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elvis15

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Everything posted by elvis15

  1. Shinks too old as others have said. McCann wasn't invited to the summer camp but could yet impress and get a call to a later camp. Virtanen and Horvat have a very good chance, with Virtanen just needing to get back into form after his injury and he'll likely make it. Don't forget there's still Subban that could be picked for the D, although that's a stretch at this point.
  2. Or, they might be assuming he's a good prospect. We'll see what he does at camp. Don't have it as I don't have an ESPN insider account. When you go to the ESPN link it's shows that #1 is Drouin but nothing after. Otherwise the Canucks Army link only shows us the Canucks prospects. Corrado was an honourable mention falling just outside the top 100, and Horvat was 16, Virtanen was 26, Shinkaruk was 31 and McCann was 77. Again, that's all in the Canucks Army link though.
  3. Whether or not you like Corey Pronman, he does base his prospect evaluations in large part off of speaking with scouts. He watches video as well, but may not make a lot of games live (based in Florida I think) so it's his opinion based off of the amalgamated scouts consensus.
  4. Horvat made the ESPN's top 100 prospects list, coming in at #19 - our highest ranked prospect. From Canucks Army's recap (and for those of you without an ESPN insider account): http://canucksarmy.com/2014/8/12/4-canucks-prospects-make-espn-s-top-100-list
  5. Virtanen made the ESPN's top 100 prospects list, coming in at #26. From Canucks Army's recap (and for those of you without an ESPN insider account): http://canucksarmy.com/2014/8/12/4-canucks-prospects-make-espn-s-top-100-list
  6. The trick with that is it'd have to be really close to him actually making the team, since we already have a full roster and would likely be sending a player through waivers to allow him to play those 9 games. If we know we're keeping him short term there's no point risking losing a player for nothing on a waiver claim just to give him a taste of NHL ice time. That's been clear from the start, but what also should be clear is if he plays well enough he can earn a spot in the roster this year, next year, etc. regardless of how safe it is. If he does so, and where in the line up that spot is remains to be seen. You can't say we have to ice the best roster in one post then follow it up by saying a guy's cap hit will keep him n the line up. As J.R. says, if Bo (or any other prospect) plays well enough, they'll be in the line up and push someone out.
  7. Not sure how you got that, but it wouldn't be the end of the world either. Happens all the time in fact (as Dasein said centers often start at wing). It'd be tougher for someone like Shinkaruk or Fox to do so, since they've played center but are really more wingers so they wouldn't likely start in the middle. The same could be said for Vey and Matthias to an extent, neither of whom are strong faceoff guys (Bonino isn't that strong either) so to have them play wing (which Matthias already will be most likely) and then have Horvat take either Vey's spot (or Richardson's at least during the first few games) wouldn't be unreasonable if he is playing well.
  8. Which players are out of position? More importantly, which ones are forced out of position by Horvat joining the line up? Just Vey (who's played wing) if Horvat makes the 3rd line? At least one of our centers (Vey, Matthias, Richardson) will be out of position without any prospects added, and if a particular prospect (like Horvat) is good enough to force his way onto the team, then it won't really matter if another prospect is more of a natural winger or center or whatever. I hadn't seen much if any time that Sbisa spent on the right, but I've hardly watched a lot of him. Of the videos I could find I only saw him playing right when he switched on the PP, so I think the battles as you mentioned (with Corrado thrown in alongside Weber/Sanguinetti) are pretty much how it'll shake down. I agree it's much more likely to be a proper defensive pair and was just suggesting Vey out of the young guys who could be there. I guess if I really wanted to stretch, maybe Fox could make it then too, but again we're ignoring experience and then likelihood to make the team on top of that.
  9. Sedin Sedin Vrbata Burrows Bonino Kassian Higgins Vey Hansen Matthias Richardson Dorsett Sestito That's our basic line up before prospects at this point. It's easy enough to waive Sestito to fit one prospect in, but then the question is where does the prospect play and who of the above becomes the 13th forward? Since we're in the Horvat thread, let's use him as a plug in. The top six won't change, so let's ignore that for now. Horvat will play one of two positions most likely, one one of two lines. He could play wing (probably left wing) but then that's the toughest question for who moves down regardless of what line he's on but certainly Matthias barring a trade or injuries. Center is more likely, and would leave either Richardson or Dorsett as the 13th forward - again barring a trade or injuries. Starting 3rd line: Higgins Horvat Vey Matthias Richardson Hansen Dorsett Starting 4th line: Higgins Vey Hansen Matthias Horvat Dorsett Richardson We'd end up with a good player as the 13th forward, but that's what good teams can do. If it's a short term tryout (<=9 games) then it's not an issue for anyone really. If it's longer then we might have to accommodate someone wanting to move, but I'll take that if it means Horvat's good enough to stay.
  10. Now you're bringing up Couturier? After our previous conversation where you told me to stop bringing up Couturier?! But who says he'd have to go to the AHL the season after this one? It's not written in stone, just like his minutes and a potential 4th line role aren't if he makes the team. If he makes the NHL (whatever line and minutes that ends up being) it's not because the Canucks are forcing him before he's ready.
  11. This is what we've been saying all along. Not to derail the Horvat conversation, but who do you think plays the right side in that scenario after Bieksa and Tanev? I agree that I don't see Bo as a point man so much. Net front or half wall maybe. We'd likely have someone more dynamic on the point if we wanted to put a forward there (Vey maybe?).
  12. Dasein does have a point in how the minutes will be laid out, and I've mentioned it before that rolling four lines certainly doesn't mean equal minutes across all of them or even the bottom 9/6. That doesn't rule out Horvat starting on the 4th and earning more minutes through improved play though. If he doesn't earn that extra play and stays at more limited minutes, they can make a decision whether to keep him or send him back to junior. The only question then will be to see if that's obvious by 9 games or if that happens further into the season.
  13. Since others have already answered these obvious points (Horvat playing another year of junior and being another year older than Couturier was, Horvat does play physical but more than that plays smart rather than trying to be a wrecking ball, the nickname of the Ox), points which are not the points I and others have been arguing this whole time, I'll ignore them. But look at that, I answered them anyway. What I will do is point out if you want to argue about Dorsett being all Horvat has to beat, go ahead, but again that's not what we're arguing. We've made repeated and detailed points about Horvat being very capable of making the team on the 4th line and working his way up from there if he deserves it, rather than just playing minimal 4th line 'plug' minutes. You've argued against that at every turn, and when you can't find reasons that sound reasonable even to you, you change tack and argue something else. This really is the last I'll say on it so don't bother replying. You should have said Coutourier, but wait, Horvat's not as good as him anyway, so never mind...
  14. But that is my point. Couturier, and even better player/prospect in your own estimation, started on the 4th line and wasn't at all harmed by doing so. Yet you want to argue Horvat couldn't do so because it's somehow harmful to him. Do you not see the fault in your logic and how what we've been stating all along does make some sense as a possible way for Horvat to make the Canucks? We aren't trying to only develop him as a 3rd liner by doing so, much again the same as the Flyers aren't limiting Couturier. We aren't having him compete with Dorsett, since Dorsett plays right wing and Horvat's a left handed center. It's debatable whether or not he has less chance, just as much as it's debatable whether or not there's nothing left for him in junior, but that's not what we're arguing. And still, you're completely missing that point and want to try and defend that Horvat can't and won't ever start on the Canucks by playing on the 4th line (irrespective of competition or any additional minutes he may get). *sigh* I give up.
  15. Where did I say that? Horvat certainly has the skillset that he could progress from being an 8 minute 4th liner to someone playing 14 minutes and doing so against tough competition. It'd be amazing if he gets to the point where he could shadow players like Perry, Hall, Thornton effectively for us in the West, but I'm not projecting that in his first year. You've been arguing against the point all along that Horvat can play 4th line minutes to start and would be able to get more minutes if he proves himself as an effective starting point for a rookie. You've also said his offensive development will suffer from this type of deployment. You even said his likely projection is a good 3rd line center, although that could be better or worse. Couturier started with 4th line minutes and earned more as the season went on and he proved himself. He worked on his offensive development still in that time and has done well since in that regard. His initial projection was a strong 3rd line center, and he has greater upside as well. These points are real world examples of the points we're arguing for Horvat, and is just one possible outcome of how he could stick with the big club. What we're not saying is definitely that Horvat will start like this and end up high in Calder voting, completely shutting down the top players in the league and producing offence at the same time. It's possible, just as much as starting him on the 3rd line might be too much, or that he might not gain anything from going back to junior.
  16. He was very active in front looking for passes as well as trying to screen. He's trying to play off the other players a lot and is always hounding the puck when Canada doesn't have it. There was a post on the previous page from before I put up Horvat's goal, saying he needs to hit more, but Horvat isn't a guy who chases hits (like we saw a lot from Ritchie today). He's a guy who uses his body more to create the turnover and strip the puck rather than trying to separate the player and let someone else get it. He'll make hits too, but that's not his game as much as gaining puck possession.
  17. Horvat playing a lot in the slot when in the offensive zone, just got another pass but he bobbled it and passed it to the player coming in out of the penalty box for a shot.
  18. Yup, he's getting all the tough minutes, double shifting on faceoffs in his own end. Petan, McDavid and Fabbri (before his injury) have stood out as well.
  19. Involved in a lot of things. PK and PP time, forechecking and defensive play. He's got the C again today as well. Canada just had another chance on a 5 on 4 with Horvat getting the pass in the slot, but he couldn't control it. Now there's a scrum in front as a player goes after McDavid and Horvat stepped in to grab the guy before the linesman tackled them both. So many players in the penalty box for both sides this period.
  20. And Horvat nearly drives the puck to the net off a breakout pass up the boards, but the defenceman poked the puck away at the last moment. Things are super chippy at the moment though.
  21. No gif, but it was Petan on the left half wall one timing a pass to Fabbri coming in on the far side, and as that pass went across, Horvat switched position from screening the front of the net out to facing the net at the hashmarks where he received the one touch pass from Fabbri. Horvat was wide open due to all the wide puck movement and one timed it past he goalie with a short snap shot. EDIT: I should add about your other question, while I haven't looked up all the extended rosters of the other teams we know Canada has a large group of guys rotating each game. It'd be a fair bit of work to make up the nameplates for all of those so that'd probably be why.
  22. Indeed, he just tried to showcase them with a BoDrag to start the 2nd. The defenceman picked off the puck though.
  23. And Horvat just scored on the PP. A nice play with Canada enjoying a 4 on 3 advantage with one time passes from Petan and Fabbri ending up on Horvat's stick wide open in front of the net. One time shot from him and it's in. Absolutely, and they talk about how he has unrealized offensive talent at that point that will still come as he continues to develop.
  24. Interesting that you bring up Couturier. I'll give you three guesses on where he started playing with the Flyers in his rookie season... An article from his rookie year, during the playoffs against Pittsburgh when he was matched up with Malkin: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl--philadelphia-flyers-rookie-sean-couturier-talks-like-a-teenager-and-plays-like-an-old-pro.html Sound familiar to what anyone's been describing here?
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