The Gaudette Conundrum

[BrockBoester]

Adam Gaudette.

 

Like wow bro.

 

I can't even.

 

I don't know how this dude has put together such a consistent training camp and preseason, but surely it's widely considered/accepted that he is a better option than guys like Goldobin, Schaller, Motte, and even Eriksson and Virtanen.

 

But if he stays up on the big Orca as you all know we will likely have to let go 1-2 of our lower-tier forwards to accommodate for his spot on the roster.

 

There's also concern over where in the line-up he would fit in, and to me, it seems pretty obvious that he would be slotting in at 3C and then moving up to the top 6 in the inevitable situation of an injury/injuries to one of our top 6 studs.

 

So there are a few questions that come to mind, and I'd like to get everyone's thoughts on said questions.

 

1) Do we keep Gaudette on our opening night roster?

 

2) What position does he fit into in the lineup considering the current forwards we have?

 

3) Which forward/forwards would you be willing to part with to add Gaudette to the roster?

 

4) Do you think assigning Gaudette to the NHL is a good or bad decision for his development?

 

5) What level of offensive production would be considered a success in a full 2019-2020 season for Adam Gaudette?

 

The first question is pretty straight forward and it's not surprising that there are a lot of people that are hoping we keep Gaudette around for a full season. So, assuming that we don't send him down to Utica, where would he end up in the lineup/depth chart?

 

And since Gaudette doesn't have to clear waivers but others in our bottom-6 forward group do, which of the forwards in that group would you consider expendable in the effort to make room for him on the squad? The likely candidates for waivers/trade etc would be Virtanen, Goldobin, Eriksson, Schaller, Motte. Personally, I really don't think we should let Jake go, and I'd like to keep Goldobin but if it was a choice between Goldy and HockeyGaud I think I'd have to give the nod to the latter.

 

And honestly, after watching him this preseason, I'm pretty sure he's mostly ready for the big league - he seems to be ready to make an impact now, and while the preseason is "meaningless" and is a very small sample size, he has really shown that he can compete.

 

I think it would be realistic that he could score upwards of 10 goals-20 assists if used primarily in a third line deployment with occasional stints in the top 6 when injuries are running rampant. And to me that would be great, especially if his linemates on the third line could match those numbers. If each of our third line manages 30-40 points then that is some great depth as far as offense goes. So I'd say I'd be happy with anywhere north of 30 points for Gaudette if he were to play the full season in the NHL this year.

 

What does everyone else see happening with this tricky conundrum of a situation we have on our hands here? 

Edited September 27, 2019 by BrockBoester

[Goat James]

Man, I hate Loui Eriksson. If he wasn't here this wouldn't be an issue! 

[Mathew Barzal]

He'd probably have a decent year on the third line but I think our depth gives us the unique opportunity to let him marinate in the AHL for a bit. Let him learn to dominate the pro game at that level playing 20+ minutes a night and then bring him up around January/February when the inevitable injury train rolls around. 

[Hindustan Smyl]

3 hours ago, The Game said:

Man, I hate Loui Eriksson. If he wasn't here this wouldn't be an issue! 

Ignoring his contract, Eriksson has had a solid camp and has outperformed a number of our players.   Eriksson makes my team.   

 

Bye bye Schaller, Motte, and Goldobin.   Virtanen = 13th forward (and is also told that he’s gone when Roussel returns unless Virtanen electrifies whenever he’s in the line-up).

[Hindustan Smyl]

Gaudette has flat out earned a roster spot given his preseason.  The production, the hustle, and his most games played has earned him the right.

 

On the flip side, I’m not sure if Gaudette is the type of guy that is ideally suited to the 3rd line C position......atleast as of this writing.   His face-off abilities are sub-par, and his defensive game isn’t the greatest.    

 

A logical solution would be to send him down to the A where he’d be the number one C and log big minutes, but the world doesn’t always revolve around what’s logical.   

 

IF you send Gaudette down, you run the risk of ruining a relationship and confusing the player.   Gaudette has done pretty much everything that has been asked of him and so sending him to the A would be too much of a slap in the face.    

 

I believe sending Gaudette down would also send a bad organizational message to the young kids (ie even if you play hard and do everything that is asked of you, your efforts might not be rewarded......while a slacker like Virtanen will be rewarded).

 

Even though it might logically make sense to send Gaudette to the A, the Canucks can’t and shouldn’t do this in my opinion.    

 

Give Gaudette the 3rd line C spot with Sutter playing his wing and mentoring him (ie taking key faceoffs, helping Gaudette and Baertschi defensively, etc), or simply trade Gaudette for a team needs a young center and has an abundance of young RD’s.

 

Sending Gaudette to the A might make sense, but it could have some very ugly ramifications.

 

[IBatch]

2 hours ago, Mathew Barzal said:

He'd probably have a decent year on the third line but I think our depth gives us the unique opportunity to let him marinate in the AHL for a bit. Let him learn to dominate the pro game at that level playing 20+ minutes a night and then bring him up around January/February when the inevitable injury train rolls around. 

True - but this goes against what JB had been saying all along - if a player earns a  spot he will make room for him.  Maybe he needs to start in the AHL until he makes that room (assuming he can’t stomach losing somebody on waivers) but he deserves a shot and sooner then later.   I do get what your saying though, and if things go that way so be it he might be a little gun shy to lose some of his recently acquired depth given our injury history..we should see what he decides shortly.

[Darkstar]

Ferland-Pettersson-Boeser

Miller-Horvat-Pearson

Baertschi-Sutter-Gaudette

Eriksson-Beagle-Leivo

Virtanen

 

That leaves Motte, Schaller, and Goldobin on the outs. 

 

I wonder if the Canucks go 14F and 7D to start the season. That would mean they keep one of the three above.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Darkstar

[Coconuts]

4 hours ago, Mathew Barzal said:

He'd probably have a decent year on the third line but I think our depth gives us the unique opportunity to let him marinate in the AHL for a bit. Let him learn to dominate the pro game at that level playing 20+ minutes a night and then bring him up around January/February when the inevitable injury train rolls around. 

This is what I lean towards too. I'd love to see him up here but I'd also love to over in Utica getting big minutes as a guy who's leaned on and dominating as an offensive player. He'll get his chance this year thanks to the inevitable Canuck injury luck but I'd prefer to see him start in Utica. 

[189lb enforcers?]

Heck of a trade chip if they were to package him and Virtanen for something. 

 

[ItsAllOursBoys]

5 hours ago, BrockBoester said:

Oh and also

 

the kid had to show his support for Tryamkin....it was his brother!   

[stawns]

5 hours ago, The Game said:

Man, I hate Loui Eriksson. If he wasn't here this wouldn't be an issue! 

He's not competing with LE for a spot, he's competing with Sutter and Beagle

[stawns]

1 hour ago, IBatch said:

True - but this goes against what JB had been saying all along - if a player earns a  spot he will make room for him.  Maybe he needs to start in the AHL until he makes that room (assuming he can’t stomach losing somebody on waivers) but he deserves a shot and sooner then later.   I do get what your saying though, and if things go that way so be it he might be a little gun shy to lose some of his recently acquired depth given our injury history..we should see what he decides shortly.

Sometimes the bigger picture takes precedent.  As great as he's played, there's no "need" for him in Van this season and why not let him dominate in Utica and be the inevitable call up.  

[mpt]

Move Sutter to the wing where he looks better anyways

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, stawns said:

He's not competing with LE for a spot, he's competing with Sutter and Beagle

Hockey Gaud has been better than both Sutter and Beagle too.  I love how Beagle plays centre on the fourth line.  I think Sutter plays wing well enough to have Hockey Gaud as third line centre.  Baer, Gaud, Suts is a good third line.  Is Gaud going to play, barring injury, as one of our top 2 centres?  Of course not.  So play him as our third line centre.  That’s where we want him anyway, right?  

[Alflives]

4 minutes ago, stawns said:

Sometimes the bigger picture takes precedent.  As great as he's played, there's no "need" for him in Van this season and why not let him dominate in Utica and be the inevitable call up.  

He’s kind of been dominating as our third line centre up here.  He’s our best option as our third line centre, and he’s not taking Petey or Bo’s spots.  Just put Sutter on Gaud’s wing.  

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, stawns said:

Sometimes the bigger picture takes precedent.  As great as he's played, there's no "need" for him in Van this season and why not let him dominate in Utica and be the inevitable call up.  

Another thing that you need to think about is confidence. If he’s confident at the NHL level, then he won’t get anything more in the AHL. Why let him fester if he’s already outperforming our bottom 6 centres?

[48MPHSlapShot]

He’s earned his spot. The guy has outplayed most of the main roster. There’s nothing saying we absolutely have to start him at center. He can play on the wing to start if need be and ease his way into the position. The absolute worst thing we could do is deny him his spot after screaming “Everyone has a shot!” From the rooftops this entire time. Not only could it damage the relationship with the player, but it could hurt the reputation of the franchise.

 

Now for the controversial part...

 

It needs to be added that NOTHING outside of goaltending has developed in Utica. Our development, quite frankly, has been crap for a long time now. No impact NHL skater has actually been developed in our farm system since about the mid 00’s, when the core of the 2011 team was just starting to come together. Every player since has either been a total bust, partial bust, or is a work in progress, with the exception of Markstrom and possibly Demko (and goaltenders are anomalies themselves, so they don’t really count, since we’re talking about skaters). Every impact player to come along since then has arrived NHL ready.  I have absolutely no faith in our ability to develop young players from the farm team. Maybe that will change in the next few years, but as of now, if a player looks to be NHL ready, there’s no sense in risking exposing said player to a farm system with such a terrible track record.

[Pickly]

Wouldn’t be surprised if Benning is working the phone, looking to create a permanent spot for Gaud. IMO, the Canucks have no choice but to keep him. 

[BPA]

1 hour ago, Darkstar said:

Ferland-Pettersson-Boeser

Miller-Horvat-Pearson

Baertschi-Sutter-Gaudette

Eriksson-Beagle-Leivo

Virtanen

 

That leaves Motte, Schaller, and Goldobin on the outs. 

 

I wonder if the Canucks go 14F and 7D to start the season. That would mean they keep one of the three above.

They'll probably start with 14F and 7D. 

Until JB can trade the surplus forwards for a return (hopefully decent). 

Then once space is made, they will probably go to 13F and 8D.

 

 

 

[VegasCanuck]

I didn't vote as, although I believe that he belongs in the NHL, I think there's a really good chance that he starts in the AHL because he doesn't require waivers, and Benning will work on trading Sutter or someone to make room for him. 

 

I think by game 10 of the season, he'll be here for good, but it might take that long to find the right trading partner or for Sutter or Eriksson to get injured and be moved to LTIR again.