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IBatch

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Everything posted by IBatch

  1. What Gretzky has forgotten about hockey is more then the entire universe of all the best including Orr have ever known. He’s the best and most dominant player in the history of all professional sports combined. When he looks at a team play whomever he looks at plays better, and when he speaks everyone takes notice because, well he is godlike. Just happy he compared himself to EP. Now EP has the mana and karma and blessings of the Great One and has permission to proceed to decimate his records. Especially when WG watches him play, as when he does some of his laser energy enters EP and he can do his stuff. All five point games WG watched. Ok that was fun. Man it it would be amazing to have a guy like him play again. Five steps ahead of everyone and the tools to score goals or make a pass from anywhere with anyone. Even when he was older and fading he was still a top player in the league. Would be like the Sedins scoring 150 points in the dead puck era before they could grow facial hair...instead they weren’t even sure they could make it in this league. Gretzky just was on another plane. The Lafreniere hype isn’t going to end up well for him or the guys that think he’s the next Crosby etc. Crosby scores 100 points as a rookie. He’s the last to do it with Ovi, and he’s not going to do that. He will help a team no doubt, but when’s the last time a winger was that good? Bure .... and before that Selanne. Heck he might not even best Boesers rookie year although undoubtedly he will get the chance right away and L wing is a hard possition to dominate in. Näslund has three first line L wing selections... not an easy thing to do despite the lack of them historically killing it. For example J.T. Miller stats as half the time as a third liner would make him the 23 best in scoring last year as a LW. That adds some value ... but Lafreniere is not a center. The next draft is overhyped. He’s not going to be the next Ovi. A good player for sure though. I follow what’s coming up all the time, it’s a hobby i suppose. I don’t think next draft is going to be as dominant as the consensus of the CDC thinks right now. Some good players for sure, but it won’t even beat our some recent drafts let alone be the next big one.
  2. They are matching. Still that deal would sure be nice for us...he also scores goals from the blue line...
  3. As for the OP what this means for Benning is he’s trying to make the playoffs and his job likely depends on it. What it means for the Canucks we won’t be wasting our cores early years, any playoff experience is better then none, especially for guys like Horvat who’ve toiled his entire career on our down years. This reminds me a little of when he first came in and his only choice to keep us relevant as per the plan was to sign Miller, which he went out and did, this time it was Myers and a top six player to play with EP, check and check. But there is a big difference between those teams. This one is on its way up, the other barely hanging on, about to fall. Its not entirely out of the realm of reason that this year this could be a start of a new set of consecutive playoff runs, 5-10, with our window opening in two or three years. Likely some in some out along the way but I think most know what I mean. The teams far from perfect but it’s only going to get better. Maybe I’d have waited one more year before activating cap this way, but I’m not sitting where Benning is a cant criticize this. It looks like he’s learned from previous mistakes, Miller, Benn and Myers are all on fair - good cap hits. Think he can manage the same with Boeser, somehow Dubas managed to repair SOME of the damage he did by signing good deals with Kapanen and Johnsson. Don’t think it will be enough with AHO set to make close to 9, and god knows what Marner and Rantanen will get, Point too. Sure it won’t be too bad...once Boeser is re-upped we will have a better idea of how things stand.
  4. I don’t think our window will really open until all the chaff is gone (2-3 years), the kids get a few years under their belts (they aren’t Crosby/Malkin good like the pens first cup) and Podz is playing plus the guys in our pool take over some of the Sutter/LE spots (instead of more high priced placeholders moving in to do so). In the meantime playoffs are a definite possibility, seems more likely then not we can win 5-6 more games with this lineup and get in then stagnate or regress. If we do well, then lottery ticket and I’d expect Benning might be gone. If we don’t then well playoffs. Once that chaff is gone and the kids are paid there might be money to add a Duchene-Stone level free agent during our window phase. Hard to tell because that money money might be needed for the defense, re-up Horvat/Miller too etc. It does appear that we’ve got the core in place (you can only pay so many guys after all) depending how well they do will depend on everything, and if it’s enough to contend later. Have my doubts, but then again I never thought it would be possible to go from a top team to a top team back to back in the first place. No team has done that yet (Det had Osgood, Lidstrom and several other carry overs but they’d be the closest) under the cap or really since expansion. If anything there is hope we can do it.
  5. Last year we were five wins away from a playoff spot. That’s it. Ten wins would probably put us into the top 2 maybe 3 in our division..really that means if we were .500 during that losing streak (which also affected our GAA) we would have made the show. That said the West lost points against the East last year, making it easier for teams to get in. Ten wins would definitely get us there and more...we’d be around a 100 point team. Think we just added 25-30 goals between getting better and our core taking steps. Which would put us close to 250... can’t imagine what a year of Hughes, Myers and Benn will do instead of Poopoo, Guddy/Schenn and Hutton. Guessing at least 25-30 goals less too. Definitely puts us into the playoff hunt.
  6. Never really. Jovo did pretty good especially considering the era. Aucion had one monster year scoring like 23 goals mostly on the PP. Lidster still has the record although two years of Rinehart wasn’t bad. Lumme was decent and consistent. Edler one year ...can see why your excited. So am I. Hughes will create Myers will crush the puck, and get his fair share too as he’s not too shabby either when it comes to passing. Dont have that high expectations for Hughes first year, could take to acclimate to an 82 year season and the NHL in general...if he’s also a Calder candidate then we are in for one heck of a ride.
  7. I’d agree with that. Plus three years from now all the guys will be in their early-mid prime. Podz and probably Tryamkin ... and guys still in their RFA deals...then a short window with max cap followed by Miller and Horvat raises etc...not easy these days to have much of a window, TO just had their best shot slip away this year for example and despite a great team guys don’t seem to want to always stay in WNP.
  8. This. He’s done it before and then his career was sidelined with injuries and ends up on the deepest RHD in the league...scored 8 points is 16 games two playoffs ago and four of those were goals. He scores goals. That’s not something we’ve had for a long long time on the blue line...even if it’s 10 on he low side it could lead the team. How many did Edler get on the PP again last year? For now at least he’s got to best shot on our defense by default.
  9. I’m so stoked we signed Myers...he will become a team favourite while he be here no doubt. Cant help but feel bad for WNP ...Trouba...Myers and now Tanev all gone when their window is now. That said their loss our gain. He’s got the pedigree to be a top line player, like Burke said, he’s just never had the opportunity. He will here and I hope he scores 15 plus goals...
  10. PIT won a cup with a worse D then ours ...second cup arguably about the same, Letang isn’t what he used to be and Shultz did an admirable job their first cup but both Edler and Myers are probably better all around. Point is it’s not impossible to win a cup without a Norris caliber guy or true number one. Hopefully Hughes can be like Subban without the physicality...or even better a Housley or top point getter. Its far from perfect (our defense) but it just got a whole lot better. Nine points shouldn’t be hard to gain this year, twenty isn’t out of the question either.
  11. Get real. With parity these days anything can happen in the playoffs once you make it and this team is far far away from peaking. Making the playoffs before half the core is even in their prime will provide invaluable experience going forward. The say things sit now it’s very possible we make it this year and things will only get better over the next three years. Our cup window stars when Podz gets here, three years from now...and should last another 3-5 years as the team matures just like WSH, PIT, Boston and others did/are. When you have players like we do it’s almost inevitable. WNP was predicted to be a top team when they were missing the playoffs and adding Laine, Ehlers, Schieffe etc and that’s exactly what happened. Of course now their D dissipated but that’s not the point. Im not a Benning homer, so cut that out. But am a fan of who he’s added to the team and his young core something you most obviously are not hence the troll jobs that litter this site. Don’t you like EP, Boeser, Horvat, Hughes etc? Do you think we sacrificed our future that much by adding Miller and Myers, two spots we were never going to fill with draft picks for a least 3-5 years of more losing? Get real man. Eleven tomatoes, I think you’ve thrown a couple hundred already maybe it’s time to sit back and re-evaluate. Or take a look around the league as see the mistakes ever other GM has made. Benning isn’t perfect, but he’s done an above average job overall and continues to work hard towards bettering our team without giving up our future.
  12. Strange thread considering the criticism coming from the OP over Benning trading picks away yet this is a proposal he would consider. Tomatoes you must be sick to your stomach that Benning just signed these defenseman... OR will you criticize this too. Yes MG had some good defenseman....considering Ballard a former 40 plus young promising guy was our extra man ... we had the deepest defense in the league at the time. With Hughes, Myers, Tanev and Edler that’s a very respectable top four, Benn and Stecher also a very respectable bottom pairing. Tryamkin and OJ in the wings, depth is definitely on its way. Far away from a cup? Maybe. Far away from the playoffs? Not anymore...Geeze Luois...three year rebuild and we are back into the playoffs when every other rebuilding team is taking a decade or more. Must have a terrible GM right? Ha ha. Your posts are so far in left field sometimes...but keep up the good fight it’s fun to watch trolls go under their bridges ... to be re-born under a separate identity ... is that you Gaurdian?
  13. SN reports Vancouver signs Jordie Benn for 4 million for 2 years ... If true that’s a significant saving for Hutton and arguably a comparable player, more toughness. https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/canucks-add-defenceman-jordie-benn-two-year-deal/
  14. All of Bennings seasons have been the best and worst, they all have led us to where we are today. The lotto was not kind to us yet we still managed three great years in a row with top three (potentially or even higher with EP) guys in EP, Hughes and Podz. Playoffs finally look to be in our future, maybe for a long time. More help is on the way in both prospects trickling in (OJ finally) and eventual cap relief as all the chaf and placeholders get replaced internally and externally over the next two or three years - and a definite window seems to be in our future (Podz and Tryamkins arrivals). Sure things could be better, but as a long time fan I can’t recall when we’ve ever had this many good-great young players assembled together within a few years of each other. That’s what matters, that’s our core, they are extremely young with a lot of hockey left in them, and once they are all in their primes together we will have a definite shot of becoming one the best teams in our division again. We were supposed to be one of the worst in the league last year, challenging OTT for DFL. Sedins and Vanek were gone the sky is falling etc. Obviously that wasn’t the case.
  15. A playoff team undoubtedly, even with the same line-up we had at the end of the year you have to think moving up nine points in the standings could happen with just a little bit of progression with the young core, and at least no more injuries then usual. Now adding Miller and jettisoning a few from the depth chart by adding Myers and Hughes for an entire season...well it’s actually harder to see us missing the playoffs then not. I hope we start a run of five-seven consecutive playoff berths .. that would be something. Watch the Benning dislikers shrivel away with their hindsight’s and buts. There will be a power shift, SJ is clinging on but EK won’t be enough to keep them there long (they just lost Pavelski, who they were losing to age anyways, how long can Burns keep it up?). ANA is a bit of a mess, where we were five years ago. LA ditto. Vegas looks to be a powerhouse for years to come (yes I’m jealous and yes I’m starting to hate them). ARI is ready to burst but we won’t have to worry about them long, not sure Seattle is going to have an easy time duplicating what Vegas did, teams have wised up this time and won’t be nearly ready to give up extras. CAL looks to be a top team for a while yet, some of our stiffest competition, and EDM won’t get anywhere until they draft better help...something they haven’t been able to do yet but your have to like some of their guys, some help is coming..and they could bounce back... Personally I think the third spot is ripe for the picking....and maybe it takes a 12-14 point improvement this time if the West isn’t killed by the East like it was last year .... that’s still definitely doable. We lost 24 points in our 12 game losing streak, if we played .500 then instead we would have snuck in. JT Miller with EP and Boeser seems like a huge improvement. That line could end up deadly and deadly all the time. Don’t forget Bear is 100% too and he already has chemistry Boeser and can play RW....or maybe JV is finally ready.
  16. This is good term ..and a big add both figuratively and literally. Adding Hughes and Myers to the roster for an entire year is a big upgrade over last season for the defense....excited for the start of the year.
  17. Do you watch the drafts? Or the videos they share after? He’s pretty involved. Sure he relies on his scouting staff, but he tells them what to look for. Heck this last draft was all about the top six, wingers in particular...where do you think the guidelines were coming from? His hair is cool leave it alone.
  18. Absolutely and that something he hasn’t had the privilege to do yet, some years like the last two not even close. That’s why you need to delve deeper and look at the ADP (average draft position) and rank the actual prospects in each team. The past four drafts not including this one, Benning ADP was 7, yet we have the third best group of 21 and unders. That’s a modest - good plus four. Most GMs went up or down a few spots with the exception of EDM who ranks DFL under this system, and TB who ranks first. Overall Benning is in the top third of the league, nothing to complain about unless you like complaining. Also he’s slipped 7 spots during that span for his first picks under the new system, not that that seems to affect things much, heck somehow he did it again with Podz at ten. Fire away ....
  19. Yeah well what do you expect Rugby? We haven’t picked higher then five, EDM did how many times and we still have a better group of 21 and unders then they do. No problem with high expectations, but a few posters on here have ridiculous ones. My theory is if we polled the age group of anti-Benning guys most of them grew up watching the Sedins either in the WCE era or after and don’t have much perspective. What exactly did you expect to happen? Holland was considered the best or close to the best GM in the league for years and lost a lot of luster once Detroit finally payed the piper. Do they have a better team them us right now? How about CAR, they won a cup and since have to steep down to silly antics to get fans to come even though after a decade of missing the playoffs just clicked. Buffalo. ARI... these teams also have had experienced GMs but still aren’t relevant. Again it’s okay to have high expectations, I do too, I also have a realistic view on what we should expect and Benning has exceeded this so far. He came in and did exactly what he had to do to keep the “stale” core working. At the same time he didn’t go close to going all in otherwise we wouldn’t have had at least one first rounder plus plus each year. Complain all you want, that’s ok, but unless you make a more convincing argument aside from stating the obvious and hanging it over Bennings head and even the CDC its not going to make a difference in swaying things either way.
  20. Wow that’s a lot of generalizing. Both sides (Pro and against) have good arguments for why he should or shouldn’t be here but calling Benning Trump goes to new heights of ridiculous. Take it easy. Breathe a little. Don’t worry about it so much. Not one person on this site views JB as a demigod, and melt that support won’t if things go sour. Even if he’s helped draft a good pool.
  21. The owners have trippled their investment since they bought it and enjoyed 25-80 million dollars of profit each year they’ve owned it. That’s the bottom line in just over 250 million in investment. Spending to the cap each year is smart business for them, the better the product and the more hope it brings for the future the more bums in seats and merchandising. Plus their actual business, real estate in Vancouver has gone bonkers during that time. We are lucky to have them, much worse owners around the league. All they’ve done is make piles of money. Sure the value of the overall org has stagnated, but the dividend each year on an investment of 250ish is staggeringly high. Nobody makes 10-30% dividend on anything on the stock market ... or at least the average Joe. He’s making piles and piles of cash with both businesses. Hes basically sold out the entire time he’s owned the Canucks (capacity of the arena). The peak value of the franchise never made it to 1 billion so your exaggerated the pretend loss. He only loses 250 million if the value of the franchise reached close to zero. In fact he’s made over 250 million in profits, and he could sell right now for 750 easily. Or add a billion to his overall net worth. Only three franchises have ever being reported as worth over 1 billion on the Forbes list and Vancouver has never being one of them. Using facts would add some credibility to your dialogue. Factually the asset has depreciated around 100 million from the peak years. He knows during the next uptick with the current cycle he could easily recover that and more just by keeping it, and enjoy his 30-80 million dollar profit each year on his original investment too. That’s why he won’t sell it. Unless his other business is in trouble (which it isn’t) he will hold onto it for a very, very long time. It’s just making his family richer and richer
  22. Sometimes I do wonder given the frequency of the JB dislikers (haters is a strong word, puts them all the way to the far side of the spectrum which is undeserving for some like 189lbs who’s right a lot of the time on specific topics but also acknowledges that he’s made some good moves too, doesn’t make him a hater) posts if some perspective would help. Each time we’ve made it to the the final, it was two cores away. Also since expansion only one team has won cups with completely different teams and even them they had a rookie goalie that was part of two cores - Roy. Detroit managed cups with part of the same core... Im mentioning this as a fan of hockey and not just the Canucks. When a top team dissolves, it has never resulted in another top team back to back since expansion. The Oilers had so much loot from breaking up the band piece by piece ... a treasure trove of first rounders and picks and high end prospects..and they had a top five goalie in the league at the time in Ranford, and ended up with Weight, Arnott, Marchment etc...not enough to do much of anything. Compared to what they had and what we got and what Bennings managed im pretty stoked. Just look at the three most successful franchises since the mid 90’s NJ ... what have they done, other then luck with Hall and the lottery DET ... same with them...what have they done? COL ...finally seem to have turned things around Only SJ won more often then Vancouver since the Sedins were drafted and 2014. We were a top team for a very long time to the point where we had the worst pool in the league when Benning took over. Now we have the 3rd best group of 21 and unders and are just getting started. I imagined a lot more pain then this, somehow despite the re-tool Benning comes out smelling like roses in this department. So I think we should cut him some slack and see what else he can manage... Not that he shouldn’t have a hook ready to eject him..because all of that can be thrown under a bus in a couple months or bad moves. But let’s give the guy a chance, he’s earned it.
  23. Good post. I bet most of us that are pro Benning feel the same way. He’s done some things that haven’t made me happy, and others that have me more excited to watch the Canucks since Luongo started to complain about his contract and before Kesler asked for a trade. The Sedin era was both great and daunting, especially after the band broke up. Maybe we could have had a better GM, so could practically every other team during that span. Sakic was criticized for years, especially on how long he held onto Duchene, at the time it was relentless...then all of a sudden he’s a genius and respected and considered one of the better GMs out there...why? He drafted well. And got lucky. And was extremely patient. A lot of Bennings questionable moves take a back seat when you consider the value EP, Hughes, Boeser, Horvat, Demko and now J.T. Miller and Podz have on the team. And we haven’t exactly had the pick of the litter when it comes to any of those guys. I agree that if he doesn’t trade smart, at least equal value or better, make some ridiculous signings or all of a sudden go all in and throw the future away for a run for god knows why, that he’s at least earned the top spot to guide the team now that it’s close to relevant again. Until he makes some bad moves that really matter or doesn’t act when he should, I want him to keep running the show. Miller is the first decisive action he’s made since signing LE. It’s at least a fair trade. For us it’s like accelerating a top prospects development seven years. Can’t get that from the draft and he filled a gaping hole. Now EP will have a vet to rely on etc. Instead of “gulp” Goldobin who he made look relevant because he’s that good. Myers will replace Edler if we sign him, nothing wrong with that we certainly won’t be getting that area fixed from the draft for a very long time. Maybe next core even through the draft. Looking forward to this year. Should be some good hockey ...
  24. My thoughts on this (trading and signings) are early on he seemed to have to add to get his guy, don’t know if it was just a rookie GM thing or he circumstances around each trade ...not McAan and Kassian has dressing room issues ... UFAs are fine IMO, they are always going to be paid for past production and you pay a premium for reliability. LE is the outlier, bad signing I’m sure he regrets. His RFAs so far have all been signed to fair or even team friendly contracts (Horvat), don’t know how well he’s going to do with the core guys given the recent spike in costs for RFAs... Now that the team he’s built is young with a bright future I wonder if the market has changed enough to make it a little less costly for trades and signings in general, for guys that have to waive etc will they come here? Marleau didn’t want to, be choose CAR instead. I definitely hope he’s at least given a chance to manage a team on the rise that he’s built. MG ran the club from a position of power. UFAs lined up for a chance at a cup. Doubt we will be there anytime soon, but sure you get what I mean. Overall id give him a B.
  25. Bold predictions. Bennings moves pay off, added depth insulates Tanev and Edler - they both play 65 plus games. LE does not play in Utica - none of the young guys bump him off the roster. He plays the same role, gets around the same many points and helps the top two lines get favourable match ups at home. Our home record is impressive. EP, Boeser and Horvat all get over 70 points for the first time. Miller gets over sixty as well. Hughes plays around 70 games and gets around 45 points. Elder and Myers also get over 30. EP gets 86 points - our future superstar is arriving. JV scores 20-20 on the third line. Still doesn’t get top six time as he’s blocked by Boeser and Miller. Our second line is arguably our best line. Our team essentially has a 1a and 1b line, just like the best teams in the NHL. Bear-Horvat-Miller and Pearson-Horvat-Miller are both a handful. Bear gets injured, Pearson plays for him. Our record is 102 points, good for second in our division and home ice. We play Calgary in the first round and beat them in five. We lose in the second round to COL in 7 - in OT LE scores an own goal and fans start hating him more then Messier. He’s shamed into retiring. Markstrom doesn’t slip back into his career norm / continues to play very well. Demko doesn’t supplant him but has similar stats. Hughes-Makar-Hughes are the Calder candidates. J Hughes wins it ... three finalists in a row! JB is a finalist for GM of the year and TG wins the Adams.... 2021 Final is Vancouver-NYR. We win our first cup.
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