Management Thread | 5th Youngest Team in the League Edition

[PuckMunchkin]

Good job by management to dodge the bullet of Horvat’s next contract. Ideally, the cap would’ve been managed well enough in the past to keep a player of his Caliber but it wasn’t so they did a good job dodging the bullet and getting value back too. Going for lottery tickets on College FA’s - also good.

Next they need to dodge the Hronek extension bullet.

 

[bossram]

holding still on horvat hardball was a huge gamble and jim was spot on.
Dodged a lot there

It didn't take a crystal ball to see a guy shooting way above his career average and having a massive career year to that point...would not maintain that level.

It was in no way a gamble. Horvat not being worth a large extension was as predictable as it gets. Management gets zero credit for that.

I think the return on the Horvat trade was decent, so they get credit from me on that.

 

[DFAC]

Next they need to dodge the Hronek extension bullet.

How do we do that?

 

[Quinntessential]

It didn't take a crystal ball to see a guy shooting way above his career average and having a massive career year to that point...would not maintain that level.

It was in no way a gamble. Horvat not being worth a large extension was as predictable as it gets. Management gets zero credit for that.

I think the return on the Horvat trade was decent, so they get credit from me on that.

Agreed, the bar is low enough that any player evaluation decision that isn’t completely blown is a huge win for us.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

How do we do that?

Ship him to NYI like Bo?

 

[beachcomber]

They seem to be determined to be the smallest and softest team in the league which I don't think Tocchet is very appreciative of. More small, soft euros this draft please!!

 

[credulous]

it's really hard to understand how they think a defense where hughes, hirose, hronek and bear are all regulars is going to succeed. if myers goes their biggest dmen are oel, wolanin and brisebois who are all still relatively small for nhl defenders

 

[strattonius]

They seem to be determined to be the smallest and softest team in the league which I don't think Tocchet is very appreciative of. More small, soft euros this draft please!!

Settle down, Don.

 

[bossram]

They seem to be determined to be the smallest and softest team in the league which I don't think Tocchet is very appreciative of. More small, soft euros this draft please!!

My god it's 2023 and people are still using this lame stereotype.

it's really hard to understand how they think a defense where hughes, hirose, hronek and bear are all regulars is going to succeed. if myers goes their biggest dmen are oel, wolanin and brisebois who are all still relatively small for nhl defenders

I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that I think Hirose is the 2nd best LD on the team right now.

This team sucks. They need to focus on adding good players, regardless of size.

And c'mon. We just saw the Avs win the Cup with their 3 most-used defensemen averaging 6' or less. Size is not the issue with the blueline. It's talent.

 

[Josepho]

I don't think I'd call either of Hronek/Bear "small". The latter is 200 pounds.

 

[credulous]

I don't think I'd call either of Hronek/Bear "small". The latter is 200 pounds.

i'm not gonna do the entire league but if you look at the top 4 teams in the pacific plus vancouver then hughes, hronek, bear and hirose are all at or near the top of the list of shortest regular dmen. the only other player on the list under 6'0 is sean walker in los angeles. vegas and edmonton both average like 3-4 inches taller than vancouver

colorado had three undersized dmen but they also had manson and johnson who are both 6'4

 

[bossram]

i'm not gonna do the entire league but if you look at the top 4 teams in the pacific plus vancouver then hughes, hronek, bear and hirose are all at or near the top of the list of shortest regular dmen. the only other player on the list under 6'0 is sean walker in los angeles. vegas and edmonton both average like 3-4 inches taller than vancouver

colorado had three undersized dmen but they also had manson and johnson who are both 6'4

Manson was literally their 5th most used defensemen. EJ was 4th, but only because Girard was injured and someone had to get the minutes. Fully healthy, EJ and Manson are utilized like bottom-pair players at even-strength. And to repeat, their most important defensemen were all "undersized".

If your takeaway is, "get some big guys for the 3rd pair", then...alright sure.

Again, the problem with the Canucks isn't size. It's that they're just not good.

 

[tradervik]

Just for fun, I put together a list of all the undrafted junior/college/euro UFAs signed by Benning or Allvin. Bolded names are in the NHL (excluding Allvin's late season signings).

Benning:
Brogan Rafferty
Josh Teves
Troy Stecher
Michael Garteig
Griffen Molino
Jake Kielly
Zack MacEwen
Yan-Pavel Laplante
Mitch Eliot
Jalen Chatfield
Ashton Sautner
Michael Carcone
Philip Holm

Allvin:
Arshdeep Bains
Andrei Kuzmenko
Nils Aman
Filip Johansson
Akito Hirose
Max Sasson
Cole McWard

 

[credulous]

Again, the problem with the Canucks isn't size. It's that they're just not good.

it can be both things, i think

 

[Hit the post]

Good job by management to dodge the bullet of Horvat’s next contract. Ideally, the cap would’ve been managed well enough in the past to keep a player of his Caliber but it wasn’t so they did a good job dodging the bullet and getting value back too. Going for lottery tickets on College FA’s - also good.

That assumes Horvat wouldn't have signed a lesser shorter term deal here.

Where was this due diligence in Boesers contract? A significantly more useless player.

 

[Cancuks]

Teams need to learn to stop paying guys for past performance. This is what happened with Boeser. He in no way deserved a raise or 3 year extension. Look at all the teams with terrible contracts on their books for paying guys for what they did in the past. Too many players to name. If a guy has a bad season in a contract year then you need to play hardball with him and sign him to a lesser salary or give him a one year prove it kind of deal.

 

[strattonius]

That assumes Horvat wouldn't have signed a lesser shorter term deal here.

Where was this due diligence in Boesers contract? A significantly more useless player.

I think they over-emphasized the effect of his mental health when his father passed and figured he would rebound this year. I gotta be honest I thought the same thing - I thought we were going to see a rejuvenated Boeser this year. Signing Boeser was definitely a mistake but it isn't an example of lacking due diligence.

 

[Diogenes92]

So is Hughes hurt? Maintenence day?

Maybe its time to stop playing him 25+ minutes in meaningless games.

 

[kranuck]

So is Hughes hurt? Maintenence day?

Maybe its time to stop playing him 25+ minutes in meaningless games.

Play him 30 instead.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

So is Hughes hurt? Maintenence day?

Maybe it’s time to stop playing him 25+ minutes in meaningless games.

Under the weather..has nothing to do with the amount that he’s playing..Also, QH wants to play these big minutes..It’s not a case of being driven like a rented mule..

 

[Diogenes92]

Under the weather..has nothing to do with the amount that he’s playing..Also, QH wants to play these big minutes..It’s not a case of being driven like a rented mule..

He's looked gassed at the end of multiple games recently.

Doesn't seem like a long-term solution to make the playoffs.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

He's looked gassed at the end of multiple games recently.

Doesn't seem like a long-term solution to make the playoffs.

I’m guessing that RT is letting his core players be all that they can be..They want the ice time and he’s giving it to them.

 

[Cupless44]

I'm not sure how much more they can do to get Podz or Kravtsov going. It can't be just about spoon feeding them icetime. They have to earn it. Podz is a really weird player to figure out. He gets going for a few games and then just completely sputters and looks so far away from the NHl level. Kravtsov saw some decent time when he first joined the team but has done nothing with it.

10-12 minutes is enough to show what you can do and earn more time and by and large that is what they got. Moving them to 15 minutes a night won't change anything. The fact is they have had their lunch handed to them by the likes of Joshua and Aman the back half of the season. Yes Joshua is an older player but one that is also playing for an increased role next year.

Podz and Kravtsov are 22 and 23 this summer. Add Hoglander to the list. It's time for them to step up and seize icetime rather than have it gifted to them because of past performance or draft pedigree.

Matt Boldy was sitting right there when we took Podz at 10

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Good job by management to dodge the bullet of Horvat’s next contract. Ideally, the cap would’ve been managed well enough in the past to keep a player of his Caliber but it wasn’t so they did a good job dodging the bullet and getting value back too. Going for lottery tickets on College FA’s - also good.

Did they dodged the bullet or did Horvat bailed them out? Wasn't the rumor around January that Allvin was still trying to extend Bo, but just don't have the cap space and Bo was asking for too much? Sounds more like he was trying hard to throw himself in the path of the bullet and just failed?

He's looked gassed at the end of multiple games recently.

Doesn't seem like a long-term solution to make the playoffs.

I feel like Tocchet is trying hard to let Petey and Hughes rack up the points for personal glory. Petey going hard for 40/100 and Hughes going for PPG and extend his record-setting point totals as a Canucks D.

Their current ice time doesn't seem like a good long term strategy, but for a month or so, I guess why not? Of course the players want to play as much as possible, it's the coach's job to allocate ice time optimally to achieve long term success. We'll see how it goes next season.

 

[AlainVigneaultsGum]

Settle down, Don.

These commie pinkos coming over here and wearing helmets sickens me! Bobby Orr never wore a helmet and look at what he did! Now you get these commies and vladisdlasnv kozkchinov coming over here taking our milk and honey and acting like they own our game! Hear me this how many stanley cups does vladsialvy kosczkhcov have! Thats right 0!