Kristoffer Gunnarsson | D

[I.Am.Ironman]

14 hours ago, Rollieo Del Fuego said:

That's it...zero's...neither good nor bad...he is not going to score or get a primary assist ...but no-one ventures into his corner without fear and he blocks a ton of shots...

...so -0 pretty much a toss up kind of guy...nobody scores...

 

7 minutes ago, Diamonds said:

I remember after the draft reading that this guy is a physical beast, set a new bench press record for Frolunda or something like that. He may not provide any offense, but I think there is room to have a #6 defenseman on the team who is rock solid defensively and can also beat the crap out of opponents. Of course this is provided the rest of the d-corps can actually chip in offensively. 

Hal Gill got a ring playing a similar role with the Pens for Crosby's first SC win. They don't win that year without Hal Gill playing the role he did.

[VegasCanuck]

14 hours ago, Rollieo Del Fuego said:

I was just thinking that as I was writing my reply (above)...I do think he may be more coordinated than Snepts though...maybe not so prone to "own goals" or falling over backwards....

Snepts wasn't the worlds greatest defenseman, but positionally, he was generally pretty good and was an effective penalty killer and good at clearing the net.

 

Just don't ever expect him to score more than 2 goals per season, in a time when goalies we're pretty happy if they had a goals against between 3.00 - 3.50.

 

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

With Gunnarsson, I think that most encouraging thing is that he’s seeing regular icetime (over 10 minutes average TOI and 40+ games in the lineup) with a top SHL team and was extended by Frölunda through 2019-20. If he was just some scrub, he’d have been loaned down to a lower tier league long ago. But he’s continuing to play a role on a top team. He’s also managed to stay even +/- despite not really putting up any offense, which tells you he’s pretty dependable defensively. He’s only been on ice for 12 GA all season.

[Chronic.Canuck]

10 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

He’s only been on ice for 12 GA all season.

Those are Petterson level numbers!! 

[HorvatToBaertschi]

If we get an nhl player out of this pick, the trade is in fleece territory with Palmu showing what’s hes been showing as well. Who said JB cant trade? 

[wildcam]

Gunnerson is a big stay a home D man that makes big hits and solid in his D zone...We need this type of a D man, his skating is also good... No worries with this guy...

[The_Rocket]

I’d be surprised if this guy doesn’t at least reach the level of pedan. Having him in the system probably made JB more comfortable with moving pedan for pouliot. 

 

To to be honest I’m pretty happy with all the D we picked up in the 2017 draft, especially considering they were all late rounders. Odds are none of them turn out but they are all having good seasons this year

[kloubek]

18 minutes ago, Canadian Clay said:

I’d be surprised if this guy doesn’t at least reach the level of pedan. Having him in the system probably made JB more comfortable with moving pedan for pouliot. 

 

To to be honest I’m pretty happy with all the D we picked up in the 2017 draft, especially considering they were all late rounders. Odds are none of them turn out but they are all having good seasons this year

I feel Pedan showed far more upside as it comes to scoring. I know he did nothing in that regard while with Vancouver, but in the AHL he's shown at least SOME ability to score - whereas Gunnarsson shows little to none in the SHL.  To me, a better comparison is Gudbranson - though I have no idea if this kid can or is willing to fight, but fighting is way down in the league anyway and is likely going to continue that trend so I'm not sure it matters too much.

If he can develop into a shutdown, physical, stay at home defenseman then it makes Gudbranson expendable, along with his moderate contract.  While not important right now, it might be in 2-3 years once we start having to re-sign our young guys when their ELC's are up.  (Which , coincidentally is right around the time Gunnarsson should be ready to play in the NHL if he gets to that level).  

 

With all this said, I think there is very limited room on NHL teams for guys who are physical but not much more.  I understand what Gudbranson brings and why we gave him the contract we did, but I don't personally think physicality alone is worth that kind of money. The league is moving so much towards speed, skill and scoring that I think Nashville's model of mobile and talented defensemen is the way of the future. This isn't to say that there won't be room for a guy like Gunnarsson, but I hope he can add true shutdown defensive ability to his game so it would be a no-brainer to keep him and his low-paid contract over Gudbranson's.

[Boudrias]

30 minutes ago, kloubek said:

I feel Pedan showed far more upside as it comes to scoring. I know he did nothing in that regard while with Vancouver, but in the AHL he's shown at least SOME ability to score - whereas Gunnarsson shows little to none in the SHL.  To me, a better comparison is Gudbranson - though I have no idea if this kid can or is willing to fight, but fighting is way down in the league anyway and is likely going to continue that trend so I'm not sure it matters too much.

If he can develop into a shutdown, physical, stay at home defenseman then it makes Gudbranson expendable, along with his moderate contract.  While not important right now, it might be in 2-3 years once we start having to re-sign our young guys when their ELC's are up.  (Which , coincidentally is right around the time Gunnarsson should be ready to play in the NHL if he gets to that level).  

 

With all this said, I think there is very limited room on NHL teams for guys who are physical but not much more.  I understand what Gudbranson brings and why we gave him the contract we did, but I don't personally think physicality alone is worth that kind of money. The league is moving so much towards speed, skill and scoring that I think Nashville's model of mobile and talented defensemen is the way of the future. This isn't to say that there won't be room for a guy like Gunnarsson, but I hope he can add true shutdown defensive ability to his game so it would be a no-brainer to keep him and his low-paid contract over Gudbranson's.

I understand your concern about physicality being usurped by smaller faster players. My take is that the season is clearly split between regular and playoff seasons. Less physical play during regular season plays to the appeal of more scoring and less injury. Management lessens the depreciation of their assets and owners benefit with more offensive hockey that sells tickets.

 

The Playoff season is totally different. Winning is now. The prize is the CUP and all the economic spinoffs that represents. Physicality becomes a premium as it can often neutralize offence. Physicality becomes attractive in its own right. That's my take. 

[Hairy Kneel]

26 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

I understand your concern about physicality being usurped by smaller faster players. My take is that the season is clearly split between regular and playoff seasons. Less physical play during regular season plays to the appeal of more scoring and less injury. Management lessens the depreciation of their assets and owners benefit with more offensive hockey that sells tickets.

 

The Playoff season is totally different. Winning is now. The prize is the CUP and all the economic spinoffs that represents. Physicality becomes a premium as it can often neutralize offence. Physicality becomes attractive in its own right. That's my take. 

2

In a 7 game series this becomes even more important.

[Wierz19]

Look at guys like Radko Gudas and Robert Hagg in Philly they are machines when it comes to hits and still very effective minus the offence. Wouldn't want to play against them every night

Edited March 5, 2018 by Wierz19
Miss spell

[kloubek]

1 hour ago, Boudrias said:

I understand your concern about physicality being usurped by smaller faster players. My take is that the season is clearly split between regular and playoff seasons. Less physical play during regular season plays to the appeal of more scoring and less injury. Management lessens the depreciation of their assets and owners benefit with more offensive hockey that sells tickets.

 

The Playoff season is totally different. Winning is now. The prize is the CUP and all the economic spinoffs that represents. Physicality becomes a premium as it can often neutralize offence. Physicality becomes attractive in its own right. That's my take. 

I don't disagree with you.  Imagine how we might have fared in 2011 if our team was as tough (cheap?) as the Bruins were. The playoffs are much harder, and you need a tough team to get through a series... and you need a gritty team if you expect to punish the other and wear them down as much as possible over the course of 7 games. And this is indeed where a big, tough defenseman can come in handy. But is 4m worth spending on a guy who's best and almost only standout asset is punishing the opposing team?  

 

What we are seeing in the league is a transition to speed and skill. However, I think that after that phase is complete teams will start to look for an edge over others again, and will realize that while they've been focusing on those aspects their team on a whole became a little too soft to wear down an opposing playoff team. Therefore, IMO, the biggest growth in the league is going to be players like Lind and Gadjovich who play a relatively gritty game and can make it more challenging for the opposition, but they have enough skill to play their position and get on the scoresheet. 

Horvat is a fine example of the kind of current player I expect to do well going forward. He might not have all-out allstar scoring ability, but he has enough to hold his own and has the size and grit required to both dole out punishment when required.  Yet, if you ask someone to describe Horvat, his size is likely not to be the first thing they mention. That isn't enough on it's own, but if you get a whole team that are tenacious on the puck and gritty, then overall you become a far harder team to play against.  And I guess that is what I am getting at - distribute the assets of size and grit throughout as opposed to relying on one, two, or three players to bring it all for you.  If all your players are 10 pounds heavier and stronger, that's far better to me than having a couple guys on your team that are known as the "tough guys". 

 

Of course, this perspective all flies out the window if you get a beast like Tryamkin.  He is just SO overpowering that he could change a series all by himself.  With that said, I always felt he had far more offensive potential than Gudbranson and even chipping in some 10-15 points more a season makes a real difference.

[theo5789]

11 hours ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

If we get an nhl player out of this pick, the trade is in fleece territory with Palmu showing what’s hes been showing as well. Who said JB cant trade? 

Some have short term memory or selective memory to only feed their hatred of Benning.

[Derp...]

Gunnarsson is an interesting pick because he's in very good shape, but needs to develop some puck skills to make the transition to being a valuable pro. He's one of those guys who probably moved up too fast because of his physical attributes, when he needed to focus on his skill.

He already has 107 games as a pro and just turned 21. Hopefully he can get some skill development time, and improve his passing and shot. 

[Boudrias]

2 hours ago, kloubek said:

I don't disagree with you.  Imagine how we might have fared in 2011 if our team was as tough (cheap?) as the Bruins were. The playoffs are much harder, and you need a tough team to get through a series... and you need a gritty team if you expect to punish the other and wear them down as much as possible over the course of 7 games. And this is indeed where a big, tough defenseman can come in handy. But is 4m worth spending on a guy who's best and almost only standout asset is punishing the opposing team?  

 

What we are seeing in the league is a transition to speed and skill. However, I think that after that phase is complete teams will start to look for an edge over others again, and will realize that while they've been focusing on those aspects their team on a whole became a little too soft to wear down an opposing playoff team. Therefore, IMO, the biggest growth in the league is going to be players like Lind and Gadjovich who play a relatively gritty game and can make it more challenging for the opposition, but they have enough skill to play their position and get on the scoresheet. 

Horvat is a fine example of the kind of current player I expect to do well going forward. He might not have all-out allstar scoring ability, but he has enough to hold his own and has the size and grit required to both dole out punishment when required.  Yet, if you ask someone to describe Horvat, his size is likely not to be the first thing they mention. That isn't enough on it's own, but if you get a whole team that are tenacious on the puck and gritty, then overall you become a far harder team to play against.  And I guess that is what I am getting at - distribute the assets of size and grit throughout as opposed to relying on one, two, or three players to bring it all for you.  If all your players are 10 pounds heavier and stronger, that's far better to me than having a couple guys on your team that are known as the "tough guys". 

 

Of course, this perspective all flies out the window if you get a beast like Tryamkin.  He is just SO overpowering that he could change a series all by himself.  With that said, I always felt he had far more offensive potential than Gudbranson and even chipping in some 10-15 points more a season makes a real difference.

IMHO the Jets are the best combo of what you you are describing. Four lines with speed and size. I put them in the Final Four of CUP play. Mind you I said that 2 years ago so what do I know?

[kloubek]

55 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

IMHO the Jets are the best combo of what you you are describing. Four lines with speed and size. I put them in the Final Four of CUP play. Mind you I said that 2 years ago so what do I know?

The Jets are exactly that kind of team, and I think in these playoffs they will prove very difficult to play against for exactly that reason.  It's not the be-all-end-all, of course.  St. Louis is a pretty big team and they didn't make it past the 2nd round last year.  Having size is only one aspect that will drive a team to win the cup, and you can probably manage without it if you have an uber talented team with great goaltending.  But if you're rebuilding (as we are) and drafting your future lineup (which we also are), I think it pays to put a greater focus on these kinds of players.  If you can have a team filled with skilled guys who can also hit and play tough, you are well on your way to having a team that compete through the rigors of a post-season.

[Nucker 67]

I remember watching the 2017 Draft, where Benning was mic'd up, and when he traded the #112 to CHI for the #135 (Gunnarsson) and #181 (Palmu), Benning seemed very excited about the prospect of Gunnarsson, saying he's already playing against men in Sweden, and he could be a player. But I looked at his stats, and in 3 season with Frolunda (69 games), he has zero goals and zero assists. He seems like a solid player (205), but not overly tall (6'1"). Is Gunnarsson a player that could eventually make the team, for his defensive game? Canucks are lacking big, physical D that could help them in the playoffs one day. Does Gunnarsson ever get a shot?

[BananaMash]

8 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said:

I remember watching the 2017 Draft, where Benning was mic'd up, and when he traded the #112 to CHI for the #135 (Gunnarsson) and #181 (Palmu), Benning seemed very excited about the prospect of Gunnarsson, saying he's already playing against men in Sweden, and he could be a player. But I looked at his stats, and in 3 season with Frolunda (69 games), he has zero goals and zero assists. He seems like a solid player (205), but not overly tall (6'1"). Is Gunnarsson a player that could eventually make the team, for his defensive game? Canucks are lacking big, physical D that could help them in the playoffs one day. Does Gunnarsson ever get a shot?

What I find interesting with Gunnarsson is that his skill set seems like he'd be a better player on smaller ice. I imagine there's still a lot of work to be done with him as far as developing puck skills (because it sounds like he doesn't have many), but I hope they do bring him over for a look on a North American ice surface at some point.

[Nucker 67]

Could be grand slam if Gunnarsson works out. Traded a former 9th overall in his 30s for Goldobin, Gunnarsson and Palmu. 

[Noble 6]

I just remember him setting a new franchise record in the bench press and hitting everything he could, even in the prospects camp.