Edler's Mind Tricks Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Consider this thread, in this section, a bit of wishful thinking on my part. There is this kid with the last name Schultz... Right now he is better then Connauton and Tanev, with a higher upside then both. All signs point to us having a chance to sign him, at least the same chance we had with Sweatt (one of the only comparables with the situation Schultz is in, and even then not so much as Schultz is both more NHL ready and with a higher upside). For his first season at least, he would be a pure offensive defensemen, think Mike Green. His upside may in fact be the same as Green's. Don't say we don't have room for one as he is good enough to force himself into our top four next season. Don't say that you can't have a high flying dman on a cup winner as the 5 dmen to break the hundred point barrier have 12 stanley cups between them and adjusting for era's, Schultz has a chance to get to that level of impact. Anyways I think we should be getting excited about this guy and Angus, a great writer, will do a better job of explaining why then I can! http://canucksarmy.com/2012/3/15/who-the-heck-is-justin-schultz angus_j March 15 2012 09:53AM If you have somehow managed to avoid hearing Justin Schultz’s name in recent days, don’t expect it to continue. The top defenseman in the entire NCAA (and currently property of the Anaheim Ducks) isweighing his options for next season. Why is this news to Canucks fans? Well, Schultz played a year of junior hockey (in the BCHL) after being drafted, and there is a loophole in the current NHL CBA that allows him to become an unrestricted free agent this summer (with a limit on how much he could earn on his first professional contract). Read past the jump for more! As Chuck Schwartz (who we spoke to recently about Joseph Labate), explained on "Bucky's 5th Quarter" earlier this week: “The NHL CBA has a loophole that says if you officially withdraw from school (simply has to tell [Wisconsin] he's leaving) and it's the fourth summer after you've been drafted, you can choose to become a free agent.” Why should this news have Canucks fans excited? For one, Schultz is a dynamic defenseman who has the potential to be a game-changing force in the NHL. He’s one of the best prospects in hockey. Two, he is from Kelowna and has BCHL roots - so he's a "local kid". And finally, the Canucks pulled a similar move two summers ago, signing college free agent Bill Sweatt to an entry-level deal, after he spurned both Chicago and Toronto. It is obviously not a route they're shy about pursuing. And they really should pursue Schultz if he becomes available. The Canucks aren't necessarily "in need" of more puck-moving defenseman, but Schultz is clearly a few levels above promising youngster Kevin Connauton in terms of current ability and all-around upside. Schultz also possesses more two-way upside than Gragnani, and more offensive upside than Chris Tanev. While Alex Edler has a dangerous, hard shot from the point and is a phenomenal passer, he probably isn’t a "true power play quarterback" (although he’s on pace for more than 50 points – I may be getting a tad picky with my definition). Justin Schultz, however, is. Schultz may want to sign somewhere with the potential to play right away, and that could happen in Vancouver, despite the team's blueline depth. For one thing, Head Coach Alain Vigneault has stuck to his word of playing the players who earn their ice time, though I know a few reading this may disagree with that statement. For another, Justin Schultz seems like a player who is ready to handle a top-four role in the NHL next season. For one thing, he's played the last three seasons for Mike Eaves and the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers have had their fair share of young defensemen successfully make the leap to pro hockey in recent years, in fact, they've become something of an assembly line. So I asked Chuck Schwartz, how Schultz compares with his former teammates (and current NHLers) Jake Gardiner, Ryan McDonagh, and Brendan Smith? "While Gardiner, McDonagh, Smith, and Schultz are all excellent defensemen, they all have different traits. Schultz is most like Gardiner, in that they are excellent puck movers with elite skating ability. Both Gardiner and Schultz can jump up in the play, and are both outstanding with the puck on their sticks. Smith and Schultz both posses outstanding skills with the puck, but Smith has a harder shot from the point, where as Schultz has more of a quick, accurate shot. Smith is more likely to shoot off the pass, where as Schultz is likely to quarterback a power play, and set things up. McDonagh is the least like Schultz in terms of playing style. McDonagh is a physical rock of a defenseman that is turning onto one of the NHL's more effective stay at home blue-liners. Schultz is still growing defensively, but his offensive upside is considerably higher than McDonagh's." Let's check out some numbers. In the table below are Justin Schultz's NHL Equivalency numbers (NHLE), or league translation numbers. Here's the method for translating production between hockey leagues, but it's based on math done originally by Gabriel Desjardins of Behind the Net. Basically every NCAA point is worth .41 points in the NHL and the numbers in the table below are prorated over an 82 game pace: Justin Schultz NHLE Goals Assists Points 2009-10 5 13 18 2010-11 15 24 39 2011-12 15 25 40 That certainly looks like the production of an "NHL ready" prospect to me. To get a better picture of Schultz's overall game I once again consulted Chuck Schwartz and asked him about Schultz's NHL readiness. The review he gave was glowing: "No question that Schultz is NHL ready right now. In my opinion he's unquestionably the top blue-liner playing college hockey right now. Remember that Schultz was a first -team All-American last season, and was widely considered to have a better season than Gardiner, who has had a pretty nice rookie season in Toronto. He's ready to make the move." For a second opinion, we got at Corey Pronman, an NHL Draft and Hockey Prospects writer for ESPN andHockey Prospectus. In the past, Pronman has described Schultz as a "filthy good" defenseman who "doesn't belong in College" and has a "high-end" ability to "make plays at both ends and control the game." In particular we asked Pronman if Schultz was ready, not just to play in the NHL, but to play top-4 minutes on a team that values puck-possession like the Canucks do. Here's what he told us: "It is always hard to tell because it's such a huge jump from the NCAA to the NHL. I lean towards saying yes, but with a decent amount of uncertainty. He's a possession defender though without a doubt between his tremendous hockey sense and skill level so Vancouver would love him." Schultz isn’t another Matt Gilroy or Tyler Bozak – both quality hockey players who were somewhat overhyped as undrafted free-agents out of college. Schultz was an NHL draft pick and he has been widely regarded as an elite prospect for the past few years. In Vancouver, we are really only hearing about him now largely because he plays at Wisconsin, and the Ducks prospect group doesn’t receive a whole lot of league wide coverage. Obviously all of this speculation and excitement will be a let down if Schultz decides to sign an entry-level contract with Anaheim before the end of the season. But is that likely to happen, or will Schultz choose to become an unrestricted free-agent? Turning once again to Chuck Schwartz, who covers the team as closely as anybody, it looks as if all signs are pointing to Schultz hitting the open market: Well, from what I've been told it's not a question of 'if' he's going to choose the UFA route, but simply a matter of what team he'll sign with. I was not told what teams would be considered, but you have to think that Vancouver would have to be a favorite given their proximity to his home town of Kelowna. Many people are speculating about Toronto given his connections to Brian Burke and Gardiner. It wouldn't totally surprise me, but Toronto is fairly deep on the blue-line, and I'm assuming wherever he lands, it will be a spot where he has a guaranteed spot on the NHL roster. If Schultz becomes an unrestricted free-agent on July 1st, expect Gillis and the Canucks (and 29 other GMs) to pursue Schultz aggressively. After all, it's not every day that one finds a twenty-two year old, NHL ready defenseman, with 1A upside on the open market. Jeff delivers his thoughts on news relating to the Canucks each Thursday morning. His work can also be found over at DobberHockey.com, the premier fantasy hockey site on the net. Give him a follow on Twitter @angus_j. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AriGold Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 /topic/325245-speculation-possibility-of-justin-schultz-signing-with-vancouver/page__hl__%2Bjustin+%2Bschultz__fromsearch__1">http://forum.canucks.com/topic/325245-speculation-possibility-of-justin-schultz-signing-with-vancouver/page__hl__%2Bjustin+%2Bschultz__fromsearch__1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklax Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 A. there's already a thread on this B. He's not signing here, he'll be in anaheim next year guaranteed. Could even make the jump this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edler's Mind Tricks Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 . Looked in the general hockey section and the junior section but not the trades section. Why do you guarantee that? A writer that follows his team closer then anyone is sure he will go to FA. I think that we have a 50% chance of landing him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bossram Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 If Schultz truly is top-four ready, then I would absolutely love Gillis to pursue him. His puck-moving possession game would fit in smoothly with the Canucks, and he could potentially line up next to Edler for years to come. Find a way to dump Ballard, then sign a solid UFA shutdown defenseman (Allen, Zanon, Stuart, Grossman, etc,) and pair him with Tanev (or Salo if he decides to come back) and we have a very solid defensive core. Hamhuis - Bieksa Edler - Schultz UFA - Tanev/Salo Rome/Alberts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklax Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 . Looked in the general hockey section and the junior section but not the trades section. Why do you guarantee that? A writer that follows his team closer then anyone is sure he will go to FA. I think that we have a 50% chance of landing him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edler's Mind Tricks Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 I don't mean Angus, I meant the beat reporter he talked with. Of course Anaheim will do everything they can... What team wouldn't! I don't think they can offer him enough though. When he knows he can play on a better team... Why wouldn't he at least see what's out there? It isn't like he has a home in Anaheim and has to leave his teammates. In fact he would basically be coming home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklax Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 One little quote like that isn't enough to convince me that he'll go UFA. There's plenty of people on here that follow the team "as closely as anybody" that still have stupid ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Heyman Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Well of course there's a 50% chance of him signing here. He either does, or he doesn't (I really want him to though, if we could get him then there would be no need for us to go after some massive top pairing d-man and give up lots of our assets) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Schultz is 6'2" 185, and would be a great addition to our prospects pool. if there is this much speculation over him going UFA, as there was over Sweatt last year, then we should know soon when he leaves school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EV604 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Gillis loves signing college players..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkstar Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Edler-Weber Hamhuis-Bieksa Schultz-Tanev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramone1984 Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 If he has the option of going UFA right away, wouldn't that mean he'd be able to sign a more lucrative contract than a standard entry level deal if a team was willing to shell out the cash? IF that's the case, I know I would certainly consider going UFA if it meant I'd not only have a wider variety of suitors vying for my talents giving me options for a destination, but also the potential for more money. Doesn't sound like there's much of a down side... Cheers, Ramone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mug_costanza Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 . Looked in the general hockey section and the junior section but not the trades section. Why do you guarantee that? A writer that follows his team closer then anyone is sure he will go to FA. I think that we have a 50% chance of landing him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TmanVan Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Edler-Weber Hamhuis-Bieksa Schultz-Tanev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Heyman Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Boston sends Chara, Lucic, Horton and Shawn Thornton on the ice, Schultz hides behind the net, Tanev skates as fast as he can to the bench and dives in head first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimp C Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Edler-Weber Hamhuis-Bieksa Schultz-Tanev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheJoker19 Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 A. there's already a thread on this B. He's not signing here, he'll be in anaheim next year guaranteed. Could even make the jump this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKESLER17 Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Sir, I am sorry but I'm going to have to report you for making me ejaculate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 If he has the option of going UFA right away, wouldn't that mean he'd be able to sign a more lucrative contract than a standard entry level deal if a team was willing to shell out the cash? IF that's the case, I know I would certainly consider going UFA if it meant I'd not only have a wider variety of suitors vying for my talents giving me options for a destination, but also the potential for more money. Doesn't sound like there's much of a down side... Cheers, Ramone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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