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Brendan Gaunce | C/LW


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Gaunce for me is going to be one of these rare athletes who always seem to have time but don't seem to be very quick. He has a good anticipation and is always smart on the puck. The type of player others like to play with.

That's why it annoys me when people include him in trade deals. I can't wait for him to get a chance in the NHL.

why ?

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He's developed very nicely but he's projected to be a third liner. The fact that he's playing wing now is making him more expendable. I'm a huge Gaunce fan though so I'd like to see him stay, as I believe he'll be an incredible third liner, but at the end of the day, if he can be packaged for something better, why not

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Gaunce for me is going to be one of these rare athletes who always seem to have time but don't seem to be very quick. He has a good anticipation and is always smart on the puck. The type of player others like to play with.

That's why it annoys me when people include him in trade deals. I can't wait for him to get a chance in the NHL.

So, 2nd line potential is there?

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because we are tired of trading our prospects for rentals that are going to ditch us in the FA.

see derek roy for example

well obviously but having Gaunce in trade deals makes sense because he has value,

me personally i would only trade gaunce for a younger player like John Klingberg, im not sure where you got the rental idea from, nobody is proposing rental trades lol

Edited by Horvat
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Gaunce could potentially play on Horvat's wing with changing faceoff duties, a very smart defensive line that could generate points from defensive plays could make us a very hard team to play against considering the fact that we have numerous prospects who are very good in the "200ft" game category.

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Gaunce could potentially play on Horvat's wing with changing faceoff duties, a very smart defensive line that could generate points from defensive plays could make us a very hard team to play against considering the fact that we have numerous prospects who are very good in the "200ft" game category.

Gaunce-Horvat-Virtanen would be a big formidable line in a few years

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Gaunce-Horvat-Virtanen would be a big formidable line in a few years

otoh, if all 3 develop as hoped, in a few years I'd project Virtanen as a 1st line winger, Horvat a 2nd line center and Gaunce a versatile bottom 6 center or LW. That projection isn't much more than a guess, though.

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otoh, if all 3 develop as hoped, in a few years I'd project Virtanen as a 1st line winger, Horvat a 2nd line center and Gaunce a versatile bottom 6 center or LW. That projection isn't much more than a guess, though.

Doesn't mean they couldn't all spend a year playing together before moving to prime positions.

Would also leave a line of Shinkaruk-McCann-Jensen/Kassian

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Gaunce could potentially play on Horvat's wing with changing faceoff duties, a very smart defensive line that could generate points from defensive plays could make us a very hard team to play against considering the fact that we have numerous prospects who are very good in the "200ft" game category.

If only one of them could shoot right, it'll be a very formidable face-off duo.

Should Gaunce continue to develop, he may potentially take over the 4th line centre spot next season with Horvat moving up to the 3rd line.

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Over the next 3 years Van has to replace their entire top 6 forwards. A big issue for this org. That is why I advocate moving current vets out to accelerate the acquisition of prospects and picks. The current depth chart is simply not strong enough. Guance is having a solid rookie season but forecasting his NHL prospects is speculation. Jensen has not seen regular NHL play.

On the current roster the only youth showing top 6 potential is Vey and Horvat. Matthias is also climbing my list. The hope for Kassian is that he moves in with WD and lives hockey thought 24/7 for the next 2 years. IMO his whole issue is how he thinks the game.

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I can't imagine in any circumstances the Sedins getting traded... As far as I'm concerned it would be great if we could have young talent form a new top line, with the Sedins and Burrows being a killer second/1b) line. One might argue that this wouldn't be possible due to the Sedins high cap hits, but taking into account young players on rookie contracts filling this role, it seems plausible.

In a few years it would be great if our lineup was something like:

Some combination of McCann Horvat Virtanen Shinkaruk Vrbata if he's still here

Sedin Sedin Burrows

Matthias Vey/Gaunce Jensen/Kassian

Dorsett Vey/Gaunce Hansen

And then there are players like Higgins and Richardson that would be question marks... it really all depends on how much money we could get them for or if we would even need them (e.g. if some of our younger prospects don't pan out). And even in the case where we can't get them there's always trades and free agency.

The greatest thing about our pool of young talent is that it offers great flexibility in designing a lineup. Having a consistent influx of good young players allows you to spend your money elsewhere to strengthen other parts of the lineup. In a perfect world I would love it if our system became a hybrid of the Boston and Detroit models:

1. Have skilled vets who are great leaders (Detroit - Lidstrom/Datsyuk/Zetterberg). The con of this is that as they get older you may have to absorb the same high cap hit for a player on the decline.

This isn't a problem if you:

2. Draft well (Detroit/Boston/any consistently good team, really). You can afford to pay good money to your aging vets/stars if you can have good young players on rookie contracts. If your young players come into their prime and you can't afford to pay them all top dollar, then you can trade them for other needs, strong depth players, or picks, continuing the cycle.

3. Have a strong 4-line team (Boston). Being able to roll 4 lines and trust all your players in almost all situations makes your team a nightmare to match up against

4. Don't waste cap space on elite superstar talent (Detroit/Boston/LA). Every team needs skilled players, but to be effective as a team unit it's not necessary to have superstar players with long term 10M+/year cap hits. I'm sure most people would love a Crosby/Ovechkin/Toews/Kane type player, but I think that devoting a large percentage of your cap to 2-3 players weakens your flexibility for the rest of the lineup.

To bring things back to Gaunce and our other prospects, I am a fan of how the Canucks organization are methodical and don't rush our prospect development. Just because we aren't favourites to win the cup doesn't mean that we should quickly tear down our core and go full rebuild. Dynasties aren't built in a day, let alone 1-2 seasons. If our prospects fill out the roles that we have assigned to them, our team will look very strong in the future.

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Over the next 3 years Van has to replace their entire top 6 forwards. A big issue for this org. That is why I advocate moving current vets out to accelerate the acquisition of prospects and picks. The current depth chart is simply not strong enough. Guance is having a solid rookie season but forecasting his NHL prospects is speculation. Jensen has not seen regular NHL play.

On the current roster the only youth showing top 6 potential is Vey and Horvat. Matthias is also climbing my list. The hope for Kassian is that he moves in with WD and lives hockey thought 24/7 for the next 2 years. IMO his whole issue is how he thinks the game.

LOL Vey top 6???

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LOL Vey top 6???

 

To be honest I think Vey is going to be better than many expect. He's 23, first full season in the NHL. Is a possesion style player, very smart and I don't doubt he will be better next year. The bad side is he's not big. But there are few prospects who have greater skill or vision than Vey. The only comparible player in the prospect ranks IMO is Shinkaruk...high end skill and vision. After that our prospects have doggedness and size...which is good but not the style that put's pucks in the net. You have to think Jensen is becoming a disapointment his stats just don't add up to a high end producer. Despite playing on one of the top teams in the AHL he's not putting up comparible numbers to other young AHL players. Lets hope he's a guy that maybe plays better in the NHL than the AHL...some do. But as we speak he's scored 10 + 8 in 32 games in the AHL while Vey has scored 7 + 11 in the NHL believe it or not there is a big difference between the two leagues Last year Vey had 53 ( 14 + 39 ) pts in the AHL/NHL 61 games ...both the same age at that stage.

When you look at Vcr prospects you have to think there's a dearth of high end ...high end skill amongst them....seems the best maybe Shinkaruk or Virtanin but he's 18 and a few years away.

It's inetresting to watch their progress

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To be honest I think Vey is going to be better than many expect. He's 23, first full season in the NHL. Is a possesion style player, very smart and I don't doubt he will be better next year. The bad side is he's not big. But there are few prospects who have greater skill or vision than Vey. The only comparible player in the prospect ranks IMO is Shinkaruk...high end skill and vision. After that our prospects have doggedness and size...which is good but not the style that put's pucks in the net. You have to think Jensen is becoming a disapointment his stats just don't add up to a high end producer. Despite playing on one of the top teams in the AHL he's not putting up comparible numbers to other young AHL players. Lets hope he's a guy that maybe plays better in the NHL than the AHL...some do. But as we speak he's scored 10 + 8 in 32 games in the AHL while Vey has scored 7 + 11 in the NHL believe it or not there is a big difference between the two leagues Last year Vey had 53 ( 14 + 39 ) pts in the AHL/NHL 61 games ...both the same age at that stage.

When you look at Vcr prospects you have to think there's a dearth of high end ...high end skill amongst them....seems the best maybe Shinkaruk or Virtanin but he's 18 and a few years away.

It's inetresting to watch their progress

Add McCann and Cassels to the skilled possible " A " level prospects.

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