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Brendan Gaunce | C/LW


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Gaunce just lead Team Canada in scoring and was the best player in the playoffs last season. This kid is more than a 3rd line center. He can score goals.

I project him to be our 2nd line center in a few seasons time with Horvat taking the #1 spot. Similar to Krejci-Bergeron and Toews-Bolland. Two good defensive centers, not highly-skilled like Crosby or Stamkos but play a solid 200 foot game and are both clutch playoff performers. They're proving to be the types of players that win Cups nowadays, not the skilled centers.

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Gaunce just lead Team Canada in scoring and was the best player in the playoffs last season. This kid is more than a 3rd line center. He can score goals.

I project him to be our 2nd line center in a few seasons time with Horvat taking the #1 spot. Similar to Krejci-Bergeron and Toews-Bolland. Two good defensive centers, not highly-skilled like Crosby or Stamkos but play a solid 200 foot game and are both clutch playoff performers. They're proving to be the types of players that win Cups nowadays, not the skilled centers.

how again was gaunce "the best player in the playoffs"?
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Gaunce just lead Team Canada in scoring and was the best player in the playoffs last season. This kid is more than a 3rd line center. He can score goals.

I project him to be our 2nd line center in a few seasons time with Horvat taking the #1 spot. Similar to Krejci-Bergeron and Toews-Bolland. Two good defensive centers, not highly-skilled like Crosby or Stamkos but play a solid 200 foot game and are both clutch playoff performers. They're proving to be the types of players that win Cups nowadays, not the skilled centers.

LOL yeah he was totally the best player in the playoffs. Bo Horvat says hi. And Bo is younger to boot.

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Bill Gates said at one point there was only room in the world for 5 computers. I love how some people cllaim to know more than everyone else. You fight at this point seems more about retaining your "self-dignity" rather than actually being right to be honest.

He also said that no one would ever need more than 128k of memory in their personal computers... Bill Gates, funnyman

You know what else Gaunce has that is exactly like Kesler? A very quick, hard, and accurate wrist shot. I can see Gaunce being a 3rd line center who plays top PP minutes because of his shot.

Hopefully Kesler introduces him to the skills coach he worked with the summers of 2007& 2008 because it was AFTER that his offensive game took off. His wrist shot didn't really register as a threat before then.

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Gaunce just lead Team Canada in scoring and was the best player in the playoffs last season. This kid is more than a 3rd line center. He can score goals.

I project him to be our 2nd line center in a few seasons time with Horvat taking the #1 spot. Similar to Krejci-Bergeron and Toews-Bolland. Two good defensive centers, not highly-skilled like Crosby or Stamkos but play a solid 200 foot game and are both clutch playoff performers. They're proving to be the types of players that win Cups nowadays, not the skilled centers.

Agreed, although I hope you're saying Gaunce was the best player in the playoffs for his team, not in the OHL.
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It s my opinion that we won t see many of our prospects in the upcoming season. I, personally don t see anything that would indicate any of them are ready. Gaunce and Horvat, although big and skilled, need at least one season in the AHL to prepare them for the faster paced pro game. They are good at the Junior level, there s no denying, but it s a far cry from the pro game. I think it would be a mistake to rush them in an attempt to make us younger. Give them time to grow and develop. Patience now will pay off in spades later. I see a lot of Canuck fans fearing the transition from the success we ve enjoyed over the past 5 yrs to a couple seasons of mediocrity while the team starts to integrate the next generation of stars. We have expectations now and i feel those expectations have caused a lot of fans to treat this team unfairly. I think MG has this plan in mind with a lot of the offseason signings. He never went after any big trades (that i know of), instead, opting for low line role and depth players. Yes, we will see new faces in the line up, but i don t believe any of them will be long term stays. Maybe a prospect like Jensen may get a few games to see what he can do, but i don t believe he s ready. If anyone gets to stay, it s gonna be Corrado, but seeing as how he played some of last season and the playoffs last season, i don t know that he can be considered a prospect anymore.

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It s my opinion that we won t see many of our prospects in the upcoming season. I, personally don t see anything that would indicate any of them are ready. Gaunce and Horvat, although big and skilled, need at least one season in the AHL to prepare them for the faster paced pro game. They are good at the Junior level, there s no denying, but it s a far cry from the pro game. I think it would be a mistake to rush them in an attempt to make us younger. Give them time to grow and develop. Patience now will pay off in spades later. I see a lot of Canuck fans fearing the transition from the success we ve enjoyed over the past 5 yrs to a couple seasons of mediocrity while the team starts to integrate the next generation of stars. We have expectations now and i feel those expectations have caused a lot of fans to treat this team unfairly. I think MG has this plan in mind with a lot of the offseason signings. He never went after any big trades (that i know of), instead, opting for low line role and depth players. Yes, we will see new faces in the line up, but i don t believe any of them will be long term stays. Maybe a prospect like Jensen may get a few games to see what he can do, but i don t believe he s ready. If anyone gets to stay, it s gonna be Corrado, but seeing as how he played some of last season and the playoffs last season, i don t know that he can be considered a prospect anymore.

Gaunce and Horvat are not eligible to play in the AHL they either make the Canucks or they have to go back to Junior.

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People love to label players when they're drafted. No one can predict a player's ceiling. Burrows was never supposed to be more than a 3rd line agitator, and Kesler was projected as a 3C too.

I don't really see Gaunce as a huge scorer, but he's pretty smart and intelligence goes a long way, so who knows? Plus he has NHL size today. I'd say Schroeder and Richardson have their work cut out defending that 3C spot this year.

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I don't get why there are so many doubters that Gaunce will make the team this year. He has excelled in the minors, put up very good numbers, was great in the last play-offs and was great for team Canada. He is ready to take the next step. People here act like he still has major weaknesses he needs to work on. He would definitely be a better option than Schroeder because of his size, and he has the skill to back it up too. He is also very mature for his age. There will also be greater chances for youth to be injected into the line-up this season too under Torts, and management wishes to see this too, as they want to get younger and need some prospects to step up to the plate since we're spent right to the cap.

Edited by amitriptyline
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I wouldnt have any problem letting Gaunce play 4th line mitnutes. I think that people will be quite suprised with what Richardson brings, and with how similar a player he is to Higgins and Hansen. Gaunce is pretty much projected to be a bottom 6 center, so he can learn to be a pro and slowly earn his way up the roster. He wont be "ruined" by playing limited minutes in a role that he is being groomed for.

I think the biggest wild card going into training camp will be the absence of Booth, and whether the coaching staff will take a page out of team canadas book and give Horvat a look on the wing. Jensen is a strong possibillity, but by the sounds of things, Horvats all around game is more polished.

Almost September kids... :)

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People love to label players when they're drafted. No one can predict a player's ceiling. Burrows was never supposed to be more than a 3rd line agitator, and Kesler was projected as a 3C too.

I don't really see Gaunce as a huge scorer, but he's pretty smart and intelligence goes a long way, so who knows? Plus he has NHL size today. I'd say Schroeder and Richardson have their work cut out defending that 3C spot this year.

bureows was never drafted...
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I wouldnt have any problem letting Gaunce play 4th line mitnutes. I think that people will be quite suprised with what Richardson brings, and with how similar a player he is to Higgins and Hansen. Gaunce is pretty much projected to be a bottom 6 center, so he can learn to be a pro and slowly earn his way up the roster. He wont be "ruined" by playing limited minutes in a role that he is being groomed for.

I think the biggest wild card going into training camp will be the absence of Booth, and whether the coaching staff will take a page out of team canadas book and give Horvat a look on the wing. Jensen is a strong possibillity, but by the sounds of things, Horvats all around game is more polished.

Almost September kids... :)

Sorry, but some teams dress moody riff-raff on their 4th line. Post-whistle scrums & other garbage, may lead to getting a top young prospect foolishly hurt, just picking up 7-9 mins in trivial fashion. Rather seen such mins given to a bloke like Lain, or one of the scrubs MG signed this summer. Leave our big 3 centre prospects to ripen on the branch. Schray signed a team-friendly deal. Give him, Rich, Lain, et al shots in the first half-season. Allow our 3 prospects to all have shots at the WJ's. Give them game-experience after January, if their play demands the opportunity.

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Sorry, but some teams dress moody riff-raff on their 4th line. Post-whistle scrums & other garbage, may lead to getting a top young prospect foolishly hurt, just picking up 7-9 mins in trivial fashion. Rather seen such mins given to a bloke like Lain, or one of the scrubs MG signed this summer. Leave our big 3 centre prospects to ripen on the branch. Schray signed a team-friendly deal. Give him, Rich, Lain, et al shots in the first half-season. Allow our 3 prospects to all have shots at the WJ's. Give them game-experience after January, if their play demands the opportunity.

They have to stay with there Junior teams until after there teams get eliminated from the playoffs in March or

April.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think Gaunce can become a useful player for us. Mid 6, but optimally a 3C... Stoll? Laich?

He could contribute now, but its not like an extra year in junior would 'ruin' him

If Canuck brass projects him to be a good 3C, jumping in at 4C won't exactly be the worst thing.

Play a similar role to the 3C shutdown centre, without carrying all the weight defensively. (alot to ask for a youngster)

Hard to say who makes the cut this fall. (esp with Booth out, new coaches etc...)

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