Canucks vs Kings blueline

Which one?


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    49

Pavel Buchnevich

"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Dec 8, 2013
59,844
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New York
Canucks, but really neither. Canucks need Hughes to redo that season because there’s not a lot of good players there aside from him. Kings have a few young guys, but they will probably play the least and the other four are an injured Doughty and averageness or mediocrity.
 
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SillyRabbit

Trix Are For Kids
Jan 3, 2006
8,973
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Canucks defense is paper thin.

Hughes reached a new level last season but it's unreasonable to expect him to duplicate a Norris winning season.

Hronek had a career year but fell off hard in the second half.

Even if both play just as well as they did in the first half of last season, the guys behind them inspire very little confidence beyond Soucy.

I think the Kings unit is stronger defensively as a whole.
 
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Coffee

Take one step towards the direction you want to go
Nov 12, 2021
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Canucks defense is paper thin.

Hughes reached a new level last season but it's unreasonable to expect him to duplicate a Norris winning season.

Hronek had a career year but fell off hard in the second half.

Even if both play just as well as they did in the first half of last season, the guys behind them inspire very little confidence beyond Soucy.

I think the Kings unit is stronger defensively as a whole.
Kings unit is stronger in general as a whole
 
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wetcoast

Registered User
Nov 20, 2018
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Canucks, but really neither. Canucks need Hughes to redo that season because there’s not a lot of good players there aside from him. Kings have a few young guys, but they will probably play the least and the other four are an injured Doughty and averageness or mediocrity.
I gave you a like but also think that the 2 groups might actually look pretty decent at the end of the season with everyone healthy and Clarke has alot of room for growth in LA.
 

biturbo19

Registered User
Jul 13, 2010
27,240
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Kings are deeper, but Hughes pretty much singlehandedly swings it the other way.

Worst kept secret in the world, that the Canucks are clearly going to be deadline shopping for a defence upgrade, and probably a big one.
 

Bjornar Moxnes

Registered User
Oct 16, 2016
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Troms og Finnmark
Kings are deeper, but Hughes pretty much singlehandedly swings it the other way.

Worst kept secret in the world, that the Canucks are clearly going to be deadline shopping for a defence upgrade, and probably a big one.
Plus depending on how well Willander plays and if the Nucks make playoffs, he could end up being a darkhorse impact like McAvoy for the Bruins after he signed his contract.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Dec 8, 2013
59,844
26,549
New York
I gave you a like but also think that the 2 groups might actually look pretty decent at the end of the season with everyone healthy and Clarke has alot of room for growth in LA.
I feel the Kings need Clarke to become a 2D because I don't see one (maybe even no 3D) and Doughty is injured and getting older anyway. Will that happen this season? Seems optimistic, especially given they tend to overcook their young players and don't give them an immediate chance to become the leaders.

I like the Canucks top 4, but the bottom pair looks bad, and they will need to strengthen that to be a serious Cup contender.
 
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wetcoast

Registered User
Nov 20, 2018
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I feel the Kings need Clarke to become a 2D because I don't see one (maybe even no 3D) and Doughty is injured and getting older anyway. Will that happen this season? Seems optimistic, especially given they tend to overcook their young players and don't give them an immediate chance to become the leaders.

That's fair because as I was thinking about this thread my first thought was didn't LA have one of the best defensive and overall prospect pipelines a short while ago and they seemed to have been less than expected so far.

Clarke I think can be a very good NHL Dman but I'm not sure if he will be this year.

Good test for him though if Doughty is out.
I like the Canucks top 4, but the bottom pair looks bad, and they will need to strengthen that to be a serious Cup contender.
Willander might help there in April.
 

biturbo19

Registered User
Jul 13, 2010
27,240
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Plus depending on how well Willander plays and if the Nucks make playoffs, he could end up being a darkhorse impact like McAvoy for the Bruins after he signed his contract.

It's certainly possible. But i wouldn't count on it. I think they'll pretty clearly be looking for a significant upgrade in the form of a proven veteran somewhere by the deadline. Even if Willander is showing well and looking like he belongs in the NHL.


I'd wager, barring injury situations and whatnot...they'll actually probably be looking for a LHD upgrade anyway. Get the impression that they're actually fairly content with Hronek-Myers-Desharnais down the Right Side. Might be tough for Willander to even get a look, if they're all healthy down the stretch. Though i think they'll try to make some games for him and "rest" others just to get a gauge on where he's at as a potential playoff depth option should they need it.
 

canuckslover10

Registered User
Apr 10, 2014
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Canucks have a Norris winner in Hughes, a number 2 guy Hronek, a top 4 guy in Soucy even though most people won't believe that but he was that good last season, and a 4/5 guy in Myers, a 6 guy in Desharnais, and a number 7 guy in Forbort. Personally I'd pick the Canucks just because of Hughes but the Canucks will most likely make an addition on the defence via trade most likely a top 4 RHD.
 

centipede2233

Registered User
Sep 13, 2010
4,724
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Even though I like the kings d overall better, it’s easier for the Canucks to fill in holes in the 4-6 positions then it is for the kings to fill the 1-3 positions, especially with a current doughty injury. I’d take the Canucks defence
 

byrath

Registered User
Jan 28, 2008
1,378
827
St. Louis, MO
Canucks because Hughes is dominant, but it's close and the lack of talent on the 2nd and 3rd pairs is troubling to say the least.
 

Raccoon Jesus

We were right there
Oct 30, 2008
63,353
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I feel the Kings need Clarke to become a 2D because I don't see one (maybe even no 3D) and Doughty is injured and getting older anyway. Will that happen this season? Seems optimistic, especially given they tend to overcook their young players and don't give them an immediate chance to become the leaders.

I like the Canucks top 4, but the bottom pair looks bad, and they will need to strengthen that to be a serious Cup contender.

Everyone is looking at Clarke but they need to not be looking past Jordan Spence.

He will be the Dman carrying the load.

I expect Clarke to grow majorly but this will be Spence's breakout year.


That's fair because as I was thinking about this thread my first thought was didn't LA have one of the best defensive and overall prospect pipelines a short while ago and they seemed to have been less than expected so far.

Clarke I think can be a very good NHL Dman but I'm not sure if he will be this year.

Good test for him though if Doughty is out.

Willander might help there in April.

Actually they've turned out great....the problem is they've turned out everywhere else.
Faber--traded
Durzi--traded
Roy--walked
Walker--traded
Grans--traded
Spence and Clarke are all that's left

Not even two full seasons ago their RHD depth was Doughty, Roy, Walker, Durzi, Faber, Spence, Clarke, Grans and now with Doughty out it's Spence-Clarke-Burroughs-move an LHD over.
 
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Three On Zero

HF Designated Parking Instructor
Sponsor
Oct 9, 2012
32,572
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Myers, Forbort and Desharnais are all fringe defenceman that will need to exceed expectations.

Canucks have the better top end but LA has the more balanced 6.

Forbort has been outplayed by 3 rookies during camp/preseason so it’ll be interesting to see what Allvin/Tocchet do
 

Rowlet

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Oct 13, 2018
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Canucks, it'll be easier to fill their holes at depth. Kings will have to do a lot of work to get multiple top 4 D
 

Trash Panda

Registered User
May 12, 2021
2,363
4,295
Canucks have a Norris winner in Hughes, a number 2 guy Hronek, a top 4 guy in Soucy even though most people won't believe that but he was that good last season, and a 4/5 guy in Myers, a 6 guy in Desharnais, and a number 7 guy in Forbort. Personally I'd pick the Canucks just because of Hughes but the Canucks will most likely make an addition on the defence via trade most likely a top 4 RHD.
If Soucy is in your top-4, then he is a liability.

He is the ideal 3rd pairing guy, but gets over extended with more minutes against better competition.
 

canuckslover10

Registered User
Apr 10, 2014
2,062
1,870
If Soucy is in your top-4, then he is a liability.

He is the ideal 3rd pairing guy, but gets over extended with more minutes against better competition.
I can only speak for last season but he was a top 4 dman and outperformed expectations by a mile.
 

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