[Player Discussion] Sbisa

[Bure to Mogilny]

Hi fellow canuck fans so i found some intresting stuff at hf boards from ducks fans on what they thought of sbisa. Seems a lot thought he has good a bility but lacks in hockey smarts but is only 24 and has potential of a top 2-3 dman. some dissagree and say off load him as is a 6-7 dman. i found some quotes to give us a idea what ducks fans say a bout him. From april

I think right now are d could look like

Hamuis Tanev

Edler Corrado (Stanton)

Sbisa Bieksa

If sbisa is good as he could be that is a solid top 6.

realistically hes a 4-6 guy right now, I don't see him as a Power play type player. He could be decent on the pk, and a shut down guy if his smarts ever matched his actual abilities.

Im a lot higher on him then most people in this group but he certainly has the potential to be a 2-3 guy... really his hockey iq is holding him back. Hes only 24 and still have a long career ahead of him. I personally would hold on to him, I still think hell end up a top 4 guy within the next 2 seasons. His value is probably pretty low right now wouldn't no what to put it at.

Rumors were that Vatanen was being offered as part of the package for Kesler. Sbisa won't be moved until we know if Sammi is staying here or not IMO.

Assuming Vatanen stays and Sbisa is just the odd man out, I'd expect his value to be similar to what we traded Peter Holland for. 2nd or 3rd + prospect who needs a change of scenery.

Second rounder. I'd say maybe 3rd considering that's all we got for Wisniewski but he was older and his contract was about to expire. But then again Sbisa only has two years left and should be a UFA despite what capgeek says.

regading a proposal to trade him to ottawa:

You can have him. Just take him. I don't want anything.

In response to:

Sbisa will not be dumped, nor should he.

[Bure to Mogilny]

at best he'll get us a 3rd round pick or some prospect that won't really ever pan out in the NHL

As much as people like to **** on Sbisa, he is only 24 and has all of the tools. Maybe he needs to spend a year with Nieds like Fowler did to get that insight!!!

You think Sbisa right now can return more than a 3rd? I don't. I think that's his value - a 3rd, maybe a late 2nd if we're very lucky.

I'd rather keep him at this point for that very reason. Sbisa can at the very worst be a cheaper, younger version of Allen (who skates better). So dump Allen at the end of the season and keep Sbisa until he improves his trade value.

i still feel like we should hold onto sbisa. if all hes gonna bring back is a 3rd or 2nd, no thanks. this last month or so down the stretch has been a pretty good solid sbisa. physical/moved the puck/pretty good defensively. he could pretty easily slot into the 5 or 6 role

Probably a second or third round pick would get it done.

Ducks have a huge logjam on defense...some people need to be moved.

[Bure to Mogilny]

I've said it before but it bears repeating...with Souray likely done for good and with Allen being older and having only one year left, Sbisa is the kind of young, physical D we would want if we didn't already have him. Yes, he could stand to improve his game but you don't just give away players like him.

The irrational hate on Sbisa is mainly directed by those who want to open up a job for Sami. A job that Sami has yet to earn with his play.

The hate for Sbisa is absolutely rational. I would love for Sbisa to be the player we all thought he could be. I just don't think he will. And Vatanen has nothing to do with this. They're completely different kinds of d-men. I do want the physical d-man that we want Sbisa to be as well. I would rather find him elsewhere because Sbisa just does not have the mental fortitude to do the job. In my opinion Fistric makes Sbisa redundant.

Well, you weren't exactly who I was referring to. But if Sbisa can cut down on his mistakes he is head and shoulders above Fistric in having more tools.

What tools though? That term gets thrown around a lot with Sbisa. He's decent skater but his hands are terrible. His shot is whatever. He hits well, sure. His passing leaves a lot to be desired. I don't really see the "tools" like you see with Fowler and Lindholm. Those two have the tools. Sbisa strikes me as pretty average honestly. I'm telling you, Vishnevsky 2.0.

Well, he is in no way on a par with Lindholm of Fowler. And to be fair I don't think anybody ever said he was or would be. I certainly didn't. But when he isn't making mistakes, he can pass quite well including breaking out of the D zone, he does have a pretty good shot when he gets it through (actually better than Cam), and he does skate quite well. All of those tools put him way ahead of Fistric if he can cut down on the boneheaded plays. He can already hit and fight as well as Fistric. He could potentially be a Beauch type player.

[Bure to Mogilny]

I would say Sbisa's play in the 2nd half of the season was a pretty big step forward for him. Playing simple hockey and seemed to cut down on his mistakes, first time he showed he could play a more defensive role on the team. Plus if he actually becomes a solid defensive defenceman, he could be a damn good one with his skating ability and size.

Why not see if he can keep adapting and improving in his new role next season?

Sbisa had an injury riddled season, but he really improved after finally getting some games in. He can still become that solid 2nd pairing guy, that plays simple game and has some nastiness.

Souray 36, 1y left on the contract, may never play again

Beauch 33, 1y left on the contract

Allen 33, 1y left on the contract, will likely not be re-signed

Robidas 37, UFA, who knows whether he has another season in him

Dumping 24 y o controllable asset signed on good contract is a bad asset management.

But you're judging him as a 24 year old d-man, not as Luca Sbisa. Was Burke in the wrong trading away Stan Chistov 7 years ago? Sometimes you realize the player you have just isn't going to be the player you want him to be. Getting a 2nd or 3rd round pick for Sbisa isn't bad asset management if he continues to be injury and turnover prone. We can easily get another d-man to fill his role which is a 6/7. He's not irreplaceable. Did we at any point this season miss having Sbisa in the lineup? Did we miss him last night in the biggest game of the year? Isn't a 3rd rounder worth not having to deal with his bad decisions?

Interestingly out of our defencemen, Sbisa has the 3rd lowest giveaways per 60 minutes at 1.09 (Robias and Fistric are both 0.92) and actually has the best turnover +/- and is only a -2 for turnovers.

When Sbisa first got here I think most people saw him as more of a potential two way guy who would be relied upon to carry some offense. And that approach may be part of what he has been struggling with. If he is told only to focus on defense and not worry about offense it could well be what he needs to take his game to the next level.

With all the current tougher D men getting old Sbisa really has a golden opportunity to step up and be that guy for the Ducks. I don't think that possibility is lost on management. If he can be used in a trade to bring in that kind of guy, fine. But throwing him overboard for next to nothing when we are running out of that kind of D man is not good management.

Edit link http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=1643041

[CanucksFanMike]

I think he starts out on our third pair as a #5 dman.... that way he is a bit more sheltered from other teams top offensive guys at the start and can regain his footing that he kinda lost with all of Anaheim's depth on d.

Then if he progresses like were expecting he can turn into a hard hitting, reliable stay-at-home top 4 dman maybe in the next few years by the time hes 26/27.

[William_Clarkson]

Sounds like Edler.

[King Heffy]

Ugh. We already have a player with all the tools and no brain. His name is Alex Edler and we definitely don't need another one.

[Plum]

He needs to play with an offensive defenceman, he can't play well with a player similar to him. He's a stay at home, physical, clear the net defenceman. He is still a NHL calibre defenceman.

Hamhuis - Tanev

Stanton - Bieksa

Sbisa - Edler

Weber

That's what I expect, Edler is our closest thing to a OFD we got.

[Gyllenhaal]

Will probably be playing on the 3rd pairing. He's only 24 so he still has room to improve. Also he hip-checks his own teammates.

[Bure to Mogilny]

Will probably be playing on the 3rd pairing. He's only 24 so he still has room to improve. Also he hip-checks his own teammates.

O my goodness 59 cent tacos!! Come to vancity deltaco!

[Jack Fig]

Will probably be playing on the 3rd pairing. He's only 24 so he still has room to improve. Also he hip-checks his own teammates.

I was against the idea of playing Sbisa with Edler until I saw this. Then it started to make sense.

[Gross-Misconduct]

He's got good size. He's got a good body. He's got a body! He's got girth. He's a good looking guuuuy,

[DrJockitch]

Edler was saying how he felt he really had to stop thinking the game (apparently not good at this) and play on feel and instinct more. When Sbisa was included in Kesler deal I figured he was there as the young stay at home d-man to back Edler up. Lets Hamhuis and Bieksa play together and Tanev can try and find chemistry with whoever slots in next to him.

Anyway, all this conjecture is moot, WD will get them all together and see what works and what doesn't.

He was a highly touted prospect and had numerous surgeries last year. With D-Men you often don't know what you have till they get around 300 games as a pro. Hope he turns out especially if he can give Edler the freedom to recover his game.

[Mustapha]

It's not surprising that Sbisa struggled last year, considering how much rehab he had to deal with.

He's a solid defenseman who had a difficult season, so let's suspend judgement until he starts playing.

Interestingly enough, Sbisa was once sent back to junior the season after appearing in the playoffs for the Flyers. I bet that doesn't happen very often.

[73 Percent]

What about was his injury he was happening

[DeNiro]

And Sharks fans were all glad to get rid of Ehrhoff. We all know how that turned out for us.

D men are never as bad as other fans pretend they are. Just like with Canucks fans and Edler. He has one bad season, and now suddenly he's a plug that we need to dump.

[viking mama]

Ugh. We already have a player with all the tools and no brain. His name is Alex Edler and we definitely don't need another one.

Doug Lidster will fix-up Edler & give Sbisa a better brain & whole new life out there. Wait for it.... it will happen!

[Bure to Mogilny]

And Sharks fans were all glad to get rid of Ehrhoff. We all know how that turned out for us.

D men are never as bad as other fans pretend they are. Just like with Canucks fans and Edler. He has one bad season, and now suddenly he's a plug that we need to dump.

And see thats the thing some guys get frustated and never works out in some conditons and other guys have a couple bad seasons and turn it a round. I think sbisa and edler both have it in them hopfuly the can get to where there cabable of

[jejejester]

Only 24 and a 3rd pairing Dman. Don't know what everyone has been complaining about. Really need to watch all aspects of his game

[drdeath]

It should make some feel better to know Sbisa really wants to play here. His longtime girlfriend lives in the area. Also interesting to note that the Canucks were interested in Sbisa before the benning era began so if Sbisa does happen to fail we can blame Gillis even though this is a JB trade.