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Third D Pairing Poll


JamesB

Third D Pairing  

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There has of course been a lot of talk about the third pairing. The top 4 are pretty much set with Edler and Tanev on the top pairing and Hutton and Gudbranson on the second pairing.

 

On the third pairing WD indicated at the start of camp that Sbisa and Larsen had the inside track, while allowing that we would have to see how things go in preseason. Well, we are more than half way through preseason and we also saw what happened at the young stars and in camp. The choices are pretty clear, so I thought I would set up this poll to see what general opinion on CDC is.

 

Many people on CDC do not favor WD's initial third pairing of Sbisa and Larsen, although they probably still have the inside track. Sbisa is battling with Tryamkin and Pedan for the LD spot and as the guy who stays at home and provides physical play and toughness, and can play on the PK. On the right side the competition is between Larsen, Stecher and Biega, all of whom are smallish right shots. And Stecher and Larsen are both offensive defencemen who can QB the powerplay.

 

Personally, at this stage I favor Tryamkin and Stecher. Larsen has been underwhelming and I would be happy with Sbisa as 7th man, although I admit that he is decent in the third pairing. Decent -- but, like many others, I love Tryamkin's size and strength and toughness -- and he is a good skater for a big guy. And with his reach he is very good on the PK and can potentially play shutdown. And of course Stecher has been the story of pre-season so far.

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I voted Tryamkin and Stecher. 

 

Now I voted for Stecher for the obvious reason that he's legitimately played well enough to beat out Larsen on the third spot so far. As for Tryamkin over Sbisa, is not so much as the fact that Tryamkin has played so much better than Sbisa, but the fact that Tryamkin is more steady as a defensive defender and in my opinion Sbisa would hold Stecher back in his development with his multiple brain gaffs every game. 

 

Personally, I think Hutton could've scored an extra 5 points last season had he not played with Sbisa and Weber for the entire year, and we might've even been able to see him being considered for Team NA at the WC.

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My personal preference would be seeing Stecher on the third pairing. I love how Stecher has played up to this point,  so far he's been real good and have impressed  the coaching staff with his play. Having said that though there's no point in retaining Stecher as a spare sitting in the press box as the 7th 8th D, as it's more beneficial for him to be playing alot of meaningful minutes and used in every situation either as the 6th D , the PP,  or in Utica.



 

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It doesn't matter what Benning does. If we keep Stecher and lose somebody to waivers people will be up in arms. if Stecher is sent to Uttica people will be up in arms. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

That said, I don't really care who is here and who is sent down. I like the way the D depth has shaped up so quickly. I think it will really come down to those final couple of preseason games when there's more NHL regulars in the opposition line up.

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Stetcher has played well and deserves a spot, but that's not how this will initially play out. Larsen will get a chance to show his stuff in the regular season and the Nucks have openly said they are carrying 8 defencemen (top 4, Sbisa, Try, Larsen, Pedan) so that means Stetcher is gone to Utica for at least a little bit because he's the only one not affected by waivers. The sooner the better, but by the end of the season there will be 7 dmen up here and the bottom pair will rotate around Sbisa, Tryamkin, and Stetcher. Nobody is taking Biega off waivers and Larsen could make decent trade bait at the deadline so the only D that is really in a concerning spot is Pedan. We're going to want him next year when Sbisa is gone, but we don't need him up now and really don't want to lose him to waivers... It'll be a tricky decision on Benning's behalf...

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Normally I would be all for rotating Pedan into and out of the line-up depending on the opponent and if Dorsett will likely be beat up again.  But given our tepid power play last year and a personal feeling that Larsen isn't the answer (he hasn't made it before, chances are this is his last chance - and the odds are against him) and that we've watched Stetcher play his heart out I hope management will at least give these guys a 9 game real NHL game try-out and see what happens.  IF Stetcher continues to score or he gets PP time and it's working keep him up, if not well he tried and we can move forward knowing the log jam at the bottom pairing and the 7th spot bodes well for the future of our defense.  As an aside Dorsett fought well against one of the best fighters in the AHL in Gallant, without the broken nose he might have even got the W.  Love his heart, hope we soon have other guys in the line-up that can play and fight heavyweights for him so he we don't have to keep watching him punch up in weight class.

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5 hours ago, Baggins said:

It doesn't matter what Benning does. If we keep Stecher and lose somebody to waivers people will be up in arms. if Stecher is sent to Uttica people will be up in arms. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

That said, I don't really care who is here and who is sent down. I like the way the D depth has shaped up so quickly. I think it will really come down to those final couple of preseason games when there's more NHL regulars in the opposition line up.

Agree that it's a no-win situation with the fans.  I think Stecher will be sent down with the understanding that it's not about how he played in preseason and that he'll be the first to come up.  He'll no doubt have the chance to play a lot of games for the Canucks this year but unless there's a trade, I can't see JB risking the loss of one of the other guys.  With that said, I expect a trade will happen at some point.

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I'd most like to see something like Sbisa/Tryamkin (rotating) with Stecher on the right side, but...

 

How will this work for the expansion draft? It seems Biega will be cut and won't qualify for the expansion draft. Is Larsen eligible? Right now it seems Sbisa is the only d man we have that's A) eligible, and B ) We'd be okay with losing. 

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What? No Juolevi? Some fans tend to want to rush young players in the lineup so they can fast-track the Canucks bright future. lol

 

I will be quite surprised if Stecher makes the team before Sbisa. If Larsen doesn't make the team, doesn't he take off back to Europe and we lose him? Canucks can't afford to lose any D, we know how they drop like flies in the new year heading down the stretch. I say Larsen starts and Stecher hones his game in Utica for a year before making the big club.

 

If they play a heavy team and it's going to be a physical matchup, then Tryamkin plays and Larsen sits. If they require speed and finesse on the backend, then Larsen will play and Tryamkin sits. If Larsen doesn't work out very well, Stecher is in.

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