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Everything posted by IBatch
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If you saw the rumour on this site I’d face check it ... been some supposition that either Detroit or OTT might take Demko (because they have the cap space for a cap dump). Did you have a source for this rumour? Yzerman is sly and has a lot of work to do in Detroit. Maybe Demko is in his radar but I think at best he’d take a one year player from us like Bear - or maybe Sutter off our hands and that’s about it. We have almost no leverage. If he’s going to weaponize his cap space 10-12 other teams will be scrambling and the offers will get pretty steep for the teams fighting for the chance to clear a body or two. I suppose it’s possible they are interested in Demko - but the return won’t be LE off the books. Well I suppose it could be if we added a first. LE is worth at least a first and something added (one year of Marleau was a first ... before Covid), maybe two firsts I don’t know for sure. We would definitely have to play ball and it would hurt our pool and our future pool a lot.
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Calder Trophy finalists unveiled
IBatch replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
I’m guessing most of us didn’t watch Makar play many games - other then the ones against us (one of which he had I think four points ugh). Head to head Makar is a better defensive player ... yes we can talk about linemates etc for us Q Hughes helped us mostly fix a PP that had been awful until BB arrived (went from 23 to 9th BB rookie year from before and after he was put on the PP) , then EP came and kind of just kept things rolling ok - and now it’s a top five unit (yet books were written on this site this year how the PP coach should go hilarious). Makar and Hughes are almost equal offensively - Makar has the edge because of his ability to score more goals, doesn’t matter who’s dishing you the puck if you can score 12 goals in 58ish games that’s incredible for a rookie defenseman. Point shots or dekes or whatever. One thing I’d say Hughes does better is passing on the PP/quarterbacking the PP. Almost every single standard and advanced stat including quality of competition Makar edges out Hughes - a lot are pretty close though - going by stats Makar wins. It’s impossible to know what things would look like if they switched teams but id imagine that their stats would mostly switch too. Makes for a very difficult decision. I’m sure Makar will win, and probably by a fair margin. And I’m also sure both will have incredible careers. If we could have either guy who would you really want? Since I’ve watched QHs a lot more I’d go with him - but I’m not sure I would if I watched Makar the same amount. Goal scoring matters ... I’d guess id probably go with Makar - he’s bigger too which given the position really does matter. Ive also read some head to head articles on the two players. Done by guys with no skin in the game - made 2/3 the way through the season ... Makar edges Hughes in those as well although a lot of the categories were too close to declare a winner on (shot was one Makar won). Would be shocked and pleasantly surprised if QHs wins. Doesn’t matter either way because we win no matter what as fans. -
Calder Trophy finalists unveiled
IBatch replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
Guess they won’t this year as both the frontrunners play in the West ha ha. -
Can the Canucks afford to let Chris Tanev walk away?
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
Myers and QHs definitely played a huge role in keeping the work load off Edler and Tanev. They both had one of their best health seasons in a long time ... would be nice to upgrade Stetcher at this point ... worrisome that when the kids start that the injuries could start coming back - however the team doesn’t have a choice in that regard, at least next season. After that the leftover money most definitely should be concentrated on looking for long term vets to shore up each side. Possibly with trades - possibly with UFAs. -
Can the Canucks afford to let Chris Tanev walk away?
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
He won’t get much more then he’s getting now, even without Covid. This season he was still a solid NHL defenseman and QHs has nothing but good things to say about how much he helped his transition and how much he likes having him as a partner (without someone like that him his plus minus would be even worse). If he was on the L side then maybe as we are much deeper there ... our R side is thin even with him in the lineup. Rafferty might be able to replace Stetcher, but none of these guys are ready to replace Tanev at this point. A one year deal makes a lot of sense for the team - and he’d be taking one for the team for sure by staying in Vancouver on a one year deal too - although I see him slowly working his way towards the bottom pairing and really replacing Stetcher for up to five more years on one or two year deals at a time. Our defense won’t be elite again anytime soon - agree on that point. That said like the MG defense - money will free up to afford the equivalent of a couple 6 million dollar guys (4 million back then) - a chance for our own Hamhuis/Erhoff types. In two seasons. When that happens our window will be opened more then the crack it is now. Edit: The teams strength is in its forward prospect group still - enough guys to replace a lot of LE, Beagle, Sutter, Roussel,Pearson etc...the cash savings from that hopefully can be used to plug some holes - but not this off-season. As early as the following one though ... as long as JB doesn’t do anything stupid like trading BB and replacing him with TT (unless the return is too good to pass on). -
Can the Canucks afford to let Chris Tanev walk away?
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
Agree with the one year thing for a variety of things including the ED. We need to keep three guys and two of them need to be our young players .. maybe all three even. -
Can the Canucks afford to let Chris Tanev walk away?
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
Don’t see the team moving from Tanev but i suppose it’s possible. Our defense is still our weakest link. Do think we might move on from Stetcher though and save a little there. Also see Tanev signing a one year deal - report about three weeks ago said as much (that’s what they are looking at). He’s not old for a defensive defenseman. Just look at how Edler is aging ... his injuries are more of a concern but really even that kind of helps the team right now as then we get to see how the NHL readyish guys are which could help with decisions later. QHs likes playing with him and says Tanev has helped. He’s a mentor and a leader and well liked in the dressing room too. As far as Alex P goes that’s a pipe dream. Slim chance he won’t sign in St Louis. Benn is definitely expendable although it’s always like to have depth - and because of that and his history and cheap cap hit wouldn’t be too hard to move with only a year left. Believe that’s OJs chance and that he will get his feet wet next season too. The team really needs two guys to step up and take over, and do a better job then their replacements - one for Edler and one for Tanev long term. It’s anyone’s guess who that might be and if it will even happen at all with the prospects we have. Markstrom, Tanev and then TT (who I’d love to keep but really he’s a luxury... and we could definitely come to regret that in the same way we are with Ferland already and how Sutter is also making things hard cap wise. Thankfully we only need to wait a year and we should have cap space galore to work with. And some more the following year too. That’s when we should be looking for upgrades in the top six and the top four D. To answer your question id say most likely NO we can’t move on from Tanev yet. He could easily stay for 5 more years (one or two year deals at a time) ... -
Why not just clear Loui’s contract by attaching a 1st like the Leafs did?
IBatch replied to EP40.'s topic in Canucks Talk
Good thing we aren’t the coach - if we sign both TT and JV I think next season will likely be his last... -
Our PP was very good most of the year - with both TT and BB it should be even better. If MIN can’t play on the right side of the line (and I think these games the refs won’t be too whistle happy) if it’s called like a regular season game our forwards - especially EP should draw enough penalties to make a big difference. Have high hopes for Myers too ...he was very good for WNP and quite productive as well - he could be one of those guys like Babych who amps his game up. Same with some of our forwards (quite a few actually) ... glad we have hockey back soon!
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Markstrom will play unless he’s terrible two games in a row ....:
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Edler wasn’t doing much of anything when he had the chance ... plus he’s more rested...Myers gave the unit a boost but it faded so who knows .. Myers and QHs finally gave Edper and Tanev a break especially on special teams .. best part for once neither was out for significant time - don’t think that’s a coincidence and let’s face it Edler has never been a great PP guy. Agree either Ferland or Pearson for second unit ... Pearson should do fine
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Why not just clear Loui’s contract by attaching a 1st like the Leafs did?
IBatch replied to EP40.'s topic in Canucks Talk
Heffy I appreciate your enthusiasm- but any team or players that called or thought of another player on their team as trash isn’t playing in the NHL. Think about it for a minute. If it was 1994 and the cap didn’t matter wouldn’t we be glad to have a veteran guy like him on our team playing up and down the lineup but because of our current depth relegated to the fourth line? Absolutely we would. And in fact we kind of did in Ryan Walter. Former Captain of the Habs - loads of experience but near the end of his road and anchored our fourth line. Is Beagle much better? Or Motte? Hmmm. Food for thought. It is what it is, yes in the cap universe he’s probably not worth more then 2.5 million right now. We ice him and the team is likely better the McEwen or Lind right now. You can bet TG will make the decision to demote him only if he feels we are better without him. -
McDavid at 12.5... JV at 1.5 100ish points for McDavid... best player in the league .. Miller gets 70 and is paid 5.25....JV on pace for 20/20 = 40 easily ... at 1.5. Or should we do EP instead? Point is a lot of players don’t earn their money relatively to others. Even the very best in the league. McDavid would have to get around 300 points to equal JVs production...
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The hate or strong feelings around LE are understandable ... anyone who’s worked with someone who doesn’t carry their load and gets paid extremely well can identify to that. That said if their was no cap we’d all be happy to have him on the fourth line and nobody would be complaining about it at all. It is what it is. Wonder if OTT fans feel the same way about Ryan and his 7 million....no they don’t. I can personally say that because I live close to OTT and they have provided a lot of support for him. Maybe if LE also had a demon that a lot of ordinary people could identify with there wouldn’t be so much constant BS about him. It’s not his fault JB offered him that contract - however it is his fault that he couldn’t produce what that contract was worth. He’s got to own that. Never aside from Messier can I re-call a player adding so much fan ridicule. Ladies and gents like it or not he actually is a CANUCK...he wears the uniform. TG might as well use him. He’s not going anywhere this season.
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Why not just clear Loui’s contract by attaching a 1st like the Leafs did?
IBatch replied to EP40.'s topic in Canucks Talk
Your trade is pure fantasy too but other then that I like your enthusiasm. Definitely agree you win cups with vets who are raring to go and make a difference. -
Why not just clear Loui’s contract by attaching a 1st like the Leafs did?
IBatch replied to EP40.'s topic in Canucks Talk
So not to pick on you - but another post you laid out your thoughts pretty well on that JB time is up and should be fired...yet here you are protecting his worst move. A little ironic don’t you think? And yes I agree with this post well done. He shouldn’t be replaced unless someone else bumps him out. McEwen has promise and for sure Lind does too...not to mention Podz. The clock is definitely ticking on LE and whether or not he loses his job and is sent down. Last year Ladd went through the same thing in NYI and of course JB has already done this a few times with Bear and Gagne (and little blow-back both times it made a lot of sense). TG ultimately has the most input. Currently LE is playing to stay - like a possessed man. Nothing could be better for the club then if he can earn more of his pay-cheque. If and when he can’t not a big deal. -
The Canucks’ depth on RW and long term implications and strategies
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
Wai-lai416 you missed the point. You don’t fire GMs for improving your team or just for the heck of it. JB made lemonade out of lemons and most long time fans and experts recognize that. A lot of articles start with “all he had was Horvar and a pile of clauses to deal with” and end with “holy crap somehow he pulled it off”. I used to be critical of him too. Not overly because I could see both to macro and micro viewpoint on what was possible. Somehow with a re-tool strategy he saved that right away by acquired Miller (the best available goalie at the time) and Vrbata after going after CAL long time Captain the second best forward available ... it worked for one year ... but never should have and he knew that too. Which is why he made sure that our zero zero zero prospect pool was created and developed behind the scenes. Never drafted above 5 despite two 3rd worst seasons ... what were you expecting? That we’d go from a top team with crappy returns to a top team or playoff team overnight? The actual rebuild took three years. It should have taken 5-7. That’s how long an above average GM could create a playoff team after joining the league. Your expectations are not in line with a 30 league team... Please name all the teams in the past 30 years that won presidents trophies or even were competitive with back to back cores. It goes down dramatically as the league expanded right? The 80’s Oilers teams got the biggest treasure trove of anyone since expansion for dumping their stars in their primes and did exactly what with it? Good grief. Don’t know what to say...what GM in our history has drafted as well as JB team has over a six year period? Hard to know for sure / but my money is definitely on JB. Burke is a close second but he missed a lot too - only mention him because we wouldn’t have drafted Bure without his behind the scenes work - even though he was 100% against drafting him (thought he was too small ... very ironic right)... he was Quins right hand man and Quin made his best move ever by ignoring his advice. Really I say this with as much kindness as possible / anyone that believes we’d have been better off with anyone else may be right - that’s in the past so let it stay there - I believe 100% that we have been lucky to have him - and that 3/4 of the other options wouldn’t have worked out nearly as well. Figured part of this core and part of the next (5 years from now) would have been our best bet. Hope the Canucks go on a tear and we can finally put these sort of posts to rest. -
This is where he belongs - that is in the top five. Our team went on a slide once he was injured (and BB) .... and even TT couldnt stop it. He’s also a top five Hart candidate...
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Most sites have him as an honourable mention for a Vezina finalist - some say he would have been without his injury and had he played at the same level throughout. He’s number one in EXP goals # 2 in adjusted SP (which looks at quality of shots) and played in the 9th hardest environment. Also his SP ranks a lot higher (4-5) once you get up there in games - 30 or so can’t remember. He did have a chance of making a finalist and likely would have been if he made it through the season unhurt. Rask and Vasilevskiy play infront of two of the best teams in the league - a deeper dive where things become more equal shows a very different story then the traditional stats your quoting above. This was one of the best seasons I’ve ever seen by a Canuck goalie not named Luongo ... on par with some of McLeans best. Too bad he couldn’t finish it - for sure a top 5 performance this year by any NHL goalie.
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The Canucks’ depth on RW and long term implications and strategies
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
GMs are fired when a team isn’t making progress. There are also examples of GMs who’ve been around for decades (Poile and Holland) so I wouldn’t go there. JB job is safe for the foreseeable future - I doubt he’s going anywhere soon - he’s earned the right to see this through. -
Not for a long time. JB won’t be picking a BB and Pastrnak type once we get back into the latter part of the first round (if we even have a first rounder) every time - nobody does. If I had to place a bet - would guess it will be decades before anything else like this happens again - and during the next couple down cycles whomever is still around on the CDC will be talking about the “good old days” when JB and crew were cracking out multiple NHLers each draft. It is simply impossible mathematically to do that. If every GM had to break even each draft each year all they’d have to do is find 19 guys to play 82 games. Make it easy math and say 1600 NHL games total. Hmmm. Yet somehow we are supposed to get a first liner, a second liner a back-up goalie and a third liner each draft right? Ridiculous. JB is a better then average drafter right now without any extra players making the show. Maybe that’s all he is. He’s definitely found his 1600ish games he needs to break even on every line. And a lot more because he’s also found three guys who 1000 games doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch - plus a 500-600 player in JV and AG and a 200 game goalie in Demko. Not to mention Forlsing, McAan and Tree who are all playing pro games still ... and he’s also found Stetcher and Rafferty... and lost one, won one on Vey and Bear. Someone mentioned .50% or so of second rounders have played a game from OJs draft. Ha ha. Big deal. A lot of prospects get a few games - does that mean Brisbois and Sautner are winners too? Can we add them to JBs win column too? OJ will definitely get some games ... does that make him a winner? Not unless he plays around 450 games or he’s a bust. JV will pass the bust column on his next deal for sure ... Puljajarvi and Yakupov are busts. Edit: and really a lot of games a team needs to make up are also found on UFAs and trades...of which JB has absolutely done his job for so far with limited options and resources to work with.
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The Canucks’ depth on RW and long term implications and strategies
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
I agree but what older stars are you talking about? Horvat? Miller? BB? It’s nice having high end prospects but both these guys might never make it ... Podz floor seems high enough to scrape a bottom six job - Hogs could just be another Vey, Goldobin, Dahlen or Boucher type. We won’t know until they win a roster spot .... so no way should we trade a known commodity - we don’t have enough of them yet - for lottery tickets. -
The Canucks’ depth on RW and long term implications and strategies
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
Maybe help we with this but isn’t Tryamkin a UFA after his KHL contract is done? I really don’t know. Thought that after next season our rights to him ended. Edit: yeah KB and Muzzin were great players - Woo still has promise in that regard - plus you never really do know someone could come out of the woodwork. And worst case is we could look to add once cash is available again - like we did with Erhoff and Hamhuis right? Edit: Tree was supposed to come back ... he didn’t. I would think the odds aren’t high he’s ever coming back at this point / definitely wouldn’t plan around it. -
The Canucks’ depth on RW and long term implications and strategies
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
The only thing that might change with our defense is Stetcher gets the Hutton treatment and Rafferty is promoted. Defense was a weakness last year despite adding Myers and QHs. Hutton and Gudranson << then those two guys yet still we struggled. Fatenburg, then Benn, then Brisbois, then OJ at the bottom end of our left side... sure maybe one of them can displace them - but so far that hasn’t happened other then Fatenburg doing a better job then Benn- but you can bet he’s coming back with a chip on his shoulder unless he’s ready to retire which seems doubtful. -
The Canucks’ depth on RW and long term implications and strategies
IBatch replied to Patel Bure's topic in Canucks Talk
And what play Rafferty and Woo? I guess if tanking is the goal that would work.