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Everything posted by Solinar
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Hey @oldnews, I can see your take on things, and I realise that sometimes the analytics are...off in the true assessment of the player. When it comes to matchup/defensive players, sometimes you have to use a little bit of both to truly understand the impact of the player. In the case of Gudbranson, I believe we had a player that wasn't suited for the role he was asked to perform, and individually, wasn't exactly great in his time playing for the team. But here is where a lot of defensive analytics have things not quite figured out. Sometimes, you're looking too much at the individual, and not taking into account role, people he's playing with, and the realism of that player being what he is perceived to be instead of what he is. Sbisa and Kassian also suffered under that. Players who were asked to play roles they weren't able to play, because they weren't the type of player that people 'projected' them to be. I think we'll hear a lot of Myers hate eventually, for many of the same reasons. People get fixated on the size of a players skates, drool, over height and weight, and god, if he has a mustache.... He's big, he's going to do Superman style things, clear the front of the net, punch out 2 giants with a single blow, intimidate an entire team with his steely gaze and piercing blue eyes....oh wait. Myers is a guy, who happens to be big, who plays a style of game that isn't really much about any of that. He'll still be useful, contribute, but if you try make him something he's not....well, prepare to be disappointed. Hopefully we'll get to the point where people will be better able to see what is there, than what they wish, and help a player be the best they can be, not the best 'power forward', 'defensive stalwart', they wish they had, instead.
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I know I was a VIP customer for many years, and loved it, but the last year, you couldn't even buy the VIP tickets. I think they were already handed out before tickets went on sale. That being said, I only missed 1 year out of the many that the tournament happened, and looked forward to it each September. The games were entertaining, the fans were great, and even got to sit next to a few of the stars parents from time to time. Sam Bennet's family was great. And when McDavid was there, you could see the ice tilted when he jumped over the boards....till Virtanen smashed him against the boards. Monahan was a force, as was Backlund. But you could see the strengths and weaknesses in all of the teams prospect pools. Oilers were noticeably lacking in good defensive prospects, the Canucks prospects were...lack lustre while we were competing for the playoffs, and the Flames were ...big and truculent. Did enjoy watching Ehlers play as well.
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It won't be going on this year, but from comments the Oiler's GM made, he'd be happy to be a part of it again. It would probably be happening this year, if Tom Holland had been the GM in charge earlier. I know Burke was in favour of something in Alberta instead, or at least a rotating location that would make it more financially inviting for some of the other clubs.
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When the only article in the NHL section is a piece about how Cam Talbot hopes to turn things around with the Flames.....and that's it, the news is pretty slow. I mean, I'll read it cuz I'm bored, but here's hoping Canucks Army puts out a piece too...just 1....ugh, August is hot, boring, and I think I need a beer.
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I like it when Travis Green puts our needed improvement to an extra 2 points a month. When you break it down to that, with the improvement in our defense, and our offense, you don't think we can get 1 win extra compared to last year? And how about evening out those 2 big losing streaks we had last season as well. I agree with your assessments about divisional opponents, and I think the top 4 in our division will be Calgary, Arizona, Vancouver and Vegas/SJ. Edmonton hasn't done enough unless their wingers find a way to match or beat...altogether, Draisatl's output in goals. The division is kind of wide open, and there are some questions marks on all the teams involved. For a lot of them, it could be goaltending that makes or breaks their seasons hopes. What if Rittich and Talbot are....terrible. etc etc.
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lol, the news isn't coming in, and we're in the dog days of August. We're all waiting for the next trade and Boesser to sign. But with all that, I'm sure most of us are just as excited for the season to start, we're just old and quieter about it. But I will say this, in the words of the Coach himself, all we need to do is get 2 more pts per month to make the playoff. Do you honestly think, with all the improvements that has been made to the team, we can't manage an extra 2 points per month?? Go Canucks Go, just wish they had the tournament in Penticton again so I had something to look forward to in the meantime.
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[Report] Eriksson “NOT” likely to be moved on
Solinar replied to Provost's topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
In fact, if Benning manages to pull that off without adding a ton of firsts and 2nds to the deal, I'll personally start a gofundme page for the statue in his honour.... -
[Report] Eriksson “NOT” likely to be moved on
Solinar replied to Provost's topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Nope, Wiki has us trading Sutter and Eriksson for Frolik and Bennet. I mean, we're in the dog days of august, waiting for anything to happen, but I'll drink a beer to that! -
[Waivers] Michael Stone (Buyout)
Solinar replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Same could be said of Shattenkirk. I mean, you couldn't move the player, with half retained, and no expectation other than future considerations? Really? Did you even try? Hell, I'll trade Stone, C-level prospect, for anything....c'mon! I'll fill your pepsi machine in the lobby for a year too! -
Ferland - Pettersson - Boesser Pearson - Horvat - Miller Baertschi - Sutter - Virtanen Leivo - Beagle - Motte Top line has a wrecker, a passer/sniper, a sniper 2nd line has a shooter, a wrecker/shooter, and a distributor 3rd line has a distributor, defensive centre/shooter, a wrecker 4th line has a wrecker, defensive centre, and a speedster Think you could count on Ferland causing enough destruction and chaos to allow shooting lanes for the 2 snipers, as well as tipping in, knocking in trash. It'll be entertaining. Miller is a very good passer, you have a guy that can knock them in from the dots, and Horvat does love to go to the net. Sutter isn't a distributor, but Baertschi has good skills in that area, and if they can get Virtanen good enough to read the play, that line could put in an average of 20 goals apiece. That's an effective 3rd line, with defensive responsibilities. 4th line, Beagle wins the face off, Leivo has great corsi for, and motte skates like the wind. If each guy can put up 10-15 goals each, watch out. Using wrecker instead of mucker. It is creative license, and when you see the way virtanen skates, and how Ferland forechecks, I'm hoping it is closer to the truth Horvat in and of himself definite skates thru the crowd with authority. None of them have Bertuzzi's ability to game break, but they definitely know how to use the body to shield the puck, keep possession, and make the others on the ice take notice.
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[Report] Wild fire GM Paul Fenton
Solinar replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
Obviously someone didn't say the right thing at the right time. I liked the hire initially, and although there were some questionable trades, most trades are gambles. Wonder what the tipping point in all of this was? Especially to do it in the summer, and whom exactly are they going to go with now to fix everything? -
I quite agree! We've been in the playoff chase till around christmas, or just shortly after, and then we get hit with the amount of injuries most teams wouldn't be able to withstand. But when we look at the injuries, we have to understand the mechanism of why we are getting injured. I personally believe, it is because we are asking too much of our players, as the system being put in place over taxes the lack of talent on the roster. Simply put, we are asking our key players to play in a way that puts them in the circumstance to be injured. With the sudden influx of talent, and hopefully, with some good support from the farm club, we can not only remedy that, but in the case where we do have injuries, we can sustain the main club thru the adversity. The good news is that our team plays a competitive form of hockey, that when everyone is on board, we are a team that can compete for the playoffs, and that we hit a wall. It would be different if we were at the bottom, and weren't injured. Speaks to the point that we are actually better than the standings show, we just need a little bit of luck. Being able to call up Juolevi, Chatfield, and Brisebois on the backend, should help, and if Lind, Gadjovich, and others show a marked improvement, we should be able to get thru injuries. I do have some reservations about our player development model, but it seems that there seems to be a will to find out what that is, and to fix it. It is encouraging, as I see the biggest weakness in moving forward is our teams inability to develop from within anything that would gain traction in the top 6, forward wise, as well as top 4 on the defensive side of things. It speaks well that we can produce goaltending, as that is an up and down thing for most clubs, who seem to be able to deal with that by just UFA'ing it, but we'd all rather not count on that. The next 2 years are going to be important, not only in the case of where that pick for Miller falls out, but where our playoff aspirations go. I'd love to see Podkolzin come in for season after nexts playoff run tho, as I'm sure most of us would be.
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Chris Higgins to join Canucks in player development role
Solinar replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
The developmental model our system has been using hasn't quite got us the results many of us are satisfied with. I hope that Higgins can offer insight into that, and help our guys be the best they can be. I'm glad that they're bringing in a new voice, and hopefully we can see more success this year. We need to have more prospects graduate from the farm club into positions that aren't the fourth line, or replacement defense with the ceiling of the bottom pairing. We've been hitting on our first round picks, but we really should be with how high we've been picking. It is the 2nd round and beyond that need to start showing up that'll make our team and system successful for years to come. I have faith that a franchise that has been mired in prospect mediocrity for about 50 years now, can realise all the things we've done wrong in that time, and....stop doing that! -
We have a solid mix of veteran to developing player ratio, we have a good balance in physicality and skill, we added some definite....truculence...that fans always love. We have a lot of ifs and question marks going into the season, but we are poised to be on the winning side of a lot of contests if the ifs and ?'s are in our favour. Does our mix allow for a better allotment of ice time per player, allowing for less injuries as certain players are over extended? Will certain of our players be able to thrive in their roles without having to take on added responsibilities because of roster composition? Having a dynamic skating and skilled prospect on the back end, as well as another pp quarterback in Myers should allow us to not ride Edler into the ground. Better mix of players will allow us to judiciously use Tanev without putting him into a minutes crunch that inevitably gets him injured. Up front, Miller is an entry machine, statistically. Last year, it was painful watching anyone not Horvat, Pettersson, or Virtanen enter the zone. Dump and chase is great, but the we didn't have the right mix of players to make use of it, as in my opinion, unless you're using it like St. Louis, aka, dumping it and smashing the defense and recovering it quickly, you are basically scrambling on a one and done play. Ferland also is a good possession entry forward. So now we have more options for entering the zone. Canucks fans, I think we have something here, and quite possibly, it may be time to shuffle that 'tank nation' t-shirt into the back of the closet and cautiously be prepared to cheer. I know this isn't the team many wanted, with 4 years of #1 picks on board, but we can all admit that the NHL is pretty good at screwing our team over. Maybe now we'll succeed despite the lack of lotto ball success, and really, that is something.
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I think this year proves that with the parity in the league, and a little luck, you can make some noise if you make the playoffs and certain players get hot at the right time. We were 5 wins off of getting into the show ourselves, and in the arms race, we are definitely better on paper than the team that was limping along with 2 serious losing streaks, and a lot of close games we lost. Benning was laughed at when he said he wanted to add a top 6 winger and a top 4 defenseman, but he stuck to his guns and went out and got what he believes are what we were missing from last season. Arguably, he got 2 top 6 players, in Miller and Ferland, and gave up scratch tickets to get there, or just cash. Myers and Benn arguably improve our d-core, as well as the addition of Hughes. So our d-core, that couldn't get it done, was revamped by half of its staff. With the key additions better in the offense and transition categories, and the ones remaining arguably better in the defensive side of the game. 1/3 of our top 6 forwards were revamped. That pushed down skill and talent into the bottom 6, arguably improving them as well. We added size, grit, and most importantly, offense. It cost us an uncertainly placed 1rst round pick somewhere in the next couple of years, and a third. Oh, and cap space. Now comes the point where he has to lose one of Eriksson, Tanev, or Sutter. We all know what we want, but it is that trade and the returns that'll be worth watching. Either way, we are at a point where we have gone out and gotten players that will help our developing players be better. The team has stacked the deck, and done better, on paper. Are you not excited? Most importantly, the excuses will be gone. You can't point to the roster and say, oh, its terrible. It may not be great, but if the coach is good, and the team comes together, we will have an entertaining season, and hopefully an exciting post-season, even if it is one and done. That'll make the team hungry for more.
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[Signing] Devils re-sign Nikita Gusev
Solinar replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
It is a solid gamble. A team was going to have to pay, or the player would go to the KHL. With his pedigree over there, there wasn't a chance in hell he'd slide in for less than 2 million. If he performs, your team is a winner. If he doesn't, term is nothing and the price tag isn't going to handcuff you. New Jersey has to put up a show of having a team that Taylor Hall is going to win with in the now, and with a chance of going forwards in the future. They have a good 1 2 punch down the middle in Hughes and Hischier. The goaltending has the potential to be solid....in the gambling sense of the word. And the d-core isn't that bad. We aren't talking instant cup contender, but the team, if everything breaks right, can definitely do some damage. We shall see. -
Saw an interesting Louie Eriksson for Ryan Kesler proposal....followed that up by going to capfriendly and studying the nature of the contract structures....god I wish it was hockey season already, so bored! It is a quiet summer, other than the politics, weather, and news cycle. Want to enjoy it, but truly hoping we get to October so I can see what this team will do. We're so much better on paper than last year, and last year we were 5 wins out of a playoff spot. If we can just keep the injury bug at bay and get some officiating that doesn't make me want to puke, we shall be entertained!
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[Report] Eriksson “NOT” likely to be moved on
Solinar replied to Provost's topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
The problem is, we're stuck in a bind of our own creation. We have to move on from Eriksson, as he's become....redundant. But we have to make him more relevant. Playing him further up the lineup, hopefully will pay enough dividends that we can secure the thing that we want, trading without appearing to be the desperate one in the trade. It is gambling.... I'd rather go with a lineup that didn't involve him at all, and I'd think we'd be better off with the subtraction. But, we're left in a spot where that isn't going to happen. So, you chart a course, hope for the best, and if the gamble doesn't work, you move on if it is costing the team. That would mean a lot of healthy scratches. -
[Report] Eriksson “NOT” likely to be moved on
Solinar replied to Provost's topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Miller Pettersson Boesser Pearson Horvat Eriksson Baertschi Sutter Ferland Virtanen Beagle Leivo Motte and Goldobin on the outside looking in, with Roussel on the IR till christmas. At that time, make a move. For all the talk of Eriksson being moved on, unless he becomes a drama child in the dressing room, there is no way the team is paying a prospect and pick to move on from him this year. You ride him in that slot above, and hope to hell that he comes around. He was productive there at the end of the season, and hopefully, that isn't a one off. Then you trade him July 1st/2nd next year to a cap floor team and might even get a mid round pick to do it. He is still a useful NHL player, and fills a role we actually need on the team. Take his salary out of the picture, or pretend he's 2.5 million, and all of this goes away. Too bad we overpaid to get him, that's on the team. Now do the hardwork to build him up again. -
(Potential Lineup) CapFriendly Roster Cap Hit
Solinar replied to Borvat's topic in Proposals and Armchair GM'ing
If we roll into the season, with what we have, we can make it work. It'll be tight, Goldobin and a few others might get waived and claimed, but if they aren't good enough to make the opening night roster, ....well, that is what it is, now isn't it. I can see, with the moves that the team has made, where there might be an added incentive for guys like Sutter, Eriksson, and Tanev to make a good start of the year, and we could use them as trade chips later on. And a more balanced roster, with quality throughout the ranks, should effectively spell less injuries, as you aren't riding your talent so hard, and can more evenly spread out the playing time/roles. I personally believe that we go thru this season with Eriksson on the books, and put him with Pearson and Horvat. We ride him hard, give him every chance to increase his value, and july 1st of next year, he's gone! And we won't have to add a sweetener, hell, we might even get something back, because, despite the price tag, he is an effective NHL player. He is great on the pk, he's sound defensively, and he can get you 30-40 pts with diminished minutes. And he'll play the role you give him, even when he'd rather be the player he used to be. Lots of coaches like players like that, even if the player would rather be let off the leash and cheat offensively. -
[Proposal] Benning's boldest offseason gets bolder
Solinar replied to HKSR's topic in Proposals and Armchair GM'ing
Nope....nope nope nope, ......nope! I like your gambling attitude, but as soon as you tossed Boesser in as the sweetener with Eriksson, you lost me. Plus we don't have the picks to make the offer sheet. You could tweak it a little bit, and try to shine Goldobin and Chatfield to go with Eriksson somewhere. But as for Marner, you aren't getting him in the this proposal. Dream big, and don't stop... -
I never thought about it, but as retention pertains to quantity of cap hit, in the instance of the actual salary being less than the % you've retained, does that mean you'd be paying all of the players salary to play on the other team while they have the cap hit? aka Player x has a 10 million cap hit, I retain 50%, so that means I retain 5 million, but the actual salary is 1.5 million. Do I pay all of it for the guy to go away?
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[Rumour] Laine in "deep talks" with Montreal
Solinar replied to Baer.'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
I was reading about someone who actually followed Laine's fortnight usage, and tracked his playing stats against them. Apparently, when his usage went up, his performance went down, but could all be just internet hooie. Takes the heat off of Juolevi at the very least. -
[Rumor] Boeser Camp Eyeing 4 Year Deal Worth $28M
Solinar replied to buddyguy's topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
I was watching the Hockey Guy on youtube, and he had a good explanation for the shorter term contracts. The new tv deal will be coming up, and that could add a significant amount to the cap ceiling. Why lock in for long term now, when you can wait, and get a real payday in 4-5 years? Give some of these big contracts long enough, and they start to look like deals as the cap keeps going up.