Biggest surprise by the break....besides Hughes

[danjr]

Well at break the team is doing much better than most have imagined.  Some players have really taken an additional step.

Who is your fav among those in the poll.  Or who did I miss.

As an additional, write in who is the biggest disappointment to date.  There are a few on the team that haven't lived up to what the fans expected.

Jacob Markstrom - Biggest winning percentage of his career

Thatcher Demko - extremely solid numbers as a young goalie 26 games into his career

J.T. Miller - on track to be his career best season

Jake Virtanen - already career bests

Tanner Pearson - On track for career best points, maybe even goals 

Adam Gaudette - twice as good as he was last year and not a liability

 

 

 

I vote for J.T. Miller.  He's been impressive to watch.

Biggest disappointment is Benn.  I really thought he was going to be a game changer on the back end.

 

 

[D.B Cooper]

Jake has been solid, but his progression kinda shows this was gonna happen soon, so not a big surprise. 

We knew Marky Was gonna bring it this year. 

The others haven’t really surprised, but have done well.   
 

I voted for JT.   
I’m a huge Canucks fan, but I also love Tampa and Chicago.  
I watched a lot of JT’s games over the last couple years.  I knew he was a great player buried in huge amounts of depth.        
But I had no idea he was a legit 1st liner. 

THAT was my surprise.  
Gotta love Miller!

[48MPHSlapShot]

It's tough to say. There are a lot of great stories this year.

 

-The most logical answer is probably Miller. We traded for a 45 point winger and wound up with a near PPG center with one of the best FO percentages in the league. That's a massive win however you slice it. 

 

- Pearson would be up there as well. He's been known to be a pretty inconsistent player throughout his career, and I keep waiting for the wheels to fall off, but they just aren't. He's on pace for 60+ points, has great chemistry with Bo, plays a nice heavy game, can play at both ends of the rink and plays both specials teams. We got that FOR GUDBRANSON. 

 

- Virtanen and Gaudette's progression kinda goes without saying, but I think they were both at least somewhat expected to improve upon what they did last year, although with the way preseason started for Virtanen, he probably should be in the conversation as well.

 

- I'd like to throw an honorary shoutout to Leivo as well. Most of us questioned Green when he showed such obvious favoritism to Leivo to start the season, but the guy kept improving and improving, to the point where he was looking like a top 6 forward playing with Bo and Pearson. It's such a damn shame that his season ended the way it did. Hopefully we can resign him for a reasonable price and he's able to continue building on the success he was having before he went down. I imagine he's have pretty similar numbers to Virtanen had he not gone down

 

- Biggest disappointment would be how the Ferland signing has turned out thus far. I thought it was a great move at the time. Didn't know his concussion issues were so bad, considering he didn't miss much time last year. I really hope they sit him out for the rest of the season and let him start fresh next year. 

 

 

[LowerMainLander18]

It was hard to choose between Miller and JV. 

Marky comes close second. 

 

If it werent strictly related to stats, I would also consider LE as well.

He did surprise a lot if not all of the fans this season.

 

It's good to see the guy finally taking advantage of the shot he fully earned with his patience and hard work. 

[Coconuts]

I'd go with Pearson, he had a rough go last season and bounce back years are tough to predict. I mean, I like Guddy as a person but being traded for him isn't a positive sign nowadays. Jake's still young enough that I was expecting continued growth and Miller was pretty valued by Tampa and it's fans. It's hard to know how a guy fits in with a new team, but being put with Petey has certainly helped both players. 

 

Biggest disappointment would probably be Ferland, not that I can really blame him for how injuries have factored in. The risk was always there, but I was hoping things would go differently. 

 

 

[VforVasili]

I wasn’t surprised by Miller or by Jakes progression personally so I would go with Pearson. 
 

He was often the forgotten man during the preseason with many lineups leaving him out entirely or relegating him to 4th line duties, and here he is kicking ass, taking names and racking up points. 

[-DLC-]

All of the above (I'm not very good with decision making).

 

Here's what I think about each of them in light of that:

 

Jacob Markstrom:  he is super emotionally charged and coaching has helped him channel that.  And to use his size and positioning to take his game to another level.  I think he's really bought in and is so focused.  Surprised but not surprised.

Thatcher Demko:  to step in behind a guy who's doing so well is a bit daunting I'm sure.  But he is solid and, with more experience, can be huge for this team.  He handles the pressure so well...but Marky is his biggest cheerleader and that helps!  

J.T. Miller:  Truth be told, I didn't know much about him before he got here....but I didn't think we'd get this quality of a player.  Not just his game and how he contributes on ice, but the leadership he shows.  Leads by example and is having a huge impact.

Jake Virtanen:  he's taken a little while to catch on, but boy he's dangerous now that he has.  Just has to stay engaged and use the tools he's got because not everyone has them and that will make him a notch above.

Tanner Pearson:  Again, didn't have much back history on him, but he's one of those guys who just willingly chips in to make the team better...a no I in team guy.  Love him.

Adam Gaudette:  been on his bandwagon from day one (after seeing him in the prospects scrimmage).  He's a game changer who is clutch in key goals.  He seems to thrive on that situation (needing a goal late in a game).  Dragon slayer in the making.  Super composed and has been patient with the whole deal.

[DADDYROCK]

Unfortunately,J. Benn thinks he has already retired now that he is back home.

[JeremyCuddles]

Hard to vote against Miller here. I knew he could be a 50-60 point guy but he is still blowing me away. Jake I always said could score 15-20 if given more opportunities. Sadly Marky’s numbers, despite his play, are roughly what they were in past seasons. Save percentage is a fair bit higher though.

[86Viking]

Biggest surprise, LE playing in our top 6!

[73 Percent]

Too many good options. I chose virt. He's been through alot and is one of the  veterans on the team now and most of all he's acting like it.

 

 

Feels like a member of the family at this point. Proud of him.

 

 

Also nominate tanevs health for biggest surprise.

Edited January 19, 2020 by 73 Percent

[Battlemonger]

The biggest surprise for me is how Virt has taken off this year. I thought we wouldn't be seeing this from him for another couple years.

[komodo0921]

I can't say I'm surprised by any of the options listed, or that they're fighting for first place in the Pacific ( I believe I said so in a bold predictions thread).

So I'm going completely off the board and saying Tyler Madden.

JB said the kid's got a lot of talent but, I don't think anybody saw him doing what he's been doing in the NCAA.

 

[McBackup]

7 minutes ago, komodo0921 said:

I can't say I'm surprised by any of the options listed, or that they're fighting for first place in the Pacific ( I believe I said so in a bold predictions thread).

So I'm going completely off the board and saying Tyler Madden.

JB said the kid's got a lot of talent but, I don't think anybody saw him doing what he's been doing in the NCAA.

 

Clearly there's something in the water at Northeastern.

[RetroCanuck]

For myself Its Gaudette in the Bigs. Showing he can be a top 9 centre while continuously growing his game.

 

The other big news story for me is the play of Hoglander. This kid has elite skill and has the chance to fight for a spot with us next season

[JM_]

I'm going a little off script and saying Green putting Boeser with AG. Initially I was not thrilled by this, but if it works out and it produces three dangerous scoring lines it might be genius. 

[CaNuCkSLoUiE23]

Besides all the obvious players, I think Tanev needs to get some love. He’s been healthy all season, playing big minutes against opposing teams top players, which has been allowing Hughes play to his strengths. Chris has been a defensive general on the backend this season; we definitely wouldn’t be where we are without him playing the way he has so far. 

[xereau]

Loui Eriksson's professionalism.

[RUPERTKBD]

All good choices ( I voted for Miller)....I'll add Fantenberg as well. I was really liking the addition of Benn, as he adds some physicality to the back end, but Oscar has definitely outplayed him so far.

[oldnews]

I think I'd have to go with Fantenburg.

 

I am a bit surprised by how accelereated the development of Hughes, and to some extent, Virtanen, has been.  LE is a bit of a surprise - but a reverse surprise of sorts - I'd expected him to perform better all along, so I'm not sure he qualifies in this discussion.

 

But I am surprised that Fantenburg has edged Benn out of the top 6. 

I did not see that coming at the start of the season - but in Edler's absence, I did think Fantenburg emerged as performing better than Benn, so I agree with Green's decision there, but did not see that coming.

Edited January 19, 2020 by oldnews