Post-Game Talk: Sens def. Canucks - 3-0

VanJack

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Almost an inevitable letdown game.....Canucks came back operating basically on adrenalin in their first two against the Leafs....but little or no energy in this one, and they looked like a team that had been off for three weeks. I don't expect the other three games against the Sens to be much better. They might win a couple but 2-2 isn't nearly good enough.

Canucks are basically a .500 team....they might be a game or two above or a game or two below at the end of the season....but not nearly good enough to be a playoff team.

A couple of random observations about some of the lineup decisions. Travis Boyd on the second unit pp? Why?

And that d-pairing of Chatfield-Juolevi would probably struggle in Utica right now. Please, can we at least try Rathbone and Rafferty in the next game. I mean how can it be much worse?
 
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Get North

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I don’t get the hate for vesey and Boyd

they are cheap 4th liners that give you the exact same quality as 90% of the bottom 6 trash on this team while making the league minimum.

what they are doing is exactly what I expected.
Yeah no duh. They all suck and all need to go, that's the only way to get better. Cheap 4th liners mean they suck and shouldn't be on your roster. Replace them with Lind, Gadjovich, retain Virtanen, MacEwen.

Re-sign Vesey/Boyd only if they are Utica regulars like Baertschi. You don't win games in the NHL when half your forwards belong in the AHL or Europe.
 

Breakers

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Yeah no duh. They all suck and all need to go, that's the only way to get better. Cheap 4th liners mean they suck and shouldn't be on your roster. Replace them with Lind, Gadjovich, retain Virtanen, MacEwen.

Re-sign Vesey/Boyd only if they are Utica regulars like Baertschi. You don't win games in the NHL when half your forwards belong in the AHL or Europe.

most 4th lines in the league are AHL’ers
That’s the way you compose your 4th line.
Cheap NHL minimum salaries.
 

Hit the post

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most 4th lines in the league are AHL’ers
That’s the way you compose your 4th line.
Cheap NHL minimum salaries.
loui-meme.png
 

sting101

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I don’t get the hate for vesey and Boyd

they are cheap 4th liners that give you the exact same quality as 90% of the bottom 6 trash on this team while making the league minimum.

what they are doing is exactly what I expected.
I don't hate them. I was just voicing some frustrations.

Vesey from my observations has some good size wheels and probably had some good hands at one point but he's so poor with his anticipation passing and positioning it's unreal.

I read some of the Leaf fans displeasures when we got him and he hasn't disappointed in that regard. He's on a fast track to the KHL at this rate but sure if he wants to be a depth guy and play the Graovac Bailey role i could entertain that thought.
 

The Iron Goalie

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Edler's back next game right, so I hope we see something like this,

Pearson, Horvat, Boeser
Hoglander, Miller, Lind
Highmore, Sutter, Hawryluk/Virtanen
Vesey, Boyd, Virtanen/Hawryluk

Edler, Schmidt
Hughes, Hamonic
Juolevi, Myers

Michaelis and Chatfield have proven to be sub par, and aren't trusted by Green.
 
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Hit the post

I have your gold medal Zippy!
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Im not even going to do the math.

But im guessing our bottom 6 before vesey and boyd was probably top 3 most expensive in the league.
Yeah the Pens model is the spend alot of your cap on the top end of your lineup. Then make do with what's left to fill out your roster. Worked for them on occasion (granted, it helps when their core guys were THAT good). Leafs tried that model & failed due to how they implemented the plan rather than the plan itself.

Jethro follows the opposite approach.

 

Breakers

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Yeah the Pens model is the spend alot of your cap on the top end of your lineup. Then make do with what's left to fill out your roster. Worked for them on occasion (granted, it helps when their core guys were THAT good). Leafs tried that model & failed due to how they implemented the plan rather than the plan itself.

Jethro follows the opposite approach.

I agree they probably could have handled restricted free agency better in toronto on some of their contracts.

however boyd was making 700K in toronto and had 8 points in 20 games while averaging 9:10 of TOI. That's pretty damn good

That is the epitome of all you can expect from your 4th line making that.
 

Get North

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most 4th lines in the league are AHL’ers
That’s the way you compose your 4th line.
Cheap NHL minimum salaries.
Lind and Gadjovich are better investments. Roussel is a more committed player too, he knows he's a bottom 6 player and he's much more effective than Vesey/Boyd. I don't understand the purpose of playing them, they don't kill penalties or contribute offensively. Rubbish players and it shows in the body language of Miller/Horvat. They aren't just 4th liners, they don't contribute in any facet of the game. Ryan Reaves isn't expected to score goals and he's a menace for opponents.

Pearson-Horvat-Virtanen
Gadjovich-Miller-Boeser
Highmore-Sutter-Hawryluk
Hoglander-Lind-Eriksson

Vesey and Boyd can help Utica with the playoff push. Good American boys
 

Breakers

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Lind and Gadjovich are better investments. Roussel is a more committed player too, he knows he's a bottom 6 player and he's much more effective than Vesey/Boyd. I don't understand the purpose of playing them, they don't kill penalties or contribute offensively. Rubbish players and it shows in the body language of Miller/Horvat. They aren't just 4th liners, they don't contribute in any facet of the game. Ryan Reaves isn't expected to score goals and he's a menace for opponents.

Vesey was on PK tonight
Roussell sucks as much as vesey but costs 3x as much

easy pass on roussel
 
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orcatown

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Seemed apparent during certain periods of the game that the layoff was effecting execution. Lots of effort and good o-zone time late in the game but most of the play on the perimeter and pretty much no finish around the net. Also really had to shorten the lineup to get much going. PP moved the puck well but ended up getting few great chances.

Good

Hughes - most everything positive was going through him. Has looked better on the defense since the return to play. I wonder how his bonuses might effect next years cap room?

Miller - some flubs on the stick handling but pushed the play and helped get play out of his end and into the Ottawa zone. Used physical strength to get possession deep in Senators zone and got puck to the front of the net.

Myers - not perfect but overall good at getting the puck out of his end and playing the offensive blue line. Probably being asked to do too much. I'd say a definite positive despite a few rough moments

Hamonic - steady defensively and moved puck well. Has been quietly good for a time now and is likely getting a new contract

Bad

Hawryluk - can't make any kind of pass or doing anything off the rush. Running around but too light on his skates to get anyone off the puck. Has to use all his energy just to skate hard and try and stay in the play. So at the end of his ability, that it is all he can do just to stay in the play. Thus, can't make plays with the puck. Instead thrashes around. Give him credit for trying hard but trying hard is no way to assess a player at this level. A lower case Gaudette.

Joulevi - on for the first two goals and had responsibility in causing both . On the first didn't get in front of Stutzle as he cut across the front of the goal and on the second wasn't quick or hard enough on his check to prevent the pass from going to the front of the net and hitting Myer's skate. Had some very weak shifts where he got consistently banged off the puck and couldn't keep inside positioning in front of Demko. Neither him or Chatfield look close to NHL level players. However, fully in favor of giving Joulevi a lot of play over the latter part of the season. Needs a chance to show he can play with some extended use and the team needs to definitely decide whether to move on.

Vesey - can't do anything with the puck. Got some good service in this game but lacked the skill or quickness to do anything. Everything dies on his stick and seems to have extremely poor on-ice vision. At this point, should not be re-signed

Michaelis - too small to compete. Not fast or strong enough to carry the puck. Tries to dart in and out to get chances but you need more than that

Others

Highmore - think we can safely say he is not a top 6 player. Good hustle but gets shoved out of the play fairly easily. Looks replacement level player.

Boyd - little better tonite. Still not getting much done. Likely replacement level.

Ottawa has and excellent future. Have guys like Norris, Tkachuk, Batherson, Formenton, Chabot, Brannstrom, White, Pinto, Stutzle, Paul, Barnard Docker as a young core and Sanderson, Kleven, Jarventie, Daoust among others coming. Also you have an exellent cap situation. They have huge potential and should soon be a power house. Did development the right way - took their lumps and finished in good draft positions, traded out older player like Stone at the deadline to pick up futures, kept and added draft choices, took on bad contracts to get drafts or prospects, etc.. They followed the right formula. When you compare this to the way the Canucks have fumbled around doing the exact opposite you can see why some of us get frustrated. Ottawa future ends up being much better than ours.
 
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Breakers

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Hughes - most everything positive was going through him. Has looked better on the defense since the return to play. I wonder how his bonuses might effect next years cap room?

Ive wondered that too
he's currently 14th in league scoring for defense.
top 10 points - he gets a bonus
Top 10 assists - he gets a bonus
top 10 Points per game he gets a bonus
 

VanJack

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Seven years into the Benning 'rebuild' and people are all bent out of shape about a couple of waiver wire pickups in Boyd and Vesey?

Vesey played last year in Buffalo, and the Sabres had no interest in bringing him back. I mean if the sad-sack Sabres can't use you, what does that say?

.And Boyd has bounced back and forth between the Washington Capitals and their Hershey farm team most of his career, before getting signed by the Leafs late in the free agent period.

There's a reason why these guys were on waivers folks.....they're replacement level players, period. And if you're relying on them to be the difference between winning and losing, you're in for a long wait.
 

Cupless44

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Jun 25, 2014
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Lind and Gadjovich are better investments. Roussel is a more committed player too, he knows he's a bottom 6 player and he's much more effective than Vesey/Boyd. I don't understand the purpose of playing them, they don't kill penalties or contribute offensively. Rubbish players and it shows in the body language of Miller/Horvat. They aren't just 4th liners, they don't contribute in any facet of the game. Ryan Reaves isn't expected to score goals and he's a menace for opponents.

Pearson-Horvat-Virtanen
Gadjovich-Miller-Boeser
Highmore-Sutter-Hawryluk
Hoglander-Lind-Eriksson

Vesey and Boyd can help Utica with the playoff push. Good American boys

Yeah no to Eriksson anywhere near the starting line up. That ship has sailed.
 

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