Brendan Gaunce | C/LW

[higgyfan]

26 minutes ago, Ihatetomatoes said:

Ya they've definitely given up on Gaunce.  It's too bad as I see him as a good cheap 4th line player.  Sure he doesn't score but he's good at keeping the puck out of his own net and that's what you want out of a 4th line player

yeah, feel kind of bad for Gaunce.  I think he worked really hard and played his best; just couldn't up his game to what Green wanted.  It may not be the last we see of him though, he does have an opportunity to adjust his game and maybe add a more physical aspect.  Hopefully he can reclaim the scoring touch he had in the AHL.

 

He wouldn't be the first 4th liner to make a career of drifting back in forth between the NHL/AHL.

[alfstonker]

19 hours ago, mll said:

Doesn't feel like he is part of the future.

 

Gaunce opened camp on a line with Kero and Boucher.  Kero didn't even get in a pre-season game and Boucher was never expected to make the team.    

 

His 1st game was against Calgary's B-squad on a line with Boucher and Lind.  That's not a line that plays to his strength.  Gaunce was always going to make the team in a checking role.

 

His 2nd game was in Calgary and there he was on a line that was plausible - Sutter and Motte but he only played 10 minutes.  And then that was it.  Archibald got 4 games.  Motte got 5, and Gaunce, who had been on the team for 2 seasons only got 2 games to keep his spot on the team. 

 

I think it is Green's wake up call. I hope Gaunce realises that there is no point having that physique and not using it consistently, like Jake...........oh wait.

[Drakrami]

lol at people who thinks Gaunce was ever gonna get picked up at the waivers. 

[Undrafted]

On 9/30/2018 at 10:16 AM, Ihatetomatoes said:

Ya they've definitely given up on Gaunce.  It's too bad as I see him as a good cheap 4th line player.  Sure he doesn't score but he's good at keeping the puck out of his own net and that's what you want out of a 4th line player

I don't know if anyone still remembers this but when Gaunce was drafted, he was touted as "the best 2-way centre in the OHL".  However, taking him in the first-round was panned widely because 2-way forwards at the junior level usually don't have enough offensive skill to translate at the NHL level and usually, teams' first-round picks look for a much higher offensive ceiling than what Gaunce projected, even back then. 

 

So really, one can't be surprised at how his career trajectory turned out.  I think a lot of people expected more from him as a first-rounder, but really, that was more of a botched pick than anything else.

[rekker]

9 minutes ago, Undrafted said:

I don't know if anyone still remembers this but when Gaunce was drafted, he was touted as "the best 2-way centre in the OHL".  However, taking him in the first-round was panned widely because 2-way forwards at the junior level usually don't have enough offensive skill to translate at the NHL level and usually, teams' first-round picks look for a much higher offensive ceiling than what Gaunce projected, even back then. 

 

So really, one can't be surprised at how his career trajectory turned out.  I think a lot of people expected more from him as a first-rounder, but really, that was more of a botched pick than anything else.

I think the game has changed since he was drafted as well. 20 years ago in the dead puck era I bet he would stick. Different game now and so many of these young kids nowadays can shoot as well as defend.  

[Kushman]

Never understood some of the fans obsession with Gaunce on these forums. Kid has size but doesn't use it. Zero offensive capabilities or creativity. He's not an NHL player. Glad this idea that he should be on the roster is gone. 12 pts in 114 NHL games is garbage, I don't want to hear about intangibles or how good he is defensively. 

[Nancouver]

I still remember the kings picking tanner pearson a few picks after gaunce and thinking uh oh. 

[GoldenAlien]

On 10/1/2018 at 6:24 PM, Undrafted said:

I don't know if anyone still remembers this but when Gaunce was drafted, he was touted as "the best 2-way centre in the OHL".  However, taking him in the first-round was panned widely because 2-way forwards at the junior level usually don't have enough offensive skill to translate at the NHL level and usually, teams' first-round picks look for a much higher offensive ceiling than what Gaunce projected, even back then. 

 

So really, one can't be surprised at how his career trajectory turned out.  I think a lot of people expected more from him as a first-rounder, but really, that was more of a botched pick than anything else.

I'm sorry, but this is revisionist history.  The Gaunce pick was widely lauded at the time.  Central Scouting ranked him #11 among NA skaters at midterm, #13 among NA skaters at final.  We got him at #26, and IIRC, Belleville fans said he only slipped in the CS rankings because his ice time was reduced after the trade deadline.  Zemgus Girgensons, ranked #18 among NA skaters, went #14 to Buffalo and I remember that was considered a good pick as well.  Gaunce was one of the best choices left on the board when it came to #26, he had been training with Gary Roberts since he was 16 and scored very well during the combine.  And pundits said that Cameron was a slow skater but made big strides in that area since being drafted, and Gaunce was already a better skater than him.

 

Two way centre does not equal low ceiling.  Horvat was known as one of the best two way centres in the OHL -- Nischushkin and Domi had higher ceilings.  Considering he was a top 10 pick, surely we should've been looking for maximum ceiling?  These three were drafted between #9-#12, but five years out, I think it's clear which forward was the right choice at #9.

 

Gaunce is a late first round pick in a mediocre draft, just look at all the forwards taken between #20 to #40 in 2012:

 

#20 Scott Laughton: 47 pts in 190 GP

#21 Mark Jankowski: 25 pts in 73 GP

#27 Henrik Samuelsson: 0 pts in 3 GP

#29 Stefan Mateau: 7pts in 64 GP

#30 Tanner Pearson: 143pts in 308 GP

#32 Mitch Moroz: never played in the NHL

#33 Sebastian Collberg:  never played in the NHL

#36 Nic Kerdiles: 0 pts in 3 GP

#39 Lukas Sutter: never played in the NHL

 

#26 Brendan Gaunce: 12pts in 114 GP

 

Of the 7 forwards taken after Gaunce, 6 did not play more than 10 games in the NHL.  Three didn't even get a single call up.  The only one who did better than Gaunce is Pearson, who was at the time, not an obvious pick.  He was 20 years old, had gone undrafted twice, ranked #25 among NA skaters by CS, and had skating problems.  He had 42pts in 66 GP in what would've been most people's draft+1 year, and then had 91pts in 60 GP as a 20 year old.  Guess who else exploded in their 20 year old season and was drafted in 2012?  Alexandre Mallet, who got 81 pts in 68 GP, but was known as a fast skater and one of the toughest forwards in the Q.  Gillis took him 27 spots after Pearson, which was a huge reach -- but not so much if you compared him to Pearson.  And look at how he turned out.  For every guy who suddenly had a big 20 year old season because they're the real deal, 10 only took off because it's their 4th year and they're playing in a league with 16 year olds.

 

In the end, out of a group of 8 forwards, we got the second best one, and to say that the pick was bad because Pearson surprised is like saying Kesler was a lousy pick at #23 because Anaheim took Perry at #28. 

 

Edited October 4, 2018 by GoldenAlien

[edcba]

1 hour ago, GoldenAlien said:

I'm sorry, but this is revisionist history.  The Gaunce pick was widely lauded at the time.  Central Scouting ranked him #11 among NA skaters at midterm, #13 among NA skaters at final.  We got him at #26, and IIRC, Belleville fans said he only slipped in the CS rankings because his ice time was reduced after the trade deadline.  Zemgus Girgensons, ranked #18 among NA skaters, went #14 to Buffalo and I remember that was considered a good pick as well.  Gaunce was one of the best choices left on the board when it came to #26, he had been training with Gary Roberts since he was 16 and scored very well during the combine.  And pundits said that Cameron was a slow skater but made big strides in that area since being drafted, and Gaunce was already a better skater than him.

 

Two way centre does not equal low ceiling.  Horvat was known as one of the best two way centres in the OHL -- Nischushkin and Domi had higher ceilings.  Considering he was a top 10 pick, surely we should've been looking for maximum ceiling?  These three were drafted between #9-#12, but five years out, I think it's clear which forward was the right choice at #9.

 

Gaunce is a late first round pick in a mediocre draft, just look at all the forwards taken between #20 to #40 in 2012:

 

#20 Scott Laughton: 47 pts in 190 GP

#21 Mark Jankowski: 25 pts in 73 GP

#27 Henrik Samuelsson: 0 pts in 3 GP

#29 Stefan Mateau: 7pts in 64 GP

#30 Tanner Pearson: 143pts in 308 GP

#32 Mitch Moroz: never played in the NHL

#33 Sebastian Collberg:  never played in the NHL

#36 Nic Kerdiles: 0 pts in 3 GP

#39 Lukas Sutter: never played in the NHL

 

#26 Brendan Gaunce: 12pts in 114 GP

 

Of the 7 forwards taken after Gaunce, 6 did not play more than 10 games in the NHL.  Three didn't even get a single call up.  The only one who did better than Gaunce is Pearson, who was at the time, not an obvious pick.  He was 20 years old, had gone undrafted twice, ranked #25 among NA skaters by CS, and had skating problems.  He had 42pts in 66 GP in what would've been most people's draft+1 year, and then had 91pts in 60 GP as a 20 year old.  Guess who else exploded in their 20 year old season and was drafted in 2012?  Alexandre Mallet, who got 81 pts in 68 GP, but was known as a fast skater and one of the toughest forwards in the Q.  Gillis took him 27 spots after Pearson, which was a huge reach -- but not so much if you compared him to Pearson.  And look at how he turned out.  For every guy who suddenly had a big 20 year old season because they're the real deal, 10 only took off because it's their 4th year and they're playing in a league with 16 year olds.

 

In the end, out of a group of 8 forwards, we got the second best one, and to say that the pick was bad because Pearson surprised is like saying Kesler was a lousy pick at #23 because Anaheim took Perry at #28. 

 

This is a very good summary of what happened at the draft year!

[alfstonker]

On 01/10/2018 at 11:53 PM, Kushman said:

Never understood some of the fans obsession with Gaunce on these forums. Kid has size but doesn't use it. Zero offensive capabilities or creativity. He's not an NHL player. Glad this idea that he should be on the roster is gone. 12 pts in 114 NHL games is garbage, I don't want to hear about intangibles or how good he is defensively. 

Too pertinent I imagine.

[Kushman]

4 hours ago, alfstonker said:

Too pertinent I imagine.

So pertinent that management felt the same way. hes been sent down and I imagine he's gonna continue to drop down the list of first to get called up. He doesn't offer the team anything of value. His "defensive" capabilities aren't even at an elite level. They're maybe slightly above average.

[Drakrami]

Gaunce has taken things way too granted the past 2 years while he was a regular on the team. To be fair, I haven't watched him play a lot. But Motte is flying out there checking opposition players, very noticably. Gaunce, for a player with 0 offense points nor potential to show is very unnoticable in hard working ethics. Even with all that, he has many supporters here praising his so called defensive skill set. Well, he can go defend in Utica. 

[Lancaster]

On 10/5/2018 at 12:32 PM, Drakrami said:

Gaunce has taken things way too granted the past 2 years while he was a regular on the team. To be fair, I haven't watched him play a lot. But Motte is flying out there checking opposition players, very noticably. Gaunce, for a player with 0 offense points nor potential to show is very unnoticable in hard working ethics. Even with all that, he has many supporters here praising his so called defensive skill set. Well, he can go defend in Utica. 

He's not the quickest guy out there, but he often finishes his checks instead of just doing flybys.  Just usually the puck has already been off-loaded, thus his hits are usually just shown on the edge of the screen on TV, thus mostly unnoticeable unless you are specifically searching for Gaunce.  Just unlike Virtanen, his checks doesn't have that "umph".

 

As a 4th line winger, who is able to be the secondary face-off guy, who can be on the PK.... he plays decent in that role.  His stats line doesn't look great, but it's not like he doesn't create any chances at all... just sometimes bad luck.  

 

 

[filthycanuck]

On 9/30/2018 at 10:16 AM, Ihatetomatoes said:

Ya they've definitely given up on Gaunce.  It's too bad as I see him as a good cheap 4th line player.  Sure he doesn't score but he's good at keeping the puck out of his own net and that's what you want out of a 4th line player

Unfortunately thats the barest minimum, which isn't good enough for a roster spot. Gaunce has to bring something else to the table.  If he had an edge or even was a consistent 50- 55 percent in faceoffs he'd be in the lineup.

[Drakrami]

3 hours ago, Lancaster said:

He's not the quickest guy out there, but he often finishes his checks instead of just doing flybys.  Just usually the puck has already been off-loaded, thus his hits are usually just shown on the edge of the screen on TV, thus mostly unnoticeable unless you are specifically searching for Gaunce.  Just unlike Virtanen, his checks doesn't have that "umph".

 

As a 4th line winger, who is able to be the secondary face-off guy, who can be on the PK.... he plays decent in that role.  His stats line doesn't look great, but it's not like he doesn't create any chances at all... just sometimes bad luck.  

 

 

Fair enough points. 

 

But if he is a grinder that is not fast, that will be a huge blow to his career. He needs to be fast enough to forecheck, finish checks, get in blocking lanes and may be even bring the puck down the ice. His shot is really bad, it looks like he pushes the puck to the net instead of actually shooting it. 

 

Any way wish he surprises in Utica and get another chance with the big club. Not that optimistic considering we get new blood every draft year flooding in to compete for a roster spot. Right now Boucher or even Gagner is preferred for a call up to the big club. 

[RogersTowell]

Gaunce is actually quite a good AHL player.  He just hasn't translated to that good an NHL player.  The nail in the coffin for Gaunce was the signing of three bottom six FA's this summer.

[UticaHockey]

6 hours ago, Drakrami said:

Fair enough points. 

 

But if he is a grinder that is not fast, that will be a huge blow to his career. He needs to be fast enough to forecheck, finish checks, get in blocking lanes and may be even bring the puck down the ice. His shot is really bad, it looks like he pushes the puck to the net instead of actually shooting it. 

 

Any way wish he surprises in Utica and get another chance with the big club. Not that optimistic considering we get new blood every draft year flooding in to compete for a roster spot. Right now Boucher or even Gagner is preferred for a call up to the big club. 

In the AHL Gaunce has scored numerous goals from the deep slot and circles with a heavy wrist shot.  Not sure why that hasn't translated to the NHL beyond the obvious less time and space to get that shot off.

[canucklehead44]

2 hours ago, UticaHockey said:

In the AHL Gaunce has scored numerous goals from the deep slot and circles with a heavy wrist shot.  Not sure why that hasn't translated to the NHL beyond the obvious less time and space to get that shot off.

He started more in the defensive zone than any other player in the NHL. If anything I think he just tried to get the puck on net for a whistle. 

[MeanSeanBean]

8 minutes ago, canucklehead44 said:

He started more in the defensive zone than any other player in the NHL. If anything I think he just tried to get the puck on net for a whistle. 

This. The kid seems to have zero confidence at the NHL level. Watching him, to me, looks like a player scared to make a mistake. It looks like he knows any mistake could bench him, and being benched could end his shot at the NHL. He never attempted anything creative with the puck, ever. He always made the safe play. Which is fine for a time, but the club evolved past him. I like Gaunce, I sincerely hope he spends some time in Utica and regains his confidence. I would like to see him called up and given one last chance to prove himself.

[Borderline Canuck]

Is Gaunce injured ?  He hasn't been in the Utica lineup the last two games.