Improving Our Defence, Who Would You Target?

[Guest The Brown Burrows]

We obviously need an upgrade on our D...

Our D for next year looks something like...

Hamhuis - Bieksa

Edler - ?

Ballard - Tanev

Alberts

?

UFA's:

Sami Salo

Aaron Rome

Nolan Baumgartner

RFA's:

Marc-Andre Gragnani

Ryan Parent

* Italics for AHL caliber players...

This year we had 9 defencemen on the NHL roster, but some teams do go with 8, it really depends on how much we are going to shell out to our regulars. IMO, we should go with 8 instead of 9 (we could always call someone up when needed instead of wasting cap in the press box).

We have to remember that we got the following players in our system that could (realistically) challenge for a spot.

- Kevin Connauton

- Yann Sauve

What I would do:

- Let Aaron Rome walk, rather give that spot to Tanev & Gragnani (sign him to a one-way deal, low cap hit)

- Trade Andrew Alberts for draft pick(s)/prospect(s)

- Trade Ballard if AV is going be stick around (don't want him chllin' in the press box or getting 6th d-man minutes)

- Sign Sami Salo if he wants to play

- Keep Sauve & Connauton in the minors to develop for another season unless they have a really good camp

Notable UFA's:

* Most likely could be available (not going to list the one's that would most likely re-sign for various reasons)

* Bold, the one's I would target ; the one's who I think we could nab (might be different compared to the majority here)

* All numbers are that number or under (appox.)

- Dennis Wideman

- Pavel Kubina

- Brad Stuart (#4 or #5 , 1 year 4 million / 2 year 6.8 million)

- Flipp Kuba

- Barret Jackman

- Johnny Oduya

- Ryan Suter (#1 , 3 years 19 million / 5 years 32 million)

- Bryan Allen

- Hal Gill

- Joe Corvo

- Chris Campoli (#4-#7 , 1 year 1 million)

- Milan Jurcina

- Brett Clark (#5-#6 , 1 year 1.5 million)

- Scott Hannan

Notable RFA's:

- Shea Weber (#1 , 6 years 38 million)

- Mike Green (#1-#3 , 3 years 16 million)

- Cam Barker

- Matt Niskanen (#4-#6 , 2 years 4.8 million)

- Mark Fistric (#5-#6 , 2 years 2.6 million)

- Marc-Andre Bourdon (#5-#8 , 1 year 1.1 million)

- Brian Lee

- Cody Franson

- Keaton Ellerby

[Guest BuckFoston]

I don't like Bieksa at all. Too bad there is no getting rid of him. Really cool guy, sarcastic, fun, would probably be great to go have some drinks with and pull some pranks - but as a defenseman TERRIBLE. Hamhuis can't even mask his bad plays anymore and the nice goals he gets for us sometimes still aren't worth his paycheck.

[Ace of Spades]

I think signing a guy like Jason Garrison would be perfect for us. Big guy, can move the puck, and has a cannon of a shot so he could hopefully replace what Ehrhoff did for us. He's a BC boy too (so hopefully could be convinced to sign here similar to Hamhuis).

Don't know how likely he is to hitting free agency though.

[billabong]

i always respect posters that take the time to lay it all out for the reader to see....solid post

we have gotta move ballard...it has to be done, if you haft to throw in a 2nd pick or something then so be it!

[Merci]

I don't like Bieksa at all. Too bad there is no getting rid of him. Really cool guy, sarcastic, fun, would probably be great to go have some drinks with and pull some pranks - but as a defenseman TERRIBLE. Hamhuis can't even mask his bad plays anymore and the nice goals he gets for us sometimes still aren't worth his paycheck.

[Stark]

Weber and Suter will be highly targeted, so aside from them...

I've been wanting Wideman and Stuart on this team for quite some time now and it is realistic for us to be able to sign them. Either would be great for strengthening our blueline. I also like Garrison but I don't know if we'd be able to get him, as another poster mentioned above, he is a BC boy and has decent offensive capabilities. He has size and is pretty solid.

[bossram]

I think a notable RFA you're missing is Jamie McBain. He is a defenceman I would target via trade route. Raymond + 2nd ish maybe? He's mobile, good size, fairly physical and has offensive instincts. Could really fit with our system. I think one of Niskanen, McBain or Franson would all be affordable options on the right side. They're all similar type players.

Obviously I would prefer a guy like Suter or Stuart or Jackman (even if they are lefties) or Wideman, but I think they're all going to be out of our price range. The other UFAs don't really interest me.

I would really like to see McBain on this team. Carolina might be able to deal him, with the emergence of Faulk and with Murphy and Dumoulin close. They also want to make the big pitch on Suter.

I would re-sign Salo at the same cap hit if he wants to come back for another year. He's a solid presence. And re-sign Rome and Gragnani as depth players. Deal Alberts.

Hamhuis - Bieksa

Edler - McBain (or Niskanen/Franson)

Ballard - Salo

Rome/Gragnani

People want to see Tanev in the lineup and he certainly is capable of being an NHL player, but I'd rather see him develop more in the AHL and become a true top-four defenseman. He needs to work on his all around game more or he will be stuck as a 3rd pair puck-mover.

The other pairs all offer a decent mix of size, mobility, defense and offense.

[billabong]

i like wideman, stuart(but i have going back to sj, his family never moved from sj when he got traded...7 years ago), jackman(he is gonna re-sign though), allen, corvo, green, and weber (obviously )

[zombieksa]

Tanev makes Ballard play better.

Salo makes Edler play better.

Hamhuis makes Bieksa play better.

I wouldn't mind picking up Stoner and Gilroy. Improvements on Rome and Alberts.

[Guest The Brown Burrows]

I think signing a guy like Jason Garrison would be perfect for us. Big guy, can move the puck, and has a cannon of a shot so he could hopefully replace what Ehrhoff did for us. He's a BC boy too (so hopefully could be convinced to sign here similar to Hamhuis).

Don't know how likely he is to hitting free agency though.

[Tony Romo]

Sign Barrett jackman!

Edler jackman

Hamhuis bieksa

Salo ballard

[Sandro17]

Just draft Ryan Murray. He'll have an immediate impact on our line up.

[Provost]

Weber all the way... basically you give up the farm for him if there is any chance that he doesn't want to re-sign with Nashville or that they can't afford him.

Players like him don't come along very often, and having a punishing big D who can score is definitely part of the formula for the playoffs.

The only prospect that I think we shouldn't get rid of in any trades is Jensen. The guy is going to be an real NHLer in the next couple of years, the rest are projects or niche players.

The Sedins are the only untouchables at this point for me, while I don't think blowing up the team is necessary... I do think that changing out one of the core players is needed to get some new blood in and change the chemistry.

[Blömqvist]

^ Weber for Ballard, Raymond, and a 1st?

I think in order for us to make a push for anyone with a significantly high cap hit we will need to trade Keith Ballard. He is a good defenseman, but he's making way too much to be on the third pairing. Dollars need to be spent efficiently -- they need to be spent on someone who will play big minutes.

[DownUndaCanuck]

Bieksa is a horrible defenceman, definitely not worth 4+ million. He only scores off lucky bounces and great plays by our forwards, and is one of our worst defensively.

In the ideal world:

Edler - top-4 defenceman

Hamhuis - top-4 defenceman

Salo/Ballard - Bieksa

This playoffs our horrible defence was shredded by the 2nd worst offence in the league which is just embarassing. MG was an idiot not to replace Ehrhoff with a big, physical defenceman at the deadline like so many teams did. Nashville snagged Gill and that's why they'll win the Cup - because defence wins championships. It won one against us last season, it just beat us in 5 games this season and it will keep dominating this Canuck team until they learn how to play defence.

[Strawberries]

tARGET the botttle of booze in the cabinet

[Pouria]

We obviously need an upgrade on our D...

Our D for next year looks something like...

Hamhuis - Bieksa

Edler - ?

Ballard - Tanev

Alberts

?

UFA's:

Sami Salo

Aaron Rome

Nolan Baumgartner

RFA's:

Marc-Andre Gragnani

Ryan Parent

* Italics for AHL caliber players...

This year we had 9 defencemen on the NHL roster, but some teams do go with 8, it really depends on how much we are going to shell out to our regulars. IMO, we should go with 8 instead of 9 (we could always call someone up when needed instead of wasting cap in the press box).

We have to remember that we got the following players in our system that could (realistically) challenge for a spot.

- Kevin Connauton

- Yann Sauve

What I would do:

- Let Aaron Rome walk, rather give that spot to Tanev & Gragnani (sign him to a one-way deal, low cap hit)

- Trade Andrew Alberts for draft pick(s)/prospect(s)

- Trade Ballard if AV is going be stick around (don't want him chllin' in the press box or getting 6th d-man minutes)

- Sign Sami Salo if he wants to play

- Keep Sauve & Connauton in the minors to develop for another season unless they have a really good camp

Notable UFA's:

* Most likely could be available (not going to list the one's that would most likely re-sign for various reasons)

* Bold, the one's I would target ; the one's who I think we could nab (might be different compared to the majority here)

* All numbers are that number or under (appox.)

- Dennis Wideman

- Pavel Kubina

- Brad Stuart (#4 or #5 , 1 year 4 million / 2 year 6.8 million)

- Flipp Kuba

- Barret Jackman

- Johnny Oduya

- Ryan Suter (#1 , 3 years 19 million / 5 years 32 million)

- Bryan Allen

- Hal Gill

- Joe Corvo

- Chris Campoli (#4-#7 , 1 year 1 million)

- Milan Jurcina

- Brett Clark (#5-#6 , 1 year 1.5 million)

- Scott Hannan

Notable RFA's:

- Shea Weber (#1 , 6 years 38 million)

- Mike Green (#1-#3 , 3 years 16 million)

- Cam Barker

- Matt Niskanen (#4-#6 , 2 years 4.8 million)

- Mark Fistric (#5-#6 , 2 years 2.6 million)

- Marc-Andre Bourdon (#5-#8 , 1 year 1.1 million)

- Brian Lee

- Cody Franson

- Keaton Ellerby

[Pouria]

Bieksa is a horrible defenceman, definitely not worth 4+ million. He only scores off lucky bounces and great plays by our forwards, and is one of our worst defensively.

In the ideal world:

Edler - top-4 defenceman

Hamhuis - top-4 defenceman

Salo/Ballard - Bieksa

This playoffs our horrible defence was shredded by the 2nd worst offence in the league which is just embarassing. MG was an idiot not to replace Ehrhoff with a big, physical defenceman at the deadline like so many teams did. Nashville snagged Gill and that's why they'll win the Cup - because defence wins championships. It won one against us last season, it just beat us in 5 games this season and it will keep dominating this Canuck team until they learn how to play defence.

[Pouria]

Tanev makes Ballard play better.

Salo makes Edler play better.

Hamhuis makes Bieksa play better.

I wouldn't mind picking up Stoner and Gilroy. Improvements on Rome and Alberts.

[DownUndaCanuck]

Edler hasn't come close to reaching his potential, and he doesn't have the luxury of playing with the defensive specialist Hamhuis.

Bieksa does not deserve playing with some of the best defensive defencemen in the league. First Mitchell, now Hamhuis, these guys let Bieksa free-wheel and gamble without paying any consequences.

If Edler had that freedom he'd be a much worse defenceman in his own zone, but a 60+ point guy. Basically we need more defensive defencemen. Sadly Salo's time is up, he looks slow out there and not always great in his own zone any more which is a real shame.

Edler needs a solid veteran, physical defenceman to back him up.