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Assessing the Canuck D: Some Interesting Numbers


JamesB

Defensive Depth Chart Next Year  

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Nice work! This is my assessment:

 

1. Edler is #2/#3 on a good team.

2. Tanev is the modern day version of defensive specialist. Drives the play towards the right direction and prevents shots and scoring chances with smart plays and smartly reading the plays.

3. Stecher's is a new type of defenceman. He aggressively defends well before the puck enters the defensive zone. Once the puck gets in, he isn't as effective but that can improve as he learns to read the plays better. 

4. MDZ is a stop gap. He is there so that we don't ice complete embarrassment of a team.

tied

T5. Biega is reliable and gets the job done when needed but not sure if he will be able to sustain energy over 82 game season. Just like energy forwards like Dorsett, they play with high intensity and can have hot streaks but not relied upon for long periods of time for the most important tasks. Although Dorsett was doing a fine job this season, if he wasn't forced to retire, I wonder whether he would have been able to maintain the level of play that he showed in the first 15 games.

T5. Gudbranson is the old day's version of defensive specialist. If you can't handle the puck and skate at the same time, you aren't going to get much done in this league. These guys are disappearing in the new NHL. Gud can skate well but not if it's with the puck. Therefore, he is good at puck retrieval but because he can't skate his way out of trouble, he needs to defer the job to his partner. He can make good passes if he recognizes good passing option, but he doesn't see plays developing very well. Therefore, he makes simple plays that can easily be read off by the opposing forecheckers. Part of the reason why Gud was good with Edler was because Edler did a good job of providing an easy passing option to Gud. Therefore, Gud recognized it easily and made a good pass, which led to Edler moving the puck out. 

7. Pouliot is not an NHL level "defence"man as you said.  -22 playing easy minutes is all we need to know. Troy Stecher was -7 playing harder minutes. Defence is all about intensity and being smart positionally, which means reading the play and Pouliot has neither.

8. Hutton has a lot of work to do. He lost a step compared to his rookie year. That's really bad. You should be getting faster, not slower in this league. I think he had a terrible year and he needs to come to camp ready or else, he will be out of the league pretty soon.

 

I think Edler and Tanev are the only top 4 caliber defencemen on this team. Stecher has a chance to join these two if he improves his defensive zone plays. The rest are #5/#6 pairings with Pouliot being an "offence"man and Hutton very close to being out of the league. I wouldn't want this year's Hutton even as a #7 guy. Pouliot has room to improve but his intensity is the main problem. Unless he improves his intensity level, he will also be out of the league very soon.

 

There is nothing we can do to improve the defence for next season other than to draft well and being patient for prospects.

 

I think in two seasons we will be able to add Juolevi, hopefully Tryamkin, and Sautner if he continues to develop well.

 

Juolevi will take the spot behind Edler.

Tryamkin will replace Gudbranson.

Sautner will replace MDZ.

 

Edler-Tryamkin

Juolevi-Tanev

Sautner-Stecher

 

If we can sign a UFA defender like Doughty, Karlsson, OEL or draft Dahlin, it would allow us to trade Tanev to address needs up front.

 

Any fix must take place in 2019 off season rather than 2018 off season. For example, I don't think signing John Carlson will be enough.

 

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11 hours ago, Time Lord said:

Good analysis. 

 

One thing that the stats can’t show about Pouliot is that he was actually pretty good early on when the team was playing well. He was even used on the top pair with Edler for a while and didn’t look out of place. When the injuries racked up and the team started to play badly, so did he. And his mistakes just led to more mistakes. I think it’s pretty clear that he has confidence issues but when he’s on his game he’s a valuable puck moving dman with a skill set that this team needs.

 

I’m hoping Juolevi can move ahead of Del Zotto and Hutton on the depth chart, which shouldn’t be hard if he’s ready. I would pair him with Tanev.  I think Pouliot will end up Edler. This leaves Stecher and Gudbranson to fight for the right side on the 3rd pair, and Hutton/Del Zotto on the left. But I don’t think Green would bench DZ or Gudbranson let alone both. 

Really good observation on pouliot. 

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Great job with collecting these stats...very informative.

 

I laughed and laughed and laughed about the Edler's shot blocking stat...or should we say his save percentage...he needs to let the goalie do his job and get out of the crease and stop screening the goalie...when he takes the goalie position with one hand on the stick and in the crouch position is what I imagine when I read Edler's shot blocking stat.

 

other than that...Edler was by far our best all round "D" man and I agree is under rated.

 

Pouliott started well, but he finished terrible...he is slow with his decisions and therefore gets beat or is out of position a lot of the time.

Hutton seems to have A.D.D. and was just as bad as Pouliot.

MDZ, Poulliot and Hutton equal "tire fire"

 

Another stat that would be interesting to note would be how many times a "D" man makes or doesn't make the first pass...this is a very important part of the game because it leads to puck possession or a team chasing the puck.

 

Interesting about +/- stat, even though it is tracked by the individual, it is more a team stat when you consider all the teams who have positive +/- stat make the playoffs and all the teams that have negative +/- stat do not make the playoffs. I believe +/- individually is an indication of quality of player because each individual contributes to the overall team +/- stat.

The top players usually play against the other team's top players and therefore the +/- stat shows more the all round game and quality of player. When your top players are -23 the team is usually in trouble.

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3 hours ago, khay said:

Nice work! This is my assessment:

 

1. Edler is #2/#3 on a good team.

2. Tanev is the modern day version of defensive specialist. Drives the play towards the right direction and prevents shots and scoring chances with smart plays and smartly reading the plays.

3. Stecher's is a new type of defenceman. He aggressively defends well before the puck enters the defensive zone. Once the puck gets in, he isn't as effective but that can improve as he learns to read the plays better. 

4. MDZ is a stop gap. He is there so that we don't ice complete embarrassment of a team.

tied

T5. Biega is reliable and gets the job done when needed but not sure if he will be able to sustain energy over 82 game season. Just like energy forwards like Dorsett, they play with high intensity and can have hot streaks but not relied upon for long periods of time for the most important tasks. Although Dorsett was doing a fine job this season, if he wasn't forced to retire, I wonder whether he would have been able to maintain the level of play that he showed in the first 15 games.

T5. Gudbranson is the old day's version of defensive specialist. If you can't handle the puck and skate at the same time, you aren't going to get much done in this league. These guys are disappearing in the new NHL. Gud can skate well but not if it's with the puck. Therefore, he is good at puck retrieval but because he can't skate his way out of trouble, he needs to defer the job to his partner. He can make good passes if he recognizes good passing option, but he doesn't see plays developing very well. Therefore, he makes simple plays that can easily be read off by the opposing forecheckers. Part of the reason why Gud was good with Edler was because Edler did a good job of providing an easy passing option to Gud. Therefore, Gud recognized it easily and made a good pass, which led to Edler moving the puck out. 

7. Pouliot is not an NHL level "defence"man as you said.  -22 playing easy minutes is all we need to know. Troy Stecher was -7 playing harder minutes. Defence is all about intensity and being smart positionally, which means reading the play and Pouliot has neither.

8. Hutton has a lot of work to do. He lost a step compared to his rookie year. That's really bad. You should be getting faster, not slower in this league. I think he had a terrible year and he needs to come to camp ready or else, he will be out of the league pretty soon.

 

I think Edler and Tanev are the only top 4 caliber defencemen on this team. Stecher has a chance to join these two if he improves his defensive zone plays. The rest are #5/#6 pairings with Pouliot being an "offence"man and Hutton very close to being out of the league. I wouldn't want this year's Hutton even as a #7 guy. Pouliot has room to improve but his intensity is the main problem. Unless he improves his intensity level, he will also be out of the league very soon.

 

There is nothing we can do to improve the defence for next season other than to draft well and being patient for prospects.

 

I think in two seasons we will be able to add Juolevi, hopefully Tryamkin, and Sautner if he continues to develop well.

 

Juolevi will take the spot behind Edler.

Tryamkin will replace Gudbranson.

Sautner will replace MDZ.

 

Edler-Tryamkin

Juolevi-Tanev

Sautner-Stecher

 

If we can sign a UFA defender like Doughty, Karlsson, OEL or draft Dahlin, it would allow us to trade Tanev to address needs up front.

 

Any fix must take place in 2019 off season rather than 2018 off season. For example, I don't think signing John Carlson will be enough.

 

Explain why Chara is so good.  He can’t skate, and is not good with the puck.  

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Since many of the players are developing, I wonder if we can see improvements in the stats as the season progressed.  

 

Pouliot did well at the beginning, then poorly, and towards the end was doing good things again.  Does this show in the stats?

 

Gudbranson played better when paired with Edler.  In fact, I thought that Edler upped his physical game when playing with Guddy.  

 

The bottom line, I think that the stats are supporting that Edler and Tanev are the best D on the Canucks and that they are not likely to be traded.  Benning wants a solid pair to support his developing players.  Even split up, they are invaluable.

 

Having said that, we need to see positive development from the younger players

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6 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Explain why Chara is so good.  He can’t skate, and is not good with the puck.  

Chara can skate with the puck, read the play, and make a nice pass all at the same time. Gudbranson cannot. 

 

Chara can pass very well and reads the plays much better than Gudbranson.

 

Chara is a highly intelligent player. Gudbranson is a physical specimen that doesn't think the game at a high level.

 

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I'd like to see Gud in a better light but hopefully next year is better for him health wise and he performs to a high level.

 

maybe this is holding JB to the fire a little but Juolevi better challenge for a spot or make the team next year or there is a real problem.

 

i fully support JB, however, watching other draft picks help NHL teams will be very frustrating next year if Juolevi is playing elsewhere.

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18 minutes ago, khay said:

Chara can skate with the puck, read the play, and make a nice pass all at the same time. Gudbranson cannot. 

 

Chara can pass very well and reads the plays much better than Gudbranson.

 

Chara is a highly intelligent player. Gudbranson is a physical specimen that doesn't think the game at a high level.

 

Chara is friggin’ huge, and can barely skate any more.  He plays the puck off the glass and out a lot.  He gets a lot of space and time with pucks because he hurts guys who get too close.  He’s always been a horrible skater.

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1 minute ago, Alflives said:

Chara is friggin’ huge, and can barely skate any more.  He plays the puck off the glass and out a lot.  He gets a lot of space and time with pucks because he hurts guys who get too close.  He’s always been a horrible skater.

Chara may not have been a fast skater, for a big guy he skates well. He protects the puck very well when he is skating and still does.

 

If Chara is a horrible skater, then Tryamkin is a horrible skater. Tryamkin does not skate like Doughty but for a big guy, he skates well and protects and passes the puck very well. Hence, Tryamkin to Chara comparison makes some sense.

 

Gud is nothing like Chara. Not even close. Actually, Gud skates really well when he doesn't have the puck. 

 

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5 minutes ago, khay said:

Chara may not have been a fast skater, for a big guy he skates well. He protects the puck very well when he is skating and still does.

 

If Chara is a horrible skater, then Tryamkin is a horrible skater. Tryamkin does not skate like Doughty but for a big guy, he skates well and protects and passes the puck very well. Hence, Tryamkin to Chara comparison makes some sense.

 

Gud is nothing like Chara. Not even close. Actually, Gud skates really well when he doesn't have the puck. 

 

Yes, Guddy skates very well indeed.  Tryamkin is a fabulous skater.  Our D would look better if we had a decent goalie.  

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Great post and even greater yet there hasn't been a fantasy post on Tryamkin's return, which they seem to know about and the organization doesn't :)

 

We're drafting a Dman either first overall or otherwise this year.

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Something that always strikes me when I see an assessment of this year's D is that it is an upgrade over last year (maybe not much of one, but supposedly it was an upgrade)  and if this year's D is this bad, how good was Ryan Miller at saving the teams collective arses night after night?  We saw this year with less reliable goaltending how bad things could be.  I was a Miller supporter, but I don't think I appreciated how good he was.  

Back to this year's D, I hope with a summer to focus and train our youngsters (Hutton, Stecher, Pouliot) will come in much better next season.  They will have been given a clear direction of what they need to do which arguably would have been different than last summer with a season played now for Green.  MDZ is serviceable, but needs a solid stay at home D partner to cover when he's caught out of position trying to make a hit.   Edler and Guddy made a solid tandem when they were paired together, Tanev when healthy is solid as well.  If Juolevi is ready to challenge, someone will have to go, maybe a couple of someone's and pick up a decent UFA?  We have some decent forward depth to trade now, finally.  

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