum? Great!

Even the best Canucks team in the cap era had a mishmash of guys like Lapierre, Rypien, Oreskovich and Glass come in and put up 0's most nights.

 

[ziploc]

I just find the bizarre obsession with 4th liners absurd.

Guys like Joshua, Aman, Highmore or Lammikko are never going to eclipse 20+ points nor will they stand out every game. Their objective is to not get scored on. Do this for league minimum? Great!

Even the best Canucks team in the cap era had a mishmash of guys like Lapierre, Rypien, Oreskovich and Glass come in and put up 0's most nights.

And Joshua has 10 goals, 19 points this season. While PDG has 8 points in 19 games. I get that these guys are playing more than they probably should because of injuries and the way our team is, but they are actually contributing quite well imo, especially for their cost.