Rey Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I honestly hate both players because i choose reliability over high risk. Gragnani is a smarter player, and has the tools to be a better defense man. He's very frustrating to watch because he avoids contact. Plus, who the hell wants a defense man playing forward? I sure as hell don't, i hope that gets fixed. Get in position and use the body please. Kevin Connauton is different. He's a physical guy, and a hard worker. He's a guy you like, but might not have the hockey sense to be as good defensively, and will make brain farts and take stupid penalties. Kind of like Bieksa. Chris Tanev and Frank Corrado are the type of defense mans i like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheels22 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I sure hope Connauton will be better than Gragnani.. Otherwise, we'll have two defenseman who can't play defense very well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj29 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 maybe connauton next next season.........but not next season sign suter 3 yr 13mil sign salo 2 yr 5mil release rome release alberts 2012-2013 edler-suter bieksa-salo ballard-gragnani hamhuis-tanev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keslerian one Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I think AV will stifle Gragnani (even tho AV coached him in juniors) and Connauton's growth. No room for error for young kids on AV's ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enterin Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Shea Weber! that being said, What did a 25 year old Gragnani do that was impressive while he was getting his RFA games in? Tanev is far and away our best D prospect and he's going to be a very steady top 4 d-man for us in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 "There, you still see some junior guys running around and chasing the puck a little bit too much." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Considering the apparent 'big money' spent on our prospect play development, scouting etc., it's time that we start seeing some of it come to fruition. These guys all look like long-shots to make the club next season. But at least Tanev graduated. imo Kassian should be labelled a prospect at this point as well. His spot is far from secure. As well as Gragnani. Cheers. TOML Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorrcoq Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Connauton has 3 years more of potential development. He has a rep of not being very goiod defensively, but surely he can't be much worse than Gragnani, who is basically clueless in his own end and lacks the physical presence needed to play defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorrcoq Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 gragnani is very underrated i could see him being our top scoring defenseman next year if he plays up to his potential and gets 1st pp minutes. You dont get 50+point seasons in the AHL by accident as a defenseman. Grags just needs to take that next step and become an everyday defenseman who can play 18-20minutes and not be a liability defensively he does everything else quite well. (size,speed,shot,passing) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesman60 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I honestly hate both players because i choose reliability over high risk. Gragnani is a smarter player, and has the tools to be a better defense man. He's very frustrating to watch because he avoids contact. Plus, who the hell wants a defense man playing forward? I sure as hell don't, i hope that gets fixed. Get in position and use the body please. Kevin Connauton is different. He's a physical guy, and a hard worker. He's a guy you like, but might not have the hockey sense to be as good defensively, and will make brain farts and take stupid penalties. Kind of like Bieksa. Chris Tanev and Frank Corrado are the type of defense mans i like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesB Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Shea Weber! that being said, What did a 25 year old Gragnani do that was impressive while he was getting his RFA games in? Tanev is far and away our best D prospect and he's going to be a very steady top 4 d-man for us in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stexx Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 You're either the world's biggest optimist or totally clueless. I'm going with the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rey Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 You can't have all stay at home dmen. A dman like Beiksa jumps up on the play and puts up points but he also has a really good guy backing him up in Hamhuis who understands that he has to play the stay at home role when Kevin ventures into the offensive zone. Similarily, Tanev plays a stay at home style and would be a good guy to back up a guy like Conn or Grags, he is going to have to get more experience before he is ready to do that though as well as bulk up a bit. When an offensive dman jumps up, CDC jumps all over them if they get caught deep but really they should also be looking at that players partner for not fulfilling their role as a backup. If you want offense from the defense, that presents the problem of finding a reliable dman to pair with......if it works as well as Hamhuis/ Bieksa, I couldn't be happier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeJones Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I just want a prospect with high hockey IQ; the physical attributes can be worked on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesman60 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I don't know why anyone still has the idea that you have to be either a stay home defense man or a offensive defense man. It's like the two-way defense man never existed. By your theory, Dan Hamhuis, a shutdown defense man put up almost 40 points. Pretty incredible stuff if that were true. Teams that win, have defense man who think defense first. Thinking defense first does not have to mean, a shut down role. It's the reason Boston destroyed the Canuck's in the finals. The D practically killed all the forwards. When a defense man jumps in, It's a forward that covers, not the defense man's partners. If it was only the defense man partner, we would be seeing two on ones all the time. The Canuck's went to the finals last year because they started off being defense first. This includes Bieksa, who is at his best with a defense first mentality. They absolutely blew up once they tried being more offense, and that's exactly what they did this year and it's the reason the Canuck's are out of the first round. BTW - Tanev does not play a stay at home style. How can he possible be? Did you not see how many chances he had in the playoffs? You tell me a stay at home defense man gets offensive chances? You hope Connauton and Gragnani make those adjustments and become two-way defenders. The one dimensional guys are disappearing in the NHL. The stay home defenders generally are slow, and the PP quarterbacks are way too unreliable, usually only on the PP. If you want examples - Robyn Regehr for stay home, and MA Bergeron as a puck mover. I still like Stay home guys, but with the new NHL, they are destined to disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklesmith Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 After watching MAG's play for the hand full of games he got at the end of the year, I think Connauton is the guy to try next year. IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langdon Algur Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I honestly hate both players because i choose reliability over high risk. Gragnani is a smarter player, and has the tools to be a better defense man. He's very frustrating to watch because he avoids contact. Plus, who the hell wants a defense man playing forward? I sure as hell don't, i hope that gets fixed. Get in position and use the body please. Kevin Connauton is different. He's a physical guy, and a hard worker. He's a guy you like, but might not have the hockey sense to be as good defensively, and will make brain farts and take stupid penalties. Kind of like Bieksa. Chris Tanev and Frank Corrado are the type of defense mans i like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langdon Algur Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Kas has played less than 50 NHL games therefore according the criteria in the OP yes he is still a prospect. I would personally rate him as number 2 on the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehamburglar Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Gragani obviously is better now. But I say K-Conn can become better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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