Importance of youth

[asian player]

In all of Vigneault's tenure, there was an evident lack in youth. He had a short leash with rookies and at times favored his veterans more. At the same time, Gillis liked the idea of spreading the wealth and rolling 4 lines. However, the salary cap made things difficult.

Rookies and younger guys cost a lot cheaper and at times, can offer a lot more. Although we are sacrificing experience, we get a more bang for your buck. You can spend a million dollars on a 3rd/4th liner, or you can spend a million dollars on a kid on his entry level contract that brings loads of skill and can do wonders for your team. Also, by having more of these guys, we can afford to pay big bucks for big names.

Many of the successful teams have guys on EL contracts and are getting more than they pay for.

Colorado - Tyson Barrie, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan Mackinnon

Boston - Reilly Smith, Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug

Pittsburgh - Beau Bennett, Olli Matta, Simon Despres

Chicago - Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw, Antti Raanta

LA - Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli

Anaheim - Jakob Silfverberg, Devante Smith-Pelly, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, F. Andersen

(Only listing guys that made/is making solid contributions)

The Canucks only have Zack Kassian making good contributions while on EL, but Jensen came in for the last bit of the year

Also, an injection of youth is exactly what this team needs. Some fresh faces and some new energy could get the veterans going

[Absent Canuck]

i think we were still under the impression we could contend up until this year. I suspect we will see more youth next year as we temper expectation.

[Gross-Misconduct]

The need for young players to make an impact on the Canucks or any NHL team is obvious. But you can't contend for the cup if you're relying on youth to carry you.

Look at the teams you listed. None of those players or asked to do the heavy lifting for those teams. Except for Colorado and they got bounced first round. Youth is important but without a core of veterans and solid goaltending leading the way, youth will not win a Stanley Cup.

[bigbadcanucks]

In all of Vigneault's tenure, there was an evident lack in youth. He had a short leash with rookies and at times favored his veterans more. At the same time, Gillis liked the idea of spreading the wealth and rolling 4 lines. However, the salary cap made things difficult.

Rookies and younger guys cost a lot cheaper and at times, can offer a lot more. Although we are sacrificing experience, we get a more bang for your buck. You can spend a million dollars on a 3rd/4th liner, or you can spend a million dollars on a kid on his entry level contract that brings loads of skill and can do wonders for your team. Also, by having more of these guys, we can afford to pay big bucks for big names.

Many of the successful teams have guys on EL contracts and are getting more than they pay for.

Colorado - Tyson Barrie, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan Mackinnon

Boston - Reilly Smith, Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug

Pittsburgh - Beau Bennett, Olli Matta, Simon Despres

Chicago - Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw, Antti Raanta

LA - Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli

Anaheim - Jakob Silfverberg, Devante Smith-Pelly, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, F. Andersen

(Only listing guys that made/is making solid contributions)

The Canucks only have Zack Kassian making good contributions while on EL, but Jensen came in for the last bit of the year

Also, an injection of youth is exactly what this team needs. Some fresh faces and some new energy could get the veterans going

Regardless of whether you are rebuilding, retooling, contending, pretending, etc., the fourth line should be reserved for bringing in young players. Give the young, fourth liners sheltered fourth line minutes of up to 6-8 minutes per game, and let your top nine play 52 to 54 minutes (up to 18 minutes per line).

This way, you can always gauge who the young guys in your system are ready for prime time and who may emerge as the new core, along with having young players in the line up to push the veterans and keep the salary cap under control.

The Canadiens of the 70s and 80s did this...so did the Islanders dynasty teams...so did the Oilers dynasty teams. 'hawks are doing this now...Kings are doing it. Bruins are doing this to a lesser degree because their young guys are playing on second and third lines.

[MJDDawg]

Geez do ya think?

It's one of the reasons MG is no longer GM.

[Phil_314]

Honestly, the notion is clear as daylight. Why else would MG have traded Schneider for Horvat? Also, the lack of energy to keep up with the young guns and the drying up of the offense during last season drove management to bring in Jensen, and (it may have been due to the injuries but) Kassian, as mentioned, has taken on a bigger role, and Lack's the man moving forward in net. This needs to take place since none of the older guys are, well, getting younger, and unless there's a fountain of youth in the bowels of Rogers Arena they won't resurface any younger, quicker or more rejuvenated.

The new GM better be ready to ruffle some NTC/ NMC feathers and call some taxis to send some of these guys out of town to bring in an infusion of young talent/ picks, otherwise their tenure here might even be shorter than Torts'.

[Mr.53]

Youth is important to add energy and enthusiasm into the lineup. Veterans provide leadership while yong guys provide spark. Its important to have a mix of both. Plus, young guys come in with really low cap hits which allow you to give the money they deserve to another veteran giving you more depth in the lineup. You need a good mix of both.

[Jiggs50]

Jensen, Kassian and Horvat should be those guys for us next year. Maybe Corrado and Gaunce as well.

Sedin-Sedin-Jensen

Burr-Kesler-Kassian

Higgins-Horvat-Gaunce

Mathias-Richardson-Santo

That depth...

[RogerEpic5]

Canucks prospects...

Horvat, Shinkaruk, Gaunce, Jensen, Corrado, 6th overall pick, Cassels, Fox, Subban(maybe a good player in future), Darren Archibald, Kellan Lain, Grenier, Cerderholm( who will be a very good future top 4 dmen), and Sauve. there are plenty of more.

Half of these players could turn out really good players in the future. Some will take time to develop, others will be ready within 1-3 years while some might take 4-5 years. And I have High hopes for Horvat, Cassels, Jensen, Cederholm, and Fox(maybe). Fox maybe IS that one guy that might take 2-4 years. We have really good prospects. But the Canucks need to use their youth a bit more. We can't rely on the sedins in the next 3-4 years. Our core group is ageing with the likes of Kesler, the sedins, Hamhuis, Bieksa, and Burrows. If we draft Dal Colle(please drop out of the top 5) then we could have a Cassels/Dal Colle combination just like Perry/Getzlaf and Toews/Kane and Benn/Seguin. Jensen our next Burrows. Horvat our next Kesler. Cederholm will be our next Bieksa or Corrado. Kassian will be our next Todd Bertuzzi.

Shinkaruk/Horvat/Kassian line would be indeed fun to watch. Shinkaruk may be our next Claude Giroux.

Our future is bright.

[DarthNinja]

Did you say yutes?

[Merci]

Linden said we need our bottom 2 lines to compete with our top lines, that's what defines depth.

For the last 3/4 years Hansen and Higgins and Kesler all evaporated when we needed them the most in the playoffs and this season competing for the playoffs.

It's time we're patient with Kassian and Jensen and the significant amount of other young players about to make the NHL jump.

Richardson, Higgins, Matthias, and Santorelli are the 4th line players that win championships.

It's time we ship out Kesler and Hansen for the last few pieces of a middle 2 lines we need. Then a new coach that makes the Sedins dangerous again, and we'll be a team.

[Line Juggler]

When AV started with the Canucks, Burrows, Kesler, Bieksa, Edler, Hansen were the youth that he was playing.

The Sedins were emerging as front line players. There has not been anybody since then except the youth we have now;

Tanev, Corrado and Kassian that's it.

[JeremyCuddles]

Thing is we don't have youth to fill that youth role in our system. We kassian and Jensen then the drop off is quite noticeable.

Corrado is a 3rd pair fill in top 4 guy. Horvat has a year or two left in development. Gaunce is a 3rd liner fill in 2nd liner at best. Sauve and Cederholm are likely depth players. Fox is a question Mark, is he overachieving against kids?

We traded our picks prospects to remain competitive and it's caught up to us. That Roy trade, I know dead horse, still makes me cringe. Drastic overpayment for a rental.

[Canuck Surfer]

In all of Vigneault's tenure, there was an evident lack in youth. He had a short leash with rookies and at times favored his veterans more. At the same time, Gillis liked the idea of spreading the wealth and rolling 4 lines. However, the salary cap made things difficult.

Rookies and younger guys cost a lot cheaper and at times, can offer a lot more. Although we are sacrificing experience, we get a more bang for your buck. You can spend a million dollars on a 3rd/4th liner, or you can spend a million dollars on a kid on his entry level contract that brings loads of skill and can do wonders for your team. Also, by having more of these guys, we can afford to pay big bucks for big names.

Many of the successful teams have guys on EL contracts and are getting more than they pay for.

Colorado - Tyson Barrie, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan Mackinnon

Boston - Reilly Smith, Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug

Pittsburgh - Beau Bennett, Olli Matta, Simon Despres

Chicago - Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw, Antti Raanta

LA - Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli

Anaheim - Jakob Silfverberg, Devante Smith-Pelly, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, F. Andersen

(Only listing guys that made/is making solid contributions)

The Canucks only have Zack Kassian making good contributions while on EL, but Jensen came in for the last bit of the year

Also, an injection of youth is exactly what this team needs. Some fresh faces and some new energy could get the veterans going

Quenneville puts guys like Saad on the top line for extended periods. He lives with their mistakes, and makes note (to protect from the media) that he also offers a measure of speed, size and energy which evens match ups. It lets them play Hossa and Sharp on the 2knd line at times, which gives them almost free reign to score against lesser match ups. Even if Saad makes mistakes, it makes the team more effective.

LA plays guys like Muzzin. Last year Martinez, the year before Voynov. I heard Lombardi quoted at a press conference when media was hammering Muzzin on giveaways. "I tell him not to listen to you guys!" "Didn't you guys notice that Ray Bourque led the league in giveaways many years in a row?" "Muzzin is not making foolish giveaways, he's trying to make plays!" "Thats what made Bourque a hall of famer!" They wanted him to be aggressive, learn to live on a fine edge where he could develop into a game breaker. Yes, on "ultra conservative" LA! Who was routinely on the ice with Doughty when LA needed goals against SJ late in games?

I am of the opinion a coach needs to put his system in place, put players in match ups where they can (?) make a difference. Then be willing to trust those guys, back them. Even if we lose a few games on their mistakes!

I get sick watching Jordan Schroeder these days. He plays such a safe, conservative game when he is supposed to be explosive, gifted, a game breaker. His shifts are then almost uneventful. He does not hurt the team, but does absolutely nothing to help it either. He's been hen pecked to ineffectiveness!

[aGENT]

Thing is we don't have youth to fill that youth role in our system. We kassian and Jensen then the drop off is quite noticeable.

Corrado is a 3rd pair fill in top 4 guy. Horvat has a year or two left in development. Gaunce is a 3rd liner fill in 2nd liner at best. Sauve and Cederholm are likely depth players. Fox is a question Mark, is he overachieving against kids?

We traded our picks prospects to remain competitive and it's caught up to us. That Roy trade, I know dead horse, still makes me cringe. Drastic overpayment for a rental.

*That's largely due to Nonis not MG FWIW. There was practically no prospect pool or development plan in place prior to Gillis.

Largely he continued that trend for his first few years (in order to get to the finals) but quickly countered it the last couple. One of his bigger mistakes, I believe, was overestimating the time frame in which the likes of Jensen, Kassian etc would be making meaningful contributions. He was counting on those guys to help cover the depth issues incurred by the shrinking cap (and aging core) and unfortunately for him they didn't start to really make strides until he was already as good as fired this season.

[Tre Mac]

With MG I wouldnt be surprised if they held back Kassians icetime just so they could lowball him in the offseason.

[SergioMomesso]

Our top guys started having great years when Raymond and Hansen were pushing them with solid numbers. It goes to show when your third line wingers are putting up numbers. The top line guys know their spots aren't secure. When Raymond notched back to back 25 goal seasons. Daniel and Burrows had career years. Fast forward to this year. No push from the bottom six means job security for the top six regardless what happens on the scoresheet.

[aGENT]

Our top guys started having great years when Raymond and Hansen were pushing them with solid numbers. It goes to show when your third line wingers are putting up numbers. The top line guys know their spots aren't secure. When Raymond notched back to back 25 goal seasons. Daniel and Burrows had career years. Fast forward to this year. No push from the bottom six means job security for the top six regardless what happens on the scoresheet.

It also helps that opposing teams can't simply throw all their best defensive players against your top line and shut down all of your offense. THAT has been the twins biggest problem the last couple years. No scoring support and a wet blanket of defense over them.

Good secondary scoring from your second, third and occasionally fourth lines is ESSENTIAL to being dominant in this league.

[touchable]

i think we were still under the impression we could contend up until this year. I suspect we will see more youth next year as we temper expectation.

You're missing the point. You NEED youth in your lineup to contend in the current NHL. Veteran players who hit free agency are typically overpaid, so you need young players contributing proportionately more than their salary would suggest, just to contend to be a top team.