Adam Gaudette | #96 | C

[Grape]

52 minutes ago, dpn1 said:

I find it interesting that AG & JV are both 22 years old and  AG stats are about the same as JV when he was 18 years old.  I am concerned that AG is not producing enough offensively.  Is he strong enough to be a bottom 6 center?

Mentioned already, but Gaudette was drafted 143 picks after Virtanen. It's hard to be concerned about a 5th round pick when he's made it so far already.

[Where'd Luongo?]

19 minutes ago, aGENT said:

Honestly? Schenn's being SOOOOO over hyped on here 

 

Has he admirably filled in for the unfortunately ill-fitting Gudbranson, since his departure? Absolutely.

 

Is he any more than an 8th D - AHL depth? No. People are acting like he's the second coming of Mitchell or something.

 

But yes, it's a fair point. Funny about those expectations, draft positions etc...reality gives two farts about them  

 

Once drafted, picks simply become actual players/prospects and where they were picked has very little to do with their development.

Schenn has done a great job. 

[aGENT]

Just now, Where'd Luongo? said:

Schenn has done a great job. 

 

20 minutes ago, aGENT said:

Has he admirably filled in for the unfortunately ill-fitting Gudbranson, since his departure? Absolutely.

 

Is he any more than an 8th D - AHL depth? No. People are acting like he's the second coming of Mitchell or something.

 

[smokes]

22 minutes ago, aGENT said:

Is he any more than an 8th D - AHL depth? No. People are acting like he's the second coming of Mitchell or something.

 

I was thinking Scott Lachance.

[Tre Mac]

Happy with AG game because he is doing everything the coach has asked him to do.  Going to be hard for him to hit the score sheet playing 10min a night and playing with bottom six players.  PP2 gets less than 20 sec at times so not concerned about AG's points, they'll come.

[dpn1]

I personally don't really consider draft position after they are drafted.  They are all our prospects no matter when they are drafted.  We get lucky with EP40 5th or 6th & Brock in the mid 20's.  The organization picked them when they were drafted and should be held accountable.  OJ and JV could have been taken later but QH & EP40 could have been taken sooner. 

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

Been noticing quite a bit lately that Gaudette has difficulty with handling the puck, seems to bobble it and lacking some poise when he has the puck on his stick.  Might be a confidence thing, but he certainly needs to work on it if he plans to be a centre. 

 

Works hard, skates constantly, and gets on the forecheck, but once the puck is on his stick, the play dies.  Once that poise and confidence comes along, I'm sure he will be more noticable for the right reasons.

[-AJ-]

I've probably been one of the more pessimistic fans about Gaudette, as I didn't see much upside in his game going into this year and for the first bit of the season. He really turned into a different player after he was recalled from Utica, but I think he still struggles to be a consistent offensive threat. That said, if he's being pegged as a 3rd line guy, then we shouldn't expect more than 40 points at most in a year from him and 25-35 should be the standard.

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

2 hours ago, -AJ- said:

I've probably been one of the more pessimistic fans about Gaudette, as I didn't see much upside in his game going into this year and for the first bit of the season. He really turned into a different player after he was recalled from Utica, but I think he still struggles to be a consistent offensive threat. That said, if he's being pegged as a 3rd line guy, then we shouldn't expect more than 40 points at most in a year from him and 25-35 should be the standard.

I almost feel right now he hasn't found a niche in his game as of yet at the pro level.  I can't quite tell what exactly he is yet still as a player.  It started to seem like he was figuring it out in the AHL with the Comets, but the constant call ups disrupted that progression.  From watching his play I agree, his offensive upside seems to be very spotty, and I feel that has a lot to do with his lack of individual puck skills to hold the puck a split second longer to make a shrewd play.  Overall his game with the puck on his stick shows a lack of poise especially for a centre, who you would expect to be a good distributor.

 

I think watching his game for the second half of the season, he seems more like an energy role kind of player.  Skates hard into the forecheck, brings some energy, but his overall talent is very raw still.  Still think both his offensive and defensive game, reads, and overall awareness is still raw for the NHL.  I do honestly believe there is a large chance that Sutter is retained and Gaudette is switched to the wing to learn the game more until Green chance can see Adam's game evolve.  As of right now, I think his game is still very raw and because of it, Green has a hard time trusting him.  Gaudette barely takes any faceoffs and when he does he is generally in the 20% efficiency.  Considering that TG likes roling 4 lines, but if you don't trust a centre, he will likely not role that line very much.   Honestly, I think Gaudette is better suited as a winger, than a centre. 

[J-P]

I don't think from this season you can conclude what AG will become. Might be a 4th line energy player in the long run, might be a 3C, we'll have to wait and see... To contribute more on offense he needs to process the game faster, be more creative and work on his skill level. There's a reason he was a 5th rounder - since he had a long way to go - but he's still young and his ceiling is a bit unclear to me.

 

Also - like with EP I think he's a bit fatigued after his first pro season. Even EP has some trouble with puck control etc. at this point of the season due to being a little less explosive in those first steps.

[The Lock]

16 hours ago, -AJ- said:

I've probably been one of the more pessimistic fans about Gaudette, as I didn't see much upside in his game going into this year and for the first bit of the season. He really turned into a different player after he was recalled from Utica, but I think he still struggles to be a consistent offensive threat. That said, if he's being pegged as a 3rd line guy, then we shouldn't expect more than 40 points at most in a year from him and 25-35 should be the standard.

At the end of the day, the fact that we are saying this about a 5th round player is pretty good. While I can understand people thinking he should be a better producer (I mean he did win the Hobey Baker) I think he should be a player on our team where we can wait and see what we get in the end. We have our offense minus a couple of players so the only real pressure that's there is the potential competition for him to stay on the team and I think he has a hold of that for the most part.

 

Worst that can happen? We have another Gaunce (and I should probably add that Gaudette already has more than double a higher point total in a season), and Gaunce was a 1st rounder.

Edited April 3, 2019 by The Lock

[tas]

16 hours ago, -AJ- said:

I've probably been one of the more pessimistic fans about Gaudette, as I didn't see much upside in his game going into this year and for the first bit of the season. He really turned into a different player after he was recalled from Utica, but I think he still struggles to be a consistent offensive threat. That said, if he's being pegged as a 3rd line guy, then we shouldn't expect more than 40 points at most in a year from him and 25-35 should be the standard.

in ryan kesler's 22 y/o season (his 4th more or less complete professional season compared with gaudette's 1st), he had 6g and 16p in 48 games. 

 

remember, kes was the original "stone hands" before jannik hansen, and nobody thought his hands or head would ever catch up to his feet.

 

it's way too early to be putting a cap on gaudette's potential. nobody ever thought a 5th rounder was going to win the hobey, right?

[WeneedLumme]

16 hours ago, tas said:

in ryan kesler's 22 y/o season (his 4th more or less complete professional season compared with gaudette's 1st), he had 6g and 16p in 48 games. 

 

remember, kes was the original "stone hands" before jannik hansen, and nobody thought his hands or head would ever catch up to his feet.

 

it's way too early to be putting a cap on gaudette's potential. nobody ever thought a 5th rounder was going to win the hobey, right?

Quite right. To those posters who like to state confidently what a player/prospect's ceiling is, try to keep in mind that you really don't know. Kesler, Hansen and Burr have made that clear.

[Mathew Barzal]

Unpopular opinion: Gaudette is still a very raw player, he should log big minutes in Utica instead of being on the roster next year.

[Alflives]

16 minutes ago, Mathew Barzal said:

Unpopular opinion: Gaudette is still a very raw player, he should log big minutes in Utica instead of being on the roster next year.

JB said after the season was over that he felt Gaudette was better off in Utica but injuries forced him to play up here.  If we still have Sutter and Beagle, I don’t think your opinion about Gaudette is a bad one at all.   

[Mathew Barzal]

45 minutes ago, Alflives said:

JB said after the season was over that he felt Gaudette was better off in Utica but injuries forced him to play up here.  If we still have Sutter and Beagle, I don’t think your opinion about Gaudette is a bad one at all.   

Oh did he? That's good to know!

[Putgolzin]

7 hours ago, Alflives said:

JB said after the season was over that he felt Gaudette was better off in Utica but injuries forced him to play up here.  If we still have Sutter and Beagle, I don’t think your opinion about Gaudette is a bad one at all.   

I hadn’t heard that...after he’s played so much of a season up it seems backwards to send him down. Still, if he was given too offensive opportunities down there it may help his long-term development.

i saw him live with Utica once last year and he was soooo good. Him and Archie just dominated. 

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by nzan

[18W-40C-6W]

9 hours ago, nzan said:

I hadn’t heard that...after he’s played so much of a season up it seems backwards to send him down. Still, if he was given too offensive opportunities down there it may help his long-term development.

i saw him live with Utica once last year and he was soooo good. Him and Archie just dominated. 

 

Gaudette is 'capable' of playing in the NHL, but it doesn't mean he's 'ready'. Much like McCann and Jake who were rushed, Gaudette has the raw skills, its obvious. The issue is, if the Canucks want that 'Hobey Baker" talent coming out, he needs to get top 6 ice and develop the confidence in his offensive game to be a difference maker / force his game on opponents. This is why most young players need time in the AHL, its hard to come up as a rookie and have that confidence when you're trying to impress, not to make mistakes, and usually chasing the game a bit. Only the exceptions like Petey, Kane, Mckinnon etc, are able to do it. I think a year in Utica would do him wonders. Spot duty here for injuries and when Sutter is moved.

[Boudrias]

On 5/24/2019 at 10:18 PM, Mathew Barzal said:

Unpopular opinion: Gaudette is still a very raw player, he should log big minutes in Utica instead of being on the roster next year.

There are reasons for both NHL and AHL time for Gaudette. The experience he got last year as a 22 year old in Vancouver likely sets him up for a strong season this year. I agree with you that more time in Utica would have given him more TOI and a leadership role. Better talent support in Utica could have seen a better Calder run. Gaudette's play this fall will likely determine where Sutter ends up. I like Sutter but I am hoping Gaudette can force him out. 

[Crabcakes]

On 5/25/2019 at 5:03 AM, nzan said:

I hadn’t heard that...after he’s played so much of a season up it seems backwards to send him down. Still, if he was given too offensive opportunities down there it may help his long-term development.

i saw him live with Utica once last year and he was soooo good. Him and Archie just dominated. 

 

In that quote, Benning mean't that they would have liked Gaudette to play in Utica last year.  I don't think that damage was done to him by playing so much with the Canucks because he was improving very slowly and eventually started showing flashes of the offense that they hope he will bring eventually. 

 

Should he be the 3C at the beginning of next season?  That is a big question.  Should they feel free to move on from Sutter?  A healthy Sutter really helps with team defense and the PK and clearly, a -29 goal differential shows that they need help here.  Not to say the defense needs to get better as well.  But I think that the development of Gaudette really answers that question and they don't know the answer yet.

 

Big picture, I think they want to add 2 players:  a top line LW and a RHD.  They also need a RW to play with Horvat.  On the present roster, this could be Eriksson, Granlund or it could be Sutter if they think that Gaudette has progressed.  But filling that spot with a free agent prevents Virtanen from moving up (if he ever does) and makes room for MacEwen. 

 

I'm just not so sure that Benning gives up on his strategy to have a solid bottom 6 centred by Sutter and Beagle that they started out with at the beginning of last season and never really took hold because of injuries. 

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Gaudette start the year in Utica but he's close to being the 3C.  Very close