Grub's Canucks & NHL News, Rumours, and & Fantasy GM | Early Trade Deadline

[I Hart Conor Garland]

I think this Chester fellow has some great ideas:









For the Weisbrod stuff we can just Milton him down to the sub basement and bring him around every now and then.

I love every bit of this. It's so Vegas-y.

 

[mriswith]

Either way, I think a big reason we have practically zero transition game is the forwards has to do almost everything themselves because no one can set them up properly except Hughes. I don't know if Marcus Pettersson is the answer but they need to pay whatever price is being asked for someone to actually move the puck.

It's even worse than just the forwards having to do everything because the d are sabotaging the plays in real time.

I've pointed out in previous game day threads a bunch of times how sometimes when the forwards are having good games, making good plays and putting in a good effort the drooling grenade handlers on the back end instantly turn the puck over when they're inevitably relied on for a short pass to keep offensive possession going. It was really noticeable with EP when he was actually going and looking decent for a few games but it's a constant effect for all of them. When this goes on long enough it eventually the forwards will start to play suboptimally on purpose in a variety of ways to avoid relying on the dmen and that causes a whole cascade of negative effects.

 

[kanucks25]

I've posted elsewhere but I'll repeat it here too.

Allvin and Rutherford aren't getting nearly enough criticism for how poorly they handled the off season in terms of defense. Yes, Sherwood, DeBrusk and Lankinen have all been great additions but the fact we're deploying five guys who wouldn't play above 4th on a good day, and are better served on the third pairing or a 7th man rotation is inexcusable.

I just don't know how you look at Soucy, who's been a career bottom pair guy until last season, and Myers who literally only played well his first season here and his sixth and think, "oh, they'll definitely repeat that performance." Or how they seemingly thought Juulsen would be remotely consistent.

And don't even get me started of Desharnais' asinine contract.

Just going to put this out there. If we didn't sign Forbort and Desharnais, we could fit Tanev at his exact contract. Not saying that's what we should have done but it just highlights how much better our defense could have been with similar money.

Yeah, Soucy and Myers essentially had career years and expecting them to repeat has proven to be foolish (I know Myers had his 48 point Calder season but this past one may have been his best all-around campaign).

Add in Desharnais and Forbort and it's clear they were high on their own supply, as in they were way overconfident in their team-building and system philosophy of just having big dudes protect the house and the rest will take care of itself.

I think everyone assumed we would need to add to the defense eventually but I didn't predict it to be this dire. Was hoping they'd be able to hold the fort until the deadline but Hronek's injury pretty much makes that impossible.

Won't be easy for Allvin to pull off a fair value trade now that every other team in the league is aware of the crap that's going on with this market right now. But he put himself in this mess and it's up to him to fix it.

 

[Bgav]

JT for byram + +

 

[VanJack]

JT for byram + +

Miller has a full no-move clause in his contract.....and there's zero chance he ever waives to go to Buffalo.

 

[thecupismine]

Been feeling the same myself. And that reddit post I linked last week only emphasised just how much the team relies on Hughes for damn near everything. Although, they were speaking more about Petey's struggles due to him not playing with Hughes as often.

Either way, I think a big reason we have practically zero transition game is the forwards has to do almost everything themselves because no one can set them up properly except Hughes. I don't know if Marcus Pettersson is the answer but they need to pay whatever price is being asked for someone to actually move the puck.

Today’s game is just a prime example of this. Zero pressure, both teams changing, and I think VD iced the puck for fun.

A minute later, Blueger says f*** it and holds the puck right at our blue line instead, and the teams able to attack with pressure the other way.

It’s just pathetic at this point. I was watching some game tape from the 2007 team that had a 5% power play in the first round, and every single guy on that blue line blows out anyone not named Hughes/Hronek. That team didn’t even have a good offensive blue line either!

The amount of times I saw d to d passes in the d zone to find the right lane for the outlet is something that never happens anymore outside of the top pair, because it results in a turnover every time given everyone’s incompetence. Either the strong side is open, or it’s iced/boards and out. I don’t know how you can possibly play the game like that and expect to win.

 

[Donuts]

Bedard

 

[wetcoast]

From conflict arises strength.

Sometimes but more often destruction and turmoil is what lingers.

 

[wetcoast]

EP for Dahlin

Or think what you would want for Dahlin if you had to trade him. What kind of package from Buf would you accept in exchange for Dahlin? That's what we want for EP.

Miller a lot less, something around Byram or Power but he wouldn't waive for Buffalo.

We need a LD that can carry a 2nd pairing but the problem is that as soon as we trade either EP or Miller we immediately have a huge hole at centre so a trade doesn't really make sense.

I doubt that the Sabers would trade Dahlin straight up for EP and more likely they would do Cozens and Bryam for him.

Best case is that they settle this in house as any trade is probably not going to be good long term for the Canucks.

What a difference a year makes eh?

But as a mid 50 something lifelong Canucks fan I have seen this movie before and we could see a playoff spot slipping away here nevermind grander goals.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Posted this in the other thread but I 100% agree with you.

Me as well. Our forward group has never been deeper, and Lankinen was a terrific acquisition that saved our season, and our goaltending looks set to be strong with him and Demko in net.

But the defense…before Hronek went down, it was terribly thin and poorly constructed. And now it’s a straight up nightmare with Hughes trying to hold the whole thing together by himself.

The team needs to get him some help on the back end, stat. Allvin has made a lot of good, bold and timely moves for this team - I hope he’s able to do so again for our blueline.

EDIT: Our forward group has definitely been stronger in our franchise’s history. But this group, at least on paper, is very deep up front. Just clarifying.

 

[Hodgy]

The funny thing is, basically everyone on here knew this defense was going to be a problem the minute they had committed to Myers, Desharnais and Forbort.

Some were higher on Desharnais, but I never thought he was an NHL player after seeing him in Edmonton and was baffled they targeted him.

 

[wetcoast]

Tony DeAngelo was out there but then again it would be a short term stop gap and the real problem has been that aside from Hughes we haven't drafted nor developed top 4 Dmen aside from Hughes for over a decade.

 

[mathonwy]

I'm convinced this shit defense is the real underlying issue with the entire team, and this whole dressing-room drama crap is window dressing.

Shit defense is definitely a thing but I seriously doubt shit defense can lead to a 99pt gritty hard nosed winger assistant captain controller disconnecting in the middle of a PK and taking a 3 week mental health break.

This Petey V JT is a much bigger thing and not going to go away on its own IMO.

 

[Bubbles]

Tony DeAngelo was out there but then again it would be a short term stop gap and the real problem has been that aside from Hughes we haven't drafted nor developed top 4 Dmen aside from Hughes for over a decade.

Too many character issues with DeAngelo.

But I agree, Canucks D-man development have been atrocious. Even in Hughes case, he went straight from college to NHL. The last one that was drafted, developed and made the team was Guillaume Brisebois!

There's hope for the new draftees from this regime but it will be a long time before they contribute to the current squad.

 

[rypper]

I could see bringing in/back one of Deharnais, Forbort, Juulsen etc but putting yourself in a position where all are high enough on the depth chart to play after one real injury...

If they wanted to bring Myers back, they should have built it in mind with him playing bottom pair minutes.

I can't remember who was out there in the off season exactly FA or trade wise, but if you're running:

Hughes - Hronek
Soucy - X

As your top 4 with player X being a legit 2-3 defender.

 

[PavelBure10]

Canuck game changer Zadorov was lost due to a extra $200,000 and a extra year on term. I would of much rather brought Zadorov back and Cole, than bringing back Myers for $3 million and Desharnais at $2 million.

Heinen, Desharnais for Zadorov anyone?

 

[Vector]

I could see bringing in/back one of Deharnais, Forbort, Juulsen etc but putting yourself in a position where all are high enough on the depth chart to play after one real injury...

If they wanted to bring Myers back, they should have built it in mind with him playing bottom pair minutes.

I can't remember who was out there in the off season exactly FA or trade wise, but if you're running:

Hughes - Hronek
Soucy - X

As your top 4 with player X being a legit 2-3 defender.

It wasn’t a great off-season for acquiring defenceman. Wallman has been great but there were red flags around him.

My theory has always been that they preferred to get the big guys when they could and scour the market in-season. Hope they could stay healthy and keep their head above water until a deal presents itself.

 

[Peter Griffin]

Tocchet’s insistence on lefty/righty pairings led to the signings of Myers/Desharnais IMO.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Tocchet’s insistence on lefty/righty pairings led to the signings of Myers/Desharnais IMO.

If we are playing the blame game, Tocchet is so low on the list it's immaterial.

 

[rypper]

If we are playing the blame game, Tocchet is so low on the list it's immaterial.

Agreed. Tocchet is (not quite) doing the best with the hand he was dealt.