DrJockitch

Man seeing it layed out like that is nasty. That D needs to be rebuilt.

No way this kid is playing anywhere other than Vancouver next year. The Canucks wont want to let him out of their sight. Even if they don't play him every day or heavy minutes at the start.

That average weight graph is absolutely useless. Little pattern to it whatsoever. Toronto is losing because they are not as good a team, have a big hole on the right side of their D and the Bruins are being aloud to play Bruin hockey. They are being outplayed physically despite being bigger. There a lot of soft big players and tough small players. Dorsett was our toughest player this year but not in any way big. In today's NHL mobility is more important than size. Size still has value but you can't hit what you can't catch. Yes the ideal player is still big and mobile but now the ranking is more mobile then big where as 20 years ago it was big then mobile.

This is an equivalent statement. i agree that is the problem.

The problem isn't having 6-7 D men, it is when you play them in top 4 roles consistently.

I think it all is very encouraging but may want to step back from Crosby level.

When you put a team in a non-traditional environment it is a good idea to give them a chance to be decent. Look what happened to the Grizzlies here. Got screwed at every turn, were a lousy team that was awful to watch and never caught on. Phoenix has been bad for a very long time. The Thrashers were mostly terrible. Florida got good early and it bought them a lot of years before consistent loosing beat that fan base up to the point of forgetting them. I think if you are going to put a new team in you need to give them a chance to succeed. Vegas caught lightning in a bottle this year. Great job buy the management and coaching and like Rob said above, a lot of players having career years. Some really nice players to build around though they will be taking a step back likely next couple years as the boatload of draft picks develop.

As professional and fit as Daniel and Henrik are, I am not sure that is who I go to to work on explosiveness.

Sorry was responding to what someone said about Mittlestat, not sure why was in Kole Lind thread. Anyway Kole Lind, like that guy.

He will be playing behind Eichel which will likely help a lot in his development, not having to worry about being the number one guy, not dropping teams top D line or pairing. I don't feel I need to cheer for him to fail just because we could have drafted him, or because the media ranks him higher than Petterson. His college scoring should speak more to just how good Brock is (and what a steal he was in the draft) though he was playing as a scoring winger. A centre has a lot more defensive responsibility and a lot more to learn when stepping up levels.

Yes, I agree with that. So these would be nice pieces to add but first you need Crosby, Malkin and Letang. I think Pitt is probably pretty happy how things have gone without Sutter, but again Crosby, Malkin, Letang. I guess I have moved over to the team that says sell off any asset for that lottery ticket so that when you get some players to build a championship around then you build the team around them. That takes good management, and vision. Benning has shown he is a little more than half of what a good GM needs to be. Yes the most important half, and he seems to be learning, but his foibles are interfering with the part of the job he is good at.

Well my prediction three years ago was that we were going to suck and then get worse when the Sedin's retired. Next year the draft is in Vancouver, may be the only chance we get to win the "lottery." After picking seven this year we won't be a lot further along next year.

I agree with this. Tryamkin wanted something different than the fans of this team wanted and that is his choice. If anything I think Benning bent over too far for this guy, no AHL clauses and such. Tryamkin thought he was too special to let the team try to do what was best for his development and then ran away when he figured out it wasn't easy to play in the NHL. Too bad, great toolset. Who knows maybe he will turn into a good player for us in five years or so.

I get trading Tanev but I take a little more basic look at things. He is a good pro player. There are a lot of not so good pro players on this team that should go first. Guddy, Gagner, Sutter, MDZ, Hutton ... Having solid good pros to build around is the concept that is being used, then why surround them with seriously flawed pro players. That being said, for a good enough return everyone over the age of 25 should be available and probably a few under.

I wish this were true but I just can't be that optimistic. Too many years of this. Some great prospects, really a 180 from when Benning took over. Could be so much better though if he managed the professional side of the game as well as he has the amateur. I just look at the group of prospects and see wingers, wingers and wingers. Pettersen looks amazing but think he is going to be a winger in the pros. I just look at the Ducks and think would this kid be able to line up against any of their centres from a physical perspective. Gaudette may work out great but may not. College kids are hard to predict. I think this board under-rates OJ as a D prospect but not sure there are any other even B level D prospects. I hope Chatfield or Briseboise or MacKenzie work out but they are still big time projects. Looking at the D prospects on other clubs that are already struggling to climb out of the cellar such as Carolina, we really look very, very thin. Demko looks great but again, predicting goalies is so difficult. Markstrom used to be one of the best prospects in the league. So I see one really good prospect on D, C and G. . To assume that these are automatic locks to develop into top flight pros while playing on a team that is going to be awful for the next few years (because their pro NHL players just aren't that good) is a big assumption. Sure there is a ton of really good winger prospects but try trading a winger for a centre or D man. We have worked ourselves up to what most likely a 7th OA pick in the draft this year. This is most likely getting us a B+ D prospect which will be a good addition but unless we start getting rid of some of the NHL guys for prospects or picks the process has a long way to go to make a Cup competitive team. A little lottery luck would go a long way to helping as well but that seems even less likely than every prospect hitting what CDC thinks they will. To try to be positive at the end, again I feel like our prospect pool has dramatically improved though is a little imbalanced. Would love to see 5 rookies in the lineup next year with Gaudette, Pettersen, OJ, Demko and one of the other wingers. If we happen to get lucky in the lottery that may be number 6. I know this won't happen but a guy can wish.

While the idea of Gaudette and Petterson in the line up next year sounds great, we will not go into the year with two rookie centres. JB just isn't wired that way. At least one or both of these guys will start on the wing if they are both in the NHL. In 3 years though could well be Bo, Elias, Adam and Brendan playing centre 1-4.

I paid under $2k a year to go to UBC, makes me feel old.

Yeah he plays wing on Suzuki's line. Knows his role. Even in warm up he spends most of his time in the crease, nobody else was doing it. John Leclair kind of game, shoveling pucks into the net while standing in the crease.

Just got back from the Knights, Attack game. I thought he had two assists, set up two goals in exactly the same way. Spends most of his time in his office and added some toughness. Looked like a man amongst boys though his skating has a long way to go if he is going to make NHL. Nick Suzuki had a pair and was dangerous looking.

Would like to see Dahlen go here in December when contract is up with second tier team. Could also go play with Elias but would be nice to see him with Petrus and OJ.

Who new the peak of Sam Bennet's career would be as "18 year old Sam Bennet" in the playoff series against us. Sad to see your career peak so young. Isn't he in a contract year, that is a tough one to figure out.

Some of the statistical modeling they do on Canucksarmy to project prospects corrects for this. Yes, players that are dominant from a younger age tend to be better players. Of course it is a predictor but not a huge determinant. Regardless though, very encouraging the phenomenal season he is having so far.

You may have gone a step too far.

I thought I had read that he only signed until Jan 31 to recover from Mono at home in easier, less contact league. He could still spend half the year in Vancouver, Utica or move up to the SEL or whatever they are calling their top league now. By the time February rolls around it may be time to bring him in to see if can help PP.

I was thinking same thing, hoping he ends up playing with one of those teams.