Confirmed with Link: Canucks sign D Tucker Poolman to 4-Year, $10M Deal ($2.5M AAV)

[Blue and Green]

Chatfield is terrible. Benning saying he believed so much in this player and then legitimately giving him an NHL shot proves he knows 0 about how to scout defensemen. He is a bottom pair AHL guy at best.

Chatfield lacks puck skills even by AHL standards which is why it was a pipe dream for him to be a viable NHLer but he will be a top-notcher in that league from a defensive standpoint. His awareness and positioning in the defensive zone have really improved and he has NHL-level mobility and effort levels. Not a bottom-pair guy down there.

 

[jokesondee]

It is for this reason that I hope they close the Schenn contract asap. Maybe pool man becomes another overpaid press box player if this continues as he plays with Rathbone.

But do you think he is a better option than Chatfield, contract aside?

Dont know much about Chatfield but Poolman definitely has more experience and has shown flashes over the years. Hopefully for you guys last year was just an anomaly. I know going back a couple years the organization and fans were still really high on the guy. Hopefully he can bounce back.

 

[Melvin]

Another contract that is basically guaranteed to end in a buyout before the ink is even dry.

 

[Soups On]

What the f***?

4 years? $2.5 million?

Jimbo why do you do this. Too much for too long as per usual. Hope this doesn't turn into a Beagle equivalent contract and Poolman succeeds.

Sigh

 

[Hit the post]

Dont know much about Chatfield but Poolman definitely has more experience and has shown flashed over the years. Hopefully for you guys last year was just an anomaly. I know going back a couple years the organization and fans were still really high on the guy. Hopefully he can bounce back.

Good target to give a 4 year contract to. A hope he can bounce back player.

 

[F A N]

4 years? This must be Ryan Johnson UND BS.

Winnipeg takes Schmidt and Benn and we take Myers and Poolman. We must think we're following the TB model here?

Wouldn't have mind adding Poolman for 2 years at $2M and under. But hey he's not even halfway to 300 games and we all know it takes 300 games to learn how to defend.

 

[Breakers]

You just have to laugh at this point

prioritizing this with term attached considering who is left.

 

[Rumsfeld]

If he is paired with a puck moving defence partner that will help him significantly because you never, EVER, want the puck on his stick in your own zone. Just awful brain cramps all the time...he panics. However, he is decent defensively and if he becomes more physical could develop into a 5 D type player.

If a player should never have the puck on his stick in his own zone, he is, by definition, not decent defensively.

Thanks for the input though.

 

[GreatSaveEssensa]

Here’s a WILD take:

i could care less about the physical attributes. All i care about is if this man can play defense relative to cap hit.

full stop. Nothing else matters. I would have a 5 foot 1 inch guy on my blueline if he can strip the puck from the opposing forwards. Size is the biggest meme in the NHL. Only thing that matters is skill

Until they gotta clear guys in front of the net.

Poolman is decent as a teams 3rd pairing guy. More like a 6/7th dman in my opinion but is a very likeable guy. He has a lot of warts but is a team player. Term and cap hit are not the greatest though as his type could be had for far cheaper in my opinion .

 

[Peen]

You just have to laugh at this point

prioritizing crap like this

We would have a gun to our head to move someone right now I think if petey got an offer sheet - I thought they were trying to avoid this?

 

[mathonwy]

I thought you needed to have won a SC to warrant a 4Y contract.

 

[BoneDocUK]

Thanks, appreciate the insight from someone who’s actually watched him, vs the chicken littles that infest this place.
My question — how is his skating? He is clearly huge, but is he average skater, or slow? Hoping he has some speed. Thanks

His skating is a strength. Smooth, decent speed and lateral mobility for his size. Can wire it sometimes, not overly physical, best with straightforward assignments and systems and the short, simple plays. One of the Jets' top penalty-killers over the past few years when healthy.

Tucker is a good guy, played too far up the lineup during the Jets' dog days of defence the past few years, easily flustered under pressure and can take the odd dumb penalty as a result, but definitely serviceable and durable as a bottom-pairing D, and likely best used in a sheltered spot as the first guy back rather than as strong cover for a junior or offensively-minded partner. Not an obvious partner for Myers, I'd think, but unlikely to play with him I guess.

Hard to gauge the value of this deal in a crazy market, but Tucker is a high-character player who will work hard and never complain. I like him a lot and hope he does well with you folks.

 

[AzNightmare]

How the hell have Dim Jim still not locked both franchise players yet??

 

[BimJenning]

$2.5m is just 3% of the cap.

I understand that adjusting value is hard as $2.5m doesn't read right for a bottom pair.

But it's just 3% of the cap.

We literally just had to include a ton of picks to get rid of a bunch of overpaid trash that was "just" a small percentage of the cap. It adds up when you continuously bleed value.

 

[Breakers]

We literally just had to include a ton of picks to get rid of a bunch of overpaid trash that was "just" a small percentage of the cap. It adds up when you continuously bleed value.

Its like when we had to add that extra year to jay Beagles contract

 

[CherryToke]

Dumb!

 

[alternate]

At first glance, term and AAV seem high. But $2.5m is hardly an albatross, especially when the cap starts going up again.

Did need depth, and he's young enough that his play shouldn't fall off too much. Should be okay as a bottom 4 guy. How is he on the PK? Deal is bit more palatable if he is going to play a key role as a penalty killer.

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

We can sign an entire roster of Hawaiians for all I care so long as it's the best possible one we can win with. That's all that matters.

"winning" (ie winning the cup) is not a realistic possibility for this franchise. Vibes are what matters, and a team full of americans is going to have bad vibes. it's inevitable.

 

[timw33]

I love acquiring multiple players who are best described by their former teams as "best played in sheltered role"

We have 6 guys who need to be played in sheltered roles in one way or another right now.

 

[orcatown]

Contract seems too long. Has developed slowly and mainly got into the Jets defense b/c on a regular basis when their defense was depleted by players leaving. Still some improvement shown and hopefully that continues. Not sure exactly what the Canucks are seeing but he is likely better than someone like Benn and should at least be able to fill that role.

 

[Ita]

You just have to laugh at this point

prioritizing this with term attached considering who is left.

It's effing amazing that instead of trying to use the cap space to secure our stars to a decent term, we are forced to sign bridge contracts again because Benning gives these garbage contacts out.

 

[JAK]

You can't have that sort of spending or term for a borderline player. If you're paying that much on average it's 12.5M just on 4th liners and the bottom pairing. And they're often players who fall off within 1-2 years or are replaced by rookies on ELCs. If you're paying that much money with term it has t be someone who can move within the lineup and isn't an injury away from the AHL.

Third pairing d would be valued higher than 4th liners.

3% for third pairing RHD is fine IMO. Entire league is short on RHD

 

[Red]

Would have been great on a 1.5m X 2-3 year deal.

Another Benning special.

 

[Quinning]

Would have been great on a 1.5m X 2-3 year deal.

Another Benning special.

It's bad but an improvement on Eriksson/Beagle/Roussel. I'll take it.

 

[Wo Yorfat]

Poolman's agent had this to say :