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IBatch

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Everything posted by IBatch

  1. Listed at 5'10 so have to agree, that's with skates maybe.
  2. Ronning was also built like a little block. 175-180lbs at 5'7", and a much better player. The Production line, was actually one of the better ones we've had, and amped his game up in the playoffs. Moving Linden to center gave us two legit lines. Momesso was one of my favourite role players all-time. Don't make them like that anymore. Looked like he was always coming off a bad night in jail, and he was the bad. Don't mind Garland, he'd be better off on a different team though. Gourde is probably the best little playoff guy around right now.
  3. Garland is 61st in EV points the past three seasons. Also pretty much the same each year, so consistent at least. There are 96 first line spots. 50 points for sure is second line production. Problem with our team, is we just have way too much money tied up in wingers. Wheeler is just below him. Sure he's getting on, but also had some typical Wheeler seasons in there. BTW, he's 10 shy of EP who's got 122, Miller leads our team with 129, one ahead of Tavares. McDavid has 221, second place Mathews, 187. Also have to go way down the list quite a ways to find Horvat, at 102, and Brock at 101 ...
  4. Remember the big deal back then, he was supposed to be the next generational player - hyped liked Lindros , McDavid, Crosby and Bedard (he was breaking some big name records in juniors at the time). So would be like Bedard falling on his face, or Crosby or McDavid ... and just being a good journeyman instead. Took a year off hockey and came back and wasn't terrible either. Was tabled to be the "next Mario"... The other issue at the time, was he was obviously not the best young player on the team but was being paid to be the guy. Yashin was the best young player on that team and wasn't getting paid like one. Created an internal issue. Daigle wasn't a typical first overall pick at all.
  5. And even he had some decent seasons. If he was a second rounder he'd be a great pick - but that hype was something. Patrick Stefan arc is another one.
  6. Most likely yes. Which is too bad for the team. Without EP, the team won't have much choice but to accept some down years and start building for that lane instead. The taxes really are an issue. Tavares, McDavid, Mathews all signed higher cap percentages than comparable guys. Crosby, Stamkos etc. CAR is also a low tax team. Barkov scored 93 points at age 23, signed his deal at 26 and wins Selke's, regularly gets Byng, Hart and Selke votes... 39 goals and 88 points in 67 games is a 100 point, 45 goal pace too. For sure the best comp, also why he got 12.3% of the cap. Truly hope, like Miller, he leaves some money on the table. We can't afford to pay EP 14.5% of the cap. Not unless he's prime Crosby.
  7. Well statistically it was a very good one compared to all-time Canucks one's. It was the best in the league one year. A little bit better than next up. Our highest scoring one was 1982-1983, at 27%, 3rd in the league at at the time, second was 27.1% CHI, best EDM at 29.3%, but still good for the 19th single season record all-time. Our best EP power play so far, almost paced the best Sedin one, which was 24.3% 2019-2020, 24.2....food for thought. Would have ranked 7th last season. Reality is, during the Boston series our PP was figured out. After that it slipped fast. 19.79 then 15.76%. Hit lightning in bottle 2010-2011 for sure though. And we actually got some goals from our second unit, when our first unit slipped. Our second unit in 2011-2012, helped keep things going.
  8. Back to EPs contract. Currently Jt Miller is the 26th highest paid center. Great job Allvin. EP. He's recently been ranked as the 10th best center in the NHL. No top line center has been signed recently, however two top second line centers have, Bo Horvat and PLD. PLD had RFA years in there, Horvat all UFA years. One could say they are both elite second line centers. Cap percentage is ALL that matters though. Only 9 centers, currently under payroll, at the age of signing their last deal, got more than 12% of the cap hit. Only 7 got more than 13%. And only 2, weren't UFAs at the time of signing, Jack Eichel and McDavid. EPs next deal will include RFA time as well. And he's not McDavid. Eichel, that was too much for sure. Despite this, believe he's worth 12-12.5% of the cap. His best comp is Barkov, who happens to have received the 9th most of any center deals. At 12.3%. Next up at 10 is 11.7% of the cap. That's actually quite a bump in pay. Think 12-12.5% is right on the money. And it's also why he's going to wait until cap goes up next year to sign. 83.5 compared to say 88.5 is a significant difference in starting cap percentage. Puts him at just over 11 on the high end. Maybe we need to add some money for high taxes. And that's on a full term deal. If he goes the Mathews route, the cap percentage goes up. McDavid leads the league with 16.7% at date of signing. Crosby is 4th at 14.5%. Team guy. Just got some JT Miller perspective. He's going to start as the 26th highest paid center this season, and also happens to be the 26th highest cap percentage at date of signing, 9.7%. Looks like a bargain already with PLD and Horvats deals. Hope EP follows suit.
  9. EPs said he wants to be just as good in the defensive zone, as the o-zone, and improve on face-offs. For sure there has been hiccups on the way. Scoring 100 again next year would be a huge step up the rankings for him, especially if his D-zone play and face-offs improve. There for sure is a lot more to the game then just points. And for sure goals should be weighted higher than assists, as should EV points. Same thing if a player is a good penalty killer. TB's window with their current core is closing, 3-4 years maybe at the very most and that largely has to do with Point. That's how important he is to that team. Curiously Stamkos moved to the wing, sure that has a lot to do with Point, and keeping Stamkos healthy. Otherwise Stamkos would be a top ten center based on his body of work and last season too. Agree with you on EP and Hughes moving up, i'd also put my money on Hughes before EP, better team, better pedigree, and better player at the same age. EPs struggled with consistency up until last year. It's his time to prove he's a top player, and top center. Barkov for sure is blocking the way a little on best two-way center, but he's going to start slipping and EP should start moving up. Crosby would be blocking him too, but feel his minutes will be managed, the same way Bergeron's we're last season. It will take an injury or another few years before Crosby becomes a mere mortal. Just like the greats before him (again Sakic being the last one). As for Mathews, guys got to start showing up in the playoffs on the scoreboard. It's his spot to keep, but needs to do that. He's only 25! So like EP, should be moving up too. For the foreseeable future, anyone cracking the top five has their work cut out for them that's for sure. Only Crosby is old. And they are setting themselves up for a four year Swan Song. Could see Crosby playing until he's 40.
  10. As usual, we are generous in how we view our own players. Here's where NHL.com ranks EP, as of right now. 10. Number 11 is Tage Thompson, who just scored 47 goals 47 assists, 94 points, after following up on a 38 goal season. He's also 25. 9. Barkov. For sure accomplished more so far. Also consider him EPs closest comp. Barkov is more physically dominant, EP has more offense. Barkov has also done more so far, so don't have an issue with this ranking. 8. Eichel. Like EP, he doesn't cheat on the other side of the puck. Cups are cups I guess. 7. Brayden Point. Mr clutch. Scores a ton, and well has a nice trophy case, nice to see him get acknowledged, usually doesn't. Scores a lot of goals in the playoffs, and also 51 last year one empty netter. Guys only 27 too. 6. Jack Hughes. EP didn't score 43 goals and 99 points at his age, or look nearly so consistent. 5. Crosby. I'd consider moving him up. It's Crosby. 4. Mathews. Might get some criticism for "only" having another 40 goal season..nobody has scored more goals since he entered the league, he's even paced Ovi at the same, age. Only Stamkos has a bit of a gap (312,302,299) scored by 25 of current players. His two way game is better though (noticeably so), then previous years. 3. Draisaitl. No argument here. Guys that good. Chasing an all-time record in two series...something we haven't seen since Kurri and EDM glory days. I'd actually probably have him at number two. 2. McKinnon. Cups are cups. Just entering his peak prime years...Both Point and McKinnon rested, expect big things from them. Look what he did in 71 games last year 42 goals, 111 points, plus 29. Yikes ... after winning a cup! Talk about a follow up. Imagine what he could do if he played 82 games, he's only 27. That's when Naslund just hit his stride, and the Sedins only a year younger. 1. McDavid. No debate. Take away all his power play points, and he's still a top point producer. EP looks to be moving into the top five debate, but has a ways to go. Another 100 point plus year would for sure help and move him up, Jack Hughes will be some stiff competition though. Draisaitl (how many 100 plus seasons is it now? four or five?)Mckinnon and McDavid could take a year off and still make it in the top five. Mathews maybe can be bumped if he only scores 45 goals and 85ish points. Crosby won't be going anywhere until he retires or suffers an injury like Sakic did (herniated disc, then snow blower accident), doubt he will score more points then Sakic did at 37 though. He's the best center we've had whose closing out a such a great career, since Sakic though. EP. This is why I don't think he's earned more then 12-12.5% of the cap yet. And roll my eyes at some of the wild amounts thrown out there. He actually does have some really stiff competition. Not just with goals, and points scored, but how they play the game too.
  11. Yes and for sure they'd play ball too. Truly hope it doesn't come down to it. We've suffered as fans enough. Nothing would make me happier, then to have EP locked in for 8 more seasons. If he plays 1100 or so games, or 14 or so years with us, have no doubt in my mind he will own every major statistical category in our record books. Regular season ones anyways. And have a pretty nice trophy case too.
  12. Not me. Vegas missed the playoffs the year before. We all were happy (rightly so). However, it was pretty easy to look at who was out and for how long. Despite this they weren't that far off either. The Eichel trade sure looked risky. Because of his neck. They lost some depth to do it and good hockey players. They absolutely owned us in the bubble. And this team is better than that team was. Dallas is no patsy. Was hoping they'd beat Vegas, and had them winning the cup if they did. EDM, well they keep winning rounds, and getting a little bit better every single year for about four now. Top heavy? Yes, but better than Toronto too, but unlike Toronto, their players bring it in the post season. Nobody expected Florida to get past Boston. CAR was better at every part of the game, obviously outplayed Florida, that was Bobrovsky's best round. CAR for sure deserved to win that series. Felt bad for Rod the Bod, but he's seen everything, that's hockey sometimes. We were 7 minutes away from almost doing that to Vegas in the bubble (only Motte, Myers and Demko could do anything, they completely owned us like watched several games in a row short handed). As for Hill. Isn't he their 4th string goalie? Yet that's stars aligning, but also a testament to their insane depth. Their other goalies were also good when they played. Don't like that they already have a cup. Stone is a player i've loved watching since he started in OTT, and wished we had someone like him, he's been a top defensive forward for a long time now, nobody can pick pucks of by anticipation like he can ..18 Canadians, two US players ...they knew what they wanted and kept building towards it. Vegas for sure, is a better built playoff team, then regular season one, we saw this first hand. They are also a good regular season team. Nobody enjoys playing against them. As for the final. Vegas was the better team. That's not even debatable really. Florida just couldn't keep their magical run going. What did Vegas do when Bennet and MT tried their antics? Stood them up. Doubt it would have mattered which round they played in, Vegas would have come out on top.
  13. MT picked his team more or less. Florida payed a pretty steep price with Weager added to the deal. Aside from the cap stuff, it looked like on paper they saved their contender window. CAR might be a good partner too. Think a lot of teams would try and make a package for EP. The ones who don't have players on clauses will have an easy go of it. No way Eichel leaves Vegas why would he? Also don't see what Vegas would be able to give up, that would be a better package then other teams. CAL in a different division would be a good target (will safely say, that he won't go to a divisional rival) with a couple players saying the won't re-sign too. It's a painful exercise. Hope he signs and it's done.
  14. When Demko returned, he went 11-4-2, with a .918 sp, and a 2.52 GAA. So not sure where you're getting your data. Also the Canucks under RT, and an AHL defense minus QHs, a few games with Hronek, and Myers (after Schenn was traded), went from 3.98 GAA to 3.18, and a historically worst PK, to 78.4%, with the same (actually worse, Hronek was out and no Horvat, no Schenn) roster. Not to mention EP and Miller went on a SH scoring spree during that time, which made it more than respectable. Or allowed a 22.6% PP (another way to look at it). Not great, but by last years standards, not bad either. Now they've added four guys to bolster the PK, including guys, who thankfully will remove the OEL's and Myers of the world from it. To me playing and AHL D down the stretch, more then made up for the quality of competition. Also didn't feel Demko was stealing any games, just playing well enough for us to win games. As for high danger shots ... well don't have those stats. Edit: Allvin lowered the roster age to 5th youngest in the NHL. That likely went up a bit this summer but not much. Rick Tochett practices, look like nothing I think i've ever seen. He actually is showing the players what he wants to see. Foote and Gonchar are also hands on coaches. To me that's the biggest asset going into this season. Telling the guys that they have to be "uncomfortable" to get to the next level. Is something Green tried - and got solid efforts too...This team is one top four young D away from being a pretty good team. Plus a solid goalie. I've watched quite a few TB games, where they were for sure the worse team, and Vasilevsky bailed them out. Allowed a lot of "high danger" shots. RT did say, this team isn't going anywhere allowing 13-14 Grade A scoring chances on a regular basis healthy Demko or not. So he agrees with that and who wouldn't. We saw that with Markstrom too. But somehow it's the coaching staff? Greens lessons didn't go away as soon as Bruce shows up, media pointed that out - but we went on a ten game winning streak. Didn't see us blow huge leads on a regular basis either. RT has told everyone that they need to be prepared to be uncomfortable, and not be cheating to pad their own stats (paraphrasing). Sound familiar? Bowman did that too. So did Lemaire. Otherwise Kevin Stevens would have 1200 points. And Yzerman would be ahead of Howe, Federov 1400 points etc, playing pond hockey, hate to say it, Horvat hockey, pay me like a first line center after getting a UFA deal for my second deal please, and one 30 goal season means I deserve more then a lot of perennial scorers because now i'm in my prime etc or something .. that stuff needs to be jettisoned out of the locker room too. Greed. Brock. So many guys overpaid, and never doing much of anything. Miller set an example. Hope EP follows suit, but not holding my breath either. We need a better evenly spread out cap to succeed. Baby steps on that front. At least Allvin isn't selling the farm for role and stop gap guys (so far). And has managed to sign one star at less than market value.
  15. Yes. You mentioned Bure above... this was pre-cap, but shows what sort of "leverage" a team has when a star wants out, isn't always gravy. Bure was in his prime. Knees seemed to be be fine too. Jovo turned out great for us, but don't forget we also traded Hedican in that deal, who at least went on to play a role in CAR too (winning a cup...). Hedican in his prime, was a solid player. Bure of course ran out of runway, but had his best seasons in Florida, Jovo played a huge role for us but still ... that trade sucked on paper for us at the time and truly burned a lot of fans. For me, it was having to include Hedican in that trade. Just coming off another 50 goal season (in the dead puck era against ballooning goalie equipment and save percentages ... Roy wasn't getting better, but his .900 80's sp sure was lol, same thing with other goalies), and well scored 13 goals in 11 games before the shit hit the fan too), then went on to win back to back Richard, Hart finalist and votes on some very mediocre Florida teams. Suppose in the end that was a fairly even trade. But we sure gave up a lot for it. Including one of the best goal scorers in the history of the game. EP. He's got more value then Eichel as a sign and trade. Probably the same without a contract.
  16. It's tough to say. Every year there are a few surprises, and a few underperformers. But this is pretty much bang on.
  17. McAvoy is overpaid and oft injured. Watching him play with Chara was comedy, he is a good puck handler, but not really a big guy. Zacha will frustrate us, better off as a 3C. So Lysell and the first. I wouldn't do this trade, but mostly because I'm not as high in McAvoy as others are. He's a little bit like Werenski 2.0 without the goal scoring. I'd consider it too because it's better than nothing for sure. But the most he's ever played is 67 games, and well i'm pretty sure he's sub-six feet..QHs, Hronek and McAavoy would be a treat to watch dish the puck though. Love your continued optimism. NHL.com recently did an article and picked Vancouver as the dark horse in the West, and CLB in the East. But did emphasize that they are much more bullish with the Canucks, and why. A lot of those things have to do with Demko returning to form (his Tochett record was pretty sick) and Tochett himself. I love our new coaching staff. Perfect for a young team, and, if the wheels fall off, a rebuild too. Allvin covered his bases there IMO. LA has is much improved. Blake did exactly what we should have done. Traded all the support players and guys who were lower on the core ladder. Youth, vets, PLD ... just goaltending. Vegas..well we surely aren't a contender - they've been one since day one. And this is the best version of that team as well. Eichel worked out and will keep working out. They've got 4-5 years left with that group. ANA and SJ don't have to worry about them. CAL, well that also depends on some things, but on paper they are good. EDM is very good aside from just McDavid. We have to acknowledge that. It's not just their PP. Which of course is deadly. RNH, Hyman, Kane ... it's not just the top two guys. Bouchard, well a lot of fantasy folks would be wise to pick him up anyways. Seattle. A bubble team for sure. Not sure really. The past few years there seemed to be a legitimate excuse. Sure hope we make the playoffs. This team can, but a lot of things need to go right for that to happen. But thanks for the pep talk.
  18. Funny thing is, Vancouver is one of, if not his, his favourite teams - he tries not to be biased but admits this. Even in this video, he uses JT Miller to make one of the four points he's trying to make covering "hot takes" in the media. Try a few more, if you feel like it, and think this should be come apparent. This one was actually really well done. He come's across as a pretty invested fan, but also a pretty regular guy too. Edit: For the record I avoid most media completely, but do watch things folks post on here. His videos are pretty much the only ones I enjoy, for the same reasons - the negativity and overblown stuff including "hot takes" to grab attention. So get it maybe he was pissy after a loss lol, and made a video?
  19. IBatch

    Captaincy

    I also think Sakic was one of the best centers the games ever had. Try and find players that scored 100 at 37...what he did in the dead puck era, was just top level too. If he didn't get his hand stuck in snowblower (threw broken fingers and major hand surgery), he wouldn't have called it. Truly too bad, had a shot at Howes record up until then (second leading scorer).
  20. Well. What about all those ordinary folks who have family members going to the Oil fields, the forrest's, mines or another country to serve for us, or wherever to do their thing without the luxury of a 100-500k paycheque a month to have the best support available? Sorry only thing I agree about is it's a moot point. Arizona players have a lot worse to deal with. Can it be better? Sure. It's not that hard to find an ice rink in BC to rent, and make sure they can have steak and lobster flown in or whatever it is they need to do their routine.
  21. I've watched maybe a dozen now. He's actually pretty good. This one, on "Hot Takes" is also pretty good. Especially fun given he used JT Miller as an example for making one of his points. Don't have to agree with what he says, but he's a super fan that knows his stuff.
  22. Canucks are .759 in October. Follow it up with .725 in November. Now that's a HOT take. Shocking!
  23. It's been awhile since we had ruthless aggression anywhere in the lineup, but yes it sure would be nice. We need a couple guys that are relentless physically. At least they got some of that in the D-core now. Podz could work out. Mik is fast and doesn't cheat the game, a solid middle six guy. Team goes lack a power forward, as do most teams these days. JT Miller is the games modern version of that, minus the nasty, and brutal hits. Don't think it's our forward group that will keep us out of the show ... it's still one top four defenseman. Post Quin it seemed like we always had one of his picks come in and establish himself. Aucion. Ohlund. Even Sopel for a spell. Plus a bunch of bottom pairing guys like Strudwick. Sure would be nice to see someone come out of the woodwork right now, and help us, but think that's probably Wolanin, a couple years out still. Hate to say this, but think we will be best case, a wild card team, no injuries and Demko takes a step, maybe 3rd. And like most experts, most likely picking 12-15, that's not a terrible worst case either, just a baby step in the right direction. Just going to enjoy the process. At least we appear to have a management group that gets it, and a huge wild card in a teaching coaching staff. Tochett looks like he could play a fourth line role right now and kill it. IF the team buys in, there is enough talent there to make the playoffs as is. Edit: EP. He's going the the key in what happens next. Hope he signs for 8 seasons. Wouldn't be shocked to see a Mathews deal either.
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