Confirmed with Link: Canucks sign D Akito Hirose to 1-Year ELC

[pitseleh]

the thing that makes me optimistic for hirose is that the only obvious flaw in his game is his strength and that's almost definitely something he can improve with time and effort. he may have some hidden flaw like garbage fitness or he takes a million undisciplined penalties but if not the only thing holding him back is something that can be fixed relatively easily

There’s almost certainly more there but makes you wonder why he didn’t bulk up when in school.

 

[bossram]

There’s almost certainly more there but makes you wonder why he didn’t bulk up when in school.

Being "bulky" without the accompanying strength is a negative in a fast-twitch sport like hockey. This sentiment is like the Canucks telling Virtanen to "bulk up" every offseason, he shows up to camp fat, and looks worse than he did in his rookie season.

Sure, Hirose could bulk up by crushing a pizza every day. But that's not really productive. The Sedins were some of the strongest players in the league, and they only weighed ~190 at 6'2.

 

[IComeInPeace]

There’s almost certainly more there but makes you wonder why he didn’t bulk up when in school.

When he left the BCJHL in 2020, he was 150 pounds and a big deal was made about him having to put on size, and him spending time in the gym to do so.

So, he’s already put on 20+ pounds. He turns 24 in a week.

We are probably looking at a guy that is more or less what he’s going to be size wise. Maybe he could put on 5 pounds, or an outside shot at 10 pounds, but for the most part what you see is what you get.

 

[pitseleh]

When he left the BCJHL in 2020, he was 150 pounds and a big deal was made about him having to put on size, and him spending time in the gym to do so.

So, he’s already put on 20+ pounds. He turns 24 in a week.

We are probably looking at a guy that is more or less what he’s going to be size wise. Maybe he could put on 5 pounds, or an outside shot at 10 pounds, but for the most part what you see is what you get.

That's helpful context. So he has accomplished a lot already, but it seems like it will be tough for him to do a lot more.

 

[Diversification]

Since we're making wild projections about history repeating itself and Hirose's weight, I thought I'd dust off this blast from the past:

Sometimes mobility and defensive IQ can overcome deficiencies elsewhere.

12 years later, Tanev's playing weight is 193.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Also, strength and weight are not the same thing. You can add a lot of upper body strength without moving the scale much.

 

[bandwagonesque]

Weight also isn't a strict measure or strength or explosiveness, or even close. Tanev was pretty strong, and while he didn't fight or throw hits he had no problem dealing with NHL forwards.

 

[credulous]

There’s almost certainly more there but makes you wonder why he didn’t bulk up when in school.

he just didn't need to probably? he was a very effective defender in the ncaa because his opponents were for the most part not huge

 

[Icebreakers]

They should target

Gudas, Soucy , Gavrikov (only reasonable AAVs though). You need some sandpaper on the blue line.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

My biggest concern is being too soft to play against.

You're gona have a left side o

Hughes
OEL
Hirose


Right side of

Hronek
Bear
Myers

All soft players.

Burroughs is a better piece than Myers, if we can move Myers. And god, I wish we could move OEL.

 

[ohnoeszz]

My biggest concern is being too soft to play against.

You're gona have a left side o

Hughes
OEL
Hirose


Right side of

Hronek
Bear
Myers

All soft players.

I think that left side could actually be very good defensively if balanced right.

OEL has had his flaws but he played 22+ minutes a game over 79 games last year as a plus 5 overall. This year he played 20 minutes a game over 54 games as a -24. He's not particularly liked here but I think its very likely that with better health he will be better next year.

On the right side Hronek is a proven top 4. General expectation seems to be that Hronek anchors the 2nd pair. That would pair him with OEL, which would be a huge step up from Myers in terms of having reliability in your partner.

From there, I would be happy to put Myers on the 3rd, shoot Bear into the sun, and sign a RD to play with Hughes (Mayfield is my ideal for 4-5mil on 2-3 years) but Myers costs too much so the reality is that he must go and we'll need to use a guy like Burroughs as our 3RD.

I would move towards something like:

Hughes - Mayfield
OEL - Hronek
Hirose - Burroughs

That's putting a lot on Hirose but based on the Brisebois and Wolanin signings as well, we seem to be trying to fill the left side as cheap as possible and make back some of the lost cap value from the OEL contract.

 

[orcatown]

Guy looks so much like and skates almost as well as Paul Kariya that you think they were related.

Getting a defensive Paul Kariya would be kind of interesting.

To date has looked clever, mobile and confident. Looks like, the more he plays, the better he will get.

With a lot of prospects, time usually reveals some faults. We'll see but that doesn't appear it'll be the case here .

Mostly, as has been pointed out, a question of whether can he overcome size issue and whether the team can team get enough size elsewhere to compensate.

 

[Uhmkay]

If Myers departs in the off-season, the Canucks will surely have the smallest and lightest blueline in the NHL.

You really can't judge players from a game against a team like Chicago in garbage time. They're tanking for Bedard, hard.

As things stand right now, this Canucks blueline isn't good enough for them to get anywhere near a playoff spot in the West next year. After Hughes and maybe Hronek, it's a black hole. Hirose is a nice story so far--but he starts next year in Abbotsford.

So how do you swap out your entire blueline in the off-season and expect to compete?

Reports said that Gavrikov is very interested in playing in Vancouver and he does play a very heavy game... much heavier than Myers. He's also far better defensively, and although not an offensive dynamo, should see 30ish points on a 2nd pairing Canucks roster.

We still need to find someone who can play with Hughes... hopefully another dman that is mobile but with some size and can do much of a grinding work that perhaps Hughes isn't capable of.

If Hirose keeps playing the way he has so far... I think he easily jumps over Rathbone for next year.

Hughes -
Gavrikov - Hronek
Hirose - Bear

 

[Vector]

Reports said that Gavrikov is very interested in playing in Vancouver and he does play a very heavy game... much heavier than Myers. He's also far better defensively, and although not an offensive dynamo, should see 30ish points on a 2nd pairing Canucks roster.

We still need to find someone who can play with Hughes... hopefully another dman that is mobile but with some size and can do much of a grinding work that perhaps Hughes isn't capable of.

If Hirose keeps playing the way he has so far... I think he easily jumps over Rathbone for next year.

Hughes -
Gavrikov - Hronek
Hirose - Bear

That’s about how I view it although I think Wolanin is just as likely as Hirose for the 3rd LD spot. Bear also seems heavily dependent on contract negotiations but I think something gets worked out there.

 

[credulous]

That’s about how I view it although I think Wolanin is just as likely as Hirose for the 3rd LD spot. Bear also seems heavily dependent on contract negotiations but I think something gets worked out there.

i think the canucks start with hughes, oel, [free agent] and wolanin with hirose in the ahl. i think he's a candidate to replace wolanin or oel sooner rather than later though

i don't think a hughes/oel/hirose left side is viable though with the right sided dmen vancouver are going to likely go with

 

[Vector]

i think the canucks start with hughes, oel, [free agent] and wolanin with hirose in the ahl. i think he's a candidate to replace wolanin or oel sooner rather than later though

i don't think a hughes/oel/hirose left side is viable though with the right sided dmen vancouver are going to likely go with

I don’t think you’re wrong about OEL as most reporting has indicated that ownership will refuse to buy him out. Problem is that goes against everything the team has preached and it’s clear this is a better unit without him. There’s also no good reason to wait a season to buy him out when it’s just plain better, cap-wise, to do it now.

I suspect Wolanin and Brisebois will be competing for the 4th LD spot with Hirose given a real shot if OEL isn’t around and there’s actual playing time available.

Like you, I don’t know what they do with the right side. Some media have speculated they will give Johansson a chance to make the team but, like Hirose, that only happens if there’s real playing time. A Bear/Hronek/Johansson grouping will likely be incredibly weak.

The biggest takeaway, to me, is that OEL and Myers are drastically holding the team back and finding ways to jettison them will go a long ways to making the team competitive.

 

[credulous]

i think johansson will be given every opportunity but he's another smallish skill defender in the mold of hronek, hirose, hughes and bear. something has to give. they can't run a defense unit where no one can win puck battles behind the net or they'll get killed by any team with skilled forecheckers with size. i honestly think both oel and myers are brought back for exactly this reason

 

[Vector]

i think johansson will be given every opportunity but he's another smallish skill defender in the mold of hronek, hirose, hughes and bear. something has to give. they can't run a defense unit where no one can win puck battles behind the net or they'll get killed by any team with skilled forecheckers with size. i honestly think both oel and myers are brought back for exactly this reason

Size means nothing if you can’t do anything with it. OEL and Myers have size but have clearly shown it isn’t any sort of asset for them. I do think this is a reason why Wolanin will probably make the team and part of the reason they’ll target Gavrikov.

 

[ohnoeszz]

I'd love to add Gavrikov but I don't think it's a reasonable expectation with the Hughes and OEL contracts.

OEL can't be traded and a buyout creates poison pill years of 4+ mil cap penalty followed by years of a Luongo level penalty. People don't like OEL or his contract but the idea that he's unplayable is massive hyperbole.

The only real path we have to extracting value from the OEL contract we are stuck with is to maximize his play value. I think he could pair very well with Hronek - Red Wing fans said Hronek was great with Olli Maata and I still consider OEL as better than Maata.

If he can't pair with Hronek, I think he can easily hold down a third pair. This is assuming he returns to health and can manage his skating for a full season. It may be he can't, but we've only seen that happen 1 season out of 2.

 

[I Hart Conor Garland]

This is assuming he returns to health and can manage his skating for a full season. It may be he can't, but we've only seen that happen 1 season out of 2.

Next year will be different.

 

[Vector]

OEL can't be traded and a buyout creates poison pill years of 4+ mil cap penalty followed by years of a Luongo level penalty. People don't like OEL or his contract but the idea that he's unplayable is massive hyperbole.

We’re way off topic now but that’s not true, the 4m they would be paying him is in lieu of the 7m which still a significant savings. Four years of 2m is onerous but so is 4 more seasons of paying the husk of a player barely put an effort on for 7m. Ultimately that’s what it comes down to, Wolanin has outplayed OEL for league minimum.

I question anyone’s ability to judge defensive player if they spent the last year of watching this guy unable to pivot and lose battle after battle. Could he be the weak-side of a 3rd pairing? Probably. I don’t have confidence in that given his injuries. Should your 6th, or worst, defenceman be paid 7m? Absolutely not.

 

[M2Beezy]

We should comprise a defense solely made up with players whose last names start with “H”.

Hughes Hronek
Hirose Hamonic
Hunt Hamhuis

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Hughes Hronek
Hirose Hamonic
Hunt Hamhuis

Holy hell! How harmonious.

 

[credulous]

Size means nothing if you can’t do anything with it. OEL and Myers have size but have clearly shown it isn’t any sort of asset for them. I do think this is a reason why Wolanin will probably make the team and part of the reason they’ll target Gavrikov.

you're not wrong but the canucks don't have the cap space or assets to address it. they're locked into hughes and hronek and they have nothing internally that really addresses the lack of size. i think their only real option is to hope they can squeeze some effective play out of oel and myers. even gavrikov isn't a real solution. he's not small but he's also not very physical. i wouldn't be surprised if their big offseason target is mayfield or soucy

 

[ohnoeszz]

We’re way off topic now but that’s not true, the 4m they would be paying him is in lieu of the 7m which still a significant savings. Four years of 2m is onerous but so is 4 more seasons of paying the husk of a player barely put an effort on for 7m. Ultimately that’s what it comes down to, Wolanin has outplayed OEL for league minimum.

I question anyone’s ability to judge defensive player if they spent the last year of watching this guy unable to pivot and lose battle after battle. Could he be the weak-side of a 3rd pairing? Probably. I don’t have confidence in that given his injuries. Should your 6th, or worst, defenceman be paid 7m? Absolutely not.

This is exactly what I'm talking about in terms of hyperbole because people are upset about OEL, the contract and the original trade.

Wolanin played 15 games for the Canucks and 15 minutes per in those games. Much more was asked of OEL this year and much more was delivered.

"Husk of a player barely put an effort..." doesn't seem true. I think its pretty clear he was hobbled by injuries but this comment aims to insult a guy's effort which I generally view as a low blow.

Of course your 5th defensemen should never be paid like that but we have OEL. We are here and we need to make OELade instead of setting fire to the stand. Every year of the next 4 that you can get good use out of OEL goes towards mitigating the hole we are in.