2012-13 Youth Movement ....just For The Start Of The Season, While Kesler Heals

[shawn antoski]

Im sorry, did you say that Kassian will develop in the NHL more than the AHL? Lets see....Kassian on the 4th line.....AV is terrible with prospects....Kassian gets 3 minutes a game....... = . Im pretty sure Kassian would get more than 3-5 minutes a game in the AHL..

[shawn antoski]

What is with people typing lines out with people in positions they dont play?

Its not it was simply listed by line arbitrarily, as the centers of the lines are all lined up.

Jensen plays LW normally. Hansen plays RW exclusively.

Salo is RD. Edler has always been RD.

Bieksa has always been RD. Hamhuis has always been RD. EVEN ON POWER PLAYS.

That being said, I really like Garisson at 4 million or less (although keeping Ballard wouldn't be all that bad, he plays well with tanev and seems to have come around... espescially is Garisson ends up being 4 million.) I hope Salo stays one more year and can play well enough/long enough for 2nd pairing D-man minutes.

We have enough depth to not have to sign Konopka, and we really dont need to spend 1.7 million on tootoo of all people. I'd rather spend the money on Pahlsson, hope Salo takes a minor paycut, and Garisson signs for something reasonable like 3 million.

If we signed pahlsson for 2 million, Salo for 2 million, and kept ballard (more reasonable than trading Ballard AND getting that exact defenseman back), and signing schnieder for 4 million and not signing TooToo or Konopka, we still end up below the CURRENT cap. With next years projected cap looking like it'll go up to 69 million~, even if it goes up half that, we'll still have room to play. And thats not including the difference in Kesler/Schroeder's salary while Kesler is out. That is assuming Schroeder gets sent down, and Jensen/Kassian stay up in the NHL.

Crispy

[shawn antoski]

No.

2011/12 Jensen can't play in the AHL

2011/12 Jensen can play in the NHL

[shawn antoski]

So you are enjoying watching other teams play in playoffs right now?

Seriously your assessment of what kind of roster will get us out of the first round is just absurd.

And another year with the funky goalie tandem is the most laughable and biggest waste of an asset in the NHL right now

[rkyway]

Gragnani?

- G. is a defensive basket case that will never play regular in the NHL.

[Bodee]

^As far as i'm aware Jensen is able to play eaither wing and Higgins can also play center, dont know about RW tho

[Guest Dasein]

What is with people typing lines out with people in positions they dont play?

Its not it was simply listed by line arbitrarily, as the centers of the lines are all lined up.

Jensen plays LW normally. Hansen plays RW exclusively.

Salo is RD. Edler has always been RD.

Bieksa has always been RD. Hamhuis has always been RD. EVEN ON POWER PLAYS.

[Bodee]

Looks good to me. I really want us to keep both goalies, and with the cap most likely to go up I think that won't be a problem.

Salo should take a pay cut though and I don't want to see him have to play top minutes with Edler - he should be reserved for 15 minutes of quality ice time.

Instead of Garisson, MG needs to go find a big shutdown, physical defenceman, not another puck moving scorer. Someone like Willie Mitchell, Seabrook, Hamhuis etc. who doesn't focus on offence at all but is great in his own zone and a big physical guy because that's what our defence has lacked the last 2 seasons which has been the main reason we've been ousted by bigger forward units.

Schroeder is good but I don't think he's 2nd line material just yet. This is where Hodgson would have fit in seamlessly. Instead I'd like to see this:

Sedin - Sedin - Booth (had success together at the end of last season)

Higgins - Lapierre - Burrows (ex-Canadiens have great chemistry and the 2 French speakers have shown sparks together too)

Hansen - Pahlsson - Jensen (good mix of Danes, grit, speed, youth and experience and size)

Schroeder - Malhotra - Kassian (again a good mix of speed, skill, size, grit and experience)

Edler - top-4 defenceman

Bieksa - Hamhuis

Salo - Alberts

Tanev

Luongo

Schneider

[Ray_Cathode]

Couple of reasons why I think we should give are prospects a chance to start the season with the team.

- Keslers replacement is not going to come via a trade or a free agent. Who ever steps up to help fill that void is going to have to be from within the organisation. Schroeder has the potential to be a 2nd line center, so why not give him a shot at it for the first month while Kesler is out.

-Kassian should not be playing in the AHL next season, hes NHL ready , hes big, can hit, and he can skate, playing in the NHL will help him develop his game better then the AHL.

-Jensen is the wild card, out of the forwards, hes the youngest out of the bunch, but hes the favorite to make it among NHL scouts. If the scouts believe hes are best prospect right now, I want too see what he's got.

-When it comes to defencemen , I think we should have Gragnani or Tanev alternating out the the bottom 2. With so many young guys starting at forward the Canucks are better off having more veterans playing D.

- One of AV's biggest criticisms is not giving prospects any playing time. With his new contract freshly signed maybe it will help get some critics off his back if he did let them start the first 15 games or so.

-The start of the season is the best time to be experimenting, it leaves room for them to catch up if there experiment doesn't go well. Besides teams like the Oilers and the Laughs are usually the best teams to start the season anyways. It usually takes teams about 3 months to settle down and figure each other out.

-The NHL is getting younger and younger, season after season, the Canucks are not following that trend. Now in days in the cap era, teams need young players with cheap contracts that are able to play at high levels. Hawks won that way , the Bruins too, and Philly was so stacked this year because of all there young guys low salaries(this offseason will be an interesting one for them).

- Who knows we may have the next Sean Couturier, Adam Henrique, or Carl Hagelin already in are system.

-All I'm saying is at least give are prospects a real chance to shine in the NHL during the first 15 games or so.

______________________________________________________________________________

Here is a lineup i wouldn't mind seeing to start the season

or at least until the Luongo(maybe Schneider) trade happens and when Kesler comes back

- My main reason to let the kids play........ KEEP LUONGO AND SCHNEIDER..... 1 more year as a tandem, keeping them together gives us are best shot at winning Lord Stanley.....

-If not the whole season, keep both of them untill the goalie market really heats up, teams usually know they have goaltending issues when its closer to the all star break. Right now the market is kinda cold especially with Lu's limited no trade clause.

CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR ROSTER

My Custom Lineup

FORWARDS

Daniel Sedin ($6.100m) /-------- Henrik Sedin ($6.100m) / ---------Alexandre Burrows ($2.000m)

David Booth ($4.250m) /-------- Jordan Schroeder ($1.025m) /--- Chris Higgins ($1.900m)

Jannik Hansen ($1.350m) / -----Manny Malhotra ($2.500m) /------ Nicklas Jensen ($0.894m)

Jordin Tootoo ($1.750m) / ------Maxim Lapierre ($1.000m) /------- Zack Kassian ($0.870m)

Ryan Kesler ($5.000m) / Zenon Konopka ($0.800m)

DEFENSEMEN

Kevin Bieksa ($4.600m) /------------ Dan Hamhuis ($4.500m)

Sami Salo ($2.000m) /---------------- Alexander Edler ($3.250m)

Jason Garrison ($4.000m) /--------- Chris Tanev ($0.900m)

Marc-Andre Gragnani ($1.150m) /

GOALTENDERS

Roberto Luongo ($5.333m)

Cory Schneider ($3.250m)

------

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)

(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)

SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $64,522,500; BONUSES: $125,000

CAP SPACE (23-man roster):- $222,500

Ballard Raymond Alberts can be traded for anything

Sign Lack, Ebbett, Volpatti and Weise 2 way

[Canuck Surfer]

Jensen is not eligible to play AHL while he has junior eligibility left. NHL or nothing this year is the rule.

I take it u do not think he will make the NHL?

2011-12 Jensen cant play Ahl or Nhl

2012-13 Jensen can play Ahl or Nhl

[shawn antoski]

Usually I don't comment on grammar and spelling, but I am because you actually made an attempt to be correct. It looks like you used a spell checker because the only words you got caught on were actual words, but the wrong words:

"are prospects" should be "our prospects.

"are system" should be "our system"

I enjoyed your commentary, you did put thought into it, though I can't say I agree some some of it, and you appear to have missed out Rome in your defenders. Tanev is a far better D defensively than Gragnani, though Grangnani is better offensively so far. I think AV was more patient with Gragnani's blunders last year than he will be this year. Ballard did not acquit himself badly in the tail end of the season, or in the playoffs. AV may use him early much more than last year, unless the Canucks score a good signing on D.

[riffraff]

And another year with the funky goalie tandem is the most laughable and biggest waste of an asset in the NHL right now

oh really hahahahaha tell that to Pittsburgh or Philly fans who were stuck with 1 capable goalie

and most laughable and biggest waste of an asset hahahah tell that to boston, st louis and LA fans , they are laughing so hard right now with there awesome goaltending duo's

[shawn antoski]

and how many games did rask, halak, bernier play in the post season combined?

i have no idea how much schneids would sign here for hypothetically. but i'll guess at about 3.5. and lets hypothetically say a 3 year term. so now thats approx 9mil on goalies for the remainder of lus term plus 3 more years for schneids when:

our forwards cant score in the playoffs and our d cant stop the opposition from scoring.

nah lets keep the funky goalie tandem.

[riffraff]

Halak played 2 games, but you missed my point teams .....Philly and Pittsburgh were screwed

forwards cant score in the playoffs?????..... or do you mean couldn't score against Quick this year and couldn't score against Thomas last year

the canucks were top 5 in goals scored last year and Top 4 in goals against........ fairweather fans love to hate when it rains

[BoKnows53]

Kassian with the Sedins will be a good idea in so many ways.

1) Sedins won't get messed with

2) Creates a lot of room

3) Can screen the goalie, tip in goals like Bertuzzi

4) Has enough skill to play the Sedin rope-a-dope style

[canacks1970]

good luck with the $222,500 cap space when kesler comes back

[TwinTelepathy]

its about skill level and size. In the ahl hes a man-beast, in the nhl he is normal sized player.

trust me it makes a difference, I played football for many years, I had to do some practice drills with the older players from time time because the coaches felt it was better for my development .... I went from domintating every drill against my peers ,to fighting for my life to finish a drill against the older guys...... I would let him stay in the AHL if he was smaller and still had to grow into his body, but Kassian is NHL ready, he just has to prove it

[TwinTelepathy]

Kassian with the Sedins will be a good idea in so many ways.

1) Sedins won't get messed with

2) Creates a lot of room

3) Can screen the goalie, tip in goals like Bertuzzi

4) Has enough skill to play the Sedin rope-a-dope style

[shawn antoski]

I agree with you but I don't think he will get the CHANCE to prove it under AV lol

[CanuckFan1981]

Did you not see that AV just got extended?

Any hopes of developing rookies can be stopped now.

kthxbye