If you were Benning, what would you do? (Discussion)

[Phil_314]

Largely hold steady, the goal is still build for the future. 

TL;DR: For the most part, don't sell unless there are kids ready to fill those roles before the season ends AND a good return is available for these players' services.  As well, don't buy unless the team is a serious contender, and even then hope management isn't hasty with its asset management.

Center: Bo's clearly leading the charge now, with several solid guys behind him (Sutter, Hank; Gagner/ Granlund/ Burmistrov play wing too sometimes).  While one injury to Bo would greatly reduce the current roster's center depth in terms of quality (none of the other guys are scoring much at this point), the focus shouldn't be on this season anyways as you rarely see pleasant surprise teams go all-in, and this team should not be an exception.  Bo and Elias Pettersson are clearly the future top tandem, with dark horse in Adam Gaudette, and in a season such as this the team can afford to sit back and not mortgage the future for temporary shots at glory by upgrading this (albeit vital) position.

Wing: A surprising source of depth and quality, this group looks really good with Sven and Brock leading the way of course, and guys like Vanek and Eriksson rebounding to contribute secondary scoring at top-6 rates.  I hope that (if the team does look playoff bound) they don't sell either of the two grey-beards of that group if they do prove to have chemistry with their current lines.  At this rate Danny's a shadow of his former self (0.45 points/ game isn't bad but he's clearly aged), and Jake does not look ready to consistently hold down a top-6 spot as his production is still slightly underwhelming.  For the reasons of 1) sending Danny off well with a winning shot, 2) sheltering Jake in his first taste of playoff action and 3) providing the young guns with scoring support in the second season, I would say don't trade either of the vets unless Jake or Goldie are kicking down the door with how well they're playing AND another team is paying up for either of these vets.  For a young team, giving its young players exposure to playoff atmospheres without expecting too much from them could do wonders to their growth as they can ease into the experience first in a complementary role (just like not rushing 1st round picks if they're not ready so that their confidence isn't shot).  As no rookies (Palmu/ Gadjovich/ Lind) are really ready to break into the league (at least not that we're aware of) there's no harm to buffer their path with vets to let them slowly develop as needed.

Defense: currently adequate with solid mainstays and plenty of depth, the current theme of building for the future remains.  There's enough youth to bridge the gap for the next era of competitiveness, with only Edler above 30 and Tanev approaching that age.  With that said, Del Zotto, Pouliot, Hutton and Stecher are a solid group to build around, with Juolevi as a future potential building block.  Seeing as how four of the five guys mentioned are left-side D-men, I would suggest trying to move Edler for a quality right-handed D-prospect as part of a package return with at least a 2nd pick (unless we get a near-ready top prospect), which could be available from a team needing a top-pair left-side D-man.  As well, while Gudbranson does bring physicality which is needed in the playoffs, he is somewhat of a liability in his own end and could price himself out, so I would try to sign him as best possible, but if a physical, mobile, ready right D prospect can be acquired (or he proves too expensive to retain) then I would move him.

Goal: Markstrom and Nilsson, while pleasant surprises, are still not known entities as top goalies.  While Demko and DiPietro are the future, if the team could upgrade in goal on Jacob without giving up too much for a playoff push then I would be open to it (I still have questions about his ability to backstop a really good team night-in, night out).  This should be low priority though (only if the team shows itself to be a contender) and could change if Anders goes a full season with around 30 wins.  Ultimately though, the team can afford to let them grow, and in Nilsson who knows if there's a future #1?        

[RetroCanuck]

Sign on as GM as long as you have more control. Trade vets like Vanek and maybe another forward in the Gagner, Baertschi skill set. Trade a LD or two and maybe a RD.

 

Players that shouldn't be traded for me is a small list. Bo, Boeser, prospects, Virtanen(unless good return), Stetcher.

Players I see as currently untradeable. Sedins, Eriksson.

I can see almost any of the rest traded for the right return. Going by position I can see a goalie traded(preferably Marky over Nilsson), one LD(Preferably Edler over Hutton/Zotto), One RD(Guddy over Tanev) and a couple forwards. Vanek+ Baertschi

 

Key assets to be acquired would be a top end RD prospect and top end LW.

 

Tanev

for

Liljegrin+3rd

 

Baertschi+Marky

for 

Puljujarvi+ 1st+ 4th

 

Hutton+Vanek+3rd

for

Sam Reinhart

 

 

[Nuxfanabroad]

2 hours ago, joe-max said:

I would change the team name. All Stanley Cup winners since 2001 have the letter "i" in their team name. Doing so would increase the chances of winning a cup by at least 100% if not more. Not having it is a SUREFIRE recipe for failure.

 

Options:

- Vancouver Canicks

- Vancouver Canuckis

- Vancouvier Canucks (to give it a French spin)

There's no 'aye' in teem.

[Silky mitts]

I'm going to have a aneurysm if vets aren't shipped out this year 

[JM_]

Depends on how close we are to a playoffs spot.

 

If the team is still in it you keep the band together and show confidence in the group.

 

If we're not in a playoff spot, wait to see who calls about who for trades. I wouldn't actively shop anyone, let the other GMs come to us, there's not that many quality pending-UFA rentals out there and we have some of  the best of those, or if some teams prefer a guy with a year or two remaining on contract we have that as well.

 

I wouldn't trade any more picks. 

 

Bring Goldy up for a 30 game look. 

 

Try to resign Gudbranson for a 6 year 27 mil offer. 

 

Thats pretty much it, keep it pretty simple, no need to mess with things too much given the improvements in the 1st line and excellent development going on in other leagues. 

 

 

[canuckpuckluck1]

2 hours ago, smithers joe said:

i'ld try and get edmonton's 1st pick. with their luck, they will probably get first over-all.

I have a gut wrenching feeling this will happen. It sickens me to think the Oilers could have McJesus, Draisaitl and Dahlin on the same team. 

If the Oilers get 1st overall this next draft i will have no other course of action than to place a plague upon their house!

[Father Ryan]

Mostly I would stay the course. I don't see signing a big name UFA, or trading for a big name. The chemistry on this team seems to be outstanding, and messing with that could have a serious detrimental effect.

 

Identify what players can be moved, and within those, decide who should be moved. For me, that list breaks down as follows:

Got to go: Burmistrov, Wiercioch, Subban, Cassels. These guys are filling in spots that they will likely be loosing next year anyways. The distinct possibility of having Petersson and Dahlen takes care of the two forward spots. Juolevi takes one of the Dmen spots. Subban would not even be in most conversations, if his name wasn't Subban.

 

Can go, but requires a little thinking: Carcone, Labate, Goldobin, Vanek, Chaput, Megna, Gagner (forwards), then Hutton, Biega, McEneny on D. The more interesting take here is Vanek vs Goldobin. I see what Goldy is doing in Utica, and that bodes pretty good for him. However, Vanek is doing surprisingly well this year. Resigning him would be a somewhat difficult decision, but another move discussed later would bear a lot of weight in this.

 

After this, I would clearly find out Gaudette's intentions, in regards to signing after his season is over. To me, he is Sutter's replacement (and an upgrade at that).

 

The day  that the season is over (playoffs or not), sit down with the Twins. Even in limited minutes this season, they have only a shadow of their former selves. I don't see resigning them for anything more than 2M per, if that. I watched Linden's last year, and it was sad to see. I don't want Hank/Daniel go out that way. If they leave, then an earlier comment gets decided. I would resign Vanek, if the Twins retire, to give the team a continued vet presence, along with Eriksson. If the Twins stay, then I would have to sit down with Trent Cull and find out what he truly thinks of Goldobin, and his potential. If Cull endorses Goldy, then he stays and I will have gambled and lost the chance at a pick. Hedging on this, the first sit down with Cull, and the Twins (well, their agent) would be at about the 55 game mark; that  way the decision could be made prior to the trade deadline, and still get something for him.

 

Finalize a longer term deal for an ECHL team. We are finally building enough depth to have player development start at that level. We don't need to keep moving around at that level, we need a steady team. This would also give the team a better foundation to build coaching depth. Guys like Burrows (when he retires) would be invaluable as coaches in the right situation, and having two teams below the NHL level would properly develop coaches also.

 

Reach out to Tryamkin and his rep. I would want to see if their is any realistic chance of this guy returning, and if so, when. I would really stress to him that the new coach and the new team culture is much improved over when he was here; he would be able to know where he stood, exactly. With WD, I don't think he (or several others) really knew where they stood with the team. I'd like to see this guy return.

 

Finalize a deal to get Edler outta here. He no longer offers enough to this team to keep him here; we (finally!) have enough depth to withstand losing him. Edler has not meant enough to this team to keep him around on player loyalty.