hobart16
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Posts posted by hobart16
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17 hours ago, sharbinder said:
My guess is to add center depth & if he goes to the AHL, then it allows Green to have Gaunce on the wing with the 3G line. (Gaunce-Granlund-Grenier)
Good point. Gaunce has been playing center lately (really well too) and Canucks are determined to play him at wing.
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The only way it works is if it's an aging D man. It would be bold to blow things up and move Miller at this point, so I'd probably take a 2d rounder too. Cap space!
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I can't think of anyone who would want him right now. If Montreal or Calgary was in the hunt they have injured goalies and they might have been interested.
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13 hours ago, Alflives said:
You're kidding right? Miller for a top pairing D? He is not really worth anything. IMHAO
Miller is still in the top half of the league as a goalie. Should be valuable playing the most important position on the ice.
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7 hours ago, Boudrias said:
IMHO Markstrom has shown enough that IMHO the Canucks should be moving Miller if there is a worthwhile deal. Markstrom as you pointed out has outplayed Miller. My take is that Miller does not have the personality to transition well into a backup role. The writing is on the wall in Van and I cannot see miller not being open to a possible deal.
IMO Miller should be dealt simply because Van does not have the depth to pass on a deal that can help long term.
Miller is still very good and with Marky playing so well you're right. The right deal (a top pairing defenseman?) could end up with Miller being moved. His cap hit is pretty heavy though and it is hard to see who would be looking to take Miller now for a playoff run as a #1. The teams that need goalies (Montreal, Calgary) are all out of the playoff race. Ottawa maybe? I don't know.
The one caveat is that Bachman has been disappointing in Utica and I thought he would make a good backup for Marky, who along with Miller did miss games this year due to injury.
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Marky has been playing great (better than Miller IMO) and he likes a lot of work, but I have to admit I am nervous about him and Miller right now because of the way the team has been playing in front of them. Miller can be a sour puss when things aren't going his way and it can bleed into his play. If these two get down and lose their confidence, then the wheels will really fall off. See Montreal for an example of how bad it can get. These two are the last fully intact pieces on the team. As an aside, I would have added the Horvat, Baertschi, Virtanen line as an intact piece of the puzzle but Bo looks like he may be a little hampered with something nagging.
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Gaunce centered Shinkaruk and Grenier tonight, and they looked real good together. Guance set up Shink several times. He played well on PP and PK too. His confidence is definitely up.
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16 hours ago, Hutton Wink said:
Is there a clip of his tying goal out there? Haven't seen it yet...
This was the best I could do. http://www.stjohnsicecaps.com/article/recap-icecaps-stunned-by-comets-in-ot/
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First good look at Higgins tonight and he is a positive addition to the Comets. I had no idea he was that creative with the puck. Travis has him on 3d line with Carter Bancks and Wacey Hamilton, and I love those guys heart and soul play and will support them 100%, but in the first 5 minutes Higgins had thrown 3 passes where he was doing calculus and they were doing algebra. And he can stop on a dime and is effective on the cycle. He and Zalewski were clearly the best players on the ice tonight.
He wasn't crashing the net too much but he is effective out there. Playing some PP and some PK too. Hopefully, things turn positive and he gets back to where he wants to be. He still has something to offer.
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I will amend my earlier post about liking how things have gone to say that a couple of games have been disasters like the Minnesota game, and the late collapses (Buffalo, Dallas) and OT frustration are hard to take although much of that occurred before we really got hit hard with injuries. Once the injuries hit, WIllie had to go with younger players and they have done OK in the 3d and in OT. And for this thread, Markstrom probably wouldn't be getting all this experience with relatively low expectations without the injury bug having hit. I wonder what happens when Miller gets back healthy.
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The 6 million dollar question is a harder one for me. I don't know whether Van could have moved Miller if they decided to go with a Lack/Markstrom line up this year, which I would have supported as I am such a Markstrom fan. But I don't know that it was a realistic option with his injury, age, cost. If I read things correctly from press reports anyway, it didn't appear that Miller was shopped too hard but I don't know. I had the feeling that JB wasn't really interested in moving Miller as he felt that was too risky. Probably was. Freeing up some cap space for a D man and going Lack/Markstrom wasn't a bad option. I suspect we wouldn't be any lower in the standings than we are now all other things being equal.
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Interesting discussion, and I will throw in one other side benefit of sending Marky to Utica for another year of seasoning, and eventually keeping him in Vancouver over Lack, from a Utica perspective. If you believe that a "winning environment" for prospects matters, as JB does, Marky was the primary guy responsible for that Calder Cup run last year. He came out of that year confident and a leader. In addition to the benefits Marky got, you also have Baertschi and Biega's contributions to the big club this year, as well as the steps forward of Virtanen, McCann (well he was around but did not suit up for a game), Shinkaruk and Gaunce, who all received playoff experience at a good level. You can assign a material portion of that to Marky's major contribution to the run last year in the Calder that afforded those guys the playoff opportunity. Marky himself has said many times last year in Utica was his best experience ever in hockey. That will be eclipsed this year in the NHL no doubt but as I think about Wilie and JB being patient with Marky in Utica, it makes me more sanguine about leaving Pedan, Guance, Grenier, etc to hone their skills with Green, as much as I would like to see those guys get more games in with Van. You can see how far Marky and some of these guys have come after last year.
Maybe there is something to this winning environment stuff, having good guys in the room who are close, and making people compete for time up and down the organization. Looking at the injuries this year and the way the Canucks have handled it overall, you basically have to like the way thing have gone.
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Really hope they keep him together with Bo and Baer, although Etem put in a bid last night. That goal last night was fantastic, and Baer and Bo already look like a pair. Little tap from Baer from the face-off dot and Virtanen did the rest. If all he needs is confidence, that Bo Baer line is where he can get it. Otherwise what do you have Burrows, Sutter and Virtanen as a 2d or 3d quasi checking line? Who is going to pass to Virtanen on that line?
Great watching him with the big club, so glad he is not going back to juniors.
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41 minutes ago, Wild Sean Monahan said:
david booth really did a number on this team
damn auto correct.
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A nice interview with Jake after prax this morning.
Shinkaruk with the cameo. https://www.periscope.tv/w/1BRJjNwbqEVJw
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44 minutes ago, theminister said:
Just spitballing here...but does anyone think its a possibility that Virtanen stays with the team and still doesn't get his 40 games to save his RFA year?
With subbing in and out, and probably getting loaned to the WJC for 3 weeks, he could stay under the threshold.
I mean, he's playing his 19th game tonight. Maybe he gets 5-8 more before getting called to go to Finland leaving him 13-15 more throughout the rest of the year.
A short injury and a 'conditioning stint' could add up to the rest of he's only playing 60% of the games.
I believe it is 40 games where he is available so it doesn't matter if he plays or not.
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I don't know who said it, but anyone who says Virt dogged it in Utica last year is full of it. If there is one thing you can say about the kid he gives it 100% every shift. He made an impact when he was on the ice during the Calder Cup and drew penalties, caused turnovers, and when the puck was on his stick the other team was put on its heels.
The best young player we saw in Utica last year was Dylan Larkin for the Red Wings. Already was a complete player and was in the top three or four players every night in the games I saw. He changed the complexion of the Utica series by himself, and is going to be a star in the NHL. If Virt progresses with his shooting and handling, and I think he will, he has the tools to go as far as he is bigger and faster than Larkin, although right now his offense isn't in Larkin's territory and may never be from a points perspective (Larkin has 10g, 8a in 24 games, 2d on the team behind Zetterberg) but his checking is much better than Larkin's, or any other rookie I've seen for that matter. A slightly different type of player is all.
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Gaunce actually had a couple of other grade A chances last night and he tried setting people up too. Very good game for him.
Shink was good too and we had tons of possession.
Bachman was not good and their goalie was very tough. We outplayed them and outshot them (just like Syracuse the week before) but we do tend to make goalies look good. D and goaltending needs more consistency and we will be contenders.
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He has looked good in both games. One bad giveaway in 3d last night but he got a nice goal mucking around in front of net, and a lot of ice time with Horvat. That line was very effective. Great to see him do well.
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Not sure if we will see Hutton in Utica but I selfishly hope so. Green and Baumgarten are sticklers for discipline in the D end. But with Hutton, Biega, Pedan, Subban all being very good skaters, that D could be asked to turn things back to offense a bit more this year. Comets will have trouble scoring without Oreilly, Baertschi, unless Gaunce, Jensen, Shink, Grenier, make big strides, which they might. If not, the D guys might get a little more leash, and maybe our PP will get off the floor too.
Might be a little transition this early year in Utica with some of these younger guys and without Marky back there covering up mistakes.
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Sven B said in some local interviews that the system in Calgary was much more north-south, less possession oriented and featured longer passes. In the Canucks system he felt that his possession attributes would be better appreciated. He is allowed to do a lot of puck carrying in Utica and Travis Green thinks SB will do very well at the next level. I don't know if that qualifies as a "mistake" Calgary made in handling him, but maybe it will be a better fit in Van. He has an awful lot of skill. I don't know that we go this far in the Calder without him. He will be missed but it will be awesome watching him play in the big show.
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If this report is true, they are making room for Marky. http://frozenfutures.com/2015/05/31/canucks-seeking-second-rounder-for-lack/
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Green likes 4 solid lines and he must be tempted to move Gaunce up with Baer or OReilly, but he really carries the line he is on (which was +2 tonight), plays on PK and PP, and been the best most consistent player for the Comets against the Griffins. To think he sat as a healthy scratch in the first round.
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Marky was tuned in tonight although first 2 periods Comets gave up nothing. That's Comets hockey right there. Forecheck and defense and the big guy backstopping it. Great game. If he can put together another night like that he will be in their heads.
Troy Stecher | #51 | D
in Alumni
Posted
I think the experience with McCann last year might have also been a factor, along with the benefit of moving Stecher to Utica without risking waivers. Larsen is protected and gets a solid chance, and Stecher can get some Green time, which isn't the worst thing. Like Stecher, McCann had a good pre season, scored some pretty goals, but it became clear that MCann wasn't ready for a full season in the NHL. He was kept to add some scoring punch and he didn't deliver. Can't remember what coach said this but "Guys with potential get you fired." McCann was that player last year. Willy alluded to the fact that the NHL season is a big jump from college and although Stecher is older than McCann, he isn't big. There were a couple of occasions where he could not move people off the crease and it cost us. I think some time in the A isn't a tragedy for him and Van can figure out what they really have with him. I think he will do really well in Utica and prove he deserves a call up. Hopefully he can become Van's Gostisbehere.