[discussion] Free Agency 2018: to D or not to D?

[JM_]

With the season winding down I find myself wondering what the heck is Jim going to do with this D group? That to me is the #1 off season issue by far with this team. 

 

Edler-Tanev

Del Zotto - Gudbranson

 

seems like a probable top 4 (for us) starting next season.

 

But then we have maybe 6 guys competing for the 5-8 spots: Hutton, Stecher, Pouliot, Biega and possibly now Sautner and maybe Juolevi depending on his off-season training and camp performance. 

 

And Benning talking about possibly adding in a college free agent.

 

With all of these guys in the system for next season, I wonder now if Jim should stand pat on D for one season as far as free agency goes? There won't be a "1D" available in free agency so we'd just be adding more middle-pairing depth (I think Carlson is staying put in Washington), so I'd like to see Jim keep the cheque book closed this year on free agent D.

 

Thoughts? Is there a free agent you think Jim should target?

 

 

[Pears]

I think we offer Carlson the contract he wants imo. We’ll have the cap space to do so and we can offer him something most teams can’t: A spot on the top pair with the most minutes. 

[PlanB]

5 minutes ago, Pears said:

I think we offer Carlson the contract he wants imo. We’ll have the cap space to do so and we can offer him something most teams can’t: A spot on the top pair with the most minutes. 

Does anyone really think he's going from first to worst essentially?   Other teams that are far more competitive than us will be pursuing this asset with more bargaining leverage than we can offer.   He will be the top 1 or 2  guy wherever he lands regardless.   We won't be competitive for a few years yet - no need to get locked into long-term untradeable contracts in free agency when we're just about to get a little bit of cap flexibility.  The LE contract should've taught JB a valuable lesson. 

[Justdean10]

With how often our D get injured, It seems like of the top 4 we only have top 2 of what's left. I think we should trade Hutton if we can at the draft. Sign another top 4 defencemen. I know that's a lot of money invested in our defense but we don't have too much spent on our Goalies so I think it evens out. Since we're probably going to Markstrom/Demko for the next while, we won't be spending too much on Goalies. We feel like we have the cap space for defense. 

[I.Am.Ironman]

I hope the Sedin's come back for another year at 3.5M. That leaves us the 7mill to offer Carlson, I'm not sure he is worth more than that however. I am weary of how much stat padding he gets playing with Ovie et al. I haven't watched him play all that much so maybe someone else can chime in on whether he is worth a big pay day. As mentioned above, if he can play top pair with Edler maybe moving Tanev to seconds pair will reduce the wear and tear that poor man is subjected to.

 

I think the Canucks are at the stage where they should/could make a push for the playoffs next year. If we are lucky enough to make a meaningful FA signing (Carlson or maybe Kane for the right price) I could see them in the dance next year. That all assumes Boeser doesn't have a sophomore slump, the Sedin's can still be 50pt players, Markstrom plays like he has been lately, and Petersson can make an impact. All could happen, not all will, but hopefully we have more depth to deal with injuries next year.

[hammertime]

I agree on standing pat with D. Next year I hope will be our final tank. Adding/overpaying for FA D  at this juncture I think would be an error. I want to see who rises to the top out of Pouliot, Hutton, Stetcher, Biega. with Levi, 2018 D pic and G Breezy coming JB will have to trim the fat on d in 2019/2020.

[mll]

McKenzie's estimate of Carlson's next contract. 

 

[HerrDrFunk]

4 minutes ago, mll said:

McKenzie's estimate of Carlson's next contract. 

 

Seems pretty accurate to me. Personally, I would do 8x6 for a legit #1 D in a heartbeat. 

[Drakrami]

I will do that 8m 6 year for Carlson. We really need to have a solid d corp. If we are not in the playoff pictures come February we can trade Edler/Tanev. 

[Crabcakes]

1 hour ago, Jimmy McGill said:

With the season winding down I find myself wondering what the heck is Jim going to do with this D group? That to me is the #1 off season issue by far with this team. 

 

Edler-Tanev

Del Zotto - Gudbranson

 

seems like a probable top 4 (for us) starting next season.

 

But then we have maybe 6 guys competing for the 5-8 spots: Hutton, Stecher, Pouliot, Biega and possibly now Sautner and maybe Juolevi depending on his off-season training and camp performance. 

 

And Benning talking about possibly adding in a college free agent.

 

With all of these guys in the system for next season, I wonder now if Jim should stand pat on D for one season as far as free agency goes? There won't be a "1D" available in free agency so we'd just be adding more middle-pairing depth (I think Carlson is staying put in Washington), so I'd like to see Jim keep the cheque book closed this year on free agent D.

 

Thoughts? Is there a free agent you think Jim should target?

 

 

Benning is always looking for opportunities like college free agents but I think the plan on the back end is to develop young players into a future core.  I don't think he's going to be adding high priced free agents.  

 

We saw last year that Benning added support players through free agency:  Del Zotto, Vanek, Gagner and Burmistrov

 

Now to deconstruct the back end.

• Veteran top pair to anchor the group:  Edler, Tanev.  These guys can be split up as needs be
• Solid developed young players to round out the top 4:  Stecher, Gudbranson
• Developing players on the bottom pair:  Hutton, Pouliot, 
• DelZotto is a place holder to hold the 2nd pair LW spot until a developed player emerges

Next year we'll see Juolevi come to North America and make a play for the Canucks, Sautner (surprise) looks ok

 

I think that Benning has the back end set up the way he wants so I don't see the need for a free agent this year.  By the trade deadline, one would hope that one of Hutton or Pouliot would step up and show himself to be able to take on that 2nd pair LW spot but you never can tell how fast (or slow (Hutton)) players will develop.  

[Crabcakes]

High priced free agents, to my mind are like adding the last piece to the puzzle.  Like what Calgary thought they were doing with Hamonic.

 

The Canucks are no where near this point.  They're still at the bottom, close to the point where the pieces of the puzzle start to resemble a team and they start to rise up the standings.

[Rob_Zepp]

I think Canucks should wait one more season.   They are not going to challenge next year and getting a better handle on their own D prospects over another season including OJ (he is still just 19) will be telling.   Better to sit tight and evaluate first before having so much tied to a player who may not be a fit with the development plan EVEN if he would agree to sign with a younger team.

[DADDYROCK]

Our defense could be better in a big hurry if we get our first ever 1oa pick and go with DAHLIN,

wouldn't that be nice for a change, instead of getting bad luck screwed at the lotto draft.

[billabong]

I’d be very wary to go big on carlson

 

hes not the quickest player in a game that’s getting faster year by year 

 

AND more than anything, his numbers are inflated probably by 20 points or so cause he plays on a PP with ovechkin, backstrom and kuznetsov. 

 

[Phil_314]

Free agency seems to be where guys come to get overpaid and then under-perform.  Even quality signings like Shattenkirk underwhelm at times (production dropped quite a bit, albeit on a crappy Rangers team), and you'd be lucky to find a guy like Hamhuis when he signed with us (look how Lucic and Eriksson have panned out).  

 

The best plan future and budget wise would've rhymed with the name of our beloved captain but that ship looks like it might've sailed.  Hope we still have a shot at a potential #1 D-man though.  

[smithers joe]

i look at the state of our defense as, us having players in the organization who could eventually fill the 3rd. juolevi, 4th chatfield, 5th brisebois and 6th pullout or sautner.

if we can draft a replacement for edler...dahlin or hughes or for tanev...boqvist, bouchard or dobson, we'll be closer to eventually having a solid defense corp. of course, we'll have to have patience. i don't see high quality ufa's wanting to come here. but stranger things have happened.

personally, i like to see dobson or bouchard here and eventually being the new tanev with more offence. 

[Gaudette Celly]

2 hours ago, Jimmy McGill said:

Thoughts? Is there a free agent you think Jim should target?

How about giving us the list of pending UFAs, sir?

[Canuck Surfer]

1 hour ago, Jimmy McGill said:

With the season winding down I find myself wondering what the heck is Jim going to do with this D group? That to me is the #1 off season issue by far with this team. 

You point out a rather perplexing dilemma. Here is the thing?

 

We don't have as much in the cupboard on D as we do up front. I personally would love Carlson, but don't see it as realistic. Or worth it...  For reasons @Rob_Zepp pointed out. We're not ready. And would a premium free agent want to be here? (At this stage...) But if we're gong to have Pettersson here, we should give him some tools. Particularly if, as rumoured, the Twins are not going to be here?

 

Barring winning the lottery? I might rather, even overpay, a mid tier free agent to Carlson. I'd rather overpay Mike Green for 3 years, than be committed to any guy for 7 or 8 years. 3 x $7.5 / $7.8 should get him to ignore what he will get over 4 or 5 years? And enough jam he'll ignore contenders. No NMC so we can expose him in expansion, but at a tag they probably ignore. Still a righty so we leave a natural progression for Juolevi to take over from Edler on the left. That's one year past Tanev's current pact for us to break in, say, Boqvist?  

 

And it would give us some immediate cred to our PP,  some creativity and shots on net 5 on 5. This is, by far, the biggest hole in our line up. 

[nuckin_futz]

2 hours ago, PlanB said:

Does anyone really think he's going from first to worst essentially?   Other teams that are far more competitive than us will be pursuing this asset with more bargaining leverage than we can offer.   He will be the top 1 or 2  guy wherever he lands regardless.   We won't be competitive for a few years yet - no need to get locked into long-term untradeable contracts in free agency when we're just about to get a little bit of cap flexibility.  The LE contract should've taught JB a valuable lesson. 

"My goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and after the offer I received from Buffalo, I believe this is the best place to make it happen.” Christian Ehrhoff  June 30th, 2011.

 

That quote was just 2 weeks after he played the last playoff game of his entire career. Sometimes it really is all about the Benjamins.

[JeremyCuddles]

Carlson kinda scares me. Someone already mentioned he plays with some really good players with a really good PP. Maybe Boeser can be our Ovechkin and Carlson can maintain his PP success here by teeing up Boeser. Our PP this year actually is really good too. Given how depleted our D cupboard is I am not against management targeting anyone they can. 6 years is pushing it for me, but if he wants 7 or 8 years? I dunno man. 35/36 year old 8 million dollar D-man that at 28 already isn't the quickest guy around? League is only gonna get quicker. If he takes 8mil for 6 years I'd be okay with that honestly. Slap him alongside Dahlin. I smell Canuck playoff games. 

 

If we can't get Carlson, which lets be honest is a huge stretch we do get him, we are just gonna need to load up on d-men through the draft. Not with late picks like in past drafts. We need to target 1st and 2nd round D prospects. Drafting Tate Olson was cute, Brisbois looks like a solid 6/7 in the future. But we need big time D prospects. Dropping outta the top 5 if we don't get Dahlin is a good strategy we should heavily look into. If we are 2-4 should look at moving down to 6-8 and picking up some additional picks while drafting one of Hughes, Boqvist, Bouchard, Dobson. Then hopefully some fringe first round D prospects drop to our 2nd round pick.