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gameburn

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Everything posted by gameburn

  1. He has to be worth another 2nd at least, don't you think? Our leading scorer is really only half of what he brings. I think Benning does the deals this summer we all hoped he take care of at TDL. We might see Miller and Hansen both moved in the Summer. Should be good for a 3rd for Miller.
  2. I looked up on the nhl mock draft and it says we have a 2nd, but no 3rd. Not having a 3rd is not ideal, I agree.
  3. I agree: something good is brewing here. It's interesting that you credit WD. He has gotten a lot of bad press the last couple of months, much of it missing the point I thought. You can't play your very young players an increasing number of minutes without good and bad effects. Everyone likes to dump on Vey playing -- I've done it too -- but when you look at the injuries and who is actually available to play Centre, we were lucky that no one claimed Vey when he went on waivers. Horvat was pretty worn at a certain point, Sutter out most of the year, and clearly Henrik was a bit worn as well -- especially as the season reached the 2/3rd's mark. And Cracknell isn't really a bona fide NHL, almost, but not quite. (He may be another one that B was hoping would get down to Utica.) WD had no choice about the addition of Bartkowski, nor did he have control over the injury to Edler. I have a feeling that WD has done a good job this year, HNIC's comments aside. This draft will be THE draft for the Canucks. Although the last two drafts of Benning's are likely to have produced more NHL players than average (fantastic timing for a rebuild) it will be the 2 first picks this year that will really define the direction of the team to come. A lottery win of picking in the top 3 would be Divine intervention, and I think this is actually justice for a Canucks team that lost out on Gil Perreault. But even at 6 to 9 and an early 2nd round pick, this team will be different as early as next February. We need a Chychrun or a Sergachev, but imagine a Laine? Lol. Even Dubois. If Tryamkin or Pedan work out and Sbisa, Hutton and Tanev continue to improve, picking a D may not be as much of a priority as getting a Dubois. The strength of the team is in forwards, potential puck possession abilities and goaltending. Building on existing strengths rather than correcting weaknesses can be workable, within certain limits.
  4. I'm not saying that Vey hasn't performed better than McCann over the course of the season, nor that Virtanen was consistently good all year. All I'm saying is that decisions were made at the start of the season based on who played best at that time, and it hasn't necessarily in very case played out well. Moreover, other players like Vrbata and Weber -- as well as Prust and Higgins -- had very off years. I think you are confirming my point. I should have framed my point differently and included more surprises: e.g., McCann not being good enough over time. One point of confusion though: Kenins never played well this year, did he? I don't recall an injury either, perhaps I have forgotten that event. I do remember Vey and Kenins being sent to the minors/waived because they were outplayed in the pre-season.
  5. Yes, you're right. And Vey and Kenins were also outplayed, in their case by rookies. As the year wore on more of the vets were outplayed to the point of being waived (Prust and Higgins.) On paper, we should have been closer to last year's numbers, after all we replaced some of last year's players with genuine upgrades (Virtanen over Kenins; McCann and Sutter over Vey and Bonino.) But in the end, what an amazing change of fortunes it was this year: Vrbata never quite gets it going, Weber not only doesn't score much but looks lost out there half the time. Both were good on pp the previous season, but this year both couldn't do much five on five or even on the pp. It would be tempting to blame coaching decisions/change of ppl the two played with -- Vrbata was quite testy about the line experimentations in the pre-season, Weber may have started with a different partner. Another possibility is the injuries to Sutter and the age-related decline of key players around them: Higgins, Burrows, the Sedins -- the theory here being that the two are support players of the finishing type, so when the set up ppl were gone/injured/in decline they were unable to put up numbers. A better possibility is that both players are not very good against physical teams, nor are they particularly good at playing without the puck, and so when they weren't scoring their utility diminished and their playing time and self-confidence with it. This explanation has the benefit of taking into account the improvements made to the teams the Canucks played against: bigger, younger, faster and in some cases better at the possession game. Luck is a factor too, especially for scoring.
  6. To be honest I haven't looked much at Corrado, so I'll take your word for it, I guess it's the idea of dumping him while keeping Weber that gets to me. But you are right, decisions have to be made and we are on the verge of a major set of new players arriving, beginning with Tryamkin. Tryamkin is still a bit of a long-shot, but you are right: if he doesn't have what it takes Benning will deal with it quickly enough. D are interesting prospects to assess. It is a thinking person's position. If you can't show judgment early on, then no amount of skating skill or hard shot will save you. And from what you say, Corrado doesn't have the kind of judgment it takes: passing and defending are about a lot more than physical skill.
  7. I don't even golf but seem to follow the same ritual, so, yes, it does help.
  8. Wow. Worse/better than I thought. Either Larsen is good enough to be claimed and therefore has to be on the team too, along with Pedan or... Benning gambles with his young players like he did with Corrado. The difference this time is that Pedan looks like a keeper, and potentially he could be waiving 2 or 3 players, maybe 4. Tryamkin is now under contract, if I understand correctly, does this mean another player who somehow has to fit in at training camp? It has to mean trades, buyouts or trades that involve keeping some share of the salaries. Interesting summer.
  9. Benning has said that he is looking at UFAs -- and you are right, there's no point in clearing space from Vrb and Ham's contracts if you aren't going to use the money. I like the way you leave Edler off the D list. I don't see a spot for him either. Imagine Chychrun or Sergachev added to your 6 above. And Pedan: I have heard from knowledgeable ppl that Pedan is NHL quality right now. Larsen is a complete unknown so far, but this will change. Could he start if Utica and then move up later? Oh sorry, you did include Edler, my mistake.
  10. Players can be superstitious. I'm thinking that as fans we need some of that superstition: maybe rituals with equipment or perhaps shiny hats to gear up for the draft, which is after all, our Stanley cup this year. Any suggestions Alf?
  11. I agree. My only point was that ppl who see roster space and potential for Burr may not realize they are counting on some very unlikely coincidences/luck to bring him back. McCann has to be sent down (and not returned with risk of waivers later) and no new players can be added such as Rodin or a FA or a Dubois/Tkachuk draft pick. Moreover, Burr will have to want to return, knowing full well from end of the year discussions with mgt that he will be marginal at best.
  12. Sedin, Sedin, Hansen Baertschi, Horvat, Vey*** Etem***, Sutter, Virtanen Dorsett, Granlund***, Gaunce McCann vs. Burrows That's 14 right there, and excludes the possibility of Rodin making the team, or FA being signed, or a top 8 draft pick who is not a D but who makes the team. I just don't see McCann being marooned in the minors for most or all of a year so that Burr can be the 13th forward. If McCann puts on 5 to 10 pounds and starts to gear up for a new year over the summer (he is motivated and a quick learner, like so many of the Canucks' prospects), then Burr will be in the pressbox which is sad to imagine.
  13. This. Add in a FA signing or a draft pick that is able to start the year? So little room.
  14. His best game this year? Maybe. The blocked shot was a moment, I agree. And he intercepted some passes, made some plays. One of the assists was critical. But he has lost his ability to finish -- the hands go first. He can't seem to put the puck where he wants anymore. He can't seem to hit the net, or if he does it doesn't go in. Even Burr is looking frustrated with it. He is slowing a bit, but the real problem is that his hands are gone. And of course he still takes the occasional terrible penalty. I am sure he is thinking of retiring, and a game like this makes it all the more difficult for him. Maybe with a good summer of training he can be better prepared for next year. But it is going to be tough: if the Canucks get one of the top 4 players, or Dubois or another forward in the first third of the draft, he will be in the press box or overpaid in Utica. Or even if they sign a free agent forward he will be hard to keep in the line up. (And if both happen?) Same for Vey I think. Only injuries, or not signing a free agent forward, or drafting a D in the first round will save Burr. Probably it will take all three: depth needs, no D in draft, and no free agent forward signed. He should have been in the press box half of this season. I wouldn't like to see that, and I suspect the management would hate it too. Along with the Sedins, he is one of the great Canucks. Will always be great, but I just can't see him playing much if at all next year.
  15. The Russian national team is something else, certainly not the SC playoffs. More of a burden than a benefit for the Russians that play in NA, imo. Too much pressure. Maybe I'm cutting him too much slack, not sure. In any case, mailing it in does sound bad, though, I agree. In the playoffs you can't do that: the present game is used to send a message for the next game, it can be brutal. We know from experience here that those brutal losses in Boston just prior to the seventh game in Vancouver in the SCF a few years back were soul destroying. Beaten psychologically somehow.
  16. Ovechkin was heartbroken not to go further in the playoffs last few years. He has changed his game with Trotz to be a better player for the playoffs. A lot of pride in Russians. Ah.... Bure?
  17. With his degree of opacity, he should be able to just float up there. And we won't even notice. They can collect him at the end of the game with a ghostbuster. Would the storage facility be in Utica?
  18. Lol. Mentorship is not enough, Ryan Smyth 2.0 (in his last year) is not required on this team. Look what Virt is doing without a bona fide power forward model/mentor. We have no place for Burr next year, nor for Vey (unless we have more injuries than this year!) -- the overpayment for Burr is only half the problem. The other half of the problem is the logjam of forwards: and these new players such as Gaunce, McCann, Virtanen and now Granlund and Etem will need a great deal more playing time and opportunity. Outline your lines, play with the numbers -- I just don't see a space for Burr -- maybe in Utica maybe not in any form. IMO, Burrows retires this summer. He offered to be traded in February -- he knows his time is coming to an end. He is a proud part of this team and its history. He will not sit in the press box. Somewhere towards the end of this season, maybe, or in the summer, he will announce his retirement. My guess.
  19. Burrows is not injured or fatigued from a long season. The only conclusion we can come to is that, like Higgins but even more obvious, he is finished. Good career, great guy, cannot do it. And, with more forwards ready right now, and more to come in the Summer/Fall, he has absolutely no future as a regular. And, ruthless as it sounds, not only do new players need his spot, the team also needs that money to go to ppl who earn it. Imagine taking that money and getting a stop-gap good quality D: RFA/UFA in the Summer. Until Pedan and maybe a drafted prospect from 2015/2016 comes along we will need a Sutter quality player, but one D who can mentor the guys. A Tanev type but better with the puck in Offensive zone, or like Tanev but more physical -- either way. Someone about the age of 27-29, signed for 3 or at most 4 yrs at Burr's salary or somewhat higher -- someone with Sutter's role but on D. We have no core D at the moment: Hamhuis is getting old, Edler seems to have lost it, and Hutton is already at 28 minutes TOI. Sbisa is okay, Bartkowski has moments, but a stalwart D? We need one, and until Sergachev, Juolevi or (salivating here) Chychrun arrives via Draft Day 4 months from now, we better sign one. Ergo, no money for sentimental has-beens. I would like to think that this signing of a core D type should have/could have been done last Summer at the same time as the Sutter pick up, but I think D is harder to find, and even harder to sign. Benning is no idiot, indeed he drafted D in Boston and Buffalo, so it must just be harder to identify and then sign/draft D.
  20. Trading is the first choice, obviously, but given how quickly things are moving, it is difficult to see any of the vets like Edler being kept on for years. I thought Higgins was safe, a "glue guy" we were told. This time next year a lot will have changed/evolved. Perhaps even by Summer.
  21. So players we can't trade are the ones we keep? Yikes. This is like university tenure. Not going to continue this way. The way that Weber, Higgins, and Prust have been dealt with is a sign of the future. Probably Burrows and Edler are closer to being "Prusted" than kept on.
  22. One of the wiser comments in the whole thread. I like the way Hansen and Burr are compared along the lines of the mentoring vs. playing value criterion. "To save the waiver eligible players like Grenier" is also noteworthy: who else -- a la Corrado -- will be made vulnerable to keep Burr? (We dumped Corrado to keep Weber.) I think Burr is done at TDL (least likely) or summer. If the team is as successful at the Draft as I suspect they will be, a lot is going to change. We have a backlog of forwards that need a genuine chance to prove themselves -- before a second crop of draftees get a chance (i.e., Virt, Mac and Horvat are the new norm). Rotating 5 or 6 of them in and out is tricky with waivers a factor; actually just the numbers suggest Burr is done this Spring/Summer. It's not his skating that is killing him, it's the inability to finish or break up plays/forecheck like he used to. Yes, he still blocks shots and can pk, but so could HIggins.
  23. On paper, Burr is Higgins 2.0. Do you remember what Torts said about Higgins, who he liked as a player, "he does everything for you but score." He meant this as a compliment. Burr is at about the same place as Higgins was recently. Do they waive him? Probably not, certainly not. The guy bleeds Canuck. But on the other hand... if you look like a Higgins, you skate like a Higgins and you are a "glue guy" like a Higgins, maybe you are a Higgins. This is the dilemma for the Canucks.
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