DownUndaCanuck Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 It's no surprise we lost the Calgary series because of defence. The forwards and goalies were a trade-off, but their top-4 played almost 30 minutes a game and were far better than our 6 defencemen, who were victimized time and time again with sloppy mistakes. We've got some great pieces on the blueline (Edler, Tanev, Hamhuis) and some not so good ones (Bieksa, Sbisa, Weber) but re-tooling our defence into one that doesn't panic, is solid defensively and can put up some offence will be tricky and costly, but should be our 1st priority this off-season. 1) Sign Cody Franson to a 2 year, 4.7M deal. Franson finished the season with the Predators abysmally, with something like 4 points in the final 20ish games. I'm sure they won't re-sign him after their early playoff exit, where Franson was playing under 15 minutes as their last pairing defenceman. They've got Josi and now Jones logging bigger minutes so there's clearly no room to retain him. Hopefully being a BC boy and having success in Canada will make him lean towards playing in Vancouver. 2) Trade Bieksa to a team that missed out on the playoffs who need defence (ie. San Jose, Dallas, any team in the East) for a 2nd or 3rd round pick if we're lucky 3) Trade a late round pick (ie. 3rd, 4th or 5th) for a veteran defenceman like Andy Greene from NJD, or Barrett Jackman from STL. Sure he's 30+ but he's been around the league for a long time, is a very solid defenceman who is used to playing 20-25 minutes a night and doesn't panic. It doesn't have to be Greene, but we need a true calming veteran presence on this blueline, not someone like Bieksa who plays tough but panics defensively at the first sight of offensive skill. 4) Let Weber walk or trade his rights for a pick (11 goals may get us something, maybe even a Greene-Weber straight up trade) Edler - Franson Hamhuis - Tanev Sbisa - Greene/Jackman Stanton Corrado Clendening Finally we get a top pairing back that can produce some goals. If we ever need a true shutdown pairing we can always go back to Edler-Tanev and have the two BC boys together, but Franson plays a very similar style to Edler and hopefully can have the impact Ehrhoff once did on his unit. Hamhuis and Tanev are both fantastic shutdown defencemen and we've seen chemistry between the two of them before. Sbisa is still a growing kid and if Benning is sold on him, we need to groom him properly. Play him with a true veteran like say Greene for around 15 minutes a night who will help calm his game down. Sure that's two lefties but they can deal with it (ideally we get a righty for Sbisa though). Suddenly there's a defence with all the good bits from this season, minus the bad, plus a big more toughness/size, some more offence and hopefully more reliable defensively. Franson may be hit-or-miss but he brings size and serious offence that this defence needs regardless, and that 6th defenceman veteran will hopefully calm the boys down so they're not running around as much as this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejazz97 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Really? Franson? Really? Ever since NSH acquired him, they've sucked. No thank you. And btw, Barret Jackman is retiring a Blue unless a Brodeur situation happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 Really? Franson? Really? Ever since NSH acquired him, they've sucked. No thank you. And btw, Barret Jackman is retiring a Blue unless a Brodeur situation happens. Correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation. He was burried on a deep defence in Nashville, you can't blame him and his 15 minutes a night for their poor play down the stretch. Josi, Weber, Jones and Ekholm were all playing bigger minutes, they were the ones losing the games, not Franson. Sure he may have caused a change in the locker room dynamics but who knows. If anything, he'd fit in Vancouver perfectly. It's his home-town, he's used to playing well in a Canadian market and he'd slot in as a top-4 defenceman instantly, as well as right onto the top unit powerplay. If anything we might be able to get him cheaply (around 4-4.5M). The principle is more important than the specifics. We need a stud current top-4 defenceman right now and signing Franson would be a cheap way to get one and bolster our quality on defence, and we need a veteran defenceman to groom the young kids not named Bieksa who we can have as a cheap but solid, calming 6th defenceman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejazz97 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 The principle is more important than the specifics. We need a stud current top-4 defenceman right now and signing Franson would be a cheap way to get one and bolster our quality on defence, and we need a veteran defenceman to groom the young kids not named Bieksa who we can have as a cheap but solid, calming 6th defenceman. Well, we've got to get rid of one or both of Hamhuis and Bieksa (and Sbisa) before we sign him anyhow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YEGCanuck Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Is there a chance we can bring in Seabrook from Chicago? What is his status/availability? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neutral Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Sign Gryba or Mcquaid for a physical presence on the back end. Both are right shots, Gryba is 4 years younger than mcquaid. Both should be had for not too much as pending ufa's. Also one of our signed D should be moved or asked to waive. It may not happen but i think it needs too. Why Benning gave sbisa such a hefty raise and a 3 year deal is beyond me. He and Weber werent good at all against Calgary. Weber should walk to make room for Clendening/Corrado I also would offer Stanton a contract, although he seemed to not be WD favourite, he does have some size and he does hit. I liked what he could bring as a bottom pairing guy or #7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neutral Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Is there a chance we can bring in Seabrook from Chicago? What is his status/availability? I wish, he has 1 more year i believe and then he will get paid. If Edmonton has a bounce back year next year, they may through him a Boychuk type deal. Chicago is going to have to make changes and let people go this summer. I think they will try to retain him, hes a solid D. Chi would wan a big return for him, something we wouldnt want to offer up, they would ask for Horvat im sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangelos Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 how to improve the defense? Get rid of bieksa. Don't even need to replace him. It's an addition by subtraction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillipBlunt Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Any plan that involves keeping Sbisa is one that will fail. Sbisa sucks and is a horrible defenseman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neutral Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Any plan that involves keeping Sbisa is one that will fail. Sbisa sucks and is a horrible defenseman ya but benning must really like him after the deal he just gave him....so doesnt look like he is on the move anytime soon MDZ would have been a good pp qb option but no room on the left side no more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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