Evolution of Canuck Strategy

[JamesB]

A while ago I started a thread called "Secret Plan". It was intended to be partially humorous as there is no way an NHL team can really have a "secret" plan, especially in a place like Vancouver where every move made by the Canucks and every utterance made by Linden or Benning is scrutinized in minute detail by the media and the fans (including CDC).

Here is my current read on the evolution of Canuck strategy and I would welcome alternative views.

1. The debacle under Tortarella in 2013-14 and the messy end of the Gillis era created a financial and public relations problem for the Canucks.

2. Aquillini made the smart move of bringing in the most popular athlete in BC history, Trevor LInden, to be president, and soon after JB and WD were brought on board.

3. The immediate priority was to re-establish credibility for the team. And when Benning and Linden evaluated the team they felt that the Sedins were good enough to be the centerpiece of a contending team, and the rest of veterans were still a solid core.

4. So the Canucks defined the objective as making the playoffs, brought in two missing pieces -- a veteran goalie (Miller) and a sniper (Vrbata).

5. Sure enough the Canucks had a bounce-back year. The Sedins did everything we could have hoped for and Edler, Burrows, and Higgins all bounced back. The departure of Kesler was not easy to replace on the ice but improved the dressing room, and Bonino and Sbisa did as much as could reasonably be expected.

6. In the end, the Canucks finished 2nd in the Division and 8th in the league. So they could declare success at the end of the regular season. And they had hope for the playoffs, While not favorites by any means, a hot goalie and some lucky bounces could maybe be enough for a serious Cup run.

7. But losing to Calgary in the first round was very disappointing and exposed some obvious weakness on the D, which was not fast enough, not physical enough, and not able to provide enough offensive support.

8. On reflection, the conclusion was that the Canucks were "lucky" to have finished 8th in the NHL. WIth three points less they would have been 15th -- just barely sneaking in to the playoffs. And, more importantly, their best players were almost all on the wrong side of the age-performance relationship. If they were not good enough to make a Cup run in 2015, they certainly would not be good enough in 2016.

9. On the plus side, the pipeline of young players improved dramatically. The farm team in Utica had an excellent year and Horvat did very well on the big team. Cassels and McCann had excellent years in Junior and Virtanen remains an excellent prospect.

10. During the draft weekend the other Pacific Division teams all improved more than the Canucks. LA, Anaheim, and Calgary all look downright scary going into next year and Edmonton will be dramatically better.

11. No one on the Canucks is going to talk about "tanking" or "giving up" on the playoffs, but the company line has become very cautious. In discussing the Bieksa trade Linden was talking about Anaheim and Vancouver being at different phases of the cycles (i.e. Anaheim is a contender and we aren't). And JB and TL are talking about "hoping to contend" for the playoffs (i.e. might not even contend for a playoff spot.) I think they have adopted a rebuild strategy at this point.

12. The strategy for free agency should be pick up one or two guys on one-year deals who might potentially be tradeable for draft picks at the deadline. Vrby and Hammer should attract first round picks at the deadline and other guys (HIggins, Burrows) could be traded for picks as well. That would lead to a monster draft in 2016. The biggest needs right now are a future 1D or 1C and high draft picks are likeliest was of getting either of those pieces. With young guys coming on line after that the team could be back in the playoffs in 2017 and on the upswing instead of the downswing.

[Derp...]

Strategy is get Matthews, and a #1 D prospect this year, have the new core in place by 2018

[24K PureCool]

The secret tank of 2016. JB's plan all along. JB may pull the rebuild off with only one serious season of sucking.

[canuckster19]

I wonder if Lucic and Seabrook are on the org's radar next year.

Hamhuis and Vrbata are coming off the books and will likely fetch great returns at the deadline if the Canucks aren't in the playoff picture.

I honestly would be ok with a lean year, not a full on tank, but a retool of sorts.

[shazzam]

We should be big time sellers at the deadline.

We can get great return from:

Vrbata

Hamhuis

Convince Burr to move to Ducks to join his buddies

[canuckster19]

We should be big time sellers at the deadline.

We can get great return from:

Vrbata

Hamhuis

Convince Burr to move to Ducks to join his buddies

Knowing our luck they'll likely get season ending injuries by December.

[TheCammer]

A while ago I started a thread called "Secret Plan". It was intended to be partially humorous as there is no way an NHL team can really have a "secret" plan, especially in a place like Vancouver where every move made by the Canucks and every utterance made by Linden or Benning is scrutinized in minute detail by the media and the fans (including CDC).

Here is my current read on the evolution of Canuck strategy and I would welcome alternative views.

1. The debacle under Tortarella in 2013-14 and the messy end of the Gillis era created a financial and public relations problem for the Canucks.

2. Aquillini made the smart move of bringing in the most popular athlete in BC history, Trevor LInden, to be president, and soon after JB and WD were brought on board.

3. The immediate priority was to re-establish credibility for the team. And when Benning and Linden evaluated the team they felt that the Sedins were good enough to be the centerpiece of a contending team, and the rest of veterans were still a solid core.

4. So the Canucks defined the objective as making the playoffs, brought in two missing pieces -- a veteran goalie (Miller) and a sniper (Vrbata).

5. Sure enough the Canucks had a bounce-back year. The Sedins did everything we could have hoped for and Edler, Burrows, and Higgins all bounced back. The departure of Kesler was not easy to replace on the ice but improved the dressing room, and Bonino and Sbisa did as much as could reasonably be expected.

6. In the end, the Canucks finished 2nd in the Division and 8th in the league. So they could declare success at the end of the regular season. And they had hope for the playoffs, While not favorites by any means, a hot goalie and some lucky bounces could maybe be enough for a serious Cup run.

7. But losing to Calgary in the first round was very disappointing and exposed some obvious weakness on the D, which was not fast enough, not physical enough, and not able to provide enough offensive support.

8. On reflection, the conclusion was that the Canucks were "lucky" to have finished 8th in the NHL. WIth three points less they would have been 15th -- just barely sneaking in to the playoffs. And, more importantly, their best players were almost all on the wrong side of the age-performance relationship. If they were not good enough to make a Cup run in 2015, they certainly would not be good enough in 2016.

9. On the plus side, the pipeline of young players improved dramatically. The farm team in Utica had an excellent year and Horvat did very well on the big team. Cassels and McCann had excellent years in Junior and Virtanen remains an excellent prospect.

10. During the draft weekend the other Pacific Division teams all improved more than the Canucks. LA, Anaheim, and Calgary all look downright scary going into next year and Edmonton will be dramatically better.

11. No one on the Canucks is going to talk about "tanking" or "giving up" on the playoffs, but the company line has become very cautious. In discussing the Bieksa trade Linden was talking about Anaheim and Vancouver being at different phases of the cycles (i.e. Anaheim is a contender and we aren't). And JB and TL are talking about "hoping to contend" for the playoffs (i.e. might not even contend for a playoff spot.) I think they have adopted a rebuild strategy at this point.

12. The strategy for free agency should be pick up one or two guys on one-year deals who might potentially be tradeable for draft picks at the deadline. Vrby and Hammer should attract first round picks at the deadline and other guys (HIggins, Burrows) could be traded for picks as well. That would lead to a monster draft in 2016. The biggest needs right now are a future 1D or 1C and high draft picks are likeliest was of getting either of those pieces. With young guys coming on line after that the team could be back in the playoffs in 2017 and on the upswing instead of the downswing.

Would have liked them to drop the secret plan on me before I agreed on $12,000 for tickets this year. Think it might be time to watch from home go on some nice vacations? It's a lot of money. I don't disagree in making a youthful transition but the Kassian deal has me a bit puzzled.

[shazzam]

Would have liked them to drop the secret plan on me before I agreed on $12,000 for tickets this year. Think it might be time to watch from home go on some nice vacations? It's a lot of money. I don't disagree in making a youthful transition but the Kassian deal has me a bit puzzled.

will you get full value back if you sell all of your tickets?

[awalk]

Would have liked them to drop the secret plan on me before I agreed on $12,000 for tickets this year. Think it might be time to watch from home go on some nice vacations? It's a lot of money. I don't disagree in making a youthful transition but the Kassian deal has me a bit puzzled.

Yeah I'm not sure why they were so resistant to being open with the fans, especially seasons ticket holders, about the rebuild. Fans in Vancouver are ready.

[Phil_314]

11. No one on the Canucks is going to talk about "tanking" or "giving up" on the playoffs, but the company line has become very cautious. In discussing the Bieksa trade Linden was talking about Anaheim and Vancouver being at different phases of the cycles (i.e. Anaheim is a contender and we aren't). And JB and TL are talking about "hoping to contend" for the playoffs (i.e. might not even contend for a playoff spot.) I think they have adopted a rebuild strategy at this point.

12. The strategy for free agency should be pick up one or two guys on one-year deals who might potentially be tradeable for draft picks at the deadline. Vrby and Hammer should attract first round picks at the deadline and other guys (HIggins, Burrows) could be traded for picks as well. That would lead to a monster draft in 2016. The biggest needs right now are a future 1D or 1C and high draft picks are likeliest was of getting either of those pieces. With young guys coming on line after that the team could be back in the playoffs in 2017 and on the upswing instead of the downswing.

Gotta think that's exactly the strategy they're going for after seeing these selling moves.

An Ottawa/ Philly-style sell-off of vets to replenish the youth, the signing of young guys (Bart, Webs) and the shedding of locker-room cancers (Kass) looks like a decisive move to maximize returns on pending UFA's and to free up cap space for next summer while still icing some semblance of an NHL roster.

There's some decent vets to ship out (Vrbata, Burr, Hammer, Miller, Higgins, Prust's contracts all expire in the next two years) while decent young-ish guys for the transition (Bones, Hansen, Sven, Horvat, Vey, Weber, Bart, Edler, Tanev, Corrado, Clendening are all under 30, along with the prospects) are also in place and ready to ride out the storm with the Sedins at the helm. If all the development and trading goes well (get up to four 1st rounders, couple later picks and prospects for the vets IMO) things could improve quickly, but Jimmy just has to do all those properly.

Gotta find the silver lining, y'all.

[Crabcakes]

A good summary of the execution of team strategy over the past year and a half with the Canucks.

I think that "Strategy" is a bit of a misnomer in describing your post.

Strategy is about what kind of a team you want to build. Where is the league going long term and you need to make your team competitive in that environment. They are concerned with the following:

• building a winning culture
• being difficult to play against
• speed, physicality, skill

Executing the strategy is the nuts and bolts of how to get there.

• drafting well (and drafting a full slate of picks every year (7) if possible)
• developing players the right way
• player selection - the right mix in terms of position and personality
• introducing players to the NHL when they are ready and constantly turning over the roster from within

Developing players the right way means:

• placing the players into a winning environment both with the Canucks and Comets
• maintaining a strong mentorship culture where veterans can show the young players how to play and train and live the right way
• placing players at a level where they have the opportunity to succeed
• creating an environment where there is healthy internal competition and players need to earn advancements (accountability)

It is obviously important to keep the entire team from the Owner and management to the stick-boy to the players and all of the prospects in line with this strategy and everybody working towards the same goals.

Tweaking is always necessary and today, we have seen Zack Kassian shipped out for a character older player in Brandon Prust. This is purely a culture move with a player who has lots of upside but who doesn't possess the character that the Linden / Benning regime wants. Prust is the mentor / role model that Benning wants to help out the younger players. Look how Dorsett helped Horvat last year. This move is about aligning the players with team strategy.

[Fred65]

Yeah I think season ticket holders ( of which I'm one ) look through diferent lenses. You fork out a lot of monay it's not unreasonable to ask for value in return. This years tickets will cost the same as last year but the entertainment will not

[DeltaSwede]

Have had a similar feeling since the year of the Torts. Good to see others recognizing this as well. I have in no way lost faith in the management and am generally happy with the moves that have been made and understand that they are doing their best to make this the best team to win a cup.

[tas]

before you can rebuild, you have to reset.

without 2006-07, 2009-12 couldn't have been possible.

after the west coast express era, in its final evolution, lost its way in 2005-06, dave nonis decided to go back to basics and build the team from the net out. he moved bertuzzi etc for luongo and loaded the team with defensively responsible, though offensively impotent, players and brought in a defensively minded coach.

this is what's happening now. management is tearing down the walls and shipping out any pieces that don't fit their vision. they're bringing in players that, while perhaps less skilled, fit the template for what this team wants going forward.

this step is necessary.

at the stage the canucks are at in their rebuild, it's more important to have worse players that fit their mould than it is to have better players that don't. thus is how you build the foundation of the team, and without it you have nothing to build on. this is the beginning of forming a new identity for this team.

like the moves benning is making or hate them, but in his mind every move he's made has been successful, and in 3 or 4 years we'll likely look back and agree with him.

[SealTheDeal]

The proof will be in significant deadline moves, and acquiring as many deadline-movable assets or mentorship veterans (Williams please!) as possible in the remainder of FA.

I have been proposing this as the route to good asset management since last year. It was a bit unrealistic for Benning to arrive on the scene and prepare the team he inherited to be turned into tradeable assets for the 2015 draft. But the 2016 draft. . . thats what I've been hoping for. Thought we could get more for Bieksa around the deadline, but its a wash if he can convert Weber or any other players that he uses the cap space for.

[bluesman60]

Would have liked them to drop the secret plan on me before I agreed on $12,000 for tickets this year. Think it might be time to watch from home go on some nice vacations? It's a lot of money. I don't disagree in making a youthful transition but the Kassian deal has me a bit puzzled.

I feel the same...the Prust deal doesn't make any sense at all. We trade a big player who gets physically involved, has decent hands etc for a player who 18 points in 82 games and is 31 years old (what happened to the 'we want to get younger?) They also want to be set up for next years draft and we give Montreal our 5th round pick ? I can understand the Bieksa trade because we had to free up cap and get younger. The Lack trade was a total disaster and a huge gift to Carolina.

For people thinking that we will trade Vrbata, Hamhuis etc for 1st round picks, Benning is just as likely to trade them for 6th round picks in 2020.

[Dragonfruits]

Yeah I think season ticket holders ( of which I'm one ) look through diferent lenses. You fork out a lot of monay it's not unreasonable to ask for value in return. This years tickets will cost the same as last year but the entertainment will not

??????

you haven't seen one single game from the 2015-2016 season you have no clue if it will be entertaining or not so seriously just stop

[ice orca]

We should be big time sellers at the deadline.

We can get great return from:

Vrbata

Hamhuis

Convince Burr to move to Ducks to join his buddies

Really? have you seen trader Jim in action lately.

[Crabcakes]

Tweaking is always necessary and today, we have seen Zack Kassian shipped out for a character older player in Brandon Prust. This is purely a culture move with a player who has lots of upside but who doesn't possess the character that the Linden / Benning regime wants. Prust is the mentor / role model that Benning wants to help out the younger players. Look how Dorsett helped Horvat last year. This move is about aligning the players with team strategy.

I feel the same...the Prust deal doesn't make any sense at all. We trade a big player who gets physically involved, has decent hands etc for a player who 18 points in 82 games and is 31 years old (what happened to the 'we want to get younger?) They also want to be set up for next years draft and we give Montreal our 5th round pick ? I can understand the Bieksa trade because we had to free up cap and get younger. The Lack trade was a total disaster and a huge gift to Carolina.

For people thinking that we will trade Vrbata, Hamhuis etc for 1st round picks, Benning is just as likely to trade them for 6th round picks in 2020.

Kassian doesn't fit with the Canuck culture, Prust does.

The Kassian riddle is now somebody else's problem. I wish him well.

[Baggins]

11. I think they have adopted a rebuild strategy at this point.

Pssst....they started the rebuild last year when they replaced a third of the team and had three rookies on the roster. It was no secret, they came right out and said it.