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[Report] Bryan Allen Will Test Free Agency


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Garrison is a Ballard type player with a better stick, but hopefully one who could be signed for less than $4.2 mill. I believe there is a serviceable place for him. Somebody to run our 2knd PP.

For a depth defender who can provide size, toughness & the ability to jump into the Top 4 if somebody was injured (the role we need of a guy like Allan), I believe there are better guys out there. See Souray, Sheldon or Scott Hannan. Plus these are guys who play the Right side.

Geez, Allan was just traded for Sergei Samsanov last year. :picard:

Allen >> Garrison.

We have enough points on the back end. What we don't have is a big mean stay at home defenseman.

Would rather see:

Hamhuis Bieksa

Edler Allen

Ballard Tanev

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  • 2 weeks later...

Allen is exactly what this team needs - a big, physical shutdown defenceman with experience who is a calming influence on the blueline for younger players. I still think if we had picked him up at the deadline and maybe another depth forward/defenceman, we would have ousted the Kings.

Our "mobile" bullcrap excuse for a defence is the biggest reason we've been ousted these last 2 playoffs, not because of lack of scoring or goaltending. It all boils down to defence. Offence starts from the back-end, your forwards can't score if you can't get the puck out of your own zone, and when they finally do have some sustained pressure it was often a stupid pinch or bad play by one of our many small, defensively-retarted defencemen like Bieksa, Ballard, Edler or Tanev that lead to odd-man rushes the other way countless times which, in the playoffs, cost us our Cup chances against Boston and L.A.

What we need that every Cup winning team over the last half a decade has had is a big, physical, mean stay-at-home-defenceman. Hamhuis is our only shutdown guy and he's tiny. Shutdown-style defences win Cups, not mobile offensive units. Just look at the Kings and Bruins' championship title defences. They each had 2 offensive defencemen and 4 shutdown, big, physical towers (Chara + Kaberle/Doughty + Voynov as the only puck movers). Then look at the Canucks' pathetic excuse for a defence - our only shutdown defenceman is Hamhuis, Edler is our only really big defenceman who gets icetime (Alberts is for some reason in the press-box when we need his size in the playoffs) and the rest are tiny, risky offensive guys who are not Cup-winning-material.

This is what a playoff-ready defence looks like:

Edler - Allen

Hamhuis - Bieksa

Alberts - Rome

Tanev/Salo

Suddenly, we have 2 offensive defencemen in Edler and Bieksa and 4 solid, physical players. I know I've criticized Rome and Alberts in the past, but they're our 2 most physical defencemen and if they play simple defence as opposed to risking offensive opportunities, we will win a Cup with them. Of course it all starts with coaching and our defensive coaching mentality of "risky pinches" and "jumping up in the rush" has to change.

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I'd definitely like to see Allen back here. He took a long time developing, and I felt he was just starting to come into his own when he left here. I was actually disappointed to see him go at the time. Now he'd be a great addition to the team, solid, stay at home kind of guy, who does have a bit of a mean streak, at times. Definitely a good clear the net kind of guy that we seem to be lacking at the moment.

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I like the concept of a guy like Allan.

I'm concerned with his speed, and he's another lefty hand shot.

The UFA that matches Allan's description that helps the most is Sheldon Souray. Same speed,big right handed shot but actually mean as opposed to just willing. And much better puck handling so he's capable of helping our PP or jumping into the Top 4 for stretches.

Except one is a plug defenseman who has trouble in his own zone, and the other is a steady stay at home defenceman with good positioning.

Your logic seems to be that because they're both big defenseman, that they are somehow the same player? Not really a good argument.

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