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oldnews

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Everything posted by oldnews

  1. shoulda woulda coulda stories - eveyone should believe them all. I love this stuff. If Columbus had done this, then Edmonton would have done that, Montreal would have done this, and Vancouver would have done that.... all from the comfort of a studio armchair - years later - assuming to know what 4 franchises "would have" otherwise done. half the time these guys can't get one variable right.... what exactly is the 'conventional wisdom' btw? such an elaborate cool story.
  2. I hate to say crap like this (about a Canuck) - but....we're showcasing Roussel for the trade to Snottawa...
  3. I took it that way - intended to say there's no intention of singling you out there - he gets maligned all the time. And I'm just trying to be fair to the guy - as I was throughout - he's not my 'favorite' by any stretch - but he does have some great tools and like a number of guys here - from Sbisa, to Gud, and often Edler - anyone in the rented mule / hard minutes position of a struggling, young, rethinging team tends to get sandbagged and misrepresented (it's one of the real blind spots of 'analytics'.)
  4. I can't answer that - I don't know. I personally didn't see enough to even guess if he's close to earning minutes.
  5. a number of weak shots at Gudbranson in this thread, I'm sure... But folks here continue to whiff on / sandbag players that play that role (particularly on young, struggling teams)... His outcomes last night, ironically were very respectable/good - particularly in context. Gudbranson 14 defensive zone starts - no other Senator was in double digits 3 ozone 17.6% ozone / 82.4% defensive zone starts. 50% corsi 22 on ice shot attempt for, 22 against. Add to that the challenge of playing with a relatively vacant defensive partner - Reilly.... Josh Brown, Reilly...Wolanin - and a number of their forwards - replacement level without the puck / defensive games...hard for anyone, particularly your principal hard minutes D to look good in those circumstances. And yet Gudbranson's 'possession' numbers - ironically - were very good - and his puck movement looks notably improved.
  6. first - it's a day off practice second - they have rested Juolevi once already in a back to back situation. He has been playing some pretty challenging minutes imo - I don't think it's a terrible idea to pace him early - and it has nothing to do with 'Greener' lacking the sense to 'reward' him, or 'tanking', wadr.
  7. ? names? Leaving the Canucks aside and any potential 'rose' claims - (and the Leafs who I can't honestly name here...) As well as the fact that the Norris has become somewhat of a joke / scoring race.... Giordano Tanev (people here slept on Tanev for the most part, but he's as good a shutdown D as they come). That pairing is as hard to produce against as they come. Weber...Petry...beasts (and Edmondson, Chiarot) - that is a top 4 as solid as any. You will hear/know more of Morrissey in due course. Very few young D I'd consider in his class. Chabot - easily one of the best young defensemen in the NHL (some of the names that made the top 20 Norris voting, while Chabot did not - are absurd). Even Deadmonton - they're without Klefbom - but with him in their lineup, they have a few guys that can handle themselves without the puck. The idea that the North can't defend / is defensively deficient - is small sample stuff with perhaps some Canadian inferiority complex thrown in.
  8. It may have taken more than a 6th and 7th (particularly dumping Baertschi - I may have dumped more serviceable cap insteadd)- and it would have meant exposing a D contract in expansion. I'm 'ok' with what they elected to do - my point there is primarily for the crowd whining incessantly about not signing Markstrom (it's ironic given the usually rabid youth culture mentality in this market - ie an absurd contradiction for this market to by whining that the team retained Demko) - and it's to point out that the team is as deep in youth at RW as anywhere. Toffoli not only would have committed more cap to wingers over another 4 years - but got in the way of Hoglander/Podkolzin types - who imo, all things considered, are quite potentially better all around players than Toffoli in due course. I like Toffoli, but he's nowhere near the mobile buzz saw that Hoglander is, and Podkolzin, well - there is a prototypical two way power forward. Toffoli is a difficult loss - but they acquired him when Boeser was injured and there was no Covid cap crunch (projecting the ability to re-sign him would have been understandable - and obviously things changed to say the least.
  9. If he is, there is something broken about the Norris criteria - and admittedly that is more and more the case. If he continues doing what he's doing....let's look at what he's doing. 7 pts in 8 games, 6 of them assists, half of those assists on the powerplay. -7 is highly problematic, obviously. Not only is that the team worst, but it's come in the following deployment: 70.1% offensive zone starts - highest on the blueline by quite a margin. 50.3% corsi is not particularly 'good' in context (ie Schmidt's is 50.0%, with 42.4% ozone starts). 4:47 / game of powerplay ice-time - puts those 3 pp assists in a different light (ie nearly 40 minutes of pp ice time already). Most concerning are his goal differentials (excluding Rafferty and Chatfield's minute samples). 4.1 on ice goals against per 60 5on5 = worst on the blueline 2.4 on ice goals for = worst on the blueline. As has been the case thus far in his early career - obviously high upside - however not very good 'possession' numbers, and poor goal metrics 5 on 5 (last year had a blueine worst 3.5 on ice goals against per 60 - playing primarily with Tanev - and a blueline worst -10, in spite of, again, situational use tailored for his success. Of course - this is all to be 'expected' with a rookie and sophomore pmd that jumped straight into the NHL out of college. But what is absolutely does not indicate - is a Norris defenseman. The Norris is/was supposed to designate the NHL's best defenseman - ie a guy that can play in all situations, that is both productive and a high end defensive blueliner, someone that can handle hard minutes, any matchups you throw at them, - ie a player like Mark Giordano, for example. Quinn Hughes is not that - not remotely close. The day that Norris trophies start getting handed out to sophomores with the kind of outcomes that Hughes has is the day the NHL has become a highlight reel league that has devolved the Norris into a relatively meaningless scoring race. And don't mistake this for a 'criticism' of Hughes - as I said, these outcomes are to be expected at this stage of his career - the young man is a remarkable talent that is also developing his play without the puck. Where I'd agree with you is that he doesn't quite look like himself. I brought this up in a GDT - the game he was at his worst thus far in his career, with a number of vacant efforts (beaten easily on the rush) and uncharacteristic giveaways. Someone mentioned the hit he took from McMe1st and it made sense (he's also been -9 since opening night). I agree that he seems to be fighting through something, but regardless, he's nowhere near ready to be considered a Norris candidate imo (it's akin to suggesting his rookie season was the 3rd best in Canucks blueline history - that too is really premature and a one-dimensional take).
  10. I was thinking Ottawa might look a little better this year. Not just talking tonight - I doubt there are many nights where they get dominated to that extent. But I am a bit surprised by their blueline - that they did as little as they did in the offseason considering the opportunities. I thought Josh Brown, Wolanin and Reilly looked horrible. But best of all - Matt Murray...not much luck needed tonight wadr M&M. If the Canucks weren't so injured on the RS it might not be the worst time to sell them Benn.... Benn and Roussel for Paul.
  11. gotta be one of the most muddled, mushy minded 'proposals' I've even seen.
  12. I've been generally happy with Gaudette's improvement. He looks more aware, as well as a bit heavier and harder on the puck. He's still not developed enough to win a viable amount of faceoffs however. And as much as he's progressed - it's a huge leap to handle hard minutes as effectively as Sutter - who is far better than most of this fanbase has realized. So many games in a compact schedule though - Gaudette will get other opportunities - good secondary scoring depth (and has looked particularly good playing with Virtanen. If/when the club really needs to win/compete, I think it's borderlline no-brainer though, if Sutter is healthy, the team is better with him forming a separate line as opposed to on Beagle's wing.
  13. vs Edmonton, Toronto, Buffalo...or the 95, 96 Senators, who had back to back 1st overall picks. for every example, there's a counterpoint. and the same goes for 'retool' champions - and failures. Boston. Los Angeles, Detroit...not exactly the tank nation style of re/thing / build.
  14. they've had 8 straight imo - or at the very least 7 in 8. they've been the one consistent element thus far. they just happened to add 4 goals tonight, so there's that.
  15. he spoke of the fire EP had in his first two seasons - when he did not have the puck. Ie when he'd have a giveaway or an opponent takeaway - he'd fume and pursue / battle for the puck as if he'd been insulted. that's the fire that we're not yet seeing from him - and it comes from the 'ground up' in a sense - when you play the game with the same intent without the puck as with it - and focus on all the 'little things'. the pressure of producing and distraction of not seems to have broken his focus/concentration a little. it happens - even to aliens.t I think of EP in that St Louis playoff series - throwing his body in front of shots (one shot block in particular with Marky down and out stands out in my memory)....he's just a bit mentally under the weather.
  16. Not the biggest IMac fan by any stretch - but his comments regarding EP in the intermission tonight were dead center.
  17. I was laughing, thinking here's the guy that's probably most in over his head - and he's all over the place, in a good way. He's starting to transition already from the guy you don't notice for good reasons, to the guy you do notice, for good reason. The thing that concerned me the most was that he's still a lanky 182lbs back there - but he looks/plays bigger/stronger than that.
  18. Sutter has scored 156 NHL goals. In a shutdown role (ie under 40% ozone starts for his career). Very few players are capable of that kind of production in hard minutes. That takes relatively consistent offensive instincts.
  19. Nice to see Juolevi rip his first one. I've been surprised by how hard the minutes he's playing have been. 34.2% ozone starts coming into tonight's game. And inching up to 1:51 per game on the penalty kill. Impressive for a rookie in his 7th game - Green appears to think a whole lot of his ability to play on his side of the blueline - and he's stepped up to it fairly seemlessly imo. He's looking like the player they drafted - the hockey intelligence and ability to read the play are patently obvious.
  20. that was an epic trade thread lol. one of many. never any shortage of drama in a Canucks trade thread.
  21. I think it was a bit of a package decision this past offseason. They had no choice but to retain either Markstrom or Demko - expansion looming dictating that. So when you elect Demko - in my opinion you key more on his trajectory - and arguably more in line with the rest of the young core's - so while I don't see it as necessarily 'taking a step back' - I see it as being more patient / willing to ride out more growing pains in the shorter term but trying to sustain competitiveness as much as they can (and you never know). As hard as it is to see guys like Markstrom (perhaps my all time favorite goaltender tbh - and Tanev and Toffoli leave - it was pretty much forced for the most part by expansion and covid - as well as the reality that they have such young talent in both goal (Dipietro also in the system) and at RW....for me, the hardest decision was Tanev (i would have signed him first).
  22. 3 games in 4 nights...one day to practice....3 games in 4 nights.... insane schedule...following an already abbreviated training camp/preseason. a large part of the reason I didn't see the slow start as poor 'coaching' - at all actually - the inverse - how well Green has managed to get such young groups performing, as they did last season - a testament to good coaching imo. he hasn't really had that time this year - such a young group {continue to be increasingly young) - not shocking that it's taking some time (with so little relative 'coaching' time - and practices few and further between....}
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