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I wonder if you could get Lundell & Balinskis (&Erods$?) for Miller and Hoglander/Raty/Juulsen/Forbort whatever...

Gotta think that teams vets can definitely handle jtm as the fourth or fifth top dog, plus gives them money to sign Bennett.

And obviously adding Miller to Tkachuk & Bennett is ridiculous for playoffs.
 
VanillaCoke said:
I wonder if you could get Lundell & Balinskis (&Erods$?) for Miller and Hoglander/Raty/Juulsen/Forbort whatever...

Gotta think that teams vets can definitely handle jtm as the fourth or fifth top dog, plus gives them money to sign Bennett.

And obviously adding Miller to Tkachuk & Bennett is ridiculous for playoffs.
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lo florida will ask for Petterson in return. The way they value Lundell, JT and Hog isn't getting him
 
Pettersson is here for 8 years. He must have talked to Hughes before re-signing. Same agent/agency as well.

Hughes is here for 3 years, and is the captain.

There is still time to turn this ship around. These two are here for long enough to allow for it. Allvin just has to lengthen the timeline. Quit burning assets. Look for contracts with term etc...

There's still a path forward.
 
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Trades and internal stuff aside, I think they really need to strip things down to the basics and try to make things as simple as possible to try to right the ship.

Lekkerimaki doesn't look ready to me, or at least certainly not for this scenario. Maybe if the team was going you get him in to ride shotgun, bury some looks, and learn the pace of the NHL, but trotting out a player who looks like he isn't currently quick or strong enough to consistently make his own chances is just a waste of a roster spot at the moment - even if he does shoot the puck well. IMO, Sasson is probably a more useful player for what the team needs right now.

No idea how Blais has looked of late, but if you think he's even a remote possibility as a 4th line banger, you have to strongly consider bringing him in just as a new vet face in the room who has been there. The D is obviously a glaring issue, but another problem is that they have a number of wingers who don't really get after it very well. Maybe you look at bringing back Aman or Raty so that Blueger or Suter can shift back to the wing occasionally.

Obviously they're reluctant to do so, but at least for the moment they need to look at splitting Hughes and Hronek. That maybe even allows them to bring Brannstrom back as well with Myers or Desharnais even if only on home ice, assuming Hughes and Hronek's pairs can each play decent minutes, so that you can maybe catch out some 4th liners on the counter attack. The Canucks should have the depth to be scoring from lower down the roster, but the D has moved the puck so poorly.

Forwards need to be told to just play in straight lines, go to the body, go to the net, get after it on the forecheck and back check, and shoot the f***ing puck. Keep the lines rolling over, keep everything as simple as possible, and try to make your own luck. Just play the simplest, dumbest, slump-bustiest hockey imaginable is basically their only hope of turning this around.
 
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A few weeks ago I laughed at the notion of trading JT Miller for Mika Zibanejad.

Now? Millers value is certainly tanking.
 
RobertKron said:
Trades and internal stuff aside, I think they really need to strip things down to the basics and try to make things as simple as possible to try to right the ship.

Lekkerimaki doesn't look ready to me, or at least certainly not for this scenario. Maybe if the team was going you get him in to ride shotgun, bury some looks, and learn the pace of the NHL, but trotting out a player who looks like he isn't currently quick or strong enough to consistently make his own chances is just a waste of a roster spot at the moment - even if he does shoot the puck well. IMO, Sasson is probably a more useful player for what the team needs right now.

No idea how Blais has looked of late, but if you think he's even a remote possibility as a 4th line banger, you have to strongly consider bringing him in just as a new vet face in the room who has been there. The D is obviously a glaring issue, but another problem is that they have a number of wingers who don't really get after it very well. Maybe you look at bringing back Aman or Raty so that Blueger or Suter can shift back to the wing occasionally.

Obviously they're reluctant to do so, but at least for the moment they need to look at splitting Hughes and Hronek. That maybe even allows them to bring Brannstrom back as well with Myers or Desharnais even if only on home ice, assuming Hughes and Hronek's pairs can each play decent minutes, so that you can maybe catch out some 4th liners on the counter attack. The Canucks should have the depth to be scoring from lower down the roster, but the D has moved the puck so poorly.

Forwards need to be told to just play in straight lines, go to the body, go to the net, get after it on the forecheck and back check, and shoot the f***ing puck. Keep the lines rolling over, keep everything as simple as possible, and try to make your own luck. Just play the simplest, dumbest, slump-bustiest hockey imaginable is basically their only hope of turning this around.
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They're playing simple now. I get what your saying, but this is the exact opposite approach to take. They are so tight, not having any fun, every error is huge because they know they can't come back. The answer to that isn't to get rid of the scoring (Lekk) or doing away with creativity. It's to get the offensive players to start taking real chances.

If I'm Tocchet, I say don't worry about lanes or structure, I just want to see a pass connect between players in the Ozone. Just do what you want in the offensive zone. No structure there. The high forward just come back hard.

Lekkerimaki is here because they are desperate for scoring. It's not the best environment, no, but they need his shot. They need players that will try to make a bloody play. They have enough grinders and muckers. Overflowing with them.

Give me the players that will actually try to score.
 
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Salivating at what a Sherwood return would look like at the deadline.

Garland/Suter/Soucy/Debrusk should be gone as well.

Miller in the offseason unless you get a decent return before the deadline.

Tank for a top pick and reset for next year. Time to give the keys to the franchise to Hughes and Pettersson.
 
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Bleach Clean said:
They're playing simple now. I get what your saying, but this is the exact opposite approach to take. They are so tight, not having any fun, every error is huge because they know they can't come back. The answer to that isn't to get rid of the scoring (Lekk) or doing away with creativity. It's to get the offensive players to start taking real chances.

If I'm Tocchet, I say don't worry about lanes or structure, I just want to see a pass connect between players in the Ozone. Just do what you want in the offensive zone. No structure there. The high forward just come back hard.

Lekkerimaki is here because they are desperate for scoring. It's not the best environment, no, but they need his shot. They need players that will try to make a bloody play. They have enough grinders and muckers. Overflowing with them.

Give me the players that will actually try to score.
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You and I are watching the same team. These forwards can score. They just aren't. Surprised the ice isn't littered with broken stick with how tightly they're gripping them.
 
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The worst (and possible) timeline involves Hughes leaving after his contract is up and us stuck with Petey and Miller because their contracts/play are unmovable.

That is nightmare fuel
 
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Bleach Clean said:
They're playing simple now. I get what your saying, but this is the exact opposite approach to take. They are so tight, not having any fun, every error is huge because they know they can't come back. The answer to that isn't to get rid of the scoring (Lekk) or doing away with creativity. It's to get the offensive players to start taking real chances.

If I'm Tocchet, I say don't worry about lanes or structure, I just want to see a pass connect between players in the Ozone. Just do what you want in the offensive zone. No structure there. The high forward just come back hard.

Lekkerimaki is here because they are desperate for scoring. It's not the best environment, no, but they need his shot. They need players that will try to make a bloody play. They have enough grinders and muckers. Overflowing with them.

Give me the players that will actually try to score.
Click to expand...

The issue with Lekkerimaki is that he's basically just skating around on the wrong side of bodies for most of the game on a team that really doesn't have decisive control of the puck when Hughes isn't on the ice.

You direct everything at the net and eventually a couple bounce in off of someone's face and the slump starts to lift, but you have to actually get control of the puck in the first place - which is a huge issue for the team right now. The D struggle to move it up ice, and a lot of the wingers are unable or unwilling to just put their head down and drive for 50/50 pucks.

Honestly, they really don't have enough muckers who are actually willing or able to muck, and that's a big problem now that nothing is working and they have to muck their way out of it. Boeser, Lekkerimaki, Debrusk, Heinen, and unfortunately much of the time Hoglander are all wingers that aren't necessarily giving you a lot in terms of effective puck pursuit and retrieval, which is a huge problem offensively for a team that isn't going to make a lot of controlled entries due to the transitional deficiencies of the D.

If the D were able to consistently jump guys for odd man rushes on the counter attack, or if they were making consistent controlled entries leading to solid zone time, then Lekkerimaki is probably a very useful player even with his current shortcomings, but as it stands I think they're probably better suited with someone like Sasson for the moment to just keep it simple, get to pucks, and try to generate some greasy goals.
 
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Simply put, due to some core weaknesses in the foundation of the team's build, they are incredibly easy to game plan against.

Every minute Hughes isn't on the ice, you forecheck the shit out the D and clog up the middle. 2/3rds of the time they'll skate themselves into trouble trying to force something or throw a bomb up the middle to no one. The forwards meanwhile are also of little help.

Short of a major overhaul to the D or stone massive mid-season tactical changes (which are next to impossible due to limited practice time), I have no clue how they expect to fix this.

They have few options but to just wait and pray the team suddenly figures it out. Not a good spot to be in.
 
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