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

[Nuckles]

Didn't expect Trotz to just come out and say it

https://x.com/i/web/status/1854190158582632554

 

[strattonius]

Didn't expect Trotz to just come out and say it

https://x.com/i/web/status/1854190158582632554

Dorky little bluff.

What's the rebuild plan? Find teams to take on the 34 year old forwards you signed to term?

I think the Preds can turn it around but I was consistently of the belief that the Stamkos and Marchessault contracts were horrendous and they were getting mostly over-rated to finish near the top of the West. They signed Stamkos to term to play on the left half wall taking one timers on the powerplay - basically all his game has left. But that has been Forsberg's bread and butter. Then they sign a soon to fall off a cliff Marchessault to also be a shooter on the powerplay. Basically team loaded up weird options on their powerplay but will be easier to play against at 5on5. Sherwood is a perfect disaster for them.

 

[Nuckles]

Barry Trotz explains Nashville Predators' 'rebuild' remark, needs to buy time for prospects

General manager Barry Trotz talked to the Tennessean about his \

www.tennessean.com

According to Trotz, who spoke to the Tennessean after his initial remarks, it's not that simple.

"We're never going to burn it down to the studs," Trotz said.

"I've tried to buy time through free agency with these older players so that we can still be a threat," Trotz said. "But if it doesn't work, I've still got to buy the time for those young players."

It's not a typical "break it all down and start over" rebuild, especially given the contracts he has on the books.

"(Filip) Forsberg, (Roman) Josi, (Ryan) O'Reilly, (Brady) Skjei, and of course Stamkos and Marchessault, they are here," Trotz said. "They aren't going anywhere. And (Juuse) Saros. But everybody else, I might pull out and put in a young kid."

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Barry Trotz explains Nashville Predators' 'rebuild' remark, needs to buy time for prospects

General manager Barry Trotz talked to the Tennessean about his \

www.tennessean.com

According to Trotz, who spoke to the Tennessean after his initial remarks, it's not that simple.

"We're never going to burn it down to the studs," Trotz said.

"I've tried to buy time through free agency with these older players so that we can still be a threat," Trotz said. "But if it doesn't work, I've still got to buy the time for those young players."

It's not a typical "break it all down and start over" rebuild, especially given the contracts he has on the books.

"(Filip) Forsberg, (Roman) Josi, (Ryan) O'Reilly, (Brady) Skjei, and of course Stamkos and Marchessault, they are here," Trotz said. "They aren't going anywhere. And (Juuse) Saros. But everybody else, I might pull out and put in a young kid."

So essentially they will keep the older expensive players that are the issue.

Makes sense.

 

[LemonSauceD]

Trotz comes across as a guy who is pretty much just winging things as they happen. No sort of real long term plan.

He also seems to have a bit of Rutherforditis.

 

[bossram]

Trotz comes across as a guy who is pretty much just winging things as they happen. No sort of real long term plan.

He also seems to have a bit of Rutherforditis.

Very apparent. Prior to last season, his public comments were all about building slowly, building through the draft, bringing up young players.

Then he makes the playoffs and blows his load on over-the-hill veterans signed to horrible contracts. I mean, I didn't think they'd have this slow of a start, but I thought the public consensus was massively overrating them (to the extent I bet them to miss the playoffs).

Now Trotz is switching up the plan again. No one is taking on those contracts though.

 

[Vector]

Seravalli interview:

Boeser:
-haven't heard anything about extension talks but has been 10 days since last asked
-when he did ask, was told conversations had not yet begun
-difficult to pinpoint his next contract
-thinks it will be something with an AAV that starts with 8m

Defencemen:
-even more thin of a market than previous years
-thinks there's a few guys out there that are playing with less opportunity but if are given more might show you more; cites Jonathan Kovacevic as an example
-no particular names come to mind
-understands fans and media are watching Rasmus Andersson but his understanding is Calgary has no interest in making a trade right now

Buffalo Sabres:
-Kevyn Adams has been making a lot of calls around the league to understand what different markets look like
-thinks the Canucks have asked if Bowen Byram was available but the answer was "No" from the Sabres
-Canucks are a terrible trade partner for the Sabres; Sabres have no interest in futures
-issues are a lot deeper than any one player
-around the league, they say that's a team still playing summer hockey
-have to shake it up, have to fix it
-getting a bunch of calls on Jack Quinn

Nashville Predators:
-his level of concern has ratcheted up
-have become a perimeter team; they know what the issue is but won't work out of it
-really lacking centre depth
-if they don't figure it out this season, it's a nightmare
-on a true contending team, O'Reilly is a 3rd line centre

Anaheim Ducks:
-rumblings of needing a new coach according to conversations with players last year
-Greg Cronin is an exceptionally difficult coach; someone that really grated on the players
-Ilya Lyubushkin had some really damning recent words about Cronin
-Ducks should have more of everything than the Sharks but are behind

Philadelphia Flyers:
-zero plans to make a coaching change
-management thinks Tortorella is the right guy to shape the young players
-Seravalli thinks Tortorella is exactly the wrong guy; calls last season a colossal failure
-a couple of teams have been interested in a few of their players
-Sabres and Wild are potentially interested in some of those players

Seattle Kraken:
-ownership is probably worried about the lack of success
-only a matter of time until the NBA is back in Seattle
-have to make progress and put a winner on the ice
-thinks the Kraken are the Western Conference version of the Islanders; committed to being "mid"
-no superstar and no way of getting a superstar

New York Islanders:
-no one speaks on behalf of the team
-ownership seems happy and supportive of Lamoriello
-Islanders are slower than the Penguins

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Canucks are playing good defensive hockey, offence and powerplay is a work in progress.

Goals per game: 14th
Goals Against: 9th
Powerplay: 22nd
Penalty Kill: 12th
Shots for per game: 14th
Shots against per game: 5th
Face Off %: 14th
High Danger Shots For: 24th
High Danger Shots Against: 2nd
Medium Danger Shots For: 18th
Medium Danger Shots Against: 5th

 

[Wisp]

-thinks the Kraken are the Western Conference version of the Islanders; committed to being "mid"

Lol, yes, that's exactly what's happening here.

 

[Wisp]

The defensemen market is just a reminder that expansion has made it so there are just not enough good defensemen to go around.

Player development for defensemen so important right now. It's why project players like Brannstrom and Desharnais are a thing. For the Canucks, it's imperative that Sawyer Mynio, D-Petey, Kudryavtsev, and Willander are developed to the best of their abilities. 10 years ago Mynio, D-Petey, Kudryavtsev might have been 'whatever' prospects... Today they'll have to be ready to play.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Lol, yes, that's exactly what's happening here.

But Francis is so smart! How could this have possibly happened?! It's not like he made some of the safest, if not completely head scratching picks imaginable drafting that roster then did nothing else.

Mockery aside. It still floors me how... well, "mid" his decisions were. Especially when you compare to Vegas being involved in damn near everything. I don't think they drafted a single player with the four high firsts they were given that actually played on the team.

 

[ManVanFan]

They made a sizable investment in the off season and added Jake Debrusk, a consistent 25-30 goal scorer. All the interviews in spring training also confirmed they were going to plant the two together and hope sparks would fly. Even Alvin in an interview suggested this was a winger to play with Pettersson. But instead we get 70% no skating Pettersson who handles the puck like a grenade. The 'no linemates' for Petey thing has got to die at this point. There are PLENTY of good wingers on this team for a 12M dollar forward to find some chemistry. He's been playing with Garland who has been absolutely phenomenal this year and we're still pretending this guy doesn't have a partner. More excuses for Pettersson.

Guess what, sparks haven't flown between the two.

 

[Breakers]

Sometimes it is as simple as taking somebody off a PP

Toronto is raving about having Matthews off the PP now that he is injured

Move Pettersson to the 2nd unit
Sometimes just something that little.

 

[VanJack]

You can see that slowly and steadily, the new guys Allvin brought in this off-season are getting acclimatized and adjusted to Tocchet's system.

Sherwood is probably ahead of everybody, but Debrusk, Heinen, Heinen and Sprong seem to be catching on fast. Canucks entered the off-season claiming they wanted better skating forwards who were faster through the neutral zone, and quicker on the forecheck. If Raty can come in and somehow cement a third line, then the team is on its way.

The big caveat though is still on the blueline. Myers and Soucy have clearly regressed, and Desharnais and Forbort are really only 6-7 guys at best on a good team. But sadly no 'quick fixes' unless the Canucks dramatically overpay.

 

[ManVanFan]

You can see that slowly and steadily, the new guys Allvin brought in this off-season are getting acclimatized and adjusted to Tocchet's system.

Sherwood is probably ahead of everybody, but Debrusk, Heinen, Heinen and Sprong seem to be catching on fast. Canucks entered the off-season claiming they wanted better skating forwards who were faster through the neutral zone, and quicker on the forecheck. If Raty can come in and somehow cement a third line, then the team is on its way.

The big caveat though is still on the blueline. Myers and Soucy have clearly regressed, and Desharnais and Forbort are really only 6-7 guys at best on a good team. But sadly no 'quick fixes' unless the Canucks dramatically overpay.

Maybe underestimated how affective Cole was last season and Zadorov as well in taking some harder minutes off of Soucy and Myers. I'm sure if they could have made the money work, management would have brought both of them back.

 

[MS]

Maybe underestimated how affective Cole was last season and Zadorov as well in taking some harder minutes off of Soucy and Myers. I'm sure if they could have made the money work, management would have brought both of them back.

I talked a lot about how last year we were basically 'matchup proof' on D because all three pairings were totally capable of playing leverage/matchup minutes.

This year, with the 3rd pairing of Forbort/Desharnais/Brannstrom/Juulsen being much weaker, Tocchet is playing them less and handing them softer assignments, with the result being that Soucy-Myers are being required to play much more consistently higher-leverage minutes. And they're struggling, obviously.

It's pretty obvious that moves will be made and this won't be the D-group we go into the playoffs with, but outside of the Pettersson fiasco it's pretty obviously the biggest problem with the team right now.

 

[Lindgren]

Despite what Hughes said in the off-season about wanting to play with Hronek, I'd still like management to be investigating an acquisition that would allow them to be split up. The new alignment would look like this:

Hughes Dallas Smith clone
Brannstrom Hronek
Soucey Myers

Desharnais would be one of the assets dealt to bring in DSc. Forbort would stay as a #7.

it's up to the pro scouting to find that bargain DSc for Hughes. A guy who can skate, has a bit of size, a good IQ, doesn't put up points, doesn't drive a pair. He should cost less than a puck-mover for the second pairing.

I've mentioned the DSc before. He makes even more sense now that Hughes is being compared to Orr.

 

[StreetHawk]

The defensemen market is just a reminder that expansion has made it so there are just not enough good defensemen to go around.

Player development for defensemen so important right now. It's why project players like Brannstrom and Desharnais are a thing. For the Canucks, it's imperative that Sawyer Mynio, D-Petey, Kudryavtsev, and Willander are developed to the best of their abilities. 10 years ago Mynio, D-Petey, Kudryavtsev might have been 'whatever' prospects... Today they'll have to be ready to play.

Have to invest in the AHL coaching, plus all of the off ice and skill set coaching. Skating coach is a must. Strength/conditioning and nutritionist as well. Plus skills coach.

On top of the HC and assistants in the A.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Despite what Hughes said in the off-season about wanting to play with Hronek, I'd still like management to be investigating an acquisition that would allow them to be split up. The new alignment would look like this:

Hughes Dallas Smith clone
Brannstrom Hronek
Soucey Myers

Desharnais would be one of the assets dealt to bring in DSc. Forbort would stay as a #7.

it's up to the pro scouting to find that bargain DSc for Hughes. A guy who can skate, has a bit of size, a good IQ, doesn't put up points, doesn't drive a pair. He should cost less than a puck-mover for the second pairing.

I've mentioned the DSc before. He makes even more sense now that Hughes is being compared to Orr.

The problem is who is dealing us a top four RD that could consistently play with Hughes? That kind of talent is very rarely available, and in the event one is they'll come at a premium cost we really can't afford.

Say, for example, Andersson shakes loose. There's no scenario we acquire him without Willander going the other way. And then we won't be able to afford in two years when he inevitably wants 7-8M because we're stuck with 5M in dead cap.

It just isn't going to happen unless we get lucky acquiring someone like Byram who suddenly explodes.

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

I assume that if we were to acquire Byram, they'd have done their homework on the guy and are confident that he can be developed. He's still very young, just 23 years old. He's a guy that hasn't broken out yet and can hypothetically outplay a long term contract we'd sign him to in the off-season.

It's not like Hronek cost an arm and a leg, so there's no reason to assume Byram would involve Pete or something ridiculous. If the price is right, no reason to say no imo. People gagging over Theodore earlier in the season but saying no to Byram makes no sense.

Willander is Hamhuis 2.0. So if a trade is something like 1st, Hog, Raty, I'd be okay with that.

lol… classic. (1st + two middling pieces you won’t miss)

 

[VanJack]

In wonder if there's any chance a guy like Wilander could play with Hughes sooner rather than later? Hughes has the puck so much when he's out there, that anyone who plays with him is almost automatically playing 'sheltered minutes'.

If would enable them to move Hronek down the depth chart and anchor a legit second-pairing.

 

[arttk]

The problem is who is dealing us a top four RD that could consistently play with Hughes? That kind of talent is very rarely available, and in the event one is they'll come at a premium cost we really can't afford.

Say, for example, Andersson shakes loose. There's no scenario we acquire him without Willander going the other way. And then we won't be able to afford in two years when he inevitably wants 7-8M because we're stuck with 5M in dead cap.

It just isn't going to happen unless we get lucky acquiring someone like Byram who suddenly explodes.

the solution is wait for Willander and spend the assets on a top4 LD instead. For the assets required to get a top 4 RD, you can use that and add a little bit more to get a top4LD and a top6 scorer.

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

He was getting inundated with troll tweets, pretty aggressive and nasty ones too, apparently, and mouthed off against the entire city of Vancouver during intermission on HNiC.

While it was dumb, he's still new to broadcasting and let his emotions get the better of him. Hard to blame him when you're getting death threats. I agree with Friedman that taking him off air over it would essentially tell the trolls "keep doing this to whoever you don't like."

Gadzic got fairly typical Twitter garbage then called the entire fan base “a bunch of losers”. Then received more of it. I can blame him for being so flagrantly unprofessional. Twitter is an obvious cesspool and if you can’t filter that out, don’t do that job. He was also a clear Oil fanboy and in a “I don’t like other teams” way. Needs to look how Bieksa does his job, because while he clearly likes the Canucks, you don’t get that he’s salty about any other team. (As Gadzic vibes gave off)

 

[StreetHawk]

KB understands that he’s a national analyst. So barring him telling a Canucks story he knows to remain neutral. If Gadzic is still fighting with people on X, he clearly hasn’t understood that.

Going to remain a local one until he wants more money and then the network will replace him with someone cheaper.

 

[VanJack]

Trotz comes across as a guy who is pretty much just winging things as they happen. No sort of real long term plan.

He also seems to have a bit of Rutherforditis.

"If we don't start to get going soon, I'll have to institute our rebuild plan". Do Trotz and the Preds actually have a plan?

Kind of reminds me of Jim Benning.....Claim that your roster only needs some 'tweaking; Then go out in the off-season and sign couple of ridiculously priced UFA's well on the wrong side of 30. and ride them into the sunset a la Louie Eriksson. Actually even Eriksson was a lot younger when Jimbo signed him.

Not sure the hockey faithful in Nashville have any idea of what a hockey 'rebuild' actually entails. It would be different it we were talking about the Tennessee Titans or the Memphis Grizzlies

But unless Marchessault and Stamkos find the 'fountain of youth' this team could bottom out quickly and force a tear-down.