Grub's Canucks & NHL News, Rumours, and & Fantasy GM | Training Camp Begins

[Mr. Canucklehead]

You can make guys like Juulsen and Friedman work as your 6/7 types in the regular season but you need to upgrade at the deadline heading into the playoffs.

I think it's a bit unfair to say whether Friedman would or wouldn't be okay in the playoffs given he didn't even get the opportunity. I like Juulsen a lot and thought he had a really solid regular season (for the most part) - but yeah, his playoff appearances were unfortunately awful.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

I think it's a bit unfair to say whether Friedman would or wouldn't be okay in the playoffs given he didn't even get the opportunity. I like Juulsen a lot and thought he had a really solid regular season (for the most part) - but yeah, his playoff appearances were unfortunately awful.

I think he’s right, in a different sense. I think this team is an Ekholm-level defender away from being bona fide cup chasers. Someone to play all situations that pushes 4 other guys down a slot.

 

[kanucks25]

I think it's a bit unfair to say whether Friedman would or wouldn't be okay in the playoffs given he didn't even get the opportunity. I like Juulsen a lot and thought he had a really solid regular season (for the most part) - but yeah, his playoff appearances were unfortunately awful.

Friedman is a 28 year-old journeyman / minor-league type guy.

To expect a player that has never been a regular in the regular season to suddenly be a solid option in the playoffs is wishful thinking.

 

[oceanchild]

I suspect that the old thinking heads still see Myers as not-top 4 material to form this opinion.

We have no depth on LHD. On RHD, we can always split Hronek from Hughes. Myers playing lessor minutes in that case is a very good luxury to have.

By basically every metric, Myers outperformed Soucy defensively, and is more of a 5. If we were to acquire a top 4 LHD, pushing Soucy to the 3rd pairing, he has shown in the past that he can be reliable in those minutes, and also push a guy like Forbort out of the lineup.

In addition, we have an internal potential top 4 RHD incoming with Willander.

That said, I'd be open to upgrading Myers' position, but to say the pressing need is a RHD over a LHD is not based in reality at all.

We are stronger in the left side than we are on the right. Write the names on a piece of paper and stare at them. It ain’t even close.

 

[MS]

We are stronger in the left side than we are on the right. Write the names on a piece of paper and stare at them. It ain’t even close.

Because of Hughes, yes.

But from 3-8 on our defensive depth chart we're pretty obviously stronger on the right side.

After watching tonight, having Forbort as our 3LD is terrifying. He looked worse than I've ever seen Juulsen (our 4RD) look, and I'm not a Juulsen fan.

 

[Baby Pettersson]

Because of Hughes, yes.

But from 3-8 on our defensive depth chart we're pretty obviously stronger on the right side.

After watching tonight, having Forbort as our 3LD is terrifying. He looked worse than I've ever seen Juulsen (our 4RD) look, and I'm not a Juulsen fan.

Definitely Benning esque as in many of us saw this from a mile away. Never liked this signing.

 

[MS]

Definitely Benning esque as in many of us saw this from a mile away. Never liked this signing.

Yeah, I didn't really get or like this signing when it happened and I never really like the player in LA or Winnipeg but some benefit of the doubt has been earned.

Watching tonight ... legit concern.

 

[JAK]

Question is, do we really need another top 4 LD when Hughes can and will play 25+ minutes a night? The other 35 minutes split between two LD is 17.5.

$5-6m for a "legit" second pair LD, and say $2m for a third paid LD, vs $7-8m for two LD that can play the 17.5 minutes each, is not a question IMO.

Having depth is important, a $5-6m second pair LD getting injured, would create a huge hole.
Where as having two players who can play the second pair, leaves the hole on the third pair, which would have a lower impact.

However, there isn't one structure template for all teams, teams have to build around what they got. OEL's buyout limitations certainly has a say on how much we can afford to spend on D.

 

[arttk]

Question is, do we really need another top 4 LD when Hughes can and will play 25+ minutes a night? The other 35 minutes split between two LD is 17.5.

$5-6m for a "legit" second pair LD, and say $2m for a third paid LD, vs $7-8m for two LD that can play the 17.5 minutes each, is not a question IMO.

Having depth is important, a $5-6m second pair LD getting injured, would create a huge hole.
Where as having two players who can play the second pair, leaves the hole on the third pair, which would have a lower impact.

However, there isn't one structure template for all teams, teams have to build around what they got. OEL's buyout limitations certainly has a say on how much we can afford to spend on D.

I think the question is what type of D do we need more in the playoffs? Do we need another guy that can drive offense from the 2nd pair or another guy to pair with Hughes so Hronek can drive offense from the 2nd pair.

 

[David71]

maybe alvin will find a servicable or better defenseman on the waiver wire. placeholder.

hughes hronek
soucy/myers
forbort/waiver wire player/deharnais. one of juulsen/friedman sent down.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Definitely Benning esque as in many of us saw this from a mile away. Never liked this signing.

I see what they were trying to do, but I just don’t like the target.

 

[David71]

There was some speculation that Clark might have been seen as the one responsible for our goalies being injured a lot, due to his workload for them or something like that. So it could be related to that.

 

[F A N]

Question is, do we really need another top 4 LD when Hughes can and will play 25+ minutes a night? The other 35 minutes split between two LD is 17.5.

I think we need another Top 4 Dman, but not necessarily on left side. Top 4 D means you have 4 defensemen who you can trust to handle top 4 minutes. Right now, our next best defenseman after Hughes and Hronek is likely Myers and he plays the right side. His partner is likely Soucy or Forbort. I like Soucy but he is somewhere between a #4 and #5. With a good partner I think Soucy is fine playing 2nd pairing minutes. Similarly, Myers needs a good partner to be effective. Asking him to carry the 2nd pair is a big ask.

$5-6m for a "legit" second pair LD, and say $2m for a third paid LD, vs $7-8m for two LD that can play the 17.5 minutes each, is not a question IMO.

Having depth is important, a $5-6m second pair LD getting injured, would create a huge hole.
Where as having two players who can play the second pair, leaves the hole on the third pair, which would have a lower impact.

However, there isn't one structure template for all teams, teams have to build around what they got. OEL's buyout limitations certainly has a say on how much we can afford to spend on D.

I think the question is what type of D do we need more in the playoffs? Do we need another guy that can drive offense from the 2nd pair or another guy to pair with Hughes so Hronek can drive offense from the 2nd pair.

A good defenseman is a good defenseman. I think we need a guy who is at least a #3. I am comfortable with Hughes and Hronek being a pair. I do think having 3 Dmen who could are 1st pairing Dmen material is a recipe for success.

In terms of long term fit, if we can acquire a top pairing or #3 LD without trading Willander, that LD won't block Willander.

 

[JT Milker]

If Krudyavtsev continues to play well and we’re a meritocracy, he should make the team as the 3LD to start the year with Myers/Desharnais.

 

[Bojack Horvatman]

Yeah, I didn't really get or like this signing when it happened and I never really like the player in LA or Winnipeg but some benefit of the doubt has been earned.

Watching tonight ... legit concern.

At least with this management group you know if this play continues they will punt Forbort into the sun and find a replacement quickly.

 

[Hodgy]

Because of Hughes, yes.

But from 3-8 on our defensive depth chart we're pretty obviously stronger on the right side.

After watching tonight, having Forbort as our 3LD is terrifying. He looked worse than I've ever seen Juulsen (our 4RD) look, and I'm not a Juulsen fan.

I know we are all pretty optimistic here after last year, and it feels good to be optimistic after the reign of error, but I think we’ve collectively putting our heads in the sand and ignoring the possible catastrophic effect of having Forbort and Desmarais replace Cole and Zadorov all the while having an injured Demko and a sub 900 svp Silovs ready to take the wheel.

At worst, the team craters. As a medium to bad result, the team has to play like a shell like it did in the playoffs neutering its offense.

And the above really really makes me doubt Tocs ability to open up the offense as intended.

 

[TruGr1t]

I know we are all pretty optimistic here after last year, and it feels good to be optimistic after the reign of error, but I think we’ve collectively putting our heads in the sand and ignoring the possible catastrophic effect of having Forbort and Desmarais replace Cole and Zadorov all the while having an injured Demko and a sub 900 svp Silovs ready to take the wheel.

At worst, the team craters. As a medium to bad result, the team has to play like a shell like it did in the playoffs neutering its offense.

And the above really really makes me doubt Tocs ability to open up the offense as intended.

I think at this point they need to determine if Kudryatsev can actually play, as he could be an improvement on Forbort. And then look at options to add another NHL defenseman to the depth chart, Justin Schultz is still available and there are a couple guys out there plus potential waivers (and waiver-related trades) that could be explored.

I am not particularly excited about our defense after the top-four (Hughes, Hronek, Soucy, Myers) based on what we've seen to-date.

 

[MS]

I know we are all pretty optimistic here after last year, and it feels good to be optimistic after the reign of error, but I think we’ve collectively putting our heads in the sand and ignoring the possible catastrophic effect of having Forbort and Desmarais replace Cole and Zadorov all the while having an injured Demko and a sub 900 svp Silovs ready to take the wheel.

At worst, the team craters. As a medium to bad result, the team has to play like a shell like it did in the playoffs neutering its offense.

And the above really really makes me doubt Tocs ability to open up the offense as intended.

I’m not particularly worried about Desharnais vs. Cole or Zadorov (or Juulsen who played a ton of games last year).

Forbort, yeah.

Goaltending yeah although Demko shouldn’t be that far away.

 

[sting101]

The Bruin pick ups look like crap so far

Should have stopped at Barry Pederson or Jim Benning or Loui Eriksson

I'm sorta kidding and cringing right now at the same time

 

[quat]

Vancouver has been goaltending factory ever since Luongo, how the f*** do you let Clark walk??

Yeah, seems unusually risky. Even if Clark overworked his tenders (lol), it's impossible not to recognize his ability to identify the guys that can play or reach their highest level. If scouting is his best attribute, you'd be better served bumping him up the prestige ladder while filling that role, rather than the demotion they gave him.

 

[theguardianII]

I know we are all pretty optimistic here after last year, and it feels good to be optimistic after the reign of error, but I think we’ve collectively putting our heads in the sand and ignoring the possible catastrophic effect of having Forbort and Desmarais replace Cole and Zadorov all the while having an injured Demko and a sub 900 svp Silovs ready to take the wheel.

At worst, the team craters. As a medium to bad result, the team has to play like a shell like it did in the playoffs neutering its offense.

And the above really really makes me doubt Tocs ability to open up the offense as intended.

This season can be a repeat of 2016, last year was a big surprise, 2015 was a huge surprise although last year they HAD the 5th best ranked defence in the league which carried them further in the playoffs.

I am not particularly excited about our defense after the top-four (Hughes, Hronek, Soucy, Myers) based on what we've seen to-date.

Well IF Soucy can even play 60 games this year those 5,6,7 guys better be better than last year's

I guess the powers just figured they would play Hughes 26+ minutes a night, half the game and Hronek to carry his own line.

Who is going to hit with an enough impact to have the other team looking around or not taking cheap shots at players?

The Bruin pick ups look like crap so far

Should have stopped at Barry Pederson or Jim Benning or Loui Eriksson

I'm sorta kidding and cringing right now at the same time

There is a reason a perineal playoff team lets player go, they make the playoffs year after year.

Is it really going to be a surprise if the Canucks finish 4th or 5th in the division? Division rivals have more cap space, NHL depth, prospects and draft picks to go after top end player trades.

This team has put all their marbles in Demko's play, they made the defence much slower looking at pre-season games, goal tending has looked average, marginally, a real lack of speed so far, almost like the vets are saving themselves for games 60+ and they look "soft". Who is going to frighten the big bashers from taking an extra shot in a scrum? Miller? Boeser? Debrusk or Sprong?
We have seen this before when Getzlaf was rag dolling McCann and the team stood back and watched. No push back.

 

[theguardianII]

Yeah, seems unusually risky. Even if Clark overworked his tenders (lol), it's impossible not to recognize his ability to identify the guys that can play or reach their highest level. If scouting is his best attribute, you'd be better served bumping him up the prestige ladder while filling that role, rather than the demotion they gave him.

One coach says play and the other in charge of goalies says no.
Power struggle.
What if Clarke goes to Seattle and creates another great goalie? They are already more of a shut down team.
What if he goes to Calgary and takes their goalies up a notch or two? Enough to make them a possible rival?

It seems very strange that the Canucks are letting him go anywhere while under contract. Is it that he may have a story he could tell?

 

[JT Milker]

The Bruin pick ups look like crap so far

Should have stopped at Barry Pederson or Jim Benning or Loui Eriksson

I'm sorta kidding and cringing right now at the same time

I thought we weren’t supposed to judge based on pre-season

 

[VanJack]

Clearly Tocchet is absolutely committed to stapling DeBrusk to a line with Pettersson......but the audition continues for right-wingers. I guess either Sprong or Hoglander might figure into the mix eventually. But would love to see Lekkerimaki get at least another game or two.

 

[RobsonStreet]

I thought we weren’t supposed to judge based on pre-season

I’m old enough to remember Dakota Joshua’s poor pre-season back in 2023.