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Kassian Is Not Nhl Ready!


gradin123

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Love Kassian's physicality but wasn't a fan of losing Hodgson like many others. We have to be patient with him however I haven't liked what I've seen from him when he has the puck (although I haven't watched all of his games). Almost as if his hands are made of stone, not seeing alot of skill and I know that's not his game, but I'd like to see him take it to the net more often at the very least.

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You do realize Kassian was considered one of the best players in the world for his age right? Right now, Sammy fits what MG was looking for more than CH. Add to that all the baggage that went with Hodgson and I thnk MG did a pretty good job of finding a deal that filled a hole he wanted filled.

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Kassian was definitely one of Canada's better junior players i watched him play alot. Love his game and what he could bring us down the line. Thing is..... he never scored more than 26 goals in any season junior or pro so at this point do we really know he is going to be a top 6 PF that can finish?

My whole contention is that we could have done better at immediately improving this team. I am not convinced having Pahlsson on the 3rd line is much better than Lapierre or Malhotra and now with no D.Sedin and Raymond's inconsistent play. would be nice to have another offensive player.

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The point I was making is that the more significant players on the team are: 1.) all European, 2.) arrived in their early twenties (ie. pretty mature as players rather than 18 yr old right out of juniors) and 3.) were not developed in the sense of the word as we all think when we say a team "developed" a player.

Detroit has developed a lot of guys on their roster, but I do not include those six star players in that list for the reasons I have given. :)

regards,

G.

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No he isn't NHL ready and it sucks, because this guy was traded for the future not NOW, I care about winning a cup now not 5 years down the road when the likes of our core or slowing down, NOW NOT LATER, I'm sick of waiting it's been to freaking long to not win a stanely cup.

Then we turn our 3rd line into a shut down line, instead of keeping it a scoring line plus a bit of a shut down line, remember your only changing 1 player from the 3rd line, and that one player may not be the best defensive player yet, but having that ability to have a 3rd line to score in playoffs are you kidding me? Even if Cody Hodgson wasn't the best defensive player he didn't take many Penalties, and not taking penalties and keeping your team at even strength in my mind is better then Kassian who takes way more penalties, which makes it just harder on the whole team.

Stats:

Cody Hodgson 20gp in Buffalo had 2 PIM

Zack Kassian in 17gp in Canucks had 31PIM

Who cares if Cody wasn't the best defensively, being short handed is WORSE.

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No he isn't NHL ready and it sucks, because this guy was traded for the future not NOW, I care about winning a cup now not 5 years down the road when the likes of our core or slowing down, NOW NOT LATER, I'm sick of waiting it's been to freaking long to not win a stanely cup.

Then we turn our 3rd line into a shut down line, instead of keeping it a scoring line plus a bit of a shut down line, remember your only changing 1 player from the 3rd line, and that one player may not be the best defensive player yet, but having that ability to have a 3rd line to score in playoffs are you kidding me? Even if Cody Hodgson wasn't the best defensive player he didn't take many Penalties, and not taking penalties and keeping your team at even strength in my mind is better then Kassian who takes way more penalties, which makes it just harder on the whole team.

Stats:

Cody Hodgson 20gp in Buffalo had 2 PIM

Zack Kassian in 17gp in Canucks had 31PIM

Who cares if Cody wasn't the best defensively, being short handed is WORSE.

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No he isn't NHL ready and it sucks, because this guy was traded for the future not NOW, I care about winning a cup now not 5 years down the road when the likes of our core or slowing down, NOW NOT LATER, I'm sick of waiting it's been to freaking long to not win a stanely cup.

Then we turn our 3rd line into a shut down line, instead of keeping it a scoring line plus a bit of a shut down line, remember your only changing 1 player from the 3rd line, and that one player may not be the best defensive player yet, but having that ability to have a 3rd line to score in playoffs are you kidding me? Even if Cody Hodgson wasn't the best defensive player he didn't take many Penalties, and not taking penalties and keeping your team at even strength in my mind is better then Kassian who takes way more penalties, which makes it just harder on the whole team.

Stats:

Cody Hodgson 20gp in Buffalo had 2 PIM

Zack Kassian in 17gp in Canucks had 31PIM

Who cares if Cody wasn't the best defensively, being short handed is WORSE.

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Right now he is lost because he knows the fans in Vancouver expect him to be very physical but he fancies himself as a offensive player first and foremost. He doesn't really know how to be an effective power forward at the NHL level yet and he hadn't even mastered the AHL before he was called up by Buffalo. He is young but I see a potential issue in that I don't think this guy really wants to play on a edge anymore. He did play and live on the edge in his junior days and found himself go over the edge too much (20 game suspension and arrest for bar fight). IMO, it changed him because he doesn't trusts himself so he makes a conscious effort to rein himself in.

Game#1 was an example. The penalty he took IMO was completely bogus but after that penalty Kassian pulled up on his potential hits. It seems like he is trying to figure out a way of playing physical without taking penalities and as a result I believe he is thinking way too much on the ice.

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LOL. He has only played 33 Games at the AHL level. His offensive production was pretty good in those 33 Games(15 Goals,11 Assists and 26 Points) but by all accounts he simply wasn't a physical presence for Rochester this year and that really concerned the Sabres brass.

I do think he has tried to ramp up his physical play since being traded to Vancouver because he knows that is what is expected of him but he doesn't really know how to be an effective power forward yet. He needs more seasoning at the AHL level IMO where he won't be under constant media attention and where the coaches can explain what they want him to be and give him consistent ice time.

All hope certainly isn't lost on Kassian but IMO he is being mishandled right now and that has a lot to do with the manner in which he was acquired. He was acquired at the trade deadline by a team favored to go back to the Cup Finals and the immediate impression to fans was that he was the Canucks answer to Lucic. He is not there yet, not even close. What puzzles me the most is what the heck the Canucks Brass were thinking in doing the trade at the deadline. Did they really think he could play a big role this year in the playoffs? And if they didn't and only did the trade for the future they should have downplayed immediate expectations by sending down to Chicago. What has happened is that management has put him through the immense pressure that came with replacing the popular Cody Hodgson and he simply doesn't know how to handle it. Also, the Canucks management really should NOT be making trades at the deadline which weaken them heading into the playoffs by trading for the future. Those are the type of trades teams missing the playoffs make.

Sadly, I think the truth is the Canucks brass and scouts badly misjudged the impact Kassian could make this year.

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