Zack Kassian not what we think he is?

[Canuck Surfer]

He does not have the cerebral abilities to see and think the game at this level.

I coughed up my beer when i read this. Thought of this pic where he appears to be trying to figure it our real hard!

[BigRedMachine]

Bertuzzi was playing on our 4th line at age 24.

Comparing Kassian to guys like Nash, Lucic, and Bertuzzi right now is dumb. These guys either got their shot right away on weak teams, or had to earn their way up like Bertuzzi. Kassian will have to do what Bertuzzi did to become a top player. that takes patience.

No wonder fans in this city are always so bitter. They have ridiculous expectations that are never met.

Looch never played for a weak team. Had the Canucks scouts been able to see a player developing right beneath their noses, he would be our power forward now.

[Jack Fig]

Looch never played for a weak team. Had the Canucks scouts been able to see a player developing right beneath their noses, he would be our power forward now.

Yeah, maybe. He was drafted in 2006, the year when Nonis had traded away our second-round pick to acquire some playoff rental (Carney? Weinrich?) who never added up to nothing here.

[Jack Fig]

Kassian has a fairly low hockey IQ and seems to have motivtional issues. The second might be fixable; the first much less likely.

[LeanBeef]

What he needs is another big body on his line.

Be played his best hockey in the AHL with Foligno and Archibald (only a few games though) on his line. Even last year, the 9 or so games with Booth on his line was a treat to watch, except for the fact that Booth couldn't finish any of Kassian's passes.

Lucic, Lindros, Clowe, and even Bernier have all benefitted from playing with another player similar to them on their line.

Lucic is having a great season with iginla on his line, Horton on his line a few years ago, and has had early success on the fourth line with Bitz.

Clowe helped ramp up Bernier's play when they were in Sj together just like how big Joe helped him.

Lindros had the legion of doom, which was a very dominant line in the Nhl at the time.

[Henrik Kesler]

What he needs is another big body on his line.

Be played his best hockey in the AHL with Foligno and Archibald (only a few games though) on his line. Even last year, the 9 or so games with Booth on his line was a treat to watch, except for the fact that Booth couldn't finish any of Kassian's passes.

Lucic, Lindros, Clowe, and even Bernier have all benefitted from playing with another player similar to them on their line.

Lucic is having a great season with iginla on his line, Horton on his line a few years ago, and has had early success on the fourth line with Bitz.

Clowe helped ramp up Bernier's play when they were in Sj together just like how big Joe helped him.

Lindros had the legion of doom, which was a very dominant line in the Nhl at the time.

I agree with this. I'd like to see him on a line with Kesler and Higgins.

[canuckfan85]

Kassian needs to play with good players and he needs to play more than 10 minutes a game

if we play him a lot early in the season he develop a bit faster and come spring he may be that top 6 forward we need, although i would argue that we also need a 2C and that santorelli is a good - very good 3C

either MG goes all in or we toil riding our best players into the ground until each spring they have nothing left to fight through the war zone that is the western conferene and then one year the sedins will just be too old to carry us.

we really needed a young player to step in this year offensively - just like sis - they have players at age increments of 2 to 3 years that are contributing

-hertl - braun, irwin, -couture - burns-pavelski

we have no comparables - Kassian and booth were supposed to help bridge the age gap but they have been the definition of useless thus far

[canuckfan85]

Sedin Sedin Burrows

Higgins Kesler Kassian

Hansen Santorelli Booth

would be nice if this worked

[mikeburn]

Sedin Sedin Burrows

Higgins Kesler Kassian

Hansen Santorelli Booth

would be nice if this worked

Yeah, it would be nice. But it hasn't worked so far, for an assortment of reasons. The way Torts is using Kesler on wing (good call IMO), Burrows has shown to be effective up and down the lines, Santorelli is holding his own as 2C (maybe not the most ideal long term pick, but he *is* holding it together), Kassian is consistently inconsistent, and we gotta expect Booth to either be injured or on the cusp of benchings, this is way more likely -

Daniel - Henrik - Kesler

Higgens - Santorelli - Burrows

Hansen - Schroeder/Richardson - Kassian

0:47 TOI/g plug - 1:32 TOI/g plug - Booth/0:32 TOI/g plug

[Absent Canuck]

I agree with this. I'd like to see him on a line with Kesler and Higgins.

I would like Torts to try it but he seems hell bent on keeping him exclusively with the twins. I think Kass stays on the third line until he shows 60 min consistent effort. Takes young players a while to develop the patience.

[Henrik Kesler]

I would like Torts to try it but he seems hell bent on keeping him exclusively with the twins. I think Kass stays on the third line until he shows 60 min consistent effort. Takes young players a while to develop the patience.

If I didn't have a bottom six because of injuries, I'd be riding the BeastMODO line like Torts is as well.

I think Kassian will get a look with Higgins and Kesler once some injured players return. For now, Kassian hasn't looked to bad with Richardson, and I'd dare say the Archibald-Richardson-Kassian line is a damn sight better than having Sestito on the third line.

[Mr.DirtyDangles]

Yeah, it would be nice. But it hasn't worked so far, for an assortment of reasons. The way Torts is using Kesler on wing (good call IMO), Burrows has shown to be effective up and down the lines, Santorelli is holding his own as 2C (maybe not the most ideal long term pick, but he *is* holding it together), Kassian is consistently inconsistent, and we gotta expect Booth to either be injured or on the cusp of benchings, this is way more likely -

Daniel - Henrik - Kesler

Higgens - Santorelli - Burrows

Hansen - Schroeder/Richardson - Kassian

0:47 TOI/g plug - 1:32 TOI/g plug - Booth/0:32 TOI/g plug

OMG dude I am still LMAO at the fourth line combo's :D Awesome !

[LeanBeef]

What he needs is another big body on his line.

Be played his best hockey in the AHL with Foligno and Archibald (only a few games though) on his line. Even last year, the 9 or so games with Booth on his line was a treat to watch, except for the fact that Booth couldn't finish any of Kassian's passes.

Lucic, Lindros, Clowe, and even Bernier have all benefitted from playing with another player similar to them on their line.

Lucic is having a great season with iginla on his line, Horton on his line a few years ago, and has had early success on the fourth line with Bitz.

Clowe helped ramp up Bernier's play when they were in Sj together just like how big Joe helped him.

Lindros had the legion of doom, which was a very dominant line in the Nhl at the time.

He played really good today with a big body in Archibald on his line.

Created a lot of space for him and Richardson.

[Bananas]

I really like the Archibald-Kassian duo. I think a high-energy monster like Arch is exactly what Kassian needs on his line to motivate him. I always see Kassian kick up the pace when his line-mates do. This is a clear indicator that Kassia is a follower, and not a leader. He should be coached accordingly. He needs to be led on the ice.

Arch-Rich-Kass played well.

I would also like to see a line of

Higgins - Santorelli - Kassian

Higgins and Santorelli have been our hardest working players on quite a regular basis for a good portion of this season. Kassian would do well with absorbing their energy.

Kassian has played well since his suspension, except maybe a game or two of invisibility. If Kassian is stuck on the second line with two high-energy players, Kassian will dive right into that groove. I can tell he is that type of player.

[Bananas]

I got to meet Kassian at the Children's Hospital during the suspension. Pretty cool guy.

[mikeburn]

I got to meet Kassian at the Children's Hospital during the suspension. Pretty cool guy.

I realize that ain't "hockey related" where it goes to what's relative, but in another sense it is... How a guy comes across in the "real world" can go a long ways to getting a sense of his mentality on the ice (with training, conditioning, practicing, development, and playing the game). So, thanks for sharing.

[Hairy Kneel]

Man I like how we have no more small players on our bottom two lines..these big forwards take away time and space from the other team's offense. Opposing wingers and D have to actually look up to see who's on the ice (or they should).

[BI3KSA-]

The guy has played barely over a full NHL season worth of games (94), give the guy some time before we say what he will or wont become.

[DownUndaCanuck]

Kassian needs more minutes. As great as Kesler has been on the top line, the Canucks cannot sustain this forever. I hope Torts rides out this top-6 for a little longer, but come playoff time this is the lineup we need for Game 1:

Sedin - Sedin - Kassian

Burrows - Kesler - Higgins

Hansen - Santorelli - Booth

Weise - Richardson - Sestito

Kassian has looked fantastic this season, despite playing low minutes with fairly low-skilled linemates, yet he still has 3 goals. He is probably better along the boards than Kesler is (the one thing Torts has harped on about with Kesler and the twins) and has fantastic hands in tight (better than anyone on the team IMO). If he can maintain some consistency and learn how to plant himself and screen properly (one big flaw IMO, Kesler is a much better screen) he would be a huge boost to our top-6 and allow Kesler to play down to give us depth.

Of course our top-6 looked great against the Leafs, but this won't last and we can't keep riding our top line such hard minutes. Kassian's big body needs to emerge in our top-6, especially in the playoffs.

[Bananas]

Kassian needs to play with some more up-tempo players to bring up his game. He is a follower.

I would rather just stick him on the second line and bump Burrows to the 3rd. Burrows just came back off an injury. He should get a few games off from that many minutes.

I totally agree that Kassian needs more minutes. He's been playing really well, but the bottom 6 ice-time has been horribly skewed.

Sedin - Sedin - Kesler

Higgins - Santorelli - Kassian

Archibald - Richardson - Burrows

Sestito - Welsh - Dalpe

I think Higgins and Santorelli will get Kassian's feet moving. He always seems to skate harder when his line-mates are doing the same. He's been playing well enough to earn an increase in minutes for a few games.

EDIT:

But I agree that as the season progresses, we're going to need Kesler to play on the second line. Maybe as a winger, though... I really prefer him at wing. I also don't really like Kassian with the Sedins.