Ray_Cathode Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 Gaunce is killing it down in Utica. He had a goal and an assist tonight in a 2-1 game. He now has 15 points in 16 games. Tonight he got his second short-handed goal of the season. He is a +4 and plays tough minutes. In addition, Gaunce had a goal and 2 assists for the Canucks in three games. There was speculation on the radio today about whether Sutter should be made available for trade, considering the play of Beagle and the consistent improvement in the play of Gaudette. Sutter is the kind of player who has value to a team in a playoff run. One of the objections to trading Sutter is that possibility of injury to one of our Centres. I think Gaunce's play answers that question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 Gaunce’s shorty: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakrami Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 Been a Gaunce basher for the last year.. But he deserves another look, just not so soon. Rest of season in Utica will do him good, he needs the drive to play well in the NHL and not take it for granted. For those less talented, they need to play with the drive of Motte/Stecher. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 1 hour ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said: Gaunce’s shorty: Well he certainly didn't look slow on that goal. It's great to see him producing in the AHL, it confirms what a few posters have been saying for a while (untapped offensive potential). Hopefully when he gets back to the big club he starts to show some of that offensive upside. I still think he could turn into a Malhotra-esque player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kootenay Gold Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 1 hour ago, Drakrami said: Been a Gaunce basher for the last year.. But he deserves another look, just not so soon. Rest of season in Utica will do him good, he needs the drive to play well in the NHL and not take it for granted. For those less talented, they need to play with the drive of Motte/Stecher. I'm hoping that the Comets make it to the playoffs and a player like Gaunce has the chance to show whether he has what it takes when the chips are on the line. A really good effort in the playoffs would improve his chances of getting back into the lineup in Van next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mll Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 54 minutes ago, Kootenay Gold said: I'm hoping that the Comets make it to the playoffs and a player like Gaunce has the chance to show whether he has what it takes when the chips are on the line. A really good effort in the playoffs would improve his chances of getting back into the lineup in Van next year. I doubt Gaunce gets qualified. Feels like they've moved on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 1 hour ago, Diamonds said: Well he certainly didn't look slow on that goal. Yeah, Gaunce hasn’t been slow for a while. He doesn’t necessarily have blazing speed, but he more than adequate acceleration and top speed to create and hold separation against most players. When he gets the puck and open space ahead of him, he can really move. The other thing about Gaunce is that he’s really well conditioned, so he has his speed on tap, even late in shifts (although that wasn’t the case on this particular goal as it came early in the PK), so he can catch defenders late in their shifts, and he still has gas in the tank. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, Diamonds said: Well he certainly didn't look slow on that goal. It's great to see him producing in the AHL, it confirms what a few posters have been saying for a while (untapped offensive potential). Hopefully when he gets back to the big club he starts to show some of that offensive upside. I still think he could turn into a Malhotra-esque player. I would have him before Schaller any day. He CAN score goals but if you look back at his play in the NHL he always seemed to defer to a team mate. I really think there is still untapped potential. Unfortunately he doesn't help by not consistently using that big body to check and hit harder. I also think on at least 2 spells in Vancouver he played injured because he wanted to stay in the line up. The more you look at him the more you have to think he is better than AHL level. And no he isn't slow. I have already posted a video of his speed test and the time is comparable to some of our faster players back through the years and indeed he was faster than Hansen. Speed is not always about circuit speed but circuit speed is a decent comparison. Edited December 22, 2018 by alfstonker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SingleThorn Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 7 hours ago, Diamonds said: Well he certainly didn't look slow on that goal. It's great to see him producing in the AHL, it confirms what a few posters have been saying for a while (untapped offensive potential). Hopefully when he gets back to the big club he starts to show some of that offensive upside. I still think he could turn into a Malhotra-esque player. 6 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said: Yeah, Gaunce hasn’t been slow for a while. He doesn’t necessarily have blazing speed, but he more than adequate acceleration and top speed to create and hold separation against most players. When he gets the puck and open space ahead of him, he can really move. The other thing about Gaunce is that he’s really well conditioned, so he has his speed on tap, even late in shifts (although that wasn’t the case on this particular goal as it came early in the PK), so he can catch defenders late in their shifts, and he still has gas in the tank. As a Gaunce fan, I like reading positive stuff about him, but in the clip mentioned, he is going roughly the same speed as Archibald, so probably too soon to label him Bure 2.0 ! I think SID is closer to reality. If he does come back up, I would like to see a longer look at centre, rather than lw. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post canucklehead44 Posted December 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted December 22, 2018 In the NHL he was a fourth liner, playing with fourth liners, with the highest % of defensive zone starts in the NHL. Not an area for him to succeed offensively. Where he did succeed is defensively, and was near the top in +/- for forwards and had solid underlying stats. So in short, he is a guy you can put out there for 12 minutes and not hurt the team. I wouldn't give him 5 million haha but there is some value there for a cheap young forward. Like him a lot more than Schaller. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-P Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 If the Canucks sell at the deadline, a scenario where Gaunce plays 10-20 games in the NHL (or is it 9 befors waivers is required again?) after TDL and then the AHL playoffs would be a good evaluation of him before deciding on his future with the organization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGT68 Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 On 12/22/2018 at 6:18 AM, canucklehead44 said: In the NHL he was a fourth liner, playing with fourth liners, with the highest % of defensive zone starts in the NHL. Not an area for him to succeed offensively. Where he did succeed is defensively, and was near the top in +/- for forwards and had solid underlying stats. So in short, he is a guy you can put out there for 12 minutes and not hurt the team. I wouldn't give him 5 million haha but there is some value there for a cheap young forward. Like him a lot more than Schaller. And it seems we have Gaunce in Utica because whoops, we signed Schaller. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 5 minutes ago, J-P said: If the Canucks sell at the deadline, a scenario where Gaunce plays 10-20 games in the NHL (or is it 9 befors waivers is required again?) after TDL and then the AHL playoffs would be a good evaluation of him before deciding on his future with the organization. After passing through waivers, players acquire a waiver exemption for 10 games or 30 days on the roster, whichever comes first. After they hit 10 games/30 days, the exemption is used up, they need to clear waivers again before they can be re-assigned to the AHL. I believe Gaunce was on the roster for 22 days already this season, and played in 3 games. So he’d probably have a week left of exemption, and then would become subject to waivers again. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beagle had landed Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 20 hours ago, TGT68 said: And it seems we have Gaunce in Utica because whoops, we signed Schaller. Which in a sense, has been good for his development offensively. We saw last year that he could be relied on defensively and chip in some goals around the net. Being a late first round pick, I assumed he'd be a bit of a project and I'm pleased with how he's developing. I just hope management doesn't give up on him too soon. I've always viewed him as potentially one of those bottom 6 players that really step up their game in the playoffs a la Williams or Ward. I've said it to my friends and I'll say it here, Brendan Gaunce will score an overtime winning goal in the playoffs for the Canucks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 (edited) On 12/23/2018 at 5:52 PM, TGT68 said: And it seems we have Gaunce in Utica because whoops, we signed Schaller. maybe gaunce was the whole reason they brought in schaller in the first place? maybe travis and jim thought that gaunce's development would be better served by getting to spend more time playing top minutes in the ahl? so they got a serviceable, versatile guy to fill the hole and bought gaunce some more time. Edited December 25, 2018 by tas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mll Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 (edited) 58 minutes ago, tas said: maybe gaunce was the whole reason they brought in schaller in the first place? maybe travis and jim thought that gaunce's development would be better served by getting to spend more time playing top minutes in the ahl? so they got a serviceable, versatile guy to fill the hole and bought gaunce some more time. Botchford says the Canucks tried to trade him and that there was no interest. Behind the Athletic's paywall of 29 September : Some don’t think Gaunce had any real chance of making the Canucks this fall. There was even buzz at the kickoff of main camp he was already on a path to Utica. He didn’t even play the final two preseason games he was with the team for. [...] The Canucks did reach out to teams looking to move him but there wasn’t much interest from other GMs in terms of trading assets for him. Gaunce was drafted just 1 year after Baertschi, Granlund and Leivo and the same year as Leipsic who made the team. In Whistler he was on a line with Kero and Boucher who were already earmarked for Utica. Edited December 25, 2018 by mll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudrias Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 2 hours ago, mll said: Botchford says the Canucks tried to trade him and that there was no interest. Behind the Athletic's paywall of 29 September : Some don’t think Gaunce had any real chance of making the Canucks this fall. There was even buzz at the kickoff of main camp he was already on a path to Utica. He didn’t even play the final two preseason games he was with the team for. [...] The Canucks did reach out to teams looking to move him but there wasn’t much interest from other GMs in terms of trading assets for him. Gaunce was drafted just 1 year after Baertschi, Granlund and Leivo and the same year as Leipsic who made the team. In Whistler he was on a line with Kero and Boucher who were already earmarked for Utica. I suspect there is a battle of wills going on between Gaunce and the Canucks about how he plays the game. Green had him in Utica and he was a offensive threat. At that Green sat him a number of times. IMO Green wants a more physical game out of him and Gaunce is not delivering. The natural thing for a player under pressure is to rely on what has got him as far as he has. Canucks are telling him it is not good enough. Brendan Gaunce strikes me as a pretty thoughtful guy. The fact that he went unclaimed thru waivers can hardly escape him. He seems to be doing well in Utica but UticaFan needs to update us. Maybe it is his personality. Maybe he is burnt out on hockey and his desire is waning. Maybe he wants to be a fireman. Maybe he wants to cash in on a big Euro contract next year. Who knows what motivates Brendan Gaunce, I don't. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRAZY_4_NAZZY Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Have always said it before, Gaunce is a better player at center than LW. He looks far more comfortable, however, there really isn't a lot of options for him to do that in Vancouver. He is so smart though, he processes the game very well. The past 2 months he has been Utica's best center for a while. Near a point per game player. Being trusted in a shutdown/checking line role. Playing with Archibald and Jasek has helped him play in uptempo game as well. Would like to see him get another shot, but its too crowded up front. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroCanuck Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 14 hours ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said: Have always said it before, Gaunce is a better player at center than LW. He looks far more comfortable, however, there really isn't a lot of options for him to do that in Vancouver. He is so smart though, he processes the game very well. The past 2 months he has been Utica's best center for a while. Near a point per game player. Being trusted in a shutdown/checking line role. Playing with Archibald and Jasek has helped him play in uptempo game as well. Would like to see him get another shot, but its too crowded up front. A Sutter trade would allow him to play in a 4C role. I really dislike Granny as a centre. Poor at face-offs and lacks offensive playmaking ability. Gaunce deserves another shot at this level and I hope he gets it in the new year. Goldy-Pettersson-Boeser Baertschi-Horvat-Virtanen Roussel-Beagle-Eriksson Leivo-Gaunce-Motte Trade Sutter and waive/trade one of Granlund or Schaller. Leave Gaudette in Utica until he's fully ready to step up and make an impact. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Kneel Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Eriksson seems to have taken Gaunce's spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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