SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

Yeah, when he left it was tempting to say he was a "quitter" and just couldn't hack it in North America (and he got he fair share of these criticisms). But he also had a really rough go in the AHL with what was a pretty terrible farm team. Chicago didn't have an official affiliation and their owners didn't place much value in developing another team's properties. Many of our prospects during that period were all but ruined by playing for that organization. So I think it was extremely smart of Rödin to believe he would get better development back in Sweden. He had no way to know that the Utica Comets would create a much more favourable development program for Canucks properties. And between Rödin, his agent, and Brynäs management (EDIT: and I shouldn't forget the Gillis regime qualifying him and maintaining his rights), a plan was hatched to give Rödin his best shot at reaching his potential as a player. EDIT: And even after the regime change in Vancouver, Rödin's agent made sure the Canucks wouldn't forget about his client. Regular video clips and highlights of Rödin's performances in Sweden were sent to Vancouver. They pretty much forced Benning to pay attention. It will be very interesting to see if Rödin can complete the final stage of this process. But regardless of what happens, you have to respect his self-belief and persistence, and the plan that was executed to get him back here.

It's definitely impressive. When he went back to Sweden, he set a goal of developing his game as a professional and returning to North America in a couple years. He would seem to be right on schedule (although there's still a fair amount for him to prove when he hits the ice). At the time, I was glad to hear that he still had making the NHL as his ultimate goal (and with Vancouver). But I also felt it was pretty unlikely. Felt a little better about it when the Brynäs GM was quoted as saying they were developing Rödin and working with him toward a plan for an eventual return to North America. And obviously feeling pretty good about his chances after what he accomplished last season in the SHL. (sorry no sources on this stuff--it's from old Swedish language articles I read the last couple years)

Best I could find was Edler listed at 6'3" and 197 lbs for the 2005 import draft: http://www.whlfans.ca/showthread.php?2444-Rockets-Select-Alexander-Edler

There was a lot of discussion about the trade back in June (and also when he was reported to have made the trade request in May). He was traded June 4th. 2-3 pages back this thread you'll find posts about it.

Gaunce's latest Canucks Army profile is up as part of their annual prospects rankings. He comes in at #6: http://canucksarmy.com/2016/8/25/canucks-army-prospect-profile-6-brendan-gaunce A few things stand out (and the entire profile is worth the read). Gaunce put up a "gaudy" 60% goals for rate and scored 38 points in 46 games, all while playing a defensive role with a "revolving door" of linemates and moving in and out of the Comets lineup due to NHL callups. Canucks Army's pGPS model now puts Gaunce in a cohort where 57 of 124 similar players have gone on to successful NHL careers, with those comparables averaging a third line role. Based on last year's numbers, it's likely Gaunce would have led the Comets in scoring if he'd played the full season in the AHL. If he doesn't make the Canucks out of camp, he should be expected to become a top-end player for Utica (arguably he was already at that level last year as he led their forward group in eTOI/GP), and should hopefully improve on his already solid scoring rate, while also playing a huge role as one of their primary defensive forwards.

Don't you hate it when that happens? Although I'm not surprised. Our reactions and views on team/hockey related things tend to align (most of the time). And I can't even begin to count the number of times you've beat me to a comment I was planning to make.

Yeah, there's really no reason why the Canucks would have any issue placing Rödin on a conditioning stint, other than the player and the agent objecting due to his clause, but I think they'd agree to a few games in Utica if Rödin isn't 100%. More than anything, Rödin wants this crack at the NHL to be successful, and taking some time to get physically ready is probably his best option. That way he can hit the ice at close to full ability and in game shape when he plays his first regular season contest with the Canucks. And the rules around conditioning stints are pretty soft. I can only think of a couple times the NHL has refused and they were obvious attempts at circumvention where the player was already in game shape but the team wanted to temporarily address roster/cap issues. Rödin's injury is about as documented as they get. Same with the longterm nature of his rehab and recovery, and inability to train fully this summer (until recently).

I have a feeling they'll give him some games in Utica on a conditioning stint to start the season. I don't foresee Rödin or his agent objecting to this (a straight demotion would be another matter however). But it would be wise to ease him into regular game play after his injury and rehab (and the setbacks in summer training that resulted from this). EDIT: per questions earlier in the thread, it shouldn't be difficult to get approval for a conditioning stint. I don't see any reason why a doctor (both those employed by the team and/or player and those who handle approval/oversight for the NHL) wouldn't support such an action. This also might help with any roster pressures for opening night. They can paper transfer non waiver eligibles to make it under the limits, move Rödin down for a bit (without waivers if it's for conditioning), and thereby avoid needing to waive anyone at risk of being claimed. Most likely, with a little juggling, they can keep everyone in the system. And I'd be willing to wager somebody gets injured before they're forced to put any NHL grade player through regular waivers (even if a Hudler type is added to the roster).

I think I'd be more antsy about leaving Jasek overseas if he was more physically developed and still not getting much opportunity or success with the men's team. But he's still a very young 18 based on his musculature and weight (standing at 6'1" and only weighing 172 lbs). So he's probably fine on a longterm development path. Of course, having him in a top CHL program would likely provide him better training and nutrition and all that good stuff. And it would sure be a hell of a lot easier to gauge his performance if he was playing ~70 games a year against CHL competition. But we've now learned that was never really an option. Unfortunately, lengthy stays in the Czech leagues aren't a very well established path the become an NHL player (the Canucks Army article speaks well to the diminishing odds of success for the cohort similar to Jasek). But apparently Jasek only has a year left so we could still get "control" over his development right at the time he becomes AHL eligible (he'd turn 20 just before the 2017-18 season I believe). Edit: I suppose the age requirements don't apply to him anyway. Hopefully he plays half or more of his 2016-17 seasons with the men's team and starts averaging >10 minutes a night. If he can start putting up points at the senior level, it will be a good indicator for whether or not he's worth a contract and what we might expect from him when and if he finally gets over here.

I just did a quick look through the past 10 seasons of HC Třinec's roster and noticed that only a handful of teenagers have even played for the men's team during the last decade. And of all those U-20 players, Jasek actually appears to be one of the prospects given the most opportunity and games. EDIT: Worth noting he's also done better than most of his peers. Typical teenage players on the men's team put up zeros across the board (even the guys who developed into regular roster players later on). The usual pattern for their homegrown players (at least the few teenagers that get games--most don't even play on the men's team until they're much older) appears to be basically a handful of games with the men's team each season until they reach age 20. And even then, they don't get a full season or any significant minutes until about age 22-23. So at least based on what appears to be HC Třinec's development model, Jasek could actually be considered to have gotten preferential treatment (and much more opportunity than the typical teenage prospect). Makes me feel a bit better about the whole thing anyway.

Seems a bit strange that Třinec wouldn't let Jasek come over (to the CHL via the import draft), yet also hasn't really given him the best opportunity with their senior squad (at least based on the trickle of information I've gotten from a few Euro hockey sites). A bit of a hard line to take on a guy that's not exactly playing a major role for them (at least at the senior level). I suppose the positive is that Třinec must still view him as a valuable asset, which speaks well to his potential to still develop into a pretty good player one day.

Fair to say. In the playoffs, it looks like Roy and Marcoux were 1-2 and Zhukenov was 3C. Regular season, Roy was getting roughly twice the faceoffs as Zhukenov, and both Marcoux and Simard also took more draws than Zhukenov.

Don't think the Q tracks TOI. But they do track faceoffs and both Roy and Marcoux took significantly more draws than Zhukenov last season.

Doesn't appear so. Didn't see him listed on the USA Hockey website for any of the summer's earlier rosters/invites either. But he's hardly alone and several members of the 2016 U18 tournament squad aren't on the current summer showcase roster. He might have declined an invite in the preliminary stages (like if he wanted to focus on individual training and getting ready for college hockey) but more likely he was simply left off the list to make room for incoming players (as part of usual year to year transitioning).

Interesting to read that Travis Green is hoping Demko will be ready to play 50, maybe even 60, games next season for Utica. Not a prediction or plan yet as Green hasn't seen Demko play. But nonetheless sounding very optimistic for Demko's rookie pro season: http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canucks-prospects-2016

Good news is that he's skating and "getting close" to being back to 100%. I imagine he'll be ready by camp and expect he will come in highly motivated. I'm not pencilling him into the lineup yet but I think he has a good chance to at least make it as a spare forward (#13/14) and could play a regular role in the middle-six if he finds some chemistry with either Sutter or Horvat. Definitely pulling for him. I liked the pick when he was drafted and was optimistic about his chances years ago (based on what I saw from him in the AHL when he played healthy). Happy he's back in the fold again and hoping his recent SHL resuits will translate into more success this time around.

@elvis15: I don't really have any issues with the retweet. It's more that Botchford published a piece in today's local papers where he's implying the there's still uncertainty or that the Canucks don't really know the specifics of Juolevi's status.

Had to chuckle at Botchford's choice of words here. Seems very intentional to me. To me this reads as Botchford suggesting that both the Canucks and Juolevi's agent don't actually know what Juolevi's status is re: playing in the AHL. IIRC Botchford was one of the media sources that retweeted misinformation stating that Juolevi had been loaned to London and was still considered a European draftee and exempt from the CHL-NHL agreement (and could therefore go to the AHL next season). As far as I can tell, this has been completely disproven. Juolevi signed an OHL SPA prior to the 2015-16 season and should therefore be subject to the terms of the CHL-NHL agreement: http://www.londonknights.com/article/juolevi-and-mattinen-commit-to-knights I'd hope that neither the Canucks nor Juolevi's agent are basing their player decisions (in terms of the various agreements that govern hockey) on only belief. And unlike Botchford, I'm pretty certain that both management and the agent KNOW where Juolevi can and cannot play hockey.

I think 20+ is reasonable for Hansen if he's with the twins. Maybe 15-20 if he's middle-six. And if Eriksson isn't with the twins, I'd actually put him with Horvat instead of Sutter. Sutter has shown a remarkable ability to not really be impacted statistically by quality of teammates. He's likely to post similar totals with or without quality wingers. I'd almost rather save our best offensive players for the twins and Horvat's line and just let Sutter do his thing limiting goals against while still scoring around 20 regardless of his wingers.

Some articles breaking down the trade and what Espindola might provide for VWFC: http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/07/20/armchair-analyst-espindola-center-wednesdays-trade-rumor-storm http://www.eightysixforever.com/2016/7/20/12239536/report-vancouver-whitecaps-add-fabian-espindola http://theprovince.com/sports/soccer/mls/vancouver-whitecaps/whitecaps-adding-striker-fabian-espindola

Looks like the Caps are acquiring DC United DP Striker Fabian Espindola for allocation money. Should be a good addition. Solid attacking player. EDIT: early rumours had Hurtado going the other way but that's apparently not happening. The trade is for allocation money only. Espindola is in the final year of his contract. However, the Caps will need to clear a spot so a loan (of one of the current players) is likely coming. Steven Goff– Verified account ‏@SoccerInsider #DCU also trading attacker Fabian Espindola (final yr of contract) to Vancouver for allocation money #mls 7:19 AM - 20 Jul 2016

I'd also add that Sbisa has been the victim of some terrible forward support, especially from his wingers. Many of the "pizzas" he's been vilified for have actually been the fault of forwards being out of position or missing assignments. Some of this probably falls on coaching as well (in terms of breakout systems). Not excusing Sbisa for all his gaffes, but there have been many instances when his teammates' poor play has made Sbisa look far worse than he actually is. EDIT: I kind of wish we could move these posts over to a Sbisa thread because there's a good topic for discussion here but it's happening in a place where we're supposed to be talking about Stecher (and I'm probably the most guilty of going OT in this thread).

Came across this stats post (from hockey analysis.com) today examining Sutter's quality as a defensive forward and his ability to prevent goals-against: http://hockeyanalysis.com/2016/07/15/the-brandon-sutter-litmus-test/ If he can maintain a similar relative GA60 rate over a full season in Vancouver, he will undoubtedly help the Canucks next season. In addition to the strong points made in the linked post, here's a season-by-season rundown on Sutter's goals-against numbers (GA60=Sutter's goals against per 60 minutes; TMGA60=the goals against per 60 minutes for his teammates; OppGF60=the goals for per 60 minutes averaged over the entire season for Sutter's opponents). The pattern to these numbers is quite striking IMO: 2015-16: 1.184 GA60; 2.32 TMGA60; 2.18 OppGF60 2014-15: 1.553 GA60; 2.17 TMGA60; 2.27 OppGF60 2013-14: 1.749 GA60; 2.49 TMGA60; 2.21 OppGF60 2012-13: 2.072 GA60; 2.22 TMGA60; 2.28 OppGF60 2011-12: 1.649 GA60; 2.73 TMGA60; 2.42 OppGF60 2010-11: 1.868 GA60; 2.65 TMGA60; 2.33 OppGF60 2009-10: 2.183 GA60; 2.54 TMGA60; 2.41 OppGF60 2008-09: 2.033 GA60; 2.18 TMGA60; 2.27 OppGF60 Sutter's goals against rate is always lower than his teammates, usually by a significant margin. And he also lowers the goal scoring rates of his opponents, again usually by a significant margin. This is the definition of a "shutdown" forward. And the numbers suggest he's consistently been one of the best shutdown players on his teams (and arguably in the league). When looking at Sutter's defensive effect relative to teammates, the stat GA60RelTM can be fairly informative, especially over large samples. This statistic compares the rate of goals against surrendered while Sutter is on the ice to that of his teammates. When you look at the nine season sample (2007-2016), for forwards with 4000+ minutes played (a reasonable minimum over the period), Sutter posts a GA60RelTM of -0.54, meaning that Sutter gives up better than a half a goal less than his teammates over each hour played. This actually ranks him #1 in the entire NHL over the past 9 seasons (among forwards with 4000+ minutes). Considering that Vancouver placed 23rd last season in goals against (and would have been 28th with only five more GA), preventing goals against should make a big difference to our overall success. Sutter has proven he can prevent goals against. He's arguably been "elite" at doing exactly this over his entire career. Plus he scores around 20 goals per (full) season, which should also help a team that placed 29th in scoring last year.

I think you're probably right here. He does much better playing a simpler game. And when he stays more "contained" in his role, his skillset actually has a chance to really shine through. Sbisa tends to get the "all the tools and no toolbox" criticism thrown at him, and in some respects this is fair. He has the size, skating, and god-given talent to be a top level guy. But he seems to lack the decision making and "hockey IQ" to play to the full potential of his natural ability. We can still hope for improvement but he's approaching the age where what you see is what you get. But when he's supported well, both in his paring and in the D order as a whole, he's able to be a very good #5, and one who has more natural talent than the average guy playing in that role. He's also extremely successul in gaining possession in the defensive zone. As in puck retrieval, stripping the puck from opponents, using his body to limit time and space, and forcing things to the outside. This is why he really shines as a PKer. And when Sbisa has a partner with good vision and hockey IQ, and one who can be very dynamic on the breakout, he can be a very complimentay player and actually provide a solid defensive anchor to what can be a highly successful pairing. Here's an HFBoards user who speaks very well to Sbisa's strengths: This is where you see Sbisa really shine. And it might just be a role where he could pair extremely well with Larsen. Another thing about Sbisa is that he tends to look better with more minutes. When he plays low minutes, his occasional gaffes tend to overly taint what was otherwise solid defensive play. But when he's been given a bigger role in the past (due to injuries), the higher minutes and higher quality on-ice teammates have often resulted in some strong games for Sbisa. Especially when he's had good support from his partner and from the 5 man on-ice unit. While I'm not quite sure Sbisa (on his current contract) fits this D order well longterm, I do think that the addition of Larsen provides a possibility where he could really settle in to a pairing where he could play to his strengths and have the support of a player (Larsen) who excels in transition and whose strengths shine after his team gains possession (and who struggles against opposition possession--a game state where Sbisa can really help him). Basically Sbisa and Larsen, on paper at least, should compliment each other very well. One more thing about Sbisa (and I'll likely take some heat from the Benning "true believers" for saying this): I don't think his contract or Benning's repeated "top-4" comments did him any favours. Certainly Sbisa isn't being hurt by having all that money or enjoying his GMs confidence. However, I think that the salary and expectations make it difficult for him to be fully appreciated as a very good #5 defenseman. I still believe that the best course this team could have taken, when Sbisa's previous contract was expiring, would have been to file for "cut down" arbitration (seeking a 15% reduction in his $2.9 million final year salary). The Canucks likely would have been able to win the arbitration award and get Sbisa under contact at $2.465 million. And even better would have been to use the threat of arbitration as the "stick" and then offer the "carrot" of a 2-3 year extension at somewhere around $2.5-2.75 million AAV (this type of carrot/stick approach tends to work because both sides usually prefer to avoid the adversarial process of arbitration). If Sbisa was on that kind of a deal, I don't think he'd take nearly as much heat. And he'd fit much better into longterm plans for the roster (with Edler, Tanev, Hutton, and Gudbranson as a set top-4). It's a ship long since sailed but I still wish we'd gone a different direction in the negotiations. Anyway, sorry for the "essay" on Sbisa in the Stecher thread. The quoted post just prompted a few thoughts that I felt might be worth sharing.

No problem. I've been following Esqueda for some time and while he's certainly not a superstar DP, he's still a quality player. And given his personality, it's really hard not to root for him. I'm hoping discussions go well and we soon see him in Caps colours. This is a guy who was rumoured to have passed on a deal with Real Oviedo in Spain's LaLiga2 (Segundo División) to accept a trial with VWFC. That says a lot about how much he wants to be in Vancouver. And even before discussions started with VWFC, he was reaching out to Caps supporters on social media and learning about the city and our team. Apparently his questions to VWFC management have been more about the atmosphere/culture in Vancouver, the fans/supporters groups, and team identity, and not so much about seeking guarantees for starts/minutes, opportunity, role, etc. Many similar players would look at MLS as mostly a paycheque and a stepping stone and a way to get noticed and possibly make a move to Europe. Esqueda had a deal in Spain's second highest division all but wrapped up, and decided to pass it up for the chance to play in Vancouver. He's also coming from a higher level league (Liga MX is a few steps above MLS according to FIFA) and is still willing to be a trialist. That counts for a lot in my eyes. Similar to the new additions in Edgar and De Jong, who are both super excited to be joining the Whitecaps and very committed to playing soccer in Vancouver, Esqueda seems to be laying the framework to be a very strong addition to this team, both on and off the field. By all accounts, he's just a great guy and he absolutely loves Vancouver. That's the type of player Whitecaps supporters can really root for. Ot course, his abilities on the pitch will (and should) be the ultimate factor. But character, heart, and enthusiasm can have a big effect on success (and we've seen how the opposite can limit things for past players who weren't really committed to playing here).