Canucks vs Kings blueline

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Hughes-Hronek
Soucy-Myers
Forbort-Desharnais

Anderson-Doughty
Gavrikov-Spence
Edmundson-Clarke

Who would you take?

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[Pavel Buchnevich]

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.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Not looking good for Doughty

 

[ESH]

Kings defense is much deeper

 

[Connor McConnor]

Canucks assuming Hughes repeats and Doughty injury. Otherwise, Kings pretty easily.

 

[SillyRabbit]

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.

 

[Coffee]

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

 

[wetcoast]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[wetcoast]

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]

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.

 

[CanadienShark]

Hughes is nice, but I prefer the Kings depth.

 

[kanucks25]

Kings overall but Hughes by himself brings makes it a contest.

 

[canuckslover10]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[Three On Zero]

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

 

[Phrasing]

Canucks depth is trash

 

[Rowlet]

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]

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]

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.