Ilya Mikheyev Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 With pending FAs Bartkowski, Weber and Hamhuis struggling to deserve their contracts this year, and the Canucks lack of AHL depth on defense, the Canucks are probably going to need to acquire some defense going into next season. Of course, lots could change between now and then, maybe the Canucks will even be able to sign one of the better FAs out there—or maybe the Canucks will move one D for another. There's lots of variables, but one idea for depth is to pull an already established pairing from the KHL. Likely, Hamhuis will turn it around, as history says he's a solid defenseman. Former Nashville 1st rounder Johnathan Blum, former USA WJC Captain and Vancouver Giants Captain who put up 18 points in 17 WHL playoff games one year, is playing with former Flyer 3rd rounder and NHL depth defenseman Oskar Bartulis on the Admiral. Bartulis is currently the team's captain. Both players' contracts end after this year. Blum was a RFA, but will lose that status after this year. Bartulis is 28 and no NHL team owns his rights anymore. The pairing are a kind of "typical" successful pairing: Blum is a right-handed defenseman with PP QB abilities and a good transition game. Bartulis is a left-handed defenseman with a nice slapshot, but a better defensive game. Blum could very well become Vancouver's Ryan Ellis/Kris Russell type player and give the Canucks a potential RH on the PP. And Bartulis has already put up his best professional numbers since a rookie AHL year in 2008, and will likely break that too, playing next to Blum. Blum is leading the Admiral's defense in points and is 2nd on the team in that category. Blum is 6'0, 190 pounds with a smooth, quick skating ability and Bartulis is 6'2, 202 pounds and while not "overly" aggressive, is solid on the puck and along the boards (at least from watching him in his pre-KHL days). Blum is from California and Bartulis is from Riga, both of whom played in the CHL before being drafted which makes you believe they want to be NHLers. Blum has consistently put up .5+ PPG at every level so far, except the NHL, where he has 24 points in 110 games...but 22 points in 90 games came in Nashville, his later call-ups with Minnesota were less successful, but his role was more diminished. The Admiral are looking like a playoff lock this year. The other plus side to bringing them over together is that they have already developed chemistry, rather than trying to put two random depth FAs together and hoping for some magic to happen. Familiarity can also be valueable and enticing for some players. Bartulis was also the defensive partner for Keith Yandle for a year in Moncton, Yandle being one of the prized FAs of next off-season. So they could start off as defenseman 7-8 and earn their way back into the NHL or play bottom pairing minutes, depending on the Canucks situation. Vague proposal: Sign Johnathan Blum & Oskar Bartulis on identical 1-way, 1-year contracts at 950,000 (the amount you can bury in the AHL). Let Weber and Bartkowski walk. Plan to play with 8 D on the roster next year, unless training camp shows someone else deserves it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Or find the two best unsigned college defensive players and hope we find two new versions of Hutton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 It's intriguing actually. I've been a huge proponent of keeping successful pairings together for a long while. If they could translate that into a 5-6 pairing success on our team they'd be an immediate upgrade over weber and ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thema Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I like Bartulis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Any plan to bolster our defence sounds like a good plan. I just think though that our defence is a few key pieces off. Gold standard plan would be to acquire two 1st pairing defencemen, bump Edler and Tanev down to 2nd pairing and hope Sbisa and Hutton can play on a 3rd pairing together, with a UFA as the 7th. That's never going to happen though, but that's what it would take for our defence to be a contending defence. Realistically, we're only missing one top-4 right handed defenceman right now. If we lose Hamhuis, we'll need to find another. Next season, I expect Hutton to play 20+ minutes consistently and replace Hamhuis as that top-4 guy on the left side. That leaves Edler still capable of top pairing minutes (hopefully), Hutton capable of 2nd pairing minutes and Sbisa as an anchor on our 3rd pairing (but able to play up the lineup in case of injuries - a very useful player to have). I suppose we ca re-sign Hamhuis cheap but we don't really need to with Edler-Hutton-Sbisa on the left and maybe sign a cheap UFA (even Bartkowski) as the 4th lefty for injuries. The right side is the main problem. We've got Tanev who's a great top-4 defenceman but ideally a 2nd pairing guy. He'll be on our top pairing though for years to come. Then we've got Weber who IMO has to go. No one in Utica is ready to fill that other top-4 spot. Subban is still at least 2 years away from the NHL. Pedan and Fedun really belong in the AHL. That leaves a gaping hole at our 2nd pairing RHD spot and even 3rd pairing. That spot alongside Hutton on our 2nd pairing is key - we need to find a relatively young, strong, physical right handed shutdown defenceman who can play 20-25 minutes a night. That would be the PERFECT partner for Hutton, and quite frankly, Hamonic is that perfect fit. If we don't snag him, Benning HAS to find a similar type of player. There's lots out there and luckily they won't be commanding a lot because they're not flashy players. We just need a shutdown guy, similar to Tanev but a bit more physical would be nice, to let Hutton free-wheel. For the 3rd pairing, we realistically could sign any cheap UFA to play alongside Sbisa but ideally he'd be a puck moving defenceman. Subban will be the perfect fit on that role in a few years time, but until then a veteran puck mover would be lovely to help give some guidance to this group with Hamhuis gone. Unless Hamhuis is willing to re-sign cheap, a veteran would fit perfectly. Edler - Tanev Hutton - top4 RHD defensive defenceman Sbisa - cheap UFA veteran UFA That top-4 RHD is the biggest concern, and probably the hardest to find. Byfuglien would be nice and there are a few UFA agents out there who fit the bill, but to be honest it doesn't get more of a perfect match than Hamonic. If Benning can find a way to trade for him without disrupting Edler, Tanev, Hutton or Sbisa, we'll be in good shape. I'd be thinking something like Hamhuis + Shinkaruk + 2nd which I'd do in a heart-beat. Sounds like a lot but it fills our problems perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuktravella Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 bartulis would be great i think we are missing a top 4 right handed dman as well but edler tanev hutton top4 rhd sbisa bartulis pedan would be a decent top 7 d benning should work on trading jensen, vey, hamhuis, weber, higgins, vrbata so either we can draft a dman in top ten somehow or sign one in free agency. vey and jensen need a fresh start somewhere else they are to far down on are prospect list behind shinkaruk, gaunce, grenier, cassels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Surfer Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 Blum was a healthy scratch more often than not once his waiver exempt status expired a couple of years ago. A classic example of a guy that would have done better clearing waivers and playing in the minors all year. The legendary Nate Prosser stole his ice time. When he did play you can choose your adjective; rusty from not playing? Or just bad?? Maybe some playing time is doing him well. But I am sceptical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_314 Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 2 hours ago, DownUndaCanuck said: The right side is the main problem. We've got Tanev who's a great top-4 defenceman but ideally a 2nd pairing guy. He'll be on our top pairing though for years to come. Then we've got Weber who IMO has to go. No one in Utica is ready to fill that other top-4 spot. Subban is still at least 2 years away from the NHL. Pedan and Fedun really belong in the AHL. That leaves a gaping hole at our 2nd pairing RHD spot and even 3rd pairing. That spot alongside Hutton on our 2nd pairing is key - we need to find a relatively young, strong, physical right handed shutdown defenceman who can play 20-25 minutes a night. That would be the PERFECT partner for Hutton, and quite frankly, Hamonic is that perfect fit. If we don't snag him, Benning HAS to find a similar type of player. There's lots out there and luckily they won't be commanding a lot because they're not flashy players. We just need a shutdown guy, similar to Tanev but a bit more physical would be nice, to let Hutton free-wheel. Since it's probably best for the team to not top sell prospects or overpay free agents (either due to heightened market value or if the UFA is past their prime) I'd suggest Luke Schenn for the 2nd pair R.H. guy esp. if we plan to keep retooling. He's 6'2", 210 lb of physicality and decent mobility, and he's only 26 so he can be a solid defensive guy moving forward who we can get for cheap (Flyers don't plan to keep him). As for the 3rd pair R.H. maybe keep Weber and pair him with his countryman in Sbisa? They've done well together before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintPatrick33 Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 Blum is no better than what we have already. We have plenty of cap in the offseason, and quite a few above average D-men will be available. Plus, if a team is in a cap crunch, we can pull of a Boychuck to Islanders type deal. That will be the ONLY thing to improve our D. Looking for players in abroad will not likely land us above average d-men. We still have a few prospects on D that will take time to develop, I would rather wait for those guys, plus any offseason FA and trades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgarM Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 1 hour ago, SaintPatrick33 said: Blum is no better than what we have already. We have plenty of cap in the offseason, and quite a few above average D-men will be available. Plus, if a team is in a cap crunch, we can pull of a Boychuck to Islanders type deal. That will be the ONLY thing to improve our D. Looking for players in abroad will not likely land us above average d-men. We still have a few prospects on D that will take time to develop, I would rather wait for those guys, plus any offseason FA and trades. Agreed no more plugs or experiments. Tried and true proven NHL'ers please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 3 hours ago, Phil_314 said: Since it's probably best for the team to not top sell prospects or overpay free agents (either due to heightened market value or if the UFA is past their prime) I'd suggest Luke Schenn for the 2nd pair R.H. guy esp. if we plan to keep retooling. He's 6'2", 210 lb of physicality and decent mobility, and he's only 26 so he can be a solid defensive guy moving forward who we can get for cheap (Flyers don't plan to keep him). As for the 3rd pair R.H. maybe keep Weber and pair him with his countryman in Sbisa? They've done well together before. Schenn is pretty terrible, he's a top-4 defenceman on a thin defence. Weber is a 7th defenceman on a good defence. Instead in Vancouver Schenn would be #4 and Weber #6, when they really should be 6 and 7 respectively. Good teams have far better defencemen in their top-4. For example, I'd love to trade for Hamonic as that 4th defenceman/maybe even 2nd on this team, and then sign someone like Demers to play with Sbisa. Hamhuis + Higgins + 2nd for Hamonic Demers in the off-season for around 5M, 3 years (cap ceiling going up, 5M is reasonable nowadays) Edler - Tanev Hutton - Hamonic Sbisa - Demers Bartkowski Shutdown defencemen paired with puck moving defencemen, lots of defencemen in their primes, Edler becomes the new leader on defence finally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry Goose Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 He's by no means perfect but I really like what Bartkowski brings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 Completely forgot Bartulis was still playing so don't know too much about him. But Blum is someone I've been wanting us to sign for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 We're already pulling our bottom pairing from Russia - you just have the wrong names: Tryamkin - Zaitsev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillipBlunt Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 13 hours ago, DownUndaCanuck said: Schenn is pretty terrible, he's a top-4 defenceman on a thin defence. Weber is a 7th defenceman on a good defence. Instead in Vancouver Schenn would be #4 and Weber #6, when they really should be 6 and 7 respectively. Good teams have far better defencemen in their top-4. For example, I'd love to trade for Hamonic as that 4th defenceman/maybe even 2nd on this team, and then sign someone like Demers to play with Sbisa. Hamhuis + Higgins + 2nd for Hamonic Demers in the off-season for around 5M, 3 years (cap ceiling going up, 5M is reasonable nowadays) Edler - Tanev Hutton - Hamonic Sbisa - Demers Bartkowski Shutdown defencemen paired with puck moving defencemen, lots of defencemen in their primes, Edler becomes the new leader on defence finally. I don't think Edler has the qualities to be a leader on the defense, nor do I think he'd want that responsibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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