[Jonathan Dahlén | C/LW]

Fellas,

 

are we we all sleeping on Dahlen here?

 

somethin about the way this kid plays, idk if it’s his tenacity or drive or passion or what it is, but it’s like he knows everyone is pencilling him in as a future 2nd liner and he wants to shatter those expectations and prove he can be a star. 

 

Time will tell obviously, but boy, we might have something here

 

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

20 hours ago, stawns said:

I'm not sure why him playing on the wing upsets so many people.

Yeaahhhh okay nowhere in my post did I say I would be upset if pettersson plays the wing. In fact I think he would have a very good season if he played there. My point was that his weak FO shouldn’t inhibit him from playing centre, as many young players have very successful seasons at centre despite bad FO%. The decision to put him at Wing or at centre shouldn’t be based on his FO.

[Olli Juolevi | #48 | D]

4 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

I don't get the problem with having a non "flashy" guy on the d group? He's exactly who you'd want to pair with someone like a Hughes who takes more chances but needs someone to backup the play. I think OJs passing is a bit underrated as well. 

If you look at the slow-mo package the Canucks released today showing some highlights from the weekend, you can see that when OJ passed the puck to EP on the powerplay he wasn’t looking at him at all. So deceptive, doesn’t telegraph anything. That’s what you want in a D-man: Sees a smart play, has the skill to execute it, doesn’t give the opposition a chance to counter it. 

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

For those of you worried about Faceoffs and view that as the reason EP40 shouldn’t play centre this coming year...

 

the 2016-2017 art Ross, hart trophy, and ted Lindsey winner Connor McDavid, in his D+2 season, was one of the worst centremen at face offs in the whole league. He took the 4th most faceoffs on the team (behind RNH, Letestu, and Draisaitl). Even when draisaitl was playing on McDavids wing, he would still take the majority of the draws. Despite the sheltered faceoffs, McDavid still finished with a 43% faceoffs win percentage. 

 

Now, I’m not sayin EP is going to have a McDavid level D+2 season, I don’t think he has he skating or upper body strength to match that, but he could still be a successful centre despite his weak faceoff ability as long as he is put in the right situations. 

 

EP won’t have to take SH faceoffs, he won’t have to take PP face offs, he won’t have to take 6 on 5 faceoffs, and he’ll probably have very few Dzone starts, meaning he won’t have to take many Dzone faceoffs. His faceoffs can be sheltered even more by giving a centreman, say Sam Gagner for example, the RW position on EPs line to take the draws on EPs weak side. 

 

Suddenly, EP has the opportunity to be an effective centreman despite his bad Faceoffs, while still getting game time to work on faceoffs

[Olli Juolevi | #48 | D]

53 minutes ago, The Great Canucks said:

Because of his surgery, I can see him starting down in Utica at first. Probably by the trade deadline, he could have a permanent spot on the Canucks.

He’ll slide right into the spot MDZ leaves behind when he’s traded

[Brandon Sutter | #20 | C]

12 minutes ago, Hutton Wink said:

...and all these teams want to acquire him because he's like Gudbranson, a "replacement-level player with negligible value."  You know, the ones you can get in free agency for league minimum.

Yeah all you have to do is trade a failing D prospect for Nic Dowd and BAM. You have your sutter replacement. Nvm that he is a liability in his own zone and has little offensively abilities at the NHL level. He’s basically as good as sutter!

[Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW]

Nvm where he plays 5v5 this season. What I want is some JV pk time and some more JV ot time. Honestly, not haveing your fastest player on the ice in these two situations seems like a mistake to me. Then again, I’m not coach so maybe there’s a reason TG doesn’t put Jake out on the PK

[Brock Boeser | #6 | RW]

7 minutes ago, kloubek said:

That would be amazing, but seems too cheap to me.  I had guessed 6 years 7 million, but probably that is even a little optimistic.  8m per seems to be a relatively common believe in prior discussions.  Somehow, I feel that Brock knows he will earn lots of money in his career and he seems stand-up enough of a guy I'm hoping he doesn't get greedy and gives us a bit of a deal.

look at the deals signed by pastrnak, foresberg, monahan, larkin, mackinnon, etc. brock should fall in the 6-7 million range as long as the canucks aren't buying any of his UFA yearsits his next contract thats going to be expensive (probably 8 or 9 million for 8 years) assuming he maintains his projection

[Brock Boeser | #6 | RW]

3 hours ago, kloubek said:

Sounds like contract extension talks are starting.  Would be nice to lock up Boeser long term for a reasonable price.  

 

What do you guys think he will sign for?  I'm going to say 5-6 years, 7 million per.

i would bet 6 years, that buys him all the way till he's UFA. probably the best way to keep the cap hit low. if its 7 or 8, He will want more per year as it sets back his UFA status

 

im thinking 6 years at 6.5 million is reasonable.

[Michael DiPietro | G]

12 minutes ago, SamJamIam said:

I seriously doubt it.  Why would Dipietro leapfrog Demko?  Sounds like a hot take from someone who doesn't follow the team.

I have some SERIOUS doubts about this report. Probably just pure speculation to generate clicks

[Brock Boeser | #6 | RW]

BB up to 22 points in 5 games in da beauty league. Last year’s leader was Guentzel with 23 points in 7 games. 

 

Brock’s gunna set some beer league records this year 

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

14 hours ago, SILLY GOOSE said:

In the WJC I thought he showed good defensive awareness.  I havnt seen any of his SHL games though.  How has he looked on d?

-Back checks

-keeps his stick on the ice

-looks engaged in his own zone

 

tbh can’t ask for much more from a pure offense guy like pettersson. He’s not a defensive specialist but he’s not a liability or anything either. Solid in his own, outstanding in the other end

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

2 hours ago, Brock Botanen said:

I think you underestimate that part of his game. I've seen clips of him getting caught pinching and he uses his excellent speed to catch up and defend. He is actually very good at angling off players and forcing a turnover and then rushing up the ice creating scoring chances.

 

Go watch his shift by shift highlights, he's the real deal on both ends of the ice

Yeah he’s very good at recovering from mistakes, and part of that is he’s simply better than everyone else on the ice. Look at his penalty in the 3rd period vs Canada the other night though. Lost the puck at his own blue so he had to haul the guy down to stop a breakaway. 

 

In the NHL, these mistakes will come back to bite him more. Eventually, he will grow out of it, so I’m not worried. It’s just something to keep in mind when watching him develop

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

9 minutes ago, Rob_Zepp said:

Still not sure you are reading anything I post and just picking what you want - I will try one more time.   Dahlin is special and the best D prospect for some time to come to the NHL.   I would pick him ten times out of ten over any other Dman in this or any of the past ten drafts.    

 

All that being said, he is not as offensively dynamic as Quinn Hughes at this point of their respective careers.   Part of this is likely due to Dahlin's incredible maturity of Dzone responsibility and part of it is that Hughes is simply the better skater and perhaps the best skater of any position since McDavid coming to the NHL.   I have watched Dahlin more than Hughes.   I wanted Dobson for two reasons - one I thought he was the best option after Dahlin/Hughes and two I was confident that both would be gone (I didn't factor in Arizona, Montreal and Detroit doing what they did).   

 

 

Quinn Hughes is more offensively dynamic because he takes more risks than Dahlin. Plus Quinn’s edge work and his ability to gain momentum in tight spaces allows him to manipulate the play like few other players in the world. 

 

Dahlin does literally everything else better. And that’s not a bad thing for Hughes. He’ll probably cost less long term, which is the key to team success

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

9 minutes ago, Brock Botanen said:

Just because he's so gifted offensively doesn't mean he lacks defence. He is actually a very good defender. The kid is dangerous, and I believe will win a Norris or 2, maybe 3 in his career

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Compared to his offense, he’s pretty mediocre defensively. Not bad, but not good either. But his issues on defense are relatively simple fixes (most of it can be solved by keeping his stick down and keeping his mind set on defensive positioning when I’m his own zone). He just needs more expierence playing and his defense will improve. But let’s not pretend he’s an amazing defender in his own zone right now. It will come, just not yet. 

 

I remember Erik Karlsson was 24 years old winning Norris Trophies and his defensive game was still pretty bad. Is much better now, but it just goes to show how long it can take to develop that side of the game. There’s a reason why defensemen usually take longer to develop that forwards, and it’s because play without the puck can mostly only be learned the hard way: getting burned in game situations and learning from your mistakes. 

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

1 hour ago, TGokou said:

Watching the shift-by-shift video of him against Team Canada you can definitely see that Hughes still needs a lot of work in the D-zone. There was one goal where he was completely at fault because he drifted away from his player in front of the net for an easy tap-in. There was no reason for that to happen at all as he should've been covering his man. He was obviously looking to breakout too soon.The other two goals he was on I don't believe were his fault at all. One was basically a goal the goalie absolutely must have had. The third goal he almost had his man tied up but once again the goalie had to have that.

 

In one case, Hughes lets his man blow by him through the neutral zone on the rush. Could've easily been a breakaway. In another instance he was being pressured by a fore-checker, and with multiple safe tape-to-tape options he chooses the most dangerous option of going through the fore-checkers stick and ends up turning over the puck. Obviously nothing to complain about with his offensive game but definitely needs to clean it up in his own end.

 

Also with the whole thing about drafting Jack Hughes. It would obviously be a dream to have this happen but I'm not too hopeful. The great thing about this upcoming draft is that it seems to be very heavy in good centres. Based on their stats they all seem like they could easily go in the top 15. I'm not sure how they compare defensively but this could be a very deep draft. 

 

 

I’m really hopeful that he’s forced to become more engaged defensively playing in Michigan this year.

 

He’s going to be a #1 all-situation-type defensemen this year. All he really needs to do his learn to keep his stick active and on the ice, improve his gap control, and be more sound positionally in his own zone. For someone with his skating and hockey IQ, these should be easy things to develop and will likely come naturally with more experience and playing time. Offensively, he’s already one of the best at his age and better than 90% of players older than him. Once the defensive game is here (even partly) he will be just fine. His D-game doesn’t even have to be great, just okay

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

25 minutes ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

 

I watched this a few weeks ago, and I think it is a great video exemplifying the strengths and weaknesses of Quinn's game.

 

We all know his skating and offensive skills are likely ready to translate to the NHL.  One thing that I found interesting about the shift by shift analysis is that Quinn has this real slick touch of the puck.  You sometimes see certain defenders over handle the puck, but he has such soft hands that literally look like he is barely touhing the puck but makes it look like he is a wizard dancing with the puck on his stick.  That is what I observed too at the prospects camp scrimmage, his ability to just carry the puck everywhere he goes like it is a yo-yo.

 

There are a few defensive tendencies that he needs to work on. I am glad he chose to go back to Michigan because based on the products that have come out of Michigan, a lot of them are well-rounded defensive prospects (McAvoy, Werenski, Trouba), and Hughes could use a season or two to refine his defensive game.

 

1) gap control - despite his elite skating, he tends to defend from a distance instead of engaging the opposition.  Not expecting him to be physical, but with his great skating, he should be shadowing the opposition.  If he can commit to skating harder in the defensive zone he will be able to defend a lot better and likely will lead to transitions quicker the other way because he has sealed off the opposition.  He gives them too much time to set up positionally that they get body position over him, and that is when you notice his lack of size on the defensive side of the game. 

 

2) defensive reads - he needs to be more aware what is going on in the defensive zone.  He often looks like he zeros in on the puck and the puck carrier instead of reading the play around him.  Which often leads him to be out of position or he over commits to a particular side of the play.  This one is the biggest area I feel he needs to improve on.  He can get away with it in lower levels because the opposition is not as strong in making set up plays, but in the pros, not even his elite skating can defend against it.  He needs to be better in his defensive positioning and reads.

 

3) Body language - he looks engaged in the offensive zone, but defensively he doesn't (or it appears he isn't).  Its weird because its like he is two different players, in the offensive zone, he is actively moving to find open ice, has his stick down, and looks like he is reading the play very well.  Which is why he is usually the one finding the puck on his stick more often than others. 

 

Defensively though, his stick isn't on the ice ready to intercept pucks in passing lanes, isn't moving his feet (where it often looks like he floating in the defensive zone).  I don't know maybe this is him conserving energy and reading the play instead of wasting a whole lot of energy for nothing, but you can do that but still look engaged and ready to react.  This one is minor, but certainly one that will drive the coach crazy.  We already could see some of that in Juolevi, often looks disinterested.

 

Im not expecting him to be a defensive wizard like Ryan Suter or Drew Doughty etc.  But he does need to be at least a competent defender.

 

 

Yeah his defensive game is pretty average as he rests too much on the fact that he’s simply a better skater and puck handler than everyone else. 

 

The thing about gap control, reading plays, and body language is once Quinn gets some experience playing against higher quality players, those element will come along naturally. He need to be put in a situation where he’s forced to grow and learn and not continue to rely on his bad habits. That’s why I’m more excited to watch his UofM games than his wjc games. I think college games offer more structure and a higher standard so he will have o develop the defensive side of his game if he wants to dominate there before coming to the NHL

 

i almost wish he was coming to the NHL this year because I know that Green would be willing to go through the steps to make sure he develops, whereas in Michigan they are probably more focused on winning (as they should be) than developing Hughes into an NHLer. 

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

nor sure if this has been posted before, but I found this in depth breakdown on Hughes’s game from the wjc. 

 

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

6 minutes ago, thrago said:

Awesome thanks guys. I've seen Quinns skating but that's vs college players which makes it hard to translate. If he can skate like Barzal in the NHL that will be fantastic. 

Yeah the main similarities are his edge work and agility. The both know how to position their feet and push through their legs to pivot and turn fast and sharp in order to avoid checkers

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

2 minutes ago, aGENT said:

If Mathew Barzal played D....? 

Lol you beat me to it by 1 minute

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

7 minutes ago, thrago said:

I keep hearing Quinn was the best skater in the draft which is great. That being said how does he stack up in the NHL? Anyone have a comparable?

i’ve heard people compare his skating to barzal

[Quinn Hughes | #43 | D]

1 hour ago, stawns said:

They don't travel much at all in the AHL and they get a lot of gym and practice time.  Utica would have been my choice for him, but a crack at an NCAA championship is understandable, though it doesn't sound like they'll have as strong a squad as last season

Yeah the AHL would probably be just as good for his training and development. I think people underestimate how good of a development league the AHL actually is. 

 

That said, there’s a lot of advantages to staying at Michigan too. Quinn is still 18. He has friends and family in Michigan. He knows his university campus and he’s comfortable living there. He doesn’t have to adjust to a new city and finding a place to live and how to get to the rink and creating new chemistry with teammates. He just has to focus on hockey

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

17 minutes ago, Rollieo Del Fuego said:

Virtanen's got earn it by showing puck skills, that is something he is supposed to be working on this summer...hope it works out for him...Gaudette has everything Gag.s has plus the ability to go into the corner's and come out with the puck....as well as backcheck....both things I have not seen Gagner do...at all really ...he certainly has never been to the corner's to check or be checked...

 

By the TDL I think we see both Dahlen and Gaudette up to stay and Gagner plus....? Eriksson or Baer or Granlund will be gone...

I got a really weird feeling management is going to keep gagner for the whole season and then trade him either next summer or the tdl of 2020. I hope they do it sooner, but they seem to have no problem holding on to guys until the last second 

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

1 hour ago, Rollieo Del Fuego said:

....not sure how you can put Gagner on that PP with a straight face...

 

It should be Dahlen or Gaudette but likely will be Baer or Erikkson (for net front presence)

 

I would rather see another D. on the PP than Gag's...

I put gagner cause he’s a right handed shot and played there at times on the PP last season (sometimes Vanek was there too). 

 

Gaudette would be good there too, as I believe that’s where he played with northeastern. But I don’t think he will have built up the trust with Green yet by the end of the year end (maybe though). 

 

I think baer and Eriksson will be in the 2nd unit to help spread out the offense and so they can be on their off wing for the pp. 

 

i know gagner is easy to rag on but his greatest strength as a player is banging home picks at the net front, he did it a lot with the Sedins towards the end of the season and putting him there *may* also up his trade value

 

edit: just wanna day I do agree with you, that there are better options than gagner; but this is me trying to guess what green might do, not say what my preferred pp unit would be. 

 

Edit 2: just a thought, maybe Virtanen down low? Big body, good for retrieving pucks, for checking, and a threat to shoot the puck. Could work well actually

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

I think at some point this season ( might not be till March if he goes back to Michigan ) we will see a powerplay unit the looks like this:

 

gagner - horvat - pettersson

 

boeser - Hughes 

 

hopefully hughes will get some time to learn to play on the right side in the pp this season wherever he plays. I remember seeing an interview where he talked about being put on his off side on the pp for team USA at the world championships and it was something he had never done before and wanted to improve. I’m thinking he’ll get lots of chances there this season in Van or Utica, but I’m not sure about Michigan. It depends if they want to use him the same way as last year or not.