J-P

Think the oilers are in for a nasty surprise. McD and Drei don't have enough support and can't win on their own in the playoffs.

We should end this thread right here on page 100, right? Just seems so fitting ;-)

You're not given opportunities in the NHL, that's not how it works. You take them. I know people keep mentioning his 33 point season but 12 points where on PP2 and the remaining 21 in a very sheltered 3rd line role while being a defensive liability is not that impressive. Guess we'll see if he sticks with the hawks top 6 or not over time.

Gotta wonder how wilson's teammates feel about all this. Nasty crosscheck on mantha.

We sure do. And motte.

I know Nylander comes off a bit arrogant and as a floater, but man he's got skills and he's not as soft as people say, goes to the net and didn't even leave the ice after that heavy hit, instead driving play in the other zone on the same shift.

Real gud even

Who cares? Fringe leafs won't make a difference anyway... (Tongue in cheek of course - thanks Vintage for always keeping us up to date)

I bet Getzlaf and the entire ducks team remembers him... As long as the expectation is for him to be a 4-6D and the contract is reasonable I'd love to have him back.

Gaudette can put up points if being put in an inflated situation like pp2 last year or with the right line mates. Is that enough to keep him in the NHL with all his other shortcomings? I don't think so but time will tell. What I know is: 1) GMJB really wanted to get rid of him, that's a fact since a) we're selling low b) Benning said himself he didn't want to ship out players at the deadline due to covid 2) Personally I just want to be rid of him, he's just not a fit personality wise of playing wise, if Highmore or Bowey don't pan out then so be it, let's move on, but I hope at least one of them do

In the end it's all up to OJ. I think the games he's played he's been ok but he needs to take another step to be above the comparisons with Benn etc. If he plays 5-10 more games this season than I think it's a success and then he needs to step it up before next season. His mobility is definitely still in question but on the other hand it's gotten better and this shortened season + an entire offseason might do wonders. Next season he needs to be a regular without excuses. I think he will be.

Bottom line is nucks determined he's not good enough for top 6 or defensively adequate for bottom 6 and/or he's not a good fit character wise. You can argue the timing of this trade, of course the return would have been better a year ago, but IMO it's good to get rid of players not fitting in. Should have made that call for virts long ago instead of resigning him.

Demko's been fantastic the last 10 games. Easily top 5 in the league. He was below average the 10 games or so before that, though. And by below average I mean not starting goalie material. I believe in Demko and I'm very relieved his concussion issues don't seem to linger, but that first 10 games this season still means he's got a lot to learn. It's not realistic for our team to be in playoff contention after the start we had. If we somehow get into contention, that will be fantastic and mostly because of Demko. If he cools off somewhat in the upcoming month that's fine too, he doesn't need to be at his best for a year or two yet.

Funny how Benn has looked bad ever since parting with QH and moving over to the left side with Myers. Whereas OJ looked good in that spot. Don't know what that says but it says something, about Benn or about OJ or maybe both.

Just want to point out that Jarnkrok is a swede and in swedish "jarn" (järn) = iron and "krok" = hook so that's like the coolest name ever.

Absolutely, not setting them up against another apart from the PP comparison. Unclear if QH can be good enough defensively to be a 1-2D, I would guess OJ:s ceiling is 2-3, but regardless, we definitely have room for both.

True enough! But speculating my take is that OJ is superior regarding hockey IQ and passing and that QH is the faster and more dynamic skater with more creativity.

True. All the elite PP:s rotate their players dynamically, for some reason we seldom do... Still think OJ would setup one-timers for EP a lot more frequently.

Not saying we should trade QH but a lot of the PP problems are actually tied to him, e.g. not getting the passes on the stick of the shooter, losing the puck when transporting, not having a good enough shot etc. OJ actually has a higher ceiling in all these aspects (although QH will of course always be the more dynamic skater and playmaker).

Not saying Jake's a bad player, but it's not all about points and also there's definitely a discussion to be had as to when he's gotten those goals/points, but let's just focus on the bottom line, regardless of linemates and points it's quite obvious that Hogs has played better overall compared to JV this season, or do you have another take?

It's not. This is the pros, you're not gifted ice time, you earn it. Hogs got one scrimmage in the top 6 and that's all he needed to prove that he belonged there and he's fought for every inch of ice ever since. Jake's been given multiple looks in the top 6 and looked ok at times, but most of the time like he's been waiting for something. I actually quite liked Jake's last game and maybe the expectations are wrong because of his draft pedigree, but to compare JV and Hogs and argue that Hogs hasn't earned his ice time in comparison is just a bad take.

Also a bit put off if OJ is scratched in favour of Benn/Harmonic but could it be they're both playing for new contracts and we're showcasing them? Let's hope so.

It annoys me that our fans can't see Alex's value. Never mind the fact that last contract negotiation he just told his agent way before FA period started to just get the money he could for 2 years to give the team maximum flexibility for ED, although he could've gotten more money and definitely much longer term on the open market. https://canucksarmy.com/2021/02/20/under-toughest-minutes-career-alex-edler-quietly-having-best-defensive-season-yet/

Agree on most of your take including foot speed being his main weakness. IMO though the main thing for OJ is still staying healthy. If he can do that he's already shown he has all the tools defensively being both smart and physical, and offensively I believe his IQ, passing and shot will get him 20-40 points a season minimum once he gets comfortable in the bigs. That's a #2-4D on any team that won't break the bank and an essential part of a contender. Maybe it's his struggles but I also just get the feeling that he has the right attitude and will keep adding value. He does have a history of playing his best in the biggest games as well.

Just think that it's time to accept that most of our premier players are having an off year and that we're too far behind to challenge for a playoff spot already. Hurts to say this as it makes watching the remainding games harder, but in the long run there's lots of positives if management has the business perspective on it. I don't see EP/QH being this bad ever again and that should be a positive regarding contracts. Bottom line = we need to be able to control play, and until we are, we're not a good team. My 5 cents. that's a combination of players not living up to standard and coaches not having a system that works.