How we did on the Drafts

[Canucks53]

May Be JB is a GM with great long term vision, or he is just simply doing a bad job. Its time for the owner to start consider changing the GM.

 

I understand that last year we picked Olli over Matt Tkachuk was because the market is paying a premium for good defenseman (but I still don't agree, I think Matt is a better player). But this year we picked Pettersson over Cody Glass, Gabe Vilardi, and Casey Mittelstadt??? then I just don't get it. Every year, as a fan, I am somewhat disappointed as some of the drafts we make.

 

Here are the drafts that we make since JB joined, and also a list of players that were available for him to pick since 2014. Only 1 guy so far (Brock Boeser) is last seen playing for the Canucks, and only because we were out of the playoffs so he can get some minutes. Looking back, I think we failed big time in the 2014 draft when we had two 1st rounder. Look at all the options that we had instead of Jake or Jared (Guys sorry, no offense), but imagine we have  any of these guys in our lineup now: William Nylander, Nikolaj Ehlers, Dylan Larkin,  Nick Ritchie or David Pastrnak.

 

I really just wished this year we had taken any of these three Cody Glass, Gabe Vilardi, and Casey Mittelstadt, and wait for a chance to pick Pettersson in the 2nd round. If you heard the interview with Petterson, he also said basically just Vancouver have shown much interest. Or we could have traded down for other teams to pick the three and we get something back. I just hope that Vilardi won't become a big contributor to the Kings next year, otherwise not only that I will be sad seeing the Canucks lose now, I would also be unhappy to see the Flames AND the Kings win next season.

 

The other frustrations that I have is why would we keep making moves that we regret. We drafted McCann and traded him, We traded for Bonino with Kesler and then traded him away for Sutter, we signed for Vrbata and then just to let him out cold after a hot season, We could have drafted Goldobin instead of McCann, but we didn't and we traded away Hansen for him.

 

I guess partly Willie D have to take some responsibility, but as a fan, I really have no idea what JB is trying to achieve here with the club. Honestly, I don't see we have much assets at all as a Hockey Club.

 

 

Canucks Draft
Year	Round	Team	Players	GP	G	A	P	Status (Last Seen)
2016	Round 1	VAN	Olli Juolevi	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Minors
2015	Round 1	VAN	Brock Boeser	9	4	1	5	NHL
2014	Round 1	VAN	Jake Virtanen	65	7	7	14	Minors
2014	Round 1	VAN	Jared McCann	98	10	15	25	Traded
2014	Round 2	VAN	Thatcher Demko	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Minors
Players we could have drafted
Year	Round	Team	Players	GP	G	A	P
2016	1	CGY	Matthew Tkachuk	76	13	35	48
2015	2	CAR	Sebastian Aho	82	24	25	49
2015	2	BOS	Brandon Carlo	82	6	10	16
2014	1	TOR	William Nylander	103	28	46	74
2014	1	WPG	Nikolaj Ehlers	154	40	62	102
2014	1	NSH	Kevin Fiala	60	12	5	17
2014	1	DET	Dylan Larkin	160	40	37	77
2014	1	ANA	Nick Ritchie	110	16	16	32
2014	1	BOS	David Pastrnak	172	59	64	123

[Angry Goose]

Petersson seems like a great pick.  Skeptics should spend time watching him.  

[Katobaron]

I don't even know where to start...

 

1. 2 members of that Canucks list haven't even started their careers as Canucks yet

2. Obviously McCann had some worth or else he wouldn't have fetched Gudbranson

3. Since Carlo and Aho went in the second round, every other team looked past them in the first round as well

4. Benning doesn't have the benefit of seeing a few years past the draft and cherry picking names that he missed on draft day. He's blended a good mix of BPA and positional needs and by establishing a competitive crease and blue line (both take longer to develop than forwards) and including both some grit and some skill to his draftees, he has the team on track to develop a solid young core, something we haven't seen since the end of the WCE days

[Derp...]

Pettersson was the right pick. Just be patient. 

A skinny kid had unprecedented numbers playing against men is a home run swing compared to picking Glass or Vilardi who were safe bets to be 50-60 point players.

Pettersson has the chance to be a 70-80 point player with the right linemates. Putting him on a line with Boeser is going to be unreal. I would say Goldobin or Dahlen would also fit with those two.

Safe is death in the draft.

 

[-AJ-]

I love the spreadsheets man, but you simply cannot use hindsight to show how bad someone was at drafted. It give you an unfair advantage. It would be like going back three years in the past, knowing all you know about the current players, and drafting. You'd be a drafting legend if you had that ability.

[iinatcc]

1 hour ago, SILLY GOOSE said:

Petersson seems like a great pick.  Skeptics should spend time watching him.  

I'm sure the hockey analysts and professionals that ranked him lower than Glass or Vilardi have.

 

[iinatcc]

58 minutes ago, Derp... said:

Pettersson was the right pick. Just be patient. 

A skinny kid had unprecedented numbers playing against men is a home run swing compared to picking Glass or Vilardi who were safe bets to be 50-60 point players.
 

I wouldn't call Glass or Vilardi 50 to 60 point players especially considering their comparable

Glass - Mark Scheifele -> 80 point player

Vilardi - Ryan Getzlaf -> 70 to 90 point player 

[iinatcc]

1 hour ago, Katobaron said:

I don't even know where to start...

 

2. Obviously McCann had some worth or else he wouldn't have fetched Gudbranson

 

Don't forget McCann came with giving up the 33rd overall pick

Also Panthers getting rid of Gudbransson had to do with contract extension issues and the new management, going analytics, saw little value in him. 

 

Florida probably went to Vancouver first because they knew trading Gudbransson wasn't going to fetch a 1st round pick and a early 2nd is the next best thing and they probably knew Gudbransson is the kind of player Benning highly values. 

[Standing_Tall#37]

3 hours ago, SILLY GOOSE said:

Petersson seems like a great pick.  Skeptics should spend time watching him.  

He'll be a great Swedish league player for years to come 

[Derp...]

2 hours ago, iinatcc said:

I wouldn't call Glass or Vilardi 50 to 60 point players especially considering their comparable

Glass - Mark Scheifele -> 80 point player

Vilardi - Ryan Getzlaf -> 70 to 90 point player 

That's their ceiling, not there most common comparables. I'm saying there's a very good chance they are 50-60 point players, and there's a slim chance they make it to Scheifele and Getzlaf level.

If you look at their cohorts, the two players you are using to compare them are the exception not the rule.

[Salacious Crumb]

[combover]

He's doing a very bad job and he won't be here very much longer. 

Jim benning won't be the gm long enough to see IF his long term PROJECTS become nhlers. 

Just like holding on to Tanev serves no purpose for the Canucks this point but to diminish his value with a ntc kicking in. 

Even trying to Resigning Miller just another example of a guy with no plan just keep throwning sh.. at the wall and see what sticks. 

One of the worst gms in the history of the club his stats reflect it And Proven wrong more than Donald trump. 

I don't believe a word he says and have no faith that he has the skill or ability to build a "competative" team. Hopefully some of his draft picks start making the NHL and staying there because so far he's a ZERO and that's with now three picks in the top 6. 

I hope by next years lottery we have a experienced NHL GM that know what he's doing because benning proved he hasn't got a clue. 

out gmed by McPhee at the draft....lol.(not that's difficult) 

teams picking after Vancouver are always pleasantly surprised if not shocked by what's left on the table. 

Goodbye and good riddance. 

 

 

 

[Canucks53]

1 hour ago, -AJ- said:

I love the spreadsheets man, but you simply cannot use hindsight to show how bad someone was at drafted. It give you an unfair advantage. It would be like going back three years in the past, knowing all you know about the current players, and drafting. You'd be a drafting legend if you had that ability.

Yes, I understand that the short Spreadsheets makes it looks a bit bias and that it didn't show how bad other people did. But I also didn't list all the players that was available, I just picked the better ones. Here is the full 1st round list, as shown for the 25 picks after Van, I would think there are around 10 players that are already playing good NHL minutes with decent contributions.  That means we had almost 40% chance of being able to land any one of those, and we had 2 chances.

 

My point is, when JB is hired because of his background as a scout and his goal was to rebuild, his job is not to make a pick and trade it away. If you make a pick 1st round and make a trade for a D man, you might want to pick a D man in the first place. If you cannot find the right fit in that round, pick the best one and wait for next year.  You can always trade up or trade down to make the picks worth while.

 

I think something in between these are the things that could went wrong:

- The scouts didn't do a good job, and have JB mis-understood what he was getting

- JB is a good scout but he doesn't know how to assemble a winning team, so the pieces was not put together right in the first place, and find himself keep trading away assets.

- Willie D was the main reason to blame because he didn't utilize the players correctly.

 

There are of course a lot of other moving parts and may be simply Canucks are just in bad luck. But please tell me one big move that JB has made since he joined that make us as a fan exciting. Off my head, I can't think of any. Bo Hovart isn't even traded and drafted by him, and he is now of the best that we have.

 

 

 

Round	Pick	Teams	Players	Positions
1	6	VAN	Jake Virtanen	RW
1	7	CAR	Haydn Fleury	D
1	8	TOR	William Nylander	C/RW
1	9	WPG	Nikolaj Ehlers	LW
1	10	ANA	Nick Ritchie	LW
1	11	NSH	Kevin Fiala	LW
1	12	ARI	Brendan Perlini	LW
1	13	WSH	Jakub Vrana	LW/RW
1	14	DAL	Julius Honka	D
1	15	DET	Dylan Larkin	C
1	16	CBJ	Sonny Milano	LW
1	17	PHI	Travis Sanheim	D
1	18	MIN	Alex Tuch	RW
1	19	TBL	Anthony DeAngelo	D
1	20	CHI	Nick Schmaltz	C
1	21	STL	Robby Fabbri	C
1	22	PIT	Kasperi Kapanen	RW
1	23	COL	Conner Bleackley	C
1	24	VAN	Jared McCann	C
1	25	BOS	David Pastrnak	RW
1	26	MTL	Nikita Scherbak	RW
1	27	SJS	Nikolay Goldobin	RW
1	28	NYI	Joshua Ho-Sang	C/RW
1	29	LAK	Adrian Kempe	LW
1	30	NJD	John Quenneville	C

 

 

 

 

[12-16-FG]

I can be counted in on the fan's who are dejected by this pick, but for me it's more about the situation than it is the player. Petterson may very well turn into a great or at very least a very good NHL'er and to that end I say luck in the future. My hope and belief is in the player that rise's above the odds against to make something of him or her self, and in Cody Glass, I saw that. Every thing that he has had to endure, from peewee on up, sheer determination to not quit. This is some of the telling of a great leader, a don't stop attitude that if used as a tool to build with, can take a kid along way in his career. Character play's a big part in anything we do in life. With that said I hope JB can find another centre and a O-Dman in the next rounds. 

[IBatch]

3 hours ago, Derp... said:

Pettersson was the right pick. Just be patient. 

A skinny kid had unprecedented numbers playing against men is a home run swing compared to picking Glass or Vilardi who were safe bets to be 50-60 point players.

Pettersson has the chance to be a 70-80 point player with the right linemates. Putting him on a line with Boeser is going to be unreal. I would say Goldobin or Dahlen would also fit with those two.

Safe is death in the draft.

 

Heck a skinny kid named Panarin won the Calder in the same weight class.  He did have Kane for a line mate, but then again, Kane never scored so much either without him....

[Boudrias]

In Benning we trust. Unfortunately I did not get to sit in on the Combine or travel to Sweden to watch Pettersson. I missed the Canuck scouting meetings, my bad. I guess I have to trust those that were there. Many reports are saying Pettersen could have the highest offensive upside in the 2017 Draft. My question might be what were/are Benning's ultimate goal. Hopefully a CUP. Does Pettersson's potential upside counter Glass's safer potential enough? 

 

Personally I prefer a heavier more physical player and Glass and Vilardi would have evolved into those types of players. My thought then became that Benning took the opportunity on Petterson realizing that the talent drop off in the 2nd Round would not be that bad. At #33 can Van pick up some of the Glass/Vilardi upside he passed earlier on. Hope so. 

[elvis15]

OMGZ KOPITARZ!!!!!111!!!!!!!11!11!!1!!!!!!!

 

That is all.

[TheGuardian_]

It seems a year when Benning and company expect the future is for sub 180 lb guys.

They picked a boy that could take another 3 years to fill out, but remember the Sedins matured late.

Definitely hoping for a big improvement in 5 years or so.

 

To me it was a "meh" draft after the first two selections but I had hoped that being the case size to play in the western conference might be a consideration.

 

Benning certainly doesn't understand trying to get the market excited.

[CanadianRugby]

 

4 hours ago, -AJ- said:

I love the spreadsheets man, but you simply cannot use hindsight to show how bad someone was at drafted. It give you an unfair advantage. It would be like going back three years in the past, knowing all you know about the current players, and drafting. You'd be a drafting legend if you had that ability.

To be fair, a lot of people weren't happy with Virtanen & Juolevi right away.  A lot of people wanted Nylander & Tkachuk.  

[189lb enforcers?]

There are two ways to look at the draft, imo.

 

One, JB drafted some immature skill and is definitely mastering soft-core NHL rebuilding, but has time on his side to keep insulating it through consecutive drafts. This will we a longgg rebuild. 

Two, JB is a a gambler and a risk taker whose draft record is still too immature to evaluate. His off-the-board picks will be his legacy and he certainly isn't here to build a Bruins model, more like the Habs circa 2014. He could have went to the table with more during his tenure and that will likely be what his legacy becomes in Vancouver. 

 

I'm underwhelmed with the picks, but excited to get a look at the prospects and to survive another Linden-era year and make it to next year's draft. This season looks like it will be like an episode of that bad kids go to prison for a day TV series, Scared Straight. If Guddy gets hurt again, this is going to be a painful season to watch and the empty pizza box on D will be Pedan's to fill, I hope, but ouch. 

 

 

Aligned with the 2017 TDL, the 2017 draft will be remembered as the beginning of a very long rebuild process for Vancouver.

 

By consistently picking the runts of the littler, JB is clearly playing the long game. These moves indicate that he is looking far into the future and not interested in immediate gains. This draft won't class won't make an impact in this league for years to come and with the declining Swedes playing out the back 9, Tank Nation can rejoice in the consolation of knowing this all but guarantees at least a few more top draft picks in the coming years. 

 

Mission Accomplished, Tank Commander Jim!

Looking forward to the 2018 TDL and draft.