Maddogy Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 4 minutes ago, Where'd Luongo? said: Gaunce is doing great in Utica. Positive plus/minus, couple of shorties, tied for most GWG, filling up some part of the stat sheet every night. Too bad he can't catch a break. This is exactly what is supposed to happen if a team has lots of good/great prospects, i.e. many prospects don't have the opportunity to be called. This speaks volumes just how great of a job J.B. has done to fill the prospect pool and generate internal competition. I follow the Oilers. If Gaunce is an Edmonton property he would have been slotted to play with McDavid or centre the 2nd line. Edmonton fans would have gushed over his incredible ability to skate and back check and banter they should keep Gaunce and trade Jesse Puljujärvi. I am not joking. This is how pathetic Oilers' prospect pool is. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Maddogy said: This is exactly what is supposed to happen if a team has lots of good/great prospects, i.e. many prospects don't have the opportunity to be called. This speaks volumes just how great of a job J.B. has done to fill the prospect pool and generate internal competition. I follow the Oilers. If Gaunce is an Edmonton property he would have been slotted to play with McDavid or centre the 2nd line. Edmonton fans would have gushed over his incredible ability to skate and back check and banter they should keep Gaunce and trade Jesse Puljujärvi. I am not joking. This is how pathetic Oilers' prospect pool is. Totally agree. JB has brought in players, who are clearly better than Gaunce. I could see Gaunce getting lots of love from Hitchcock. Hitch likes players he can trust defensively. That's Gaunce for sure. Gaunce for Poolparty? Edited February 4, 2019 by Alflives 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comeback_Kings Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Canucks going to the Playoffs are going to need Gaunce. A calm professional player with size like Gaunce is going to be a great black ace ready to roll. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 8 minutes ago, Comeback_Kings said: Canucks going to the Playoffs are going to need Gaunce. A calm professional player with size like Gaunce is going to be a great black ace ready to roll. After the TDL, are we allowed to bring up players without worrying about them needing to clear waivers, when sending them back down again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comeback_Kings Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 5 minutes ago, Alflives said: After the TDL, are we allowed to bring up players without worrying about them needing to clear waivers, when sending them back down again? I think "black aces" are players who are called up from the AHL when NHL teams can expand their rosters when they make the playoffs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Ryan Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 7 minutes ago, Alflives said: After the TDL, are we allowed to bring up players without worrying about them needing to clear waivers, when sending them back down again? I think so, but not 100%. I know they have to be "papered" down somewhere around game 65 or so, or they can't go down at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lock Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Where'd Luongo? said: Gaunce is doing great in Utica. Positive plus/minus, couple of shorties, tied for most GWG, filling up some part of the stat sheet every night. Too bad he can't catch a break. The problem is there are a lot of players who will play well in the AHL but can't see to translate that success to the NHL level. At least Gaunce has the defensive side of this game working for him, but in this day and age that's pretty much the minimum of what a player need to have to succeed. If we just wanted him to not be a defensive liability and didn't care about anything else, we might as well have just stuck with Megna. Simply put, he hasn't brought anything that other players don't have. Horvat first stayed on the team largely because he could do faceoffs where our other centers could not. otherwise he may have been sent back to the CHL. Motte has stayed because he's arguably the hardest working player on the ice at times. Gaunce needs to find his niche because right now he doesn't have one. Edited February 4, 2019 by The Lock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudrias Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 2 hours ago, Alflives said: Totally agree. JB has brought in players, who are clearly better than Gaunce. I could see Gaunce getting lots of love from Hitchcock. Hitch likes players he can trust defensively. That's Gaunce for sure. Gaunce for Poolparty? Hitch has Kassian playing with McDavid so Gaunce should find a spot on the 3rd or 4th line. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
189lb enforcers? Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Looking good, Gaunce. Maybe you’ll make Sutter somewhat expendable at the TDL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoolander Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Was anyone else conscious of the fact Gaunce put up 3 pts in 3 games with the Canucks this season? I knew he found his scoring touch in the A, but this was pretty surprising to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerMainLander18 Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 If and only if Gaunce has the hockey IQ of Beags.... I don't think the management has given up on Gaunce yet. If he develops into a prototypic 4th line center logging big minutes in defensive zones, that is the kind of the role they expect Gaunce to fill in for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 26 minutes ago, LowerMainLander18 said: If and only if Gaunce has the hockey IQ of Beags.... I don't think the management has given up on Gaunce yet. If he develops into a prototypic 4th line center logging big minutes in defensive zones, that is the kind of the role they expect Gaunce to fill in for us. His IQ is fine. He needs more bite and attack to his game. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quantum Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 The truth with Gaunce is that he's probably not long for this organization after this year. There's a couple of things that he's gotta overcome at the end of this season that I don't think he will. 1) Gaunce was a Gillis pick. Not a Benning pick. So Benning doesn't have much of a "connection" to Gaunce, in terms of feeling a need to keep him. Much like Jensen, moving on from Gaunce won't be a hard decision for Benning. Evan McEneny is in a similar boat. 2) Schaller. If Schaller wasn't signed, Gaunce would have his spot right now. If the Canucks can't move Schaller by the deadline, chances are Gaunce will stay in the AHL for the rest of the year. Schaller doesn't appear to have any value right now, so I don't see him being dealt unfortunately. 3) Gaunce has played 116 NHL games yet only has 15 points to show for it. I think there's a legit argument to be made that Gaunce got rushed into the NHL in the 2016-2017 season. But I don't think that stat line makes upper management feel much better. Sure, Gaunce appears to have put it together at the AHL finally this year scoring at a nearly a PPG pace but he's also turning 25 in a month. He's getting on the old side for being a prospect. That said... I won't be surprised if Gaunce either gets added as a piece to a deal on TDL or gets called up if a guy like Granlund/Schaller get moved. I also expect the Canucks won't re-sign him this summer unless he gets called up and then goes on a career making run with the Canucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonMexico Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 He's never going to amount to much more than what we've already seen. Just another soft playing big body. Every team has half a dozen Gaunces playing in the AHL. Good enough in the AHL, not good enough in the NHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizzuto&hatoum Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 14 hours ago, RonMexico said: He's never going to amount to much more than what we've already seen. Just another soft playing big body. Every team has half a dozen Gaunces playing in the AHL. Good enough in the AHL, not good enough in the NHL. Just like his brother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Where'd Luongo? Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Gaunce has been doing everything right. Guy deserves an opportunity, he was YOUNG when they gave him a chance and didn't get to develop yet. Now he's actually decent and they won't bring him up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Where'd Luongo? said: Gaunce has been doing everything right. Guy deserves an opportunity, he was YOUNG when they gave him a chance and didn't get to develop yet. Now he's actually decent and they won't bring him up. Good enough to play at this level in a depth role but lacks the team's new slogan: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Where'd Luongo? Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 25 minutes ago, aGENT said: Good enough to play at this level in a depth role but lacks the team's new slogan: I disagree and I'm willing to argue that you haven't watched Comet hockey if you still think that. This guy has a bunch of GWGs and has positioned himself as a leader of that team, a team that is pushing for the top of their division. But hey, you like to focus on what he did 2 years ago so I'll leave you to it. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudrias Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 23 hours ago, Quantum said: The truth with Gaunce is that he's probably not long for this organization after this year. There's a couple of things that he's gotta overcome at the end of this season that I don't think he will. 1) Gaunce was a Gillis pick. Not a Benning pick. So Benning doesn't have much of a "connection" to Gaunce, in terms of feeling a need to keep him. Much like Jensen, moving on from Gaunce won't be a hard decision for Benning. Evan McEneny is in a similar boat. 2) Schaller. If Schaller wasn't signed, Gaunce would have his spot right now. If the Canucks can't move Schaller by the deadline, chances are Gaunce will stay in the AHL for the rest of the year. Schaller doesn't appear to have any value right now, so I don't see him being dealt unfortunately. 3) Gaunce has played 116 NHL games yet only has 15 points to show for it. I think there's a legit argument to be made that Gaunce got rushed into the NHL in the 2016-2017 season. But I don't think that stat line makes upper management feel much better. Sure, Gaunce appears to have put it together at the AHL finally this year scoring at a nearly a PPG pace but he's also turning 25 in a month. He's getting on the old side for being a prospect. That said... I won't be surprised if Gaunce either gets added as a piece to a deal on TDL or gets called up if a guy like Granlund/Schaller get moved. I also expect the Canucks won't re-sign him this summer unless he gets called up and then goes on a career making run with the Canucks. A lot of good points. My only objection is whether he was a Gillis pick or not. I doubt that amounts to much. More to your point is that he was a Gillis pick which means his progression has not been good. The Schaller signing was a direct challenge to Gaunce, no doubt. It has not worked out and has likely not been any better than keeping Gaunce in that spot. The bottom line is that his season in the AHL has been good. He is producing in all aspects of the game. Cannot say whether is physicality has amped up or not. Maybe a Utica fan could comment. Like all players the depth of the org will eventually pass you by. I have been a Gaunce fan but that is what he is facing. IMHO he has to have a very solid Calder Cup run to turn Canuck heads. We should not forget that Green coached Gaunce for 2 seasons. He will have a big say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Where'd Luongo? said: I disagree and I'm willing to argue that you haven't watched Comet hockey if you still think that. This guy has a bunch of GWGs and has positioned himself as a leader of that team, a team that is pushing for the top of their division. But hey, you like to focus on what he did 2 years ago so I'll leave you to it. I didn't say anything about his skill level, ability to score at the AHL level or leadership. Gaunce has never had a lot of 'bite' to his game. He's a solid, cerebral player who generally lets the play come to him and is about reades, positioning etc. But his play style doesn't particularly suit the play style the organization is teaching players and selling to fans. Battle, attack, relentless puck pursuit etc.... That's not Gaunce. Edited February 22, 2019 by aGENT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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