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IBatch

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Everything posted by IBatch

  1. L to R ... Miller, EP, QH, Horvat, BB....did I get it right? The FAB Five...
  2. I wouldn’t say the rebuild is over as in we won’t see the best version of this team for two or three years, but it definitely turned a corner and playoffs look like a definite possibility in our near future (I think this year). I’d expect a year or two of bouncing in and out followed by a run of consecutive appearances. Unexpected for sure, always figured next year would be the last big draft before we got out. But I’m happy with how things worked out, might as well get on with it, we traded a first for a first in his prime. Benning gets and A plus for his signings this summer, he made a plan went out and accomplished everything. Second best D available and a rightie, upgrade with Benn on one of the best cap hits this off season, and now Ferland. And all of them are bigger meaner versions of whom they replaced. Plus Edler on a great term. Great job.
  3. I’m not so sure about buying out LE at any time given the way his pay was given out. We’d have to add all his bonus payment plus 6 million divided into two...pretty sure he’s never getting bought out..
  4. Unfortunately true...watching them hunch over to “give err” was sometimes painful...but their skills never eroded. Losing a step hurt their cycle, defense and offense..still they would have outscored everyone but EP and Boeser. Definitely very special players.
  5. I’ve mentioned a one year for McQuaid a few times... one of the best fighters left in the league when he does fight and tough as nails and big body. That would be absolutely sick. We’d become the big bad Canucks of old. For fun look at the size of the early nineties teams defense. Sandlak (House)....Even the WCE teams had some toughness to them when Brashear was pounding virtually everyone he fought. I also giggle at the though of Tree coming back. Hughes size doesn’t matter much anymore.
  6. Woo, Podz, Tree, Woo, AG, OJ and Hogs should replace most of Edler, Benn, Tanev, Pearson, Sutter and Bear in as few as two seasons from now (ok the start of the one after that). It’s a good thing too because likely both EP and Hughes will command as much as 16-20 million. Out is around 25 million. All the guys I’ve listed will be 1-3 at the time, which is an additional 7-15 million likely. Soooo on the high side we will need 35 (not happening) on the low side 23, right around with what we will have. Good thing the NEXT year EP is gone, and the Luongo cap hit. As we will definitely need the additional 9 million to sort things out and fill a hole or two. I am starting to hate LEs contract.
  7. You bet. Especially the 33 plus aged Sedins, too slow. And too predictable and no point shot really. One thing I’m very curious about from Hughes ... can he blast it and score from the point? Have some doubts. First year for Hughes and I’m cautiously optimistic...at best maybe we have our Duncan Keith minus the fitness level, nobody but a few guys in the history of the NHL compare to Keith’s fitness level, Chelios, Roberts and maybe Gilmour..
  8. Pretty much exactly how I feel. Brought up the Tarasenko deal a few months ago and some people thought it was ridiculous, others like you and me love the idea. It’s the best thing for the team long term if he’s on a deal like that for a couple reasons. One the cap hit is fair off the bat, a little in BB favour, but each year the team starts to save money and two or three years in it would become team friendly. Definitely agree that bridge deals for star players rarely works out for the team cap wise, just look at what happened with Subban and Price...ugh.. if Boeser scores 40 plus goals for a couple years which he’s definitely capable of and almost certainly will with EP progressing and a top nine that now is one of the best in our division. Personally the BB we saw in March is the one we will see from now on at least...that’s a PPG player plus...and a 40-50 goal scorer. He’s just entering his early prime now. And in the best shape of his life and two seasons under his belt. He believes he can play 82 games...that’s the crux apparently on the deal now he wants to get paid like that and the team is using his first two seasons games played as a bargaining tool. As long as he doesn’t get an AM deal that brings him right to UFA status I’m happy. I do worry that both Hughes and Boeser would highly consider an offer from a good US team when the time comes. Horvat to a certain degree too, I’m not so sure he wouldn’t take a deal from TO even OTT when the time comes, but now that our team looks like it’s likely playoff bound (I truly believe we will make the playoffs this year), that won’t be as much of an issue...we could be very, very good by then and the culture the team is building is great too, a hard working attitude. Watch JV take off this year. He’s got guys taking his spot now and is buried in the depth chart barring injuries. He will play like a bandit. In the end I’d rather see BB signed for 8 years now while we still can make those deals. It’s almost a certainty that the NHL will insist on five year max deals next CBA like they did the last one, and now with the AM deal and how much that favours the players, getting to UFA so quickly, I could see the NHLPA agreeing to that and using it to reduce the UFA status by one year as well as a bargaining chip to accept the smaller term deals. It helps both sides, teams are less likely to be stuck with a Ryan, LE type deal they regret later, and players just get richer and richer quicker. The league average career length is going down so players need to consider how they could make more money faster, which is already happening with insane RFA deals anyways.
  9. Not sure why that benifits the team, we need him in the lineup and it’s not like last year where he hasn’t even started skating yet by now (read today he’s already skated 22 times and is in perfect/great condition). In other words he won’t need the rest. It seems like anything is possible at this moment, including a one year deal so he can show the Canucks he can play a full season, to a short-long bridge deal, to a full deal just to free agency (please not this) to a max term deal. Im not worried about cap space. AG will be in Utica, same with Schaller assuming nobody picks him up, same with LE....there’s enough cap savings available to sign him to a 7 million deal and still make it under the cap day one not including Rousell. Would be quite the week if he signed too, nice to see he’s pumped at all the changes, upgrades and new faces and that he’s stoked to see the direction the team is going. The way he’s talking it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see a team friendly deal at all. At the same time other prime RFA deals are dragging their feet because they want to see what others get first. Aho is done, but not Point, MT and Rantanen, all of which should get more then Brock. Wouldn’t be apposed to Benning waiting it out to make sure he doesn’t overpay, as there is no way he should be getting as much as any of them...yet.
  10. Read this article an hour or so ago, nice to see that BB is close....and that it’s still possible we sign him long term. Anything but an AM deal will make me happy, I don’t want to see a slightly longer deal that brings him to free agency, either a short bridge or a 7-8 year deal. Take advantage of them while they still even exist, last CBA the NHL wanted max term at 5 years but eventually relented. They will push for it again and this time with more ammunition to make it work. Great time to be a fan though, nice to see talks are going well and it won’t be long before we get the news (hopefully).
  11. Me too. Don’t see them repeating. Not sure about the regular season, Binnington has Murray written all over him.
  12. Well they almost beat St Louis this year...and added 30 plus goals to their lineup this off season (Pavelski will be fine next year, maybe the year after too). Their window is now and they know it, nothing wrong with going for it even if that means the bulk of your offense is coming from guys around 30 plus. Heck that’s when the Sedins did their most damage too. Still 11 long tooth guys does make you wonder how they will do on a long playoff run...it’s not like they are the 2002 Wings level skill, or age too (pretty sure the oldest to ever win a cup).
  13. In all fairness Gillis also gave out his clauses to keep salaries down so we could have a better team and to plahyers entering free agency. Benning didn’t add clauses to Horvats last year(s) of his contract, although he could have, wonder how Boesers end up, and once they are in their prime years and ready for their third deals I’m not so sure these guys won’t get the same treatment depending on how things go, whether it’s Benning or someone else running the show by then. Definitely agree that third liners don’t usually get those though. And don’t think Myers has one either so far so good.
  14. Because he didn’t have a core to work with. Can’t build a team out of UFAs anymore. But as he’s shown you sure can support one with them if done properly. Unless your talking about the toughness, which I do get 100%.
  15. This could be the case, but on the bright side they will be picking each other apart and splitting points with less guys to beat on in their division. Some of those teams really weren’t far off a wild card spot themselves last year, and the nice thing about hockey is nothing really follows the plan...like every year expect some surprises and disappointments ...at this point I’m not even sure if we’d qualify as a surprise, and underdog for sure though and we won’t get our respect until we do it. A lot of roster changes over the last two years, almost a completely different team then the one we iced two years ago.
  16. One thing that’s almost undoubtedly true is Benning has done more for Vancouver then any other GM in our division so far. SJ signed EK but punted Pavelski and so far Thornton. EDM, CAL, nothing to talk about, same with LA, ANA. Vegas is still a top team, but hasn’t done much since getting Stone. Really nothing to complain about, Benning set some goals and went out and did just that. We are going to be much tougher to play against and now have depth we didn’t have before especially upfront. Hard not to see playoffs in our future next year and definitely not the following few years if things stay about the same. SJ has a small window that’s about to close, EDM well a lot will have to go right for them to get back, CAL will make it ... ANA, LA well too bad for them. ARI, well when their endless rebuilding will click, but probably after they leave.. good times
  17. I suppose it all depends on the definition of core. One could argue that both Torres and Malholtra and even Coho at the time were core support players during the peak Sedin years. I’d 100% agree to that definition. Hansen too. Those are the guys that our team needs to draft to succeed. For one they are cheaper then UFA vets that Benning really had no other choice but sign under the “re-tool” and gap phase. EP and Boeser accelerated the rebuild by one or two years, BUT we still have to wait for the later round high end prospects to make it. Madden, Woo, Lind etc could help fill those roles for sure, same with AG. Personally I think those guys are just as important as having the high end guys when it comes to becoming an actual contender. At this point JV is filling one of those roles as a support player, one that hopefully will get better in his prime too. Not what you’re hoping for from a first rounder, but it’s better then a miss and definitely fills the support role. McCaan isn’t a top player, he might become one (doubt it), playing with Crosby makes anyone look good and he played with a bunch of chumps other then Geuntzal...
  18. Near the TDL trade JT Miller for a third and a first rounder...
  19. I agree that it’s way too early to predict who might be an NHL player past the third round under Bennings last four drafts...his first two are basically locked in. At this point two are Tree and AG. I think your being a little optimistic on quite a few of these guys making it and definitely where they might end up. Some of these guys are second rounders too, which weren’t included in the point I was trying to make. I definitely think he will buck the trend of the previous few GMs, in not hitting on many at all. But I don’t expect we will see more then a handful of guys, and most of them will be third rounders. Madden, Tree and AG are locks IMO, MD has a decent chance of making it, 200 games though? Hard to say. yes to Woo and Lind (second rounders). JG looks like a career AHLer at best so far (can’t push guys around so easy, his size is not longer a factor, although his skating is improving) ... Brisbois might get the third role but looks to be a first call-up depth option, doubt he will play 200 games but hope I’m wrong. Statistically Benning is only a above average drafter, plus four based on ADP. TB is plus 22, by far the best drafter in the league based on average draft position the last five years. EDM is DFL, -27 based on ADP the past five years. Definitely agree it’s too early for the last three or even four drafts to really know what we’ve got. In the end a GM expects one NHLer per draft and hopes for two. More then that is huge.
  20. I really think that like it or not, Benning has locked in his core and has pushed things forward. Also think that how well we do will depend on how well the guys that are just starting to play and will soon be arriving in Utica do over the next two years and which ones turn out good enough to play a decent-good role in the NHL as support players for the core. CHI had Kane, Toews, Hossa, Seabrook, Keith, Crawford and Sharp as their main guys. That’s seven players. Plus a young Byfuglien as a forward and a medley of support players over the years. We have Boeser, EP, Horvat, Hughes, Podz and Demko. Plus a few hopefuls in OJ, JV plus plus...Madden, Woo etc. Hard to say if it’s enough but it is a good start.
  21. It’s too early to be sure about that. I’ve said before only 7 guys past the second round have played 200 games for the Canucks or other teams that we’ve drafted since 2001 and half those guys were chumps. Benning has Tree, AG, and a few other possibilities out there that could break that measly trend. It’s those guys that usually make or break a rebuild. EDM for example despite their wealth of early picks, and Buffalo for that matter and even CAR haven’t (of course their on the rise now) don’t have much to speak of either past round two. Of course you can’t hit on a good one if you don’t play but the odds are bad. 7.5% of all picks combined past the second round haven’t made it (for us). And only 4% have been decent-good. I really wish some CDCer would be willing to spend the time to illustrate this in a way to make people understand that picks can be overrated.
  22. This thanks Alf. I read an article today predicting the best playoff teams over the next few years...and was pleasantly surprised to see Van at 14. This was also written BEFORE Myers and Miller and Benn (who’s considered a bargain) came by THN before the playoffs started this year. I’m sure they’d move us up a few places now and bump a few teams around since the draft and free agency. No GM hits on all their firsts, and no GM misses out on a surprise pick either (assuming they make a few drafts and your not EDM). Benning has picked the BPA the past three drafts or since OJ, so maybe he learned his lesson. He’s also been cautious when it comes to UFA signings since LE so maybe he learned from that too. For our case as fans, let’s hope so.
  23. Gotcha completely. In some ways it was pivotal but like I said with MT making the lineup right away perhaps we would have never got EP...because our standings would have gone up... Accidentally tanking. Ha ha. If OJ becomes a top four then all will be forgiven.
  24. Me too. I never thought this core would have a remote chance in hell of contending, no team does that back-to-back (top to top team with completely different cores). I figured our best chance would be the parts of this core with parts of the next core, and that the best we could realistically expect MAYBE a WCE level team. And they got a pile of riches from Linden and Stajanov. Now I’m not so sure. Likely they will bounce jn and out of the playoffs for a few years and then have a run of two or three years as a bubble contender where anything might happen. Three years is when I expect whatever window they have to open, how long it will remain open depends entirely on who we can keep once they reach UFA status (much like PIT and Boston) and who else they have coming up behind EP, Hughes, Podz and Boeser...Horvat might be traded or gone by then. A lot could happen by then. One things for sure, much like Detroit we are going through the aches and pains of years of winning. Maybe it works maybe it doesn’t, but I’m cautiously optimistic with this group, third group of 21 and unders might move up to 1 or 2 now that we have Podz plus in our group, and when those guys are in their prime we could have a shot.
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