Maddogy
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Everything posted by Maddogy
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There was no concern with their size nor the expansion draft.
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The team's track record this season is that the young prospects or Utica call-ups practise with the team for at least a week before being eased into the lineups. They would also be pulled out of the lineups periodically for coaching reasons.
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Highly unlikely. This year's draft is deep for the top 10-15 draft positions. Jim Benning is going to stay put if their draft position is within that range. Besides, Alexis Lafrenière is a better fit for Vancouver as he is a LW, a perfect fit for Pettersson and Boeser. He is also bigger, more physical and plays better D than Jack Hughes. Jim Benning might as well swing for him in 2020.
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With regard to Jim Benning's comment that he is not worried about signing Hughes and how that affects roster protection for the expansion draft, my speculation is that the organization will not play him more than 9 games this season. Following the pattern of Utica defence men call-ups this seasons, Hughes would be practicing with the team for at least a week before been eased into the lineup. He would also be pulled out of the lineup periodically for coaching reasons.
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What I know as facts are: - Vancouver as an organization loves Swedish players. - Jim Benning praised Dahlen and acknowledged his connection with Elias Pettersson back in Sweden. - Vancouver had a great Utica coach in Travis Green. He had a very challenged career and therefore understands the grind and struggles of less-than-elite players. - The Utica players that were summoned to play for the Canucks this season are pretty much NHL ready. - Canucks were seeking offense on the wings, for both top lines. - Some wingers did well in Utica, but were not given an opportunity, such as Reid Boucher. My personal conclusion: If Boucher and Dahlen were NHL ready, Canucks would have tried them on the wings on the top 6. Travis Green knows these players from his Utica days. It is thus more likely than not that these Utica players were not NHL ready. I do not hear Boucher bitching and complaining that despite of his AHL stats he was never called. The bitching and complaining this season seem to come from players that have less NHL and AHL experience than Boucher. The Vancouver organization may be fairly criticized for failing to appreciate that the millennial generation of players are more entitled and therefore require a different style of coaching. Nevertheless, the organization declines to do so as some young players who went through the grind, such as Hutton (survived Travis' dog house), Stecher and Gaudette have paid their dues and persevered.
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Any team can be fixed. The problem is that the ownership and McDavid may not be willing to rebuild again. Vancouver was in that spot a few years ago.
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This is exactly what is supposed to happen if a team has lots of good/great prospects, i.e. many prospects don't have the opportunity to be called. This speaks volumes just how great of a job J.B. has done to fill the prospect pool and generate internal competition. I follow the Oilers. If Gaunce is an Edmonton property he would have been slotted to play with McDavid or centre the 2nd line. Edmonton fans would have gushed over his incredible ability to skate and back check and banter they should keep Gaunce and trade Jesse Puljujärvi. I am not joking. This is how pathetic Oilers' prospect pool is.
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Hughes might be a better fit when the bottom 6 forwards are on the ice. The Pettersson line is not particularly physical nor effective along the boards. Hughes may experience the same challenge in the NHL with board play. Vancouver has 2 very balanced bottom 6 lines with size, speed and some hands. They can back check and help Hughes and his D partner along the boards. By the same token, Hughes can quarterback more rushes and breakaways for the bottom 6 forwards than what they usually expect. I just feel more confident when the other 4 Vancouver skaters playing with Hughes are physical which alleviates Hughes' biggest shortcoming.
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Quinn is a very safe prospect provided that he is partnered with an elite #1 D. His prospect is at risk if he is expected to be THE #1 D.
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I can only say from my career prospect that the co-workers who complain about lack of communication from their boss are the ones with low EQ. They either don't understand their employer's message when they were communicated or fail to understand that they too have the onus to initiate communication. Almost all employers ask the rudimentary questions "are you doing OK?" " is there something we can do for you?" For some reason, the ones with the beef NEVER raised any issues until they gave their notice and told everyone how there was a lack of communication from higher up.
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The only way for Elias to get stronger and avoid further injuries is to train in China. They have everything covered.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRkNuyAL06s 0:10 No more broken fingers. 0:28 No more fatigue on road trips. 0:38 pain free from jabbing and slashing. 1:04 Blocking shots with your...... 1:10 No more concussion. 1:18 Protection against blindside hits. 3:13 Fortify your teeth and jaw.
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It is very challenging to interpret these deficiencies in his game. Is it a show of character that he expects to carry every play from D zone to O zone and carry his team on his back? Or, is it a proof of his lack of judgement and inability to make proper decisions under pressure? How will playing with both tougher competition and better teammates in the NHL affect his style of play? At this point, there is not much to worry about in his game per se but how he reacts to the loss to Finland. This is so as Quinn played a major role during the tournament and he was very much invested in the outcome emotionally and professionally. Is he pissed off about the loss and inspired to be better and win in the NHL? Or, is he having doubts about the way he has played and attempts to become a player that he is not? If he has the mental fortitude of Elias Pettersson dealing with competition and injuries, I think Quinn will eventually excel in NHL. So far, none of the hockey sources indicate any problems with his confidence nor character. We will see.
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I agree with the comments that there is nothing more that Hughes can learn from his U of M coaching staff. He should join NHL ASAP and learn from his NHL D partners. Vancouver should keep both Edler and Tanev in this regard as they bring somewhat different NHL perspectives. This is bad asset management from the team's perspective but may pay off in the long run in Huges' development. Hughes needs to learn from 2 guys who were one game away from winning the Cup.
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Q. Hughes is awesome because he can do things that most NHL top D cannot . He is expected to gets lots of assists by bringing puck into the O zone and make passes to other playermakers and snipers. His shot is average but may be improved. He should speak with Elias Pettersson about improving his shots. Jim Benning was ecstatic about drafting Hughes because this type of talent is very rare. Players like Dobson and Bourchard are available during every draft, even in the second and third rounds. He is not expected to be a complete package like Chris Pronger or Rasmus Dahlin. He is a complementary specialist type of D, not the bread and butter kind. BTW, this is why I do not think Jack Hughes is a great fit with Vancouver as he plays a similar type of game with Quinn, and I do not think a team needs 2 of such type of players. Cup winning teams exhibit a tremendous balance of talent and physicality, you cannot overload on one aspect alone. Hughes' ceiling may be akin to Brian Rafalski. Brian was never the top D on his teams. He was always shielded by hall of fame D partners. Vancouver needs to get lucky to select a D prospect that develops into a Hedman or Burns.
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Recall that video clip when the brain trust of Boston was contemplating trading Tyler Seguin? It would be very interesting to find out what Jim Benning's real assessment of Goldobin is. I don't think that Goldobin has a long term future with Vancouver. Vancouver can acquire better players through the draft. He is not the sort of top 6 player you win a championship with.
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In an ideal world, Brock's ice time for the first few games would be limited to 10 minutes per, mostly on power plays.
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Unlike most other prospects in the league, Quinn would be one of those players that we can assess with a just a few NHL games. Just like Pettersson, it would be very apparent within the first few NHL games of his career whether Quinn's skating, vision and hockey IQ would dominate NHL. If so, he would most likely stay and play with sheltered minutes. If his talent is not readily adjustable to NHL's pace and physicality, then he is a bust. Olli Juolevi is the prototypical safe pick with a higher floor. Quinn is the high risk high reward pick.
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I think once McDavid was drafted, the Oilers concluded their rebuild before it was complete. Now they are paying the price for missing talent on the wings, on D and arguably on G. The problem with most of their signed players is that they lack trade value. Jim Benning is absolutely correct to flood Vancouver's roster with prospects and vets and let them compete for limited spots and ice time. This gives Travis Green more tools to coach and compel players to improve. I think this is one of the reasons that Vancouver has been able to salvage certain prospects acquired from other teams as well as rehabilitate Ben Hutton. Competition makes competent players focus. I think Vancouver has a decent chance of salvaging Jesse Puljujärvi, but I don't think the team has the roster spot nor wishes to pay the asking price.
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Edmonton lacks talent on the wings and therefore they compensate by making one of their centres play wing. Now their bottom 6 lacks the depth. If you look at every successful team in recent years, including Vancouver this year so far, the bottom 6 brings speed, grit, penalty killing, leadership, and defensive line matching against other teams' top lines. Edmonton got into the playoffs when their rebuild was yet to be finished. They need more talents on the wing. They need more puck moving D (Evan Bouchard). They do not have the depth to trade for these nor do they have the salary cap to get them in the free agent market. Edmonton would eventually become a good team. It may take a few years of missing the playoffs to draft more talents in order to improve internally.
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The more hockey I watch the more I admire Torts and Brian Burke for their demeanor before the media. Last month, Brian was on a show talking about Nylander contract. He said " I was a GM in the NHL for xx years. How you ever been a GM?"
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We should be getting a discount this year signing Boeser for a new contract. We may have lucked out unlike the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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As a Canucks fan I'm always nervous about overvaluing big physical prospects. I hope the current scouting team appreciates that physicality and physical maturity in a young prospect may mask certain deficiencies. e.g. Jesse Puljujärvi
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Definitely not! No need for a Russian player with crappy attitude, lack of professionalism and unwillingness to learn English. You can't win Stanley Cup finals with dramas such as this. As much as I criticize Goldobin at least he is trying to give Travis Green what he wants. Goldobin wants to to play in the NHL.
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BPA is definitely the best strategy in the long run. The issue is not whether or not Jack Hughes is an elite player that would make the Canucks better. The question is whether we wish to be pinned down with the same situation that Toronto is in. If we get Jack I would be ecstatic, even though we may end up paying a disproportionate percentage of our cap space on forwards like Toronto. If we don't have the first overall pick for 2019, there are couple of D prospects with first pairing potential at this point.
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I may be overthinking this but having 2 Hughes on the same team brings a lot of redundancy in terms of skill set as well as the same pitfalls. They are both elite play makers and puck distributors with less than elite shots. Both of them are of questionable size for 4 rounds of the Stanley cup playoffs. A big winger is currently in need to complement Pettersson once Eriksson's contract expires. At least 2 more elite prospects for D would be desirable. During the past 10 years, for reasons unknown to me, it seems that the league has not produced as many elite D as the number of elite F.