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Crabcakes

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Everything posted by Crabcakes

  1. I really don't have a problem with the trade to bring in Granlund. They needed the help at centre towards the end of last season at centre because McCann wasn't cutting it. Don't get me wrong, the potential is all there but at 19 he was still not strong enough and needed work on face offs etc. They also didn't have experience at 4C who could help possession. Cracknell was fine but he suffered on the dot at <40%. Zalewski was good at face offs in a small 3 game sample size but had few games under his belt. So, enter Granlund. Ok, crisis over. It's a new season and the Canucks are once again healthy. They've got Sedin - Sutter - Horvat - Granlund penciled in and Zalewski, Megna, Chaput, Laplante as back ups in Utica and, Gaunce who can all pull spot duty at 4C if needs be. So worst case scenario, they are not likely to run into the same depth issues next season. Question, how does it shake out for the 6'0" 185 lb 23 year old Marcus Granlund moving forward? I think he's better suited as a 3C, playing with some up and coming skilled forwards rather than trying to feed a couple of bangers on the 4th line. I could see a 3rd line of Etem - Granlund - Virtanen being effective. Assuming he takes the step forward that Derp is suggesting, and I don't see why not, does Granlund: Remain at 4C Become trade bait, as they slot in a bigger body on the 4th line, or Shift to the wing and become a utility forward who can play any spot up and down the line up (within limits)
  2. Yep, Baertschi Horvat Virtanen is a future line. For now, they want much more experience on any given line. There will be at least 1 veteran on each line moving forward.
  3. Did you take a class? A week ago, you didn't even know how to google.
  4. C'mon Alf, don't you look a little more like this guy?
  5. Gaunce is definitely going to be one of the more interesting young players to watch this year. It's definitely show us time. He must know that they want him to play more physically with the size he has. To date, he seems to be a smart player who makes himself effective with his brains and his size is just a thing that keeps him from being dominated physically. As a winger, he would be a similar type to Etem. As a centre, it's harder for me to find him a place in the line up. I think that as a 1st round pick, he always saw himself as a top 6 player who relied more on skill and intellect and not on brute force. Whereas, I think the Canucks would rather see him bring all 3 as he will most certainly begin his career in a bottom 6 role. It sometimes takes a little time before a player is comfortable throwing his weight around in the NHL particularly when that is not the style of play he has had in the past. Either way, he's going to have to distinguish himself this year in a way that he hasn't done in the past. Time to step forward.
  6. Twins ppg peak at 29: Hank: 07/08 Age 27 0.93 ppg (76 points in 82 games) 28 1.00 ppg (82 in 82) 09/10 29 1.37 ppg (112 in 82)* 30 1.15 ppg (94 in 82) Danny: 07/08 Age 27 0.90 ppg (74 in 82) 28 1.00 ppg (82 in 82) 29 1.35 ppg (85 in 63) 10/11 30 1.27 ppg (104 in 82)* * Art Ross winners
  7. Ya, I think you're right. You get stronger and aerobics improve. You also get leaner and add muscle in your early 20's (some call it losing your baby fat) and into your 30's. However, your ability to get around the rink will be offset by weight gain (muscle) as you age and at a certain point, the legs just won't go as fast as they used to. I think there is quite a variance from person to person. Also, people get smarter at reading the play and work more efficiently. They say the peak is in the late 20's. These are my own observations and highly unscientific. Maybe there's a fitness guru on here who understands this better. Here's a link to an article that suggests that hockey players peak between 27 and 28. There are graphics of explosive strength vs endurance that are interesting. http://www.realclearscience.com/journal_club/2015/06/25/this_is_when_athletes_hit_their_peak_109280.html
  8. If he's not in shape at camp, Burr will tell him. They kept him around for a reason.
  9. What's the best / easiest / most fun way to lose a couple of kg's? C'mon we're all human here. Give the boy a break. I'm not worried.
  10. Do you know Brandon Pirri?
  11. Do they? He did play on a very good Junior team. A Memorial Cup championship team. And at 17 he was a go to defenseman on that team. But what Linden and Benning keep going back to is how well Juolevi played at the World Juniors in a Gold Medal winning performance against the best Junior players in the world. Everyone knows that 19 and 20 year olds dominate the tournament. But fair comment. I think that the Canuck brass would rather see him in Juinior where he can develop leadership etc. You could argue that playing against men in Europe may be more challenging, but no 27 year old men are going to look to an 18 year old as their leader. I think that London is the best place for him. He knows the players there and the players know him. He will take a leadership role as a returning member of a championship team.
  12. I-Mac did the same today when asked about prospects camp. It's something that I hadn't thought of not having seen any more than highlights of each. Regardless of skill levels etc, if Boeser is playing a similar style down low, this might go a long way to explaining why Benning had ranked Tkachuk below Juolevi in the draft.
  13. Benning already let Hamhuis slide who came in at a similar cap hit to Sbisa. I think that was the choice. Sbisa or Hammer and Sbisa won out because of age and grit. I think you're right about the depth. While Sbisa does have his warts, there are several D prospects who may be close but don't have much NHL experience: Larsen, Pedan, Tryamkin, and Stecher. They know what they have in Sbisa. Now, odds are, not all of these guys will work out. Until we know how the chips are going to fall, Sbisa will stay. He may be a possible deadline move but for now, there is no cap issue if he is kept around.
  14. Hutton may have a limp shot but he got a lot of secondary assists from floating pucks in on net. He'll come around, that was his rookie year.
  15. Ya, what's wrong with potatoes? lol
  16. To be fair, Sbisa is on his list...... Seriously, Sbisa can skate and he is hard to play against so he checks some boxes. But his decision making is suspect. All this will come out in the wash when camp starts and over the first number of games. Benning has really done a make over on defense this year and I think we'll be seeing some changes. Hamhuis was the first casualty. I don't think that we're seeing any movement until we really know what we have in Larsen, Stecher, and Tryamkin
  17. Agree. Benning observed Shinkaruk's play on many occasions. I think he made up his own mind on the trade. It was for the betterment of the team, not a particular indictment of Shink imo. The assertation that Benning is making decisions like this based on somebody else's opinion and not on firstly, a consensus amongst his management group, and secondly, his own opinion, fly's in the face of every interview I have heard him ever give. If there is anything that Benning does not do it is mail in his effort. This man does his homework in spades and is completely engaged and in charge.
  18. I was being kind if you care to read my initial comment. Clearly you think you know something about the English language. Maybe you should use it correctly.
  19. When you say that "Sven at 27 has blossomed into a Naslund type player", you are using the present tense. In other words, you are telling us that he is 27, which he is not. If you don't chose the right word, your meaning is lost. Welcome to CDC. I did not miss your point, I agreed with it.
  20. Sven's birthday is Oct 5, 1992....... he IS 23 years old. Your post is misleading. I know it was unintentional. Not to take away from your actual point. Best case scenario, I agree, he has a shot at developing into a Naslund type. Realistically, I think he'll top out at 2LW. He would be a nice compliment to a rugged RW. A future 2nd line of Baer Horvat Virtanen would be awesome.
  21. It's real good because Baertchi has not reached his ceiling
  22. Good criticism Name Faker. Well thought out post. Of course my stats, while true, are a bit of a ham fisted way of looking at it because players acquired are further along with their development, are usually older and have had more opportunity to have played more NHL games. Since the players that Benning has acquired are more experienced, he has a more reliable opinion of the sort of player they will become. So while Shinkaruk may have a higher ceiling than Granlund, Benning knows that he has an NHLer in Granlund (albeit a bottom 6 C) and as such has reduced risk by making the deal. In the Gudbranson trade, Benning would have had a pretty good idea of who he would have selected at 33 OA in the upcoming draft but it's very difficult to know even 1 month before the draft, whether it would even be possible to make that selection. His preferred candidate may have been picked by another team, or a better candidate may have fallen in the draft. For each pick, I imagine that Benning has as many as 10 possible alternatives. I believe he said that he had 8 possibles for the 5th OA. Since there are so many variables involved, maybe the best you can do is to make a generality.
  23. These arguments always get complicated because Benning is trying to add players in their early 20's who can play (and hopefully still develop) and also draft well. Both of these things help to build for the future. What takes priority? It looks as though Benning is prioritizing players over draft picks at this time. Is this accelerating the re-thing? Is it better or worse? I'm not quite so hung up on draft picks as some people are. As long as the assets arrive and the team is getting better, I'm not going to cry about it. He hasn't given up any first round picks. Other than McCann but he was picked already. This is where the top line players are going to come from in general. In the mean time, Benning is finding improvements in bottom 9 forwards and bottom 4 D through unconventional means. Who needs to be conventional? Apparently Alf does.
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