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CanucksJay

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Everything posted by CanucksJay

  1. Agreed It'll be an interesting off season for Cgy. Rumor is that Johnny is leaving but they are in a rough situation. They have older guys like markstrom and Tanev so window should be now but they are going backwards in terms of talent if jonny leaves. They would be smart to sell if Johnny leaves but they don't have young elite talent like Petey or Hughes to build around. Maybe Tkachuk and Lindholm?
  2. Yeah I have a tough time pinning down who the real Brock Boeser is. I was one of the few that wanted him traded before the bubble run. He came into the league looking amazing. After his terrible back injury, he was too slow, lacked defensive awareness, lost key puck battles etc. Then the bubble run happened and we got glimpses of the old Brock. He was skating much better and his 2 way game improved and he was a really good player for us. He then followed it up with another solid season last year. I would have considered him to be one of our top players. I then felt really bad for writing him off so early and surmised his issues were to do with his back injury he hadn't fully recovered from. I know it's a little while back but he won the NHL All Star MVP as a 20 year old. I know All Star game is not playoff hockey but when you show high level skillset playing with the best players in the world, it means something. Brock has gone through a lot last year. Duke has passed so it might bring some closure to him. The kid is still an RFA. I would give him another year (even if the QO is high) because you don't just throw those kinds of assets away.
  3. General concensus is that Poolman is a bad contract but why? Sometimes I think one person on CDC says something and then it catches like wildfire and becomes fact in everyone's minds. He was injured for most of the season and when he did play, it was under the tire fire defense of Nolan Baumgartner. Even then, he filled in admirably in the top 4 for Hamonic and did his job well. The guy was a +2 when all we were doing was losing. I like his skating abilities (not fast but not slow), I think he was unlucky to only have 3 pts. I think trading him would be a bad mistake. We are not in a cap crunch next year. Miller is pretty much the only guy that over performed and he's still got a year left at a very good cap hit and is a very trade able asset. No point in selling low on any of our guys because we really don't need to this year. Look at how we ran Gudbranson out of here. The Flames fans love him I'd like to see Poolman under BB for a full season. It's not like he was bad under TG anyway. I think it's great that guys like Schenn stepped up and exceeded expectations but at the same time Poolman is still an upgrade over Hunt and its not like his salary is breaking the bank. I think he still fits in in the top 6 D The one concern is Rathbone. I am pretty sure he is not waiver eligible anymore. If Rathbone makes the team, we do need to trade someone. Will that be Myers or Poolman? Dermott, Schenn, Burroughs are on value contracts and playing better than expected. I think Myers would be the odd man out because we would be getting the best return for him while shedding the most cap space. Myers was a +15 this year. I did a double take when I saw the stats. Probably time to sell high on him as he won't be part of the future anyway. It's not even my money but I am sick of wasting money and capspace. Being on the hook for 1.9m Holtby is ridiculous when we cut him to only sign Halak who lasted 1 year and will take another 1.25m in bonus. I don't want to pay other teams to take players that are decent.
  4. Looking at the cap for the upcoming season. We have Holtby on the hook for 1.9m Whatever happened to Halak's 1.25m bonus for 10 game starts? I imagine he got it. Did it count towards this year's camp or did we push it to next year? Wasting 3.15 m on dead cap on 2 backup goalies is ridiculous...
  5. Yes Inconsistency is what plagued the team this year and for many seasons... Under Travis Green, the team was a no show every 1 in 3 games. Under BB, that improved but it was still a no show once every 8-9 games. To me, BB had them playing well enough to make the playoffs. What eventually did the Canucks in was games like NYI, Ana, NJ, Buffalo where we needed to win but didnt bring our best. Is that a leadership issue? Maybe? Thats why I am actually thinking of a mini rebuild around Petey and Hughes. Petey came into the league firing and his level of drive and commitment to being the best player stood out. And then last year happened. I have no doubt that last year was a huge learning point for him. He was busy in recording studios, instagram, travelling and then was in a contract dispute, missed camp and had such a brutal start that people really thought Petey had already hit his ceiling. It even looked like he was doubting himself. However, Petey, even during his slump, was the hardest working Canuck during practice as BB mentioned. What was encouraging through all that was that he took his effort level to another notch. He has now experienced what it feels like to work himself back out of a brutal slump. Those kinds of experiences is what builds leaders. As you mentioned, Quinn rarely has an offnight. If we have Petey and Quinn setting the tone for what to expect during practice and games I think we are in a good spot. Podz is also in that conversation. He is a workhorse. Miller... I disagree. He has offnights, makes poor decisions with the puck. Last year worked out for him. This year may not. I would rather have hardworking players that play the game the right way. Mller cheats too much and I dont want a leader to play like that. Horvat with Miller's skillset and passion would be ideal. Miller being a vet on a young team will create bad habits for everyone else. Cheat offensively and get paid. That's the wrong message
  6. Yup watching Oilers thump Calgary and then getting steamrolled by the AVs was very sobering. We are currently at best, running alongside Oilers and Cgy. In fact, both Edm and Cgy beat us in head to head matchups this year so we are technically below those teams not just from a points / standings perspective but from a head to head perspective. For the Canuks to have a chance, they need Petey to turn into a McKinnnon level player, Hughes to stay on same trajectory as Makar and still then, they are surrounded by other great talent like Rantanen, Landeskog, Byram, Towes, Newhook, The fact that they could still add Lehkonen and Manson ad the deadline is insane Cgy adding Taffoli and Jarnrok was a waste. They had no chance vs the Avs. I know the game is played for a reason or the cup would be won on paper but in hindsight, I dont see how Cgy could have gotten by Colorado. Maybe the Canucks do end up trading Miller, Boeser, Horvat, Myers this offseason and get as many 1st rounders as possible. Maybe they give OEL PP1 time and pad his stats and offload him at the deadline. I really dont mind keeping him though. Smart Smooth skating skilled d-men last longer than big physical ones. Podz made geat strides this year so lets hope he can keep developing. We need hogz to step up. Let's hope Rathbone continues to develop. Can the assets we gain from trading Miller, Boeser, Horvat, Myers be enough for a retool so we can go for it in 2-3 years? THat might be a bit early Avs have Landeskog 2011 2nd overall Mackinnon 2013 1st overall Makar drafted in 2017 4th overall Byram 2019 4th overall Newhook 2019 16th overall Canucks have Horvat 2013 9th overall Demko 2014 2nd round Petey 2017 5th overall Hughes 2018 7th overall Podz 2019 10th overall Missing on Virtanen (7th) and Juolevi (5th) is what killed us. Imagine having another Petey and Hughes on this team right now. Or an Alex Tuch and Matthew Tkachuk. If we look at the makeup of this team, maybe you do have to look at trading Bo. He should be a vet on a cup contender right now or at least in the next 2 years. If we build around Petey and Hughes, our window probably starts around 2024. At that point, Petey will be the highest paid player on the team, Hughes would have 2-3 seasons left on his contract. This means we need to load up on draft picks the next 2 years and insulate Petey and Hughes with better talent on ELCs and Bridge deals. Petterson contract expires in 2024. While we have his RFA rights, we have another Brock situation on our hands as his last year, his base is 10.25m so the QO will be high I think Aqaulini has to keep his nose out of this. Management needs to decide whether to retool and offload Miller, Horvat, Myers, OEL at the expense of playoffs next season. Spend the money on guys like DesLaurier and Manson to protect the youth and keep the team semi competitive while acquiring prsopects and draft picks. The bones of a good team is here. They have options in terms of tradeable asssets and different paths they can take to build a winner. The management team can ultimately leave their legacy with the moves they make in the next 2 years.
  7. JR is coming in with a better situation than JB. JB came in when team was on the decline with an empty cupboard and no real assets to move. I'm fully behind the management team. If they want to trade players like Miller and do a mini rebuild around Petey, hughes and Demko, I'm ok missing the playoffs next year as long as I see that there is a future plan.
  8. I wouldnt want to be Dallas or Mtl. Mtl's flukey playoffs last year sank them into the abyss this year where they had false hopes coming into this season. Dallas should not have made the playoffs his year. If Ottenger didnt stand on his head, they prob lose the series in 5. Canucks are in the better position. We have the better players and didnt make the playoffs for 2 years. We are no longer fooling ourselves and sitting on the laurels of bubble achievement. Our coaching staff was terrible before BB came in. Our players underperformed for half the season. We have assets that we can move. While watching the first half under TG sucked, what it did was show us the potential under BB without fooling ourselves into thinking that we are a contender. It gave us more clarity on what moves need to be made. All this data and information was critical to the new management team. LOL look at the Oilers, they're gonna probably try to run it back next year and they will be swept again in the 2nd or 3rd round. They aren't deep enough but the fans are so excited that they will stay the course.
  9. That's just it What is our contending window? That's basically a good mix of ELCs, Bridge Contracts and Vets playing at a very high level. To be a contender, you need a few key players on value contracts that are outperforming their salary. When you see how the team and salary is structured, this past season and next season was our contending window. (Miller, Demko, Horvat, Boeser were all on value contracts. The Bubble playoffs was and should have been the beginning and we needed to have built and improved from then to take a good run this year and next year but we didn't. I do wonder how much of that was on coaching and what we might have seen if it was BB running this team all this time. I mean look at the major steps our players took this year under BB. Imagine that was the progression for the past 3 years? But that ship has sailed. Now that the season is over and I've put down my pom poms, I really do think the team needs a mini retool. If the 2023 draft is as good as you say it is, We need to decide now who we are gonna keep and who we are selling and sell them off this year. For me the math doesnt add up. We are losing the time we had with guys on value contracts and they are now looking to get paid. We squandered the time we had with them on value contracts and made the playoffs once let alone contend. If we keep the same guys yet pay them more now, what does that change? Nothing. It decreases the amount we can spend on the rest of the team, a team that wasnt good enough. So far, I only see value contracts in Demko and Hughes. Petey signed a 3 year bridge at not much of a discount so if we ever get to the point of contending, he will be paid top dollars. Podz is currently on a value contract but he will be going into a bridge deal in a couple of years and the hope would be that he will continue to outperform his salary. I think the good news is, Hughes, Petey, Podz, and Demko are solid guys to build a core around. You coold probably add Hogz and Garland to the mix as well. Now you look at the future and what's the concern? SIZE. Besides Podz, we lack it BIG TIME. I think keeping Garland and Hogz is ok but we need to insulate them with size around them so that they can continue to play bigger. Boeser I feel is an asset we need to at least qualify for this year while Horvat and Miller are on their last year of a value contract and we can afford all of them for this year at least. I am open to trading our best trade chips this year from the list of Miller, Boeser, Dickinson, Poolman, OEL, Myers. By best trade chips, I mean dealing from a position of strength where we dont need to add to shed salary but instead get assets back. If that means hloding onto some of these guys this year so they get some value back and then deal them at the deadline, so be it. Look at Edler, Stecher, etc. Some of these guys had negative value in that, had we wanted to trade them, we would probably have had to add. They've played well this year so they wouldnt be hard to trade this year. I feel like players are similar to stocks. Dont sell low. If Horvat is looking for crazy money, he can go too. He is basically a middle of the pack 2C with great faceoff skills. Petey is the future 1C and Horvat on a contender would be a 2 or even 3C. A guy like Danault was signed as a UFA and a comparable would be Horvat. He signed for 5.5 as a UFA. It sounds like JR likes Bo and i do too. I'm hping he signs for somethign reasonable. I think this is exciting time to be in management and I have full confidence in the executive team. They hvae really good future pieces and some assets like th names mentioned above. This is much better than when Benning came to a team that was on a major decline with an empty cupboard. If we do this right, we might still make the playoffs next year but be a contender in a 2-3 years.
  10. Watching oilers rollover Calgary and then getting steamrolled by Avs makes me take off my Homer glasses and see that to be a contender, we have quite a ways to go. We need to be better in pretty much every area (speed skill size) The only really contender ready position is goalie (demko). We need upgrades everywhere else.
  11. I like it! Ppl were nervous after Scotty Walker's comments on analytics but it looks like this leadership is taking a very balanced and wholistic view of everything. Just as I had hoped, analytics is another tool that confirms the eye test or what the great hockey minds are already thinking. If the advanced stats don't support their opinion, they would take a deeper dive to understand why. This pretty much shows that this collective group of leadership will use every tool available to build the best team they can build. It doesn't mean they are jumping on the latest fad like advanced stats to make a decision but use all of these data as supplementary tools to confirm and validate their opinions.
  12. I would rather run it back this year with Boeser AND Garland while we still have Bo and Miller under good contracts. This summer, Boeser needs to work on his skating (which can be done with effort). I mean look at draisaitl and Horvat. Both had huge question marks on their skating when they came into the league and put in the effort and are now really good skaters. If we need cap space, I would rather find a way to dump Dickinson and Poolman and replace them with cheaper guys like Richardson and Burroughs and give Boeser 1 year to prove himself. If he does, great. If not, then he comes off the books the following year when we need the money to sign Horvat.
  13. I would agree with you if this year is indicative of the real Brock Boeser. Problem is as some may have pointed out, he was one of our best players the previous year. He clearly had alot of off ice issues this year. What if... Just what if, those issues really did affect his play? How would you feel if you traded him and then he bounced back next year and was a 30-40g scorer and puts up 70+ pts? I don't know why we would give up on him while we still have his RFA rights. Horvat and Miller contracts don't expire until end of next year. What if we qualified Brock and then we make a decision on all 3 players based on how the season is going? We can even trade at the deadline if we are having trouble re-signing etc. Miller however, is be ok trading him this summer if the right deal came along. He over achieved last year so its not like his stock will get any higher. On the other hand, Boeser is a 1 year try out and if he looks good, we try to keep him out trade him (as he'd have value). Where as right now, he has no value.
  14. Also, poetic justice no? Tanev is a warrior but often gets injured. Him getting injured left a huge hole for the Flames which ultimately resulted in the playoff loss. Us not signing Tanev while really liking him is becuase he is injured when we need him. The Flames just experienced this. And Markstrom. He ultimately got pulled against Vegas where Demko emerged. It sucks because I like both Tanev and Markstrom but you could make the argument that they cost the team the series. That's a bit harsh to Tanev but his durability was the big question mark and ultimately, his durability and health let him down when the team needed him.
  15. The league is definitely corrupt or incompetent. I hate the Flames with a passion but they got screwed. They also got screwed out of a cup against Tampa when a clear goal (puck crossed the line) but it went to video review and overturned. What's funny is that fans of each team know there's an issue but don't complain until it's their own team that gets screwed. Daniel Sedin's goal being waived off is exactly the point. I remember being incensed when that happened but no one in Calgary cared. When Coleman scored and it went to review, I hoped it would be called off but obviously didn't expect it. The fact that it did get called off though shows how mickey mouse this league is. Until fans unite and demand better, the league will continue to operate in this BS way. To me, it's clear, the league wants Mcdavids name up there with Gretzky and Lemieux. I guess Johnny and Matthew aren't marketable enough. Oilers are lucky they didn't play one of the darlings of the league or that would have been a goal.
  16. Yeah. I said this in another thread but if SJ avoids caphit because a player's poor personal issues was legal grounds to get cap exemption, Canucks should get cap relief for Virtanen and also be given cap relief on top for the cap space Virtanen buyout took this year. If the league can do a recapture penalty (a la Luongo), I don't see why it can't go both ways...
  17. That's be amazing if we can build our analytics team to be the leaders in the league
  18. I think analytics is great if it supports the eye test. There's some game where we are outshooting an opponent but the game feels dull and we lose 2-1. Analytics might say we should have had more xGF or may not. It really depends on who is marking the stat and what they classify as a good scoring chance. I'm not hugely deep into analytics but when it support what I see, i can mark what I think as true and move on. If it goes against the eye test, thats when the qualified hockey people have to rewatch the game and figure out whether the analytics is supporting what they are seeing. Here's another thought. When we think analytics, we refer to sites like naturalstattrick. I have no idea who is actually logging the stats there and how qualified they are. I wonder if the Canucks will get Aiden Fox or Rachel Doerrie to log their own stats with JR and Allvin's definition / parameter of what is a scoring chance vs not. Things like Corsi are easier to track like plus minus stat. I guess the value of analytics really depends on how accurate the data is. Here's to hoping that we become a leader in that department and create methods to assess players more accurately than what currently exists. There's always room for improvement. WHen I was in Business School, there was a topic on line queue theory. It's done to predict lines and I'm sure there's places like Disney that invest in those types of analytics and prediction models. There's also the local Safeway that does not. Think about call centres. How do they know how much staff to schedule for calls on a given day? For example, the fastest way to get as many people through the cashiers at a grocery store is to have 1 line queue which then goes to whichever cashier is free. Places like Winners / Homesense does it. We then see other places with 10 tills all with people in line behind each till which is not the most efficient way of doing things. I then wait less than the average person because I can pick out the fastest moving line bylooking at people's carts and number of contents. That's good for me but not good for the store as more people will be unhappy vs happy. Also there's always people that say "Do you mind if I go in front of you? I only have these 2 things?" THat makes ZERO sense. THe only person it benefits is that person. It doesnt matter whether they have 2 items or 100 items. Everyone else has to now wait longer. LOL Sure 2 items makes it more palpatable and I dont have to wait as long as someone that is cutting with 100 items but it really is a selfish ask. Ok I'll stop my tangent on lines.
  19. Yeah the roster changes might require a few years. I would think sandpaper would be guys like Lockwood and Motte . Guys that go in and hit and cause disruption. I think when teams want bigger guys, they literally say bigger or heavy. Pretty sure, JR also wants to get bigger too. I think we need to go after deslauriers because there aren't many players with decent hands that are big, physical, fight AND can skate. I don't want a Reeves type player. Too slow for the new game. I go watch Vegas practice sometimes when I'm in town and there was a practice (when reeves played there) where he literally didn't score a single goal (drills, 5 v 5, etc) lol
  20. The 4th line was actually scoring when Motte was here. Offense then completely dried up when he left. I'm thinking the injury is going to impact his UFA offers. I hope Canucks bring him back at the original price they wanted. A line of Lockwood, Motte and Lammiko would be better than most 4th lines. It is definitely not a traditional heavy 4th line but does that matter? Can these guys get good enough to play some minutes as a shutdown line while we free up, JT, Petey, Bo? Can we add size in our top 9 by bringing in someone like Deslauriers and playing him with Petey and another skilled player? We saw some success with a heavier line of Pearson, Miller, Boeser. What if our top 9 gets more physical and heavy while our 4th line is speedy aggressive forecheckers with relentless pressure that tire out opposing top lines? They'd only get 12 min anyway so expectation would be to play at 100% and push the pace hard whenever they are on the ice. That will take a toll on opposing defenses and top lines and hopefully that's when Petey or Bo etc can take advantage.
  21. He played so much better under BB. He was pretty useless under TG and that sentiment created unfavorable bias against him all year. He just seemed to be moving his feet with BB whereas he seemed slow under TG and literally just parked himself in front of the net...
  22. I think this will be SJs undoing... If Kane becomes one of the top goal scorers in the playoffs the same year SJ cuts him, what can they say about his ability to function as a hockey player? Like why are we carrying JVs buyout cap hit if SJ got rid of Kane's cap hit for character issues as well? Why did we have to trade Kassian for Prust rather than just cutting him? If teams can start getting rid of players and avoid cap for off ice issues, it'll open Pandora's box. Like how many do drugs, cocaine, cheat on spouse etc? If you start cutting players and dodge cap hits for off ice behaviors, it'll start a very scary precedence. Bettman is a lawyer. I'm sure he knows all the ramifications. If SJ avoids cap, Canucks should sue the league and get JVs cap hit taken off the books and retroactively add his caphit that we absorbed this year and add it as free capspace next year. That'd be similar to what the league did to us with the Luongo recapture penalty lol.
  23. Good thing Smith has memory problems. He said it's never happened to him before lol
  24. That give pwnd a new meaning lol Sorry do kids still use that term or do I need to get my flux capacitor and go back 15 years?
  25. He's not a physical power forward (in that he'll lay down big hits), but he is built like an ox which is perfect for when the intensity increases and teams start playing more physical. We need more guys like Horvat if we are building a team for the playoffs. Guys that can battle through hits and tight checking physical plays and not have the body wear down. I still remember playing Grade 12 football and this 10th grader whos pretty much built like Horvat gets moved up to our team as TE as he was clearly a standout player. I remember one of the first plays where they throw the ball to him and I'm trying to tackle him. I had a stinger that ran down my arm when I tried to hit him. When I see Horvat, it reminds me of that kid.We need guys that are built like horvat
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