Good interview with John Weisbrod

[Guest]

Recap:  

 

-Good scouts left for promotions in other teams, and were replaced after consulting with Jim Benning and Judd Bracket.  New scouts covering the Mid-West, Ontario and Europe added. Very interesting conversation about Jim's philosophy on his recruiting. 

 

-Talks about finding players in the later rounds and general statistics.  Mentions Gaudette and Focht as particular guys that could turn into solid NHLers from later rounds.  

 

-Player development was a big focus in the off-season.  Scott Walker (was doing both player development and a lot of scouting) left and was replaced by Chris Higgins who will only do player development alongside Ryan Johnson.  Video, data and analytics is a big step forward that they will be using more and giving to their player development coaches to show to players (I believe Ryan Biech was hired with this purpose). 

 

-Brock Boeser situation is not directly tied to cap space.  Other RFAs not being signed are a big reason why a lot of dominoes haven't fallen.  He specifically mentions in the case of forwards as Marner and Point being in one category and Boeser and Connor being in another category.  Boeser has very good per 60 numbers but hasn't hit the 30 plateau and hasn't been durable and shown that he can get through an 82 game season.  

 

-Players that deserve and belong to be on the team will be there despite the sticky situation that will unfold with the cap.  

 

-Marky's contract is a very complicated issue...  broke through finally last year, Demko's play will be a factor as well as the expansion draft where you can only protect one guy. 

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/650/the-playbook/john-weisbrod-canucks-approach-drafting-developing-players/  

 

I found the whole interview interesting, especially the little tidbit that he let slip where he basically placed Marner and Point at the top of the heap, with Boeser and Connor a notch below.  This means that if we see a Connor deal with Winnipeg, Boeser will not be far behind. 

Edited September 14, 2019 by Guest

[I.Am.Ironman]

38 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

found the whole interview interesting, especially the little tidbit that he let slip where he basically placed Marner and Point at the top of the heap, with Boeser and Connor a notch below.  This means that if we see a Connor deal with Winnipeg, Boeser will not be far behind. 

That may not be a good thing if the Jets sign Connor first; they have way more cap space to work with. It all depends on what their Laine plans are I suppose.

[Crabcakes]

Why does John Weisbrod get vilified in Vacouver media?  Why?

 

He is intelligent, committed and passionate. What more do people want from an AGM?

[Rush17]

I really admire Weisbrod's communication skills. He really is great at these radio pieces he occasionally does. I have to say - each time I hear him on the radio it is a real treat.

['NucK™]

44 minutes ago, Crabcakes said:

Why does John Weisbrod get vilified in Vacouver media?  Why?

 

He is intelligent, committed and passionate. What more do people want from an AGM?

Pretty sure it's solely because he worked for Calgary... the guy sees talent from a mile away - there is nothing to hate about a scout that has that quality

['NucK™]

I also need to add that Weisbrod is such a stud for this club. He was grinning  ear to ear when Petey was drafted, and was literally licking his lips when they got Hughes at 7. If that isn't a measure of his judge of talent I don't know what is. 

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

1 hour ago, Crabcakes said:

Why does John Weisbrod get vilified in Vacouver media?  Why?

 

He is intelligent, committed and passionate. What more do people want from an AGM?

More smartfood

[EP-40]

2 hours ago, Crabcakes said:

Why does John Weisbrod get vilified in Vacouver media?  Why?

 

He is intelligent, committed and passionate. What more do people want from an AGM?

Was he not the brain child behind picking Jankowski like 3 rounds early with their first?

[Nuxfanabroad]

I forget was he part of the Mgt team that almost(hugely) botched the ROR offer sheet thing? I believe Cal almost gave away some picks..1st's due to a waiver-oversight.

 

Was that all Feaster?

[TheRussianRocket1994]

8 hours ago, Crabcakes said:

Why does John Weisbrod get vilified in Vacouver media?  Why?

 

He is intelligent, committed and passionate. What more do people want from an AGM?

Agreed! He doesn’t do a lot of interviews, but the ones he has done have been great!

[Fred65]

Weisbrod was an English major in university. Talking and interviews is his strong suit, however it's his abilities as a hockey analyst that is the primes need to be an AGM, don't get fooled by a snake oil salesman. I'm not saying he doesn't have the abilities to add to management but don't judge him on an interview. 

[86Viking]

10 hours ago, I.Am.Ironman said:

That may not be a good thing if the Jets sign Connor first; they have way more cap space to work with. It all depends on what their Laine plans are I suppose.

I don't think Winnipeg is going to overpay Connor. They have done a decent job resigning their players to a good cap hit. Connor is a good player, but he plays on a line with very good players. 

 

Wheeler makes 8.25m and has posted ppg totals

 

Scheifele makes 6.125m, signed his deal a couple years ago but has also proven to be a ppg in recent years

 

Maybe with the cap going up since the above 2 deals, Connor may get a contract somewhere inbetween those 2? So maybe a 7m or so cap hit, possibly. What Connor's agent will state is Kyle is much younger and has yet to hit his peak.

 

It will be interesting to see what player/team blinks 1st and inks a new deal with their respective team.

 

Due to Brock's shorter seasons due to injury, I believe he or his agent will want to sign a shorter deal. Realizing he is playing with Pistol Pete he knows he will produce well if healthy and they can cash in more on a shorter deal. The agent will push that as he is paid a commission I assume on the overall contract signed. Players also would be happy making millions more.

 

I would have never guessed Brock would have been this problematic to sign. He seems like a class act, good character and seems to like Vancouver. At worst I expected him to sign around a similar time to Bo did...a week or so before camp.

[Sbriggs]

56 minutes ago, Canuckster86 said:

I don't think Winnipeg is going to overpay Connor. They have done a decent job resigning their players to a good cap hit. Connor is a good player, but he plays on a line with very good players. 

 

Wheeler makes 8.25m and has posted ppg totals

 

Scheifele makes 6.125m, signed his deal a couple years ago but has also proven to be a ppg in recent years

 

Maybe with the cap going up since the above 2 deals, Connor may get a contract somewhere inbetween those 2? So maybe a 7m or so cap hit, possibly. What Connor's agent will state is Kyle is much younger and has yet to hit his peak.

 

It will be interesting to see what player/team blinks 1st and inks a new deal with their respective team.

 

Due to Brock's shorter seasons due to injury, I believe he or his agent will want to sign a shorter deal. Realizing he is playing with Pistol Pete he knows he will produce well if healthy and they can cash in more on a shorter deal. The agent will push that as he is paid a commission I assume on the overall contract signed. Players also would be happy making millions more.

 

I would have never guessed Brock would have been this problematic to sign. He seems like a class act, good character and seems to like Vancouver. At worst I expected him to sign around a similar time to Bo did...a week or so before camp.

I think we give him the benefit of the doubt because of his fathers health issues

[appleboy]

If they need 8 to 9 mil to sign Brock then they will have an issue. It's no wonder that they offered 7 mil earlier in the year.

They really need a trade to free up cap space. 

[Crabcakes]

1 hour ago, Fred65 said:

Weisbrod was an English major in university. Talking and interviews is his strong suit, however it's his abilities as a hockey analyst that is the primes need to be an AGM, don't get fooled by a snake oil salesman. I'm not saying he doesn't have the abilities to add to management but don't judge him on an interview. 

Weisbrod does have a hockey background though.  He played for Harvard for 4 years and they won the NCAA championship in 1989.  He was drafted by Minnesota in the 4th round in 1987 and was acquired by San Jose in 1991.  He retired soon after due to injury and his pro career consisted of only 16 IHL games.

 

He then went into management and became GM of the IHL Orlando Solar Bears.  When the IHL disbanded in 2001, the organization kept him and found him a job in the front office of the NBA's Orlando Magic.  He was promoted to GM of the Magic in 2004 which he held until 2005 when he went back to hockey.

 

He became a scout with Dallas in 2005 and joined Boston a year later as a pro scout and after 2 years, he became Director of Collegiate Scouting for the Bruins.

 

After winning a cup with the Brunis, he was hired by the Flames as AGM of Player Personnel and they fired him in Dec 2013.  So he was there for 2 and a half seasons.  Jay Feaster hired him in Calgary and he was fired the very day that Brian Burke took over the Flames on Dec 12, 2013.    He was completely off my radar while with Calgary but I think that Feaster has to wear the Jankowski draft in 2012.   

 

6 months later, he was hired by Benning as VP Player Personnel and a year later was promoted to AGM.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by Crabcakes

[IBatch]

54 minutes ago, appleboy said:

If they need 8 to 9 mil to sign Brock then they will have an issue. It's no wonder that they offered 7 mil earlier in the year.

They really need a trade to free up cap space. 

That may happen.  Wonder if JV is in on the short list - I’m sure quite a few teams would be happy to squeeze him in - he’s probably the easiest guy to trade.

 

The team has until the season opener to trim the cap down, you’d think JB would take advantage of that time frame as opposed to trying to deal with it once it starts .... suspect a deal will come soon or things will end up a little sideways ... we simply won’t make the playoffs without him in the lineup 

[JM_]

4 minutes ago, IBatch said:

That may happen.  Wonder if JV is in on the short list - I’m sure quite a few teams would be happy to squeeze him in - he’s probably the easiest guy to trade.

 

The team has until the season opener to trim the cap down, you’d think JB would take advantage of that time frame as opposed to trying to deal with it once it starts .... suspect a deal will come soon or things will end up a little sideways ... we simply won’t make the playoffs without him in the lineup 

Weisbrod sounds quite confident that the cap won't be a problem. Makes me wonder if they have some deals on the table already to clear some guys. A lot of teams would take Jake in a prospect swap, or Baer for a later round pick. 

[86Viking]

1 hour ago, appleboy said:

 

They really need a trade to free up cap space. 

Yup, I agree that is a move that needs to be made, we all wanted Eriksson gone but JB didnt deliver moving him out. He has to move out some players/cap somehow. Guess he can just do the easy thing and waive 1,2,3 players and save slightly over 1m on each of them...Not a very good GM move or lose a player like Goldy on waivers for free.

 

Our biggest goal after the regular season ended was to sign Brock Boeser, ideally to a longer term deal and to AVOID a situation like W.Nylander. Now I do NOT believe it will drag on nearly that long, but missing camp is missing camp. Especially when we have some new players that are suppose to be good and just so happy 1 of them will be flanking Brock on the opposite wing.

 

If we are indeed able to sign him to a higher priced deal and not risk cap issue by paying him north of 7m long term then I am not too sure why this deal is NOT done. Tkachuk has performed better and should get more than Brock. Connor, thats a compareable type deal imo for Brock. Same as the recently signed Keller, not the same pt totals as Brock but has NOT had good linemates, see what he can do with Kessel this year?

[oldnews]

9 hours ago, EP-40 said:

Was he not the brain child behind picking Jankowski like 3 rounds early with their first?

Is that supposed to be a 'mark' against him?

 

If so, you might want to look back at that draft and reassess how 'badly' they did with Jankowski - look at the next 20 or 30 (or further) players taken, and only Tanner Pearson and Brady Skjei stand out as guys they maybe 'should have' taken, and that margin is probably closing as well.

 

Jankowski had 14 goals and 32 points last year, playing 12:42/game, and not a single point on the powerplay.

He had 5 shorthanded goals.

52% faceoff guy.

Calgary might just get the last laugh.

 

 

[Dr. Crossbar]

7 hours ago, oldnews said:

Is that supposed to be a 'mark' against him?

 

If so, you might want to look back at that draft and reassess how 'badly' they did with Jankowski - look at the next 20 or 30 (or further) players taken, and only Tanner Pearson and Brady Skjei stand out as guys they maybe 'should have' taken, and that margin is probably closing as well.

 

Jankowski had 14 goals and 32 points last year, playing 12:42/game, and not a single point on the powerplay.

He had 5 shorthanded goals.

52% faceoff guy.

Calgary might just get the last laugh.

 

 

I'm disappointed you didn't use wadr.