Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

Members
  • Posts

    10,799
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    8

Everything posted by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

  1. Nice goal, but if I’m the Västerås (team in yellow) coach, I’m definitely having a word or two with the forward who came back and then basically stopped, lightly tapped Lekkerimaki’s skate, and then halfheartedly feigned a stick lift after Lekkerimaki had already got his shot off. That guy could have (a) kept skating and hit Lekkerimaki, (b) engaged physically and tied him up, or (c) actually done a properly timed stick lift and taken away the shot, among other options. At the same time, I like how Lekkerimaki sees that guy coming, widens his stance, gets lower, and appears to angle his body in anticipation of possible physical contact or having his shot contested. Good instincts there that should serve him well in the NHL. Against stiffer competition, he might still have been able to use his body position to protect the puck, maintain possession, and get his shot off, even if that opposition player had decided to engage and actually play some defence.
  2. Does that mean that when he plays for Switzerland, wins silver, but tosses his medal into the crowd, he’ll be Lius Suter?
  3. It would be nice to just have options. And to be able to be strategic on the PK, rather than just looking to survive whenever shorthanded. If the Canucks have various PK looks available, all of which perform fairly well, that would be ideal. They’d have the option to play a very defensive style, when circumstances dictated, or play a more aggressive style, employing their quicker and more talented forwards to create a shorthanded risk. It’s going to be interesting to see how they approach the penalty kill with all the options they have available (at least on paper) with the new personnel and the returning players.
  4. PK under Tocchet (and with a healthy Demko) is really interesting. CanucksArmy has a couple good articles on it: https://canucksarmy.com/news/canucks-penalty-kill-under-tocchet-statistical-enigma-effective-all-time https://canucksarmy.com/news/amp/thatcher-demko-canucks-pk-turnaround-shorthanded-goals The PK itself was killing off penalties at a pretty average rate (which was still a huge improvement over the historically poor results we were seeing before the changes), but was also producing shorthanded goals at a remarkable rate, combining for a “net PK” of around 92%, which, if maintained over an entire season, would be one of the most effective penalty kills in NHL history. I’m not sure we can expect quite the same rate of shorthanded goals this coming season. As the article notes, the Canucks, under Tocchet, were actually scoring shorthanded goals on the PK at a higher rate than some teams were producing power play goals on the man advantage over the same period, so that seems just a tad unsustainable. But If Vancouver can combine average to good raw penalty killing with a fairly high (but not godly) level shorthanded goal threat, they might be able to turn the PK from a weakness into a real strength of this team. Nearly all of the new roster additions should also help with the PK. What’s going to be really interesting is to see if the team can continue to score a high number of shorthanded goals. Maybe not 1 SHG for every 7 PKs (Vancouver tallied a ridiculous 12 shorties in 84 times shorthanded, per the article). But if the Canucks become known as a team with a significant shorthanded scoring threat that can burn opponents, it forces opposition PPs to be more conservative, which makes the job a lot easier for the PK units. Giving up shorthanded goals is one of the more deflating events in hockey, so it’ll serve the Canucks very well if they become a team that makes their opponents think twice about taking too many risks on the man advantage.
  5. Seems quite likely. And Bear also really likes it in Vancouver. I think he knows it’ll be tough to find a better fit and opportunity (especially in terms of his role and likely D partner) anywhere else, compared to what he’s enjoyed with the Canucks.
  6. Of the listed players, it’s gotta be Juolevi for me. That’s not to say he’s the worst player listed in this poll. Or even that he’s the most disappointing player, compared to the expectations of the Canucks fanbase. Just for me, while Juolevi wasn’t my pick at #5 (he wasn’t even top-10 for me), I was still highly confident that he would pan out. I saw his floor as an everyday #4D, with upside to be a lot more than that. I really expected a surefire NHLer with a lengthy career. And while the window isn’t completely closed on him, at just 25 years old, there’s only a very narrow sliver of a crack remaining for him to develop into a useful NHL player, before it shuts entirely and he’s a compete bust. Several of the others listed (especially some of the trades and free agents) don’t even qualify as disappointments for me, because I had very low expectations to start, and thought they were just straight-up bad acquisitions. A lot of people expected more of them, and I can easily see how they’d be disappointed. But my gut already told me these were bad moves, so it wasn’t really upsetting to be proven right (although the initial acquisitions themselves did give me a bit of a sick feeling). Also, I feel like a couple of the bigger draft busts were picks made through very poor amateur scouting and draft processes. So again, the way those careers played out was not really disappointing. But certainly the decisions and processes behind those draft picks made me disappointed in the organization. But Juolevi, while a disappointing pick at #5 overall (considering the players available), was still, in my estimation, a very good first round pick quality prospect with tons of value and potential. I did not foresee him struggling so mightily. I really thought he’d prove to be a bluechip NHL quality defenceman who’d help this team for many years. Maybe not a star player, but I expected him to be solid. So that’s why Juolevi gets my vote. Compared to my expectations, he’s been the biggest disappointment of the bunch.
  7. Miller(3)-Pettersson(5)-Bertuzzi(3) Lumme(2)-Salo(1) Miller(2) Bieksa(1) Had a buck left so added Bieksa for when Salo gets injured.
  8. Great signing. Contract is below projected market value, way below analytics-based player value, and around 1/2 the AAV of his last deal. That’s some nice work by Allvin and the hockey ops staff. Suter is a perfect addition to create a well-balanced “spine” of centres for this forward group. Adds a ton of value to this group at 5v5 defence and on the PK. Here’s another fancy stats player card (from Dom at The Athletic):
  9. Would be something special if all of a sudden incoming Canucks defencemen (and those already here) actually improved and/or outperformed expectations, instead of the reverse.
  10. He’s also a Korean War veteran who served in the 4077th MASH. Amazing what this kid has accomplished in just 22 years!
  11. Yeah, there seems to be some “future considerations” going on behind the scenes. I’m not sure I’d even value Kase’s rights right now at a 5th round pick, never mind adding a prospect who’d probably rank top-10 in a lot team’s systems (Rizzo was recently ranked 14th in Carolina, but they also have an above average prospect pool, and that was before his successful sophomore year).
  12. Huh. Seems like a lot to give up for rights to an “inactive”/defected player like David Kase. Nothing against Kase, but he’s already 26, has been out of the league for two seasons, never really did much at the NHL level, has less than half a point per game in the AHL, and hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire in Extraliga. Massimo Rizzo, otoh, is four years younger, owes a pretty nice skillset, has been developing on a pretty solid upward trajectory, and was one of the NCAA’s top scorers last season. On first glance, I have to like this deal for Philly, especially since they also received a pick, in addition to turning Kase into a younger player with higher upside.
  13. Thanks. I actually ended up passing on that deal and getting a build with newer components. That one also wasn’t Windows 11 compatible and figured it would just be simpler to not have to deal with Windows 10 sunsetting in a couple years, and went with a newer computer with Windows 11. Also went with a much newer and better (significantly better performance per the benchtest reports) GPU. Got everything set up and seems to be working well. Kids are using their VR headset and are able to play all their games, so they’re happy with it. It’s not all that sexy of a build, compared to a really serious gaming PC, but it’s more than enough for what my kids need and it’s got the specs to play any game they want to try.
  14. It’d be interesting to see how he might fare in reduced minutes. Myers has averaged more than 22 minutes a game for his career, and never played less than 20 per game in a season for any NHL team. His analytics are generally terrible, but I wonder if he might be able to produce better on-ice results with less usage? If fatigue, either physical or mental, is a factor and makes him more prone to mistakes, it’s possible he could offer better bang for buck playing fewer shifts and minutes per game.
  15. I’m curious what Montreal’s asking price would be for Petry (50% retained) at a $2.34M cap hit? Cleary he was seen as a negative asset for the Pens at $6.25M, but a quick peek at the analytics shows a current player value of around $4M (some models even value him higher) And he’s a veteran RHD with size (6’3”, 210 lbs) who continues to log around 22 minutes a night, had 190 hits and 111 blocks last season (in just 61 games), scored 31 points (1/2 point a game rate; 22 of those points at even strength), and maintained positive statistical 5v5 impacts, both on offence and defence, even in what was considered a pretty disappointing season in Pittsburgh. He’s 35+ and definitely declining, but I still think Petry could easily outperform his contract just $2.34M per season for the next two years. He might even offer a team significant surplus value at that rate.
  16. It’s probably a bad contract for all the reasons people have mentioned. But hardly unique in that respect. Most extensions for players of a similar age, especially if they are considered “core” pieces, tend to end up being overpayments (at least compared to statistical player values) and carry significant risks, relative to age decline curves. However, when you consider Wilson was coming off a six year deal at $5.167M AAV, with a final year salary of $6.1M, it’s not really surprising to see his next deal come in at $6.5M AAV. Based on the current state of the market, this actually seems like a fair result. It’s one of those “don’t hate the player, hate the game” situations. Most of the deals GM’s are handing out to higher profile players in the late-20’s UFA stage are overpayments, relative to the value those players will actually bring to the ice. And most of these deals end up being very poor value in the later stages of the contact term. But that’s just the market. It’s a system setup for players to “cash in” at this point of their careers. The first extension window of entirely “UFA years” is when players tend to get paid the big bucks. And while it might be more prudent “asset management” for GM’s to either trade the asset or even cut bait and let a player walk for nothing at this stage, it’s incredibly difficult to have the discipline to do so. Much easier to just hand over a pile of money, keep your core player, and hope that somehow it doesn’t bite you in the *** too badly in a few years, when the steep decline hits, the contract value ends up underwater, and you end up with another negative value asset on your books.
  17. If Dumba can be had on a value contract and short term deal, I’d actually be all for it. But I suspect somebody is going to offer him a lot longer term and more money than I’d be comfortable with. So hopefully that’s not us. And right now, it really couldn’t be us, anyway, because the Canucks just don’t have the cap space. But if Vancouver makes a trade to dump a big chunk of change and open up a lot of cap space, I hope it’s not simply to reallocate a very significant salary (and long term commitment) to Dumba. He’s definitely not in the age group that I typically like to see pursued. At least not on long term deals (short term, like I said earlier, would be fine). Nor does he have the statistical profile and trend lines that I would typically look for. So I do have some serious “buyer beware” feelings about Dumba. But… If Dumba actually finds himself without a contract and without any serious suitors, as the summer wears on and the weeks fly by, and he gets into the position where he’s actually considering taking either a one year “show me” deal, or possibly a shorter term multi-year (2-3) deal at a discount, then I do start to get interested. I think there’s some real potential for him to bounce back offensively, in the right situation (and I could see a pathway for this in Vancouver). There are definitely reasons, when you look at his usage and injury history, over the past few years, to suspect that he might have more offence left in the tank than he’s shown in recent seasons. On the defensive side, he’s actually been quite solid the past few years, and I expect that to remain stable, despite age-related decline, for the reasonable future. And he remains a big-time minute muncher who can easily give you 22-24 minutes a night, if needed (which the Canucks probably wouldn’t need). He’s still an excellent skater who moves around the ice really well and also plays quite a hard hitting, physical game. Dumba is also a high character player and very vocal leader who really brings a lot to a team (and city), on and off the ice. At the right price and term, I’m actually warming up to the idea that Dumba could prove to be a very nice addition for Vancouver. Not sure, however, if he’ll actually be available at the “right price and term.” Like I said at the top, I suspect some team will decide to offer him more than I’d be comfortable with.
  18. Yikes! I’ve never been a fan of Todd’s. He just rubs me the wrong way and always has. But hadn’t heard that Elias story yet.
  19. Thanks! We had a really good trip. A couple of your recommendations were actually on the list (WildPlay and the Kinsol Trestle) but we didn’t quite have time, so maybe next year (we take two weeks on the island every summer). We really loved our day trip out to the Port Renfrew area. Might even try for a week there next year. Lots to do and see out that way. But the accommodations look very expensive so I’m gonna see what I can find. We usually like to get a whole house to ourselves but the Airbnb listings I’ve seen (just a quick search mind you) were around double the price I’d usually expect for similar houses in many of the popular Van Island vacation spots. I’m hoping that was just because the more reasonable listings were already booked.
  20. Yeah, she’s awesome and is a proven pro who consistently delivers a great performance for the anthems. I’ve been sort of wondering why she hasn’t already been given the job. Unless maybe she’s had scheduling conflicts due to her other commitments and couldn’t take on the full slate of home dates for the Canucks in previous seasons.
  21. That three year weighted average actually undersells just how good this kid was last season. He made tremendous gains in nearly all metrics, after being a bit of a statistical replacement or sub-replacement level player for his first few seasons. He put up some huge player value (Evolving Hockey had him at $10.6M) in 2022-23. If last season was just a taste of what’s to come, this deal will prove to be massive surplus value. But even if he comes back down to earth a little, he should still quite easily be able to justify this salary, and most likely outperform it significantly, with his play over those three seasons (which, at age 25-28, will very likely also be the peak of his career, based on standard age curves).
  22. I’ve been pretty optimistic every year about Brock, but it’s also become a very cautious form of optimism. I absolutely believe that, with the right off-season training, a healthy body and mind, and the right opportunities on the ice, we could see “the best version” of Boeser next season. But, given how things have played out over the last several years, I won’t really believe it until I see it. I’m hoping for the best, but also prepared for more of the same.
  23. Next season will be an important one for Forsell. I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to sustain a >25% shooting percentage in the SHL, so it’ll be interesting to see how many goals he scores. And hopefully he also can create a few more assists (he had only 2 last SHL season, to go with his 11 goals). But he should get more opportunities next season, playing higher minutes and regularly appearing on top-6 lines alongside better players, so hopefully he’ll be involved in a lot more scoring chances, allowing him to boost his totals, even if he sees some regression on shooting percentage.
  24. It was great! We just got back. Spent most of our time on the beach and on the water, both at Cowichan Lake and Kye Bay, but managed to get to a few restaurants and museums as well. Took my son on a few good hikes. Accommodations were excellent (we rented two very cool beach houses on AirBnB). Had a nice day trip out to Port Renfrew and Juan de Fuca Park (Botanical Beach and Botany Bay) that was amazing. Perfect weather that day and we had hours at low tide to explore the tide pools and sea floor. Went to the sandcastle competition in Parksville. Did some shopping and thrifting in various small towns mid-island and my wife found some treasures that made her very happy. Avoided the ferry issues and kept our reservations intact (sorry to anyone who had their sailings cancelled—that would’ve sucked). All in all, it was a really good trip. EDIT: and we avoided the forest fires so it was never an issue. No smoke and no road closures where we were. Only downside was not being allowed to use the campfire area in the backyard of one of the houses we stayed in, because of the extreme fire risk and restrictions, but the hosts brought over a propane fire ring (which we didn’t really use but it was very nice of them).
  25. CDC gamers and computer folks, please help! I’m looking to get a budget gaming PC for my kids. The main thing they want to do is have a system they can connect their Meta Quest 2 VR set to PC via the Link cable and play Roblox VR. So it doesn’t need to be anything too special, just needs that capability. And I really don’t want to build it myself. Want to buy something ready out of the box. So, with all that in mind, what do people think of this “deal” for a refurbished system: https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/refurbished-excellent-gaming-pc-aqvin-desktop-computer-tower-black-intel-core-i7-up-to-4-0-ghz-1tb-ssd-32gb-ddr4-ram-radeon-rx-580-8gb-windows-10-pro-only-at-best-buy/17160400 I know these components are several generations old and nowhere near the specs serious gamers would want. But for Roblox VR, and some average gaming for kids, would this be sufficient? The RX 580 is an older video card, but as far as I can tell, it’s on the supported list (AMD 500 series) for Meta Quest Link. I’ve read some recent reviews that say it’s “aged like fine wine,” so maybe it’s still decent? And the i7 6700, 1TB SSD, 32GB DDR4 offers a lot better specs than I’m seeing for many new systems at the budget/entry level and similar price range. But honestly, my knowledge of gaming PCs today is super limited so I really have no idea if this is a decent value buy for a kids’ entry level system or just a piece of trash and not worth considering. Other recommendations are welcome as well. The above link is just something I found this morning after looking around at sales online. Help!
×
×
  • Create New...