SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 10 minutes ago, mll said: Are you sure? He didn't play centre in Calgary. Also just checking # of face-offs - he didn't play centre since 2010/11. Stats don't go further back so maybe he did before but that's at least 6 years where he hasn't. Hudler was drafted as a centre. Certainly he's played the wing almost exclusively for the past several seasons. But his "natural" position is at centre. His size and playstyle are more suited for the wing in the NHL. Plugging him in the middle would only be an injury stopgap. But he's capable and it would give us options (as would his ability to lineup at either side of centre). Scouting reports going back to 2002 are tough to find but here's a draft review listing Hudler at C: http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/4705/red_wings_report2002_draft_review/ And lots of hockey sites still list him as a centre. EDIT: here's a 2009 practice report: Update from Thursday's practice: Jiri Hudler practiced at center, on a line with Mikael Samuelsson and Kirk Maltby, but coach Mike Babcock cautioned not to read anything into that. He said he just wanted to have Hudler skating with Samuelsson. Hudler said center is his natural position, one he played as a youth, but he has rarely played it as a pro, only for a few games with Grand Rapids some years back. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2009/03/red_wings_jiri_hudler_practice.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice orca Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 6 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said: Hudler was drafted as a centre. Certainly he's played the wing almost exclusively for the past several seasons. But his "natural" position is at centre. His size and playstyle are more suited for the wing in the NHL. Plugging him in the middle would only be an injury stopgap. But he's capable and it would give us options (as would his ability to lineup at either side of centre). Scouting reports going back to 2002 are tough to find but here's a draft review listing Hudler at C: http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/4705/red_wings_report2002_draft_review/ And lots of hockey sites still list him as a centre. EDIT: here's a 2009 practice report: http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2009/03/red_wings_jiri_hudler_practice.html I think you are in the ether about Hudler playing center..2009 c'mon man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 On 11/08/2016 at 6:00 PM, ice orca said: I think you are in the ether about Hudler playing center..2009 c'mon man. Our NHL center depth Hank Horvat Sutter Gaunce Having a guy capable of playing the position in an emergency will be useful. Certainly better than dressing Granlund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck73_3 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 1 hour ago, King Heffy said: Our NHL center depth Hank Horvat Sutter Gaunce Having a guy capable of playing the position in an emergency will be useful. Certainly better than dressing Granlund. Sorry to burst your bubble but as of now Granlund is higher on the depth chart than Gaunce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 9 minutes ago, canuck73_3 said: Sorry to burst your bubble but as of now Granlund is higher on the depth chart than Gaunce. Which is a mistake. Gaunce has a chance of being a useful NHLer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riske1 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Just say no ffs. Rather sign John Scott Hudler helps how? Dumb idea. Too soft already.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 44 minutes ago, King Heffy said: Which is a mistake. Gaunce has a chance of being a useful NHLer. If you say so. Find a new whipping boy to plug into your serial obsession Heffy? Gaunce can play LW, Granlund can play center - no need to play team-mates off each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 49 minutes ago, riske1 said: Just say no ffs. Rather sign John Scott Hudler helps how? Dumb idea. Too soft already.... And signing no one will somehow make us tougher and allow us to score more goals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 On August 11, 2016 at 6:00 PM, ice orca said: I think you are in the ether about Hudler playing center..2009 c'mon man. I think you've missed the point of what I was saying. I've never advocated for Hudler to be brought in to play centre in any kind of primary role. That wasn't the point. I think my first post (in the series discussing Hudler's ability to play the three forward positions) made it clear that, at the NHL level, he's much better on the wing (and has played nearly exclusively there for his professional career). The point is that he is capable of playing all three forward positions. And that he is, in fact, a "natural" centre (he's said so himself), at least in the sense that he played mostly centre from when he first laced up skates through to the point he became a professional. So there's some value added to a Hudler signing in that he could potentially step in and centre a line if we had significant injuries (especially if Hank went down for an extended period). But clearly his primary value would be as a skilled winger who could help us score more goals (and win more games). Given our centre depth (especially at the top), our injury history, and Henrik's declining durability, adding a winger who could potentially move to the middle if needed is better than adding an otherwise equal value winger who has no experience playing the centre position. And the 2009 report was just something I found on a quick Google search (in response to a post suggesting Hudler hadn't ever played centre). But if you'd like more: Quote An offensively skilled forward who can play as a winger or a center. Has a good passing game and good hockey sense. A good playmaker with with excellent stickhandling. Very skilled on powerplay. Needs to improve defensively and physically. (Matias Strozyk) - See more at: http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=6665#sthash.4vrgJO9R.dpuf Quote Jiri Hudler is a 32-year-old forward who can play at center or on either wing http://thecanuckway.com/2016/07/08/vancouver-canucks-rumor-hudler-shipachyov/ Quote Dinamo managed to get the Czech center Hudler. If Hudler will be the first line center http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/11408/prospects_to_watch_in_the_khl200910/#03zG5qKpLYHUtUfs.99 Quote It's been a minute since Hurler featured in a substantial role down the middle of any of his team's lineups, but he's more than capable. Hudler first cut his teeth in the NHL as a centre, after all. http://canucksarmy.com/2016/8/9/okay-fine-let-s-talk-about-jiri-hudler-again Quote For what it is worth he does play center some for the Czech National team and during his stops in the KHL. He can play all three forward positions with varying effectiveness. http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=1462315 That's just some of what I found in about 8 minutes on Google (instead of the original 2 minute search). And those quotes were sandwiched between about 30 different hockey websites that list still list Hudler as a centre (because he was drafted as a C and he started his professional career as a centre). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck73_3 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 3 hours ago, King Heffy said: Which is a mistake. Gaunce has a chance of being a useful NHLer. Granlund already is a useful NHL player as he played in the NHL and was pretty solid at the end of the year here. Gaunce is still a question mark no matter how much you pump his tires up. And as old news mentioned they play differnt positions as Gaunce is gaining comfort on lw, so your point is redundant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Neilsons Towel Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Supposed Insider says, "Hudler's agent is now in Vancouver. Sources say its a 1year 2.5million deal." Not sure on the credibility of this guy but thought I'd pass it along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 8 minutes ago, Roger Neilson's Towel said: Supposed Insider says, "Hudler's agent is now in Vancouver. Sources say its a 1year 2.5million deal." Not sure on the credibility of this guy but thought I'd pass it along. According to DeNiro, this guy has eight followers, one of whom is his mother. Rumors that DeNiro's mother is one of the other seven is not true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Neilsons Towel Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 2 hours ago, Alflives said: According to DeNiro, this guy has eight followers, one of whom is his mother. Rumors that DeNiro's mother is one of the other seven is not true. He says he's learning from Bob MacKenzie. He must be legit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riske1 Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 22 hours ago, DeNiro said: And signing no one will somehow make us tougher and allow us to score more goals? Hudler is a waste of cash. Unless you are signing him as a trade deadline asset. That is sending the wrong message to the fans as well as the team IMO. I am all for letting our younger players make an impact if they can. Screw wasting the cap space on a retread. If Benning can actually sign a decent sized physical 2LW this team has a chance. I just don't see how another older soft player will make this team any better. No sense at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 26 minutes ago, riske1 said: Hudler is a waste of cash. Unless you are signing him as a trade deadline asset. That is sending the wrong message to the fans as well as the team IMO. I am all for letting our younger players make an impact if they can. Screw wasting the cap space on a retread. If Benning can actually sign a decent sized physical 2LW this team has a chance. I just don't see how another older soft player will make this team any better. No sense at all. Scoring more goals increases your chance of winning games and making the playoffs. Right now we likely don't have enough goals to make the playoffs, so we'll end up somewhere in the middle of the pack (the worst place to be). It makes sense if the goal is to make the playoffs and give our young guys playoff experience. Putting too much pressure on those young guys to produce can also have a negative effect. If they do step up and take Hudler's spot he can always be jetisoned at the deadline for picks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cripplereh Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 no scoring more goals then the other teams wins games,but keeping the other team from scoring wins more games.Goalies,Defence then forwards is how to build a winner and so far seems we have a few players who could be great and are unknown for now.i would rather do that then to sign someone else that is soft! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 1 hour ago, cripplereh said: no scoring more goals then the other teams wins games,but keeping the other team from scoring wins more games.Goalies,Defence then forwards is how to build a winner and so far seems we have a few players who could be great and are unknown for now.i would rather do that then to sign someone else that is soft! I agree that building the team fro goalie out is the way to go. Is that a function of goals (for and against) or is it simply a function of age? Goalies and ?D take more time to develope and peak at an older age than forwards, right? So the goalie and D will be what, 4 to 5 years older than the top forwards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Lasso Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 I remember Hudler being dangerous with Gaudreau & Monohan. I shared the 1yr x 2.5M rumor with my cousin in Calgary that watches every game. His response was: Still can play. Would be a great contract for you guys i think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Do we even have 2.5 million left in cap space? It doesn't seem like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numb3r 16 Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 7 minutes ago, Incursio said: Do we even have 2.5 million left in cap space? It doesn't seem like it We have 3.5 mil according to general fanager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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