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Random Thoughts.... On The Coming Year


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Calgary

We got lucky in the draft with Shink! Calgary could have speeded up their rebuild by a year with 2/3's of their top 2 lines of Monahan/Shink and Bennett/Gaudreau....these pairings could put up some serious points.

Every goal Shink scores on Calgary will just piss them off....love it!

Bonino

He's gonna have a breakout year. He's no longer in Boudreau's system and will play a more puck possession game which is more suited for players of his skill and passing abilities.

Vey's been outplaying him so far....but I think he will step up.

WD

He's the most important asset to the team bar none. After Torts' careless stint last year, any coach could do better, but I love what I've seen from WD. I love his system, I love going back to puck possession, I love the new look PP, I love his effort, I love the way he connects to his players, I love how he listens to the players, I love how he actually practices the PP.........I love his mustache....I love him, I love him, I love him!!!

Not sold on our PK yet...but we'll see

Benning

I think he's done pretty good so far...I was a fan of MG, but Benning is making this transaction a little easier for me.

His best move was to bring in Vrbata....I love watching the Sedins again! It's even better now that there's 3 of them!

His "on-the-fence" move for me used to be Vey. I was a little pissed we traded the 50th pick (McKeown) for another middle 6 forward....since we're stacked in that department. I really wanted a PMD...and we need a PMD, but Vey's play has changed my tune. Go figure that Benning knows better than me...? **foot-in-mouth**

So, this brings me to Demko for a pick. I wish we passed on adding to our goalie pool and instead, with that pick, we took another F or PMD man. It seems we're set in goal for the next few years....and goalies are high-risk, take a long time to develop and the returns on them aren't high anymore.

One or more of the goalies in our pool will make the NHL, and I would say those goalies could be true #1's....their shelf-life should be more than 3 years, so we should be safe in this department for years to come. We could have waited another couple years to pick a goalie.

His worst move was to sign Miller. I've said this at the signing, argued with a ton of people, and I still believe it wasn't the best option. I still think there's a huge chance that Lack will outplay him and that's a lot of cap on the bench....we could have brought in another experienced keeper to back Lack up, for a lot less. I thought Lack had a good season considering how Torts stacked the odds against him...which caused the lack of faith from management. I loath Torts! He *%&*$@ us over with Lou and Lack, now Benning felt he had to pickup Miller.

Lack's been fantastic and Miller has too...but Miller still hasn't been tested until today. WD has been easing him in so far....Lack's games have been a real test of character and skill and it seems he won't give up his thrown so easily. So far, in my eyes, Lack has outperformed Miller... and I believe this is just a glimpse of what's to come.

If Lack does outplay him and Benning can trade Miller for a decent return, my points mute....but Miller's cap and NTC will be a hurdle.

Edler, Stanton & Sbisa

Sbisa can hit, I've been impressed, Stanton can do damage, and if Edler can get his game back, we're gonna have some serious 'smash' coming from the back-end. As long as Sbisa can put equal focus on his game as he does his hits...

PP

How I missed PP goals.... yes, it wasn't against Calgary's best players and getting one on the Yotes was nice, I think we're in for a definite improvement this year. I think it would improve with Bonino or Kass...

Comets

Markstrom passed waivers and is playing for the Comets now....another great goalie tandem in the making. Add in the new prospects and this team is gonna be a force to deal with in the AHL...I have never been this excited with our farm team before.

Prospects

I'm trying to quell my enthusiasm after watching our prospects this year.... they played pretty good in the prospect games and plenty of players improved during the pre-season games, some maintained their status-quo between the two (which is still positive in my eyes).

The kids line, this trio is exciting and I really hope they can develop together.

Gaunce - I think he's ready. I've been impressed with his game so far and he doesn't look as slow as people suggest. Maybe...just maybe...he just knows where to position himself to offset any speed issues. I really like him on the W and since we're solid down the middle...he should be 2nd call-up.

Bo & Shink - Yes...ready to see action this year. I think Bo should be sent down for another year, I love his game...but he's still young and could develop more skills, but he has a better chance of making it because of his situation and the position not being in the top 6. Jensen is ahead of Shink....this'll get interesting...and Shink would be first call-up.

Next Summer

Should be even more exciting for our Prospect Games and Pre-season... Not only will we get a chance to see the new draft picks in 2015, but we can also include the draft picks from this year. We will see our top 5 picks this year for the first time...next year. It's almost like a double-double!

I'm really anxious to see Virt, McCann, Tryamkin and Cassels. Point is though, I'm really happy with our prospects this year :)

MG

For a manager who didn't pick any D men in the early rounds of the drafts.... MG left us with two top-4 Dmen in Tanev & Stanton. Stanton might not be a top 4 now on the Nucks, but he would on a lessor team...and I think he will be in the near future for us.

Note to Benning: PLEASE sign Tanev to a contract NOW before he has a breakout year! He's gonna cost a lot more the longer we wait.... THIS IS ONE CONTRACT/PLAYER THAT IS WELL WORTH THE RISK!

Trades

We need to pry one of Buffalo's three 1st round picks....I really don't think we'll be in the lottery and we need a high pick. Could set us up for years to come...

Who do we have that Buffalo would want? A combination most-likely...

Injuries

Booth with a broken foot and a mysterious ailment for Kes....both resulting from blocked shots! While I don't want anyone to get hurt.... these aren't serious injuries, and one of the teams involve Toronto and the other is a Division rival that Kes plays for. ROFL.

Kass - sidelined explains his lackluster play recently... he hasn't even played a full hour of hockey so let's not discredit the kid! He was one of our better forwards last year (latter half) so I don't think we should judge him on less than an hours game of pre-season.

.

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I'm all for Shinks being a top goal scorer and all, but lets not jump to conclusions here. He hasn't even played one 1 NHL game out of the preseason and as much as I hate to say it, there's a chance he could go bust.

Bonino is a solid player. With that said I seriously doubt he'll have a breakout season and that he'll just improve bit by bit.

Still feeling unsure about WD. He certainly seems great on paper but let's not forget this is his first NHL season. Not to mention how great some people thought Torts was going to be for our team... look how that turned out.

Benning already has tons of experience and I have no doubt in my mind that he'll do a better job than MG. As for the Miller contract, I believe that Benning did this simply because he has good idea on how Miller will perform based on his career. He was unsure of Lack's development since he only became starter for about half a season.

More or less agree with everything else you said.

solid and fair thoughts. Even if people disagree with your opinions, they are fair and well thought out. One comment, I believe Miller does NOT have a NTC, but I would need someone to back me up on that.

http://capgeek.com/player/405

According to this Miller has a modified NTC , allowing him to provide a 5 team list.

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Terrific post...

Only disagree on the goalie points

1. I like the miller signing. I LOVE Lack and think he is a hybrid of Lou and Schnieds. He has Lou's size with Schnied's technical ability, he will be a STAR in the league and has vezina potential, mark my words, in his career, should he stay healthy (knock on wood) and has a decent team in front of him, he will have a shot he's that good.

BUT...he wasn't ready to carry the load and take the pressure of a potentially rebuilding year where the pressure would/will just intensify if we did poorly. Especially in the goalie graveyard of Vancouver! Imagine if the season is challenging and we don't make the playoffs, how much the press and fans will get on him? Just look at last year where he played lights out behind a crap team yet still faces doubts!

Miller is the perfect transition. Allow Lack to get 25 games this year, 30-35 the next, and then if he's ready, Miller either backs up year 3 or is moved. Exactly how they brought Schnieds along.

2. As for Demko - kid is a STUD....our minor league goalies are decent but not STAR potential. And don't forget goalies take longer to develop. So when he's done in college, Lack should have 1 or 2 years of Starting experience under his belt. He will be around 28/29...Demko plays a year in the AHL, comes up and then backs up a 31/32 yr old Lack, then rinse and repeat the process...

I think the goalie decisions have been very smart personally, but excellent post!

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Sbisa looked turrible tonight. Looked lost out there.

I wouldn't go that far.. I thought there were times he made poor decisions, but other times he made good plays containing the opposing forward , laying a nice hit and dishing a nice breakout pass. We have to remember he was a salary dump in Anaheim's perspective and he won't be playing more than 15 minutes a night most nights.

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I wouldn't go that far.. I thought there were times he made poor decisions, but other times he made good plays containing the opposing forward , laying a nice hit and dishing a nice breakout pass. We have to remember he was a salary dump in Anaheim's perspective and he won't be playing more than 15 minutes a night most nights.

I actually know a few ducks fan's ...he has upside...he wasn't a key piece but we wasn't a 'throw in' either....ducks fans are split on him....some loved, some not so much, but enignmatic at this stage but he is young, big, can lay the body...

we lacked that, lidster will sort him out

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I actually know a few ducks fan's ...he has upside...he wasn't a key piece but we wasn't a 'throw in' either....ducks fans are split on him....some loved, some not so much, but enignmatic at this stage but he is young, big, can lay the body...

we lacked that, lidster will sort him out

Of course he has upside, but it's pretty limited IMO. His hockey IQ is very suspect and that's likely not to improve much, if at all. He's the first one to admit that he doesn't particularly excel at any one thing specifically, he's just good at a bit of everything. As much as I hate speaking in absolutes, I think his absolute upside at this point is a no 4, and that's if everything goes very well for him.

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Excellent post overall! I agree with most of your points here.

Terrific post...

Only disagree on the goalie points

1. I like the miller signing. I LOVE Lack and think he is a hybrid of Lou and Schnieds. He has Lou's size with Schnied's technical ability, he will be a STAR in the league and has vezina potential, mark my words, in his career, should he stay healthy (knock on wood) and has a decent team in front of him, he will have a shot he's that good.

BUT...he wasn't ready to carry the load and take the pressure of a potentially rebuilding year where the pressure would/will just intensify if we did poorly. Especially in the goalie graveyard of Vancouver! Imagine if the season is challenging and we don't make the playoffs, how much the press and fans will get on him? Just look at last year where he played lights out behind a crap team yet still faces doubts!

Miller is the perfect transition. Allow Lack to get 25 games this year, 30-35 the next, and then if he's ready, Miller either backs up year 3 or is moved. Exactly how they brought Schnieds along.

2. As for Demko - kid is a STUD....our minor league goalies are decent but not STAR potential. And don't forget goalies take longer to develop. So when he's done in college, Lack should have 1 or 2 years of Starting experience under his belt. He will be around 28/29...Demko plays a year in the AHL, comes up and then backs up a 31/32 yr old Lack, then rinse and repeat the process...

I think the goalie decisions have been very smart personally, but excellent post!

See, this is how I feel about our goaltending as well :)

Another thing I wanted to point out is that I feel like acquiring one of Buffalo's first round picks is much too far fetched. For a team like them that's rebuilding and is far from a playoff team, what do we have that they would want? If Markstrom has a monster AHL season, then I could see us trading him along with our 2nd/3rd for their pick that they acquired from St. Louis, but given that we don't have much else to offer that would entice them, I think that their original pick and their NYI pick are untouchable.

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Of course he has upside, but it's pretty limited IMO. His hockey IQ is very suspect and that's likely not to improve much, if at all. He's the first one to admit that he doesn't particularly excel at any one thing specifically, he's just good at a bit of everything. As much as I hate speaking in absolutes, I think his absolute upside at this point is a no 4, and that's if everything goes very well for him.

Sure but a number 4 that can learn to play solid D and crush people....that's goood, at worst a 5/6 that is a tough player than can offset maybe a guy like Subban down the road.

They need to teach him some simple things, stay at home, make a quick decision and a quick first pass...keep it simple and use his size/physicality.

He's not a "Dana Murzyn" who can't skate/move...he's decent...it's all about the role and we have lacked a physical player like him.

Don't forget he's only 24, most dmen don't start hitting their prime till 27/28...and his game is the type that if he's told to stay at home and keep it simple...not much risk there

I'm not sure what you were expecting but he was never touted as a PMD...simply a hard hitting big kid, that plays a stay at home game...

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+1

Good insight!

I agree the Sedins are a lot of fun to watch again, imo Vrbata makes the line more versatile than ever.

Pumped to see them start playing more teams in the regular season.

You seem like a kind CDC'er, nice to see.

Isn't it though....why would any coach want to change their game? On the PP they're great with Vrbata....still need to wait and see if they can produce 5-on-5, but it's still early. Only 3 pre-season games so I won't touch that one until we've watched regular season games...

Kind? I don't know...but thanks. Might be my new sheep-jumper? ;)

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I'm all for Shinks being a top goal scorer and all, but lets not jump to conclusions here. He hasn't even played one 1 NHL game out of the preseason and as much as I hate to say it, there's a chance he could go bust.

Bonino is a solid player. With that said I seriously doubt he'll have a breakout season and that he'll just improve bit by bit.

Still feeling unsure about WD. He certainly seems great on paper but let's not forget this is his first NHL season. Not to mention how great some people thought Torts was going to be for our team... look how that turned out.

Benning already has tons of experience and I have no doubt in my mind that he'll do a better job than MG. As for the Miller contract, I believe that Benning did this simply because he has good idea on how Miller will perform based on his career. He was unsure of Lack's development since he only became starter for about half a season.

More or less agree with everything else you said.

http://capgeek.com/player/405

According to this Miller has a modified NTC , allowing him to provide a 5 team list.

I'm not jumping to conclusions? I don't think Shink's ready and should be sent down...but he should be given the opportunity for first call up if he produces on the Comets.

Bonino is questionable. WD has yet to pair him with solid Wingers and so his numbers reflect this so far in the pre-season. But, one thing we know is that the boy can dish....

The system WD employs is much more suited for Bonino and if we were to pair him up with...say Vey & Vrbata on his wings, I think he'll exceed his numbers last year. Defensively, Vey is still struggling and might be better used on the Wing, me thinks.

However, if Bonino doesn't get the PP time like he did in Anaheim....yeah, no chance.

WD....c'mon! Yes, I know it's his first time in the NHL....but so far, HUGE upgrade from last year. AND, let's not forget that last year's coach has over a decade of coaching experience in the NHL.

Thing is with WD, he seems to care about his players....he knows how to reach out to them and get respect from them. He listens and genuinely engages with his players. That's the kind of coach needed for these professional's in this generation.... not only that, he certainly won't be a deterrent for any FA in the future. Plus, even though it's pre-season....I'm enjoying Canucks hockey again! Hated it last year....absolutely, without a doubt! I prefer watching a puck possession team as opposed to dump-and-chase and the coach can only do so much, at some point, it's up to the players....

I'd also like to add, I was opposed to Torts at his signing.....I never thought this team needed someone like him. However, after he generated the wins...he persuaded me to have a change in thought. But, once I heard more about his methods and tactics....I grew to loath him.

To be honest, I've only loathed one other person from the Canucks organization on the same level as I do with Torts....and he happened to be a coach too. Any guesses?

With Miller.... yes, but that's what I was getting at. Torts, unfairly, made it impossible for Lack to have a respectable season....no other goalie could have performed in a similar situation. This led to Benning only have a short glimpse of what Lack could do....and it wasn't good.

I think for most fans, prior to Torts forcing the Lou trade with the Outdoor Games, we all thought Lack's numbers were great and he could be a #1.....very close anyways. After playing the remainder of the season with no rest....no help....and no support (from the team in front playing with no heart)......everyone started to question Lack's abilities.

And thanks for verifying the NTC for me! I should say modified NTC :)

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