What's Your Report Card?

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, Googlie said:

Well, the team's post season record was 10 wins and 8 losses, so obviously the team as a whole did exceptionally well   But 1/2 the losses were shutouts.

 

Using an old performance appraisal system, I have given my rankings on a "exceeds expectations/meets expectations/falls short of expectations" matrix:

 

Exceeds expectations:

Demko

Motte

Hughes

Pettersson

Horvat

Miller

Stecher

Fantenberg 

 

Meets expectations:

Markstrom

Boeser

Beagle

Roussel 

Eriksson

Tanev

Edler

Myers

MacEwen 

 

Falls short of expectations

Toffoli

Pearson

Virtanen

Sutter

Gaudette

Benn

 

 

 

Great list agree with all of it but don’t think Sutter failed short at all in fact almost exceeded.   Have to base it on the entire playoffs and he was an absolute stud in the dot.   I’d have him firmly in the met expectations spot.   Exceeded because heck he just played 17 games without getting injured ha ha. 
 

Bet Myers exceeded a lot of fans expectations but not mine - he played exactly how I hoped he would.  Probably our best rushing D, just wish he did it more. 
 

Demko and Motte were at another level completely, best stick in the entire league in the playoffs (takeaways) that’s simply unreal.  Wow.  Bye bye Pearson. 
 

Benn also met expectations for sure.  Played admirably and his best all year in Myers absence. 

Edited September 5, 2020 by IBatch

[IBatch]

10 hours ago, MrCanuck94 said:

Rate the players since the play-ins:

 

Pettersson: A+ - Our best player.

Miller: A+ - Clutch, played big.

Toffoli: B - Seemed like he was playing injured for many games.

Horvat: B+ - Had some really good games and had some okay games in between.

Pearson: C+ - Didn't think he had a good playoff, a couple of decent games.

Boeser: C - Cruised most of the games, had a few good games in between.

Roussel: C - Couple of good games but seemed his agitating was more of a negative to the team than a positive.

Sutter: C+ - Was pretty solid defensively but offence was not consistent enough.

Gaudette: D - Did not think he made much of an impact at all.

Motte: A+ The heart of our bottom 6.

Beagle: C - Good defensively but I thought he could've been more physical and chipped in more offensively.

Virtanen: B- - Thought he had a decent playoff, would like to see the effort more consistently.

Macewen: B - He brought good energy when he was in, wish he got a chance versus VGK.

 

Hughes: A+ - Probably played injured the start of the VGK series, already the highest scoring Canucks d man in a single post season.

Tanev: B+ - Was solid most of the playoffs, seemed some games he would hesitate a lot with his decision making, overall solid.

Edler: B+ - Same as Tanev, would like him to play the puck quicker, however, its not his fault, time to create a d core that can give Eddie less minutes.

Myers: B+ - Let's be honest, half of his penalties were bad calls. He was solid for us and his puck moving ability made a huge difference.

Stecher: B - Thought he struggled for a stretch in the middle, however, he impressed me a lot during the Vegas series.

Fanta: B- - Played well for a depth D man but I wish he was better at transitioning the play, less chips off glass.

Benn: B- - Joined late and had some solid games.

Juolevi: B+ - Yes this is just rating his 5 mins or whatever it was. He seemed solid and had very high IQ and his puck transition was a breath of fresh air on the bottom pair. Hopefully this means a full time gig next season.

 

Markstrom: A - Would be A+ but that last game he needed to have a couple back, could be the injury.

Demko: A++ - Enough said.

 

Copy and edit your thoughts, off season discussion time!

Have to compare BB with Pearson, TT and LE given similar roles.  He made way more plays then both of them together vs Vegas and was never a passenger.  A for effort - B for overall performance as a top six winger.   

[IBatch]

9 hours ago, YearoftheNuck said:

So proud of these guys. This was a big stepping stone year for the Nucks. 
 

Thank you for creating this post. I agree with the majority of your ratings. Just a couple I would personally change:

Horvat - A - such a good all round playoffs. What he did in the face off circle is was astounding. Scored a ton of big goals. Heart and soul. 

Virtanen - C - brought energy at times. But man watching him try to make plays on the second PP unit is painful. Such low hockey IQ but so many other dangerous weapons at his disposal. I would love to see him put it all together 

 

Edler - B- - pretty good playoffs all round, but some pretty big gaffs, especially tonight. I think his age and wear and tear are catching up with him. 

Agreed.   Horvat was an absolute monster in the dot, and scored how many goals again in how many games?  Captain Clutch - and went against the best each series.   
 

Edler.  Bump him up to a B.  I’d give Myers a B+, QHs an A or maybe an A+.  Fanta a B+, same with Stecher, Benn a C, Tanev a B.   Have to consider what pairing they are on and consider other teams too.   How do we stack up?  Horvat vs O’Reilly enough said, definitely an A. 

[Provost]

1 hour ago, Googlie said:

Well, the team's post season record was 10 wins and 8 losses, so obviously the team as a whole did exceptionally well   But 1/2 the losses were shutouts.

 

Using an old performance appraisal system, I have given my rankings on a "exceeds expectations/meets expectations/falls short of expectations" matrix:

 

Exceeds expectations:

Demko

Motte

Hughes

Pettersson

Horvat

Miller

Stecher

Fantenberg 

 

Meets expectations:

Markstrom

Boeser

Beagle

Roussel 

Eriksson

Tanev

Edler

Myers

MacEwen 

 

Falls short of expectations

Toffoli

Pearson

Virtanen

Sutter

Gaudette

Benn

 

 

 

I like this rating system better.  It accounts for what role the player has and what “should” be expected of them.

 

My only change would be that I think Sutter did better, and he gave us a lot of good games earlier in the playoffs.  The 3rd line was better with him as the centre than Gaudette.

 

Fantenberg was a bit of a revelation.  If he played closed to that physical style during the regular season we would have been raving about him.  He was our only D who provided push back and some nastiness.  If we can trade Benn, signing him as depth next year might be a good idea.  If we want to get a guy like Juolevi onto the roster, then having an experienced veteran to spell him off would be smart.

 

I would be pretty mercenary looking forward.  Vegas showed us what it looks like to be a contender.  I wouldn’t make every decision based on one playoffs (we have no idea who was hurt... though I fully expect to hear that Toffoli wasn’t close to 100%)... but we need to get better and not everyone is going to get us there.

 

Out of our bottom six, Motte is the only one that needs to be retained.  Any of the others could be traded and replaced by prospects or cheap veterans on short term deals.

 

In our top six. Petterson, Horvat, and Miller are untouchable... but any of the rest could be moved for other assets.

 

On D... it is tough because they are hard to replace.  Hughes is going to be a perennial Norris candidate.  Tanev would be the best defensive D on the UFA market if he makes it there and should be signed “if” we can get a decent deal. We have to price in the assumption he will go back to getting injured 20 games a season and will keeping slowing down.

 

Edler needs to have a reduced role.  He just can’t be playing the hardest minutes at this age.  He would be spectacular if we didn’t ask so much from him.  His next deal should be paid as a 2nd pairing D.

 

Myers was fine but should be exposed in expansion to hope they bite on a big veteran D.  He is overpaid by a couple million dollars.

 

Stecher is a difficult decision.  He has always outplayed his contract.  He is an average 2nd pairing D who should really be on the 3rd pairing of a team with a really good defence.  He clearly wants to be here, and will provide good value if we can get him signed to modest raise... I am totally fine giving him lots of term to keep the AAV down.

Edited September 5, 2020 by Provost

[Googlie]

36 minutes ago, Provost said:

I like this rating system better.  It accounts for what role the player has and what “should” be expected of them.

 

My only change would be that I think Sutter did better, and he gave us a lot of good games earlier in the playoffs.  The 3rd line was better with him as the centre than Gaudette.

 

Fantenberg was a bit of a revelation.  If he played closed to that physical style during the regular season we would have been raving about him.  He was our only D who provided push back and some nastiness.  If we can trade Benn, signing him as depth next year might be a good idea.  If we want to get a guy like Juolevi onto the roster, then having an experienced veteran to spell him off would be smart.

 

I would be pretty mercenary looking forward.  Vegas showed us what it looks like to be a contender.  I wouldn’t make every decision based on one playoffs (we have no idea who was hurt... though I fully expect to hear that Toffoli wasn’t close to 100%)... but we need to get better and not everyone is going to get us there.

 

Out of our bottom six, Motte is the only one that needs to be retained.  Any of the others could be traded and replaced by prospects or cheap veterans on short term deals.

 

In our top six. Petterson, Horvat, and Miller are untouchable... but any of the rest could be moved for other assets.

 

On D... it is tough because they are hard to replace.  Hughes is going to be a perennial Norris candidate.  Tanev would be the best defensive D on the UFA market if he makes it there and should be signed “if” we can get a decent deal. We have to price in the assumption he will go back to getting injured 20 games a season and will keeping slowing down.

 

Edler needs to have a reduced role.  He just can’t be playing the hardest minutes at this age.  He would be spectacular if we didn’t ask so much from him.  His next deal should be paid as a 2nd pairing D.

 

Myers was fine but should be exposed in expansion to hope they bite on a big veteran D.  He is overpaid by a couple million dollars.

 

Stecher is a difficult decision.  He has always outplayed his contract.  He is an average 2nd pairing D who should really be on the 3rd pairing of a team with a really good defence.  He clearly wants to be here, and will provide good value if we can get him signed to modest raise... I am totally fine giving him lots of term to keep the AAV down.

Yeah, I was prolly too demanding of Sutter, who did play well before his whatever it was injury that kept him out of the circle for a couple of games.  I just expected more hitting/checking from him

 

And I agree, Toffoli came back not 100% fit - made an immediate impact then disappeared.

 

Fanta has played some right D in the past, so would be a great #7 d- man, and I agree, would be a good partner/mentor for Juolevi.  He would also be a good left side partner for Rafferty (as would Edler). But I think that 3rd right side D slot is Stecher's to lose, if, as you say, he settles for term and a home town discount. He and Juolevi might have a similar look as Edler-Stecher did.

 

Of the bottom six. I'd keep Motte and Gaudette, and let Beagle's and Sutter's contracts just run out.  We have lots of hungry youth in the system just itching to be given their chance, and that also helps keep the cap hits manageable during the next 2 or 3 years of a flat cap era.

 

As an aside, I love Louie - a class act -  but he had better be apartment hunting in Utica these next couple of months, cos that's where he'll be a playing assistant coach this winter

 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2020 by Googlie

[Googlie]

Did we just make trades?

Cap friendly showing Sven and Stecher to Detroit for a 2020 pick and Sutter, Rafferty and a pick to Anaheim for a 2020 pick

 

Edit: just ignore.  That page was created February and is mere speculation

Edited September 5, 2020 by Googlie

[mikeyman109]

my take is more season based also.

 

Pettersson: A+ - Our best Forward.Skill and heart.

Miller: A+ - He is worth so much more than what we paid to get him./ great trade by JB

Toffoli: C+ Had an immediate impact upon arrival. Would love to resign him if he can be had for under 5

Horvat: B+ - Great leader, showed up big in the series with the Blues.

Pearson: D - Didn't think he had a good playoff, ok season ; some empty net goals.We need more than he provides

Boeser: C  tough year for Brock with his Dads health and missing camp. We need more from him if he is to stay with this group

Roussel: D not enough show for the dough. Writes checks the team cant cash. Not a smart series vs the Knights

Sutter: C- does not do enough for the salary cap implications. Not foundational at all.

Gaudette C still has a ways to go but i would play him over Sutter especially regular season.

Motte: A+ Core effort, sign him and keep him.

Beagle: C - Good defensively but I thought he could've been more physical and chipped in more offensively.Agreed

Virtanen:C+  If he could just be more consistent on what he brings to the game.Cant keep defending his lapses in judgement on and off the ice. Might be time for a change in scenery.

Macewen: B - I think he needs an expanded role next season. Has hands and is the type of grit we need against the bigger teams in the conference. I would play him over Jake.

 

Hughes: A+ Great player already and he will only get better.

Tanev: B+  Stayed healthy most of the season and playoffs. When healthy he is the Canucks best defensive D man,

Edler: B  I bash him but he is relatively consistent. Agree we need to find a way to give him less workload next season.

Myers: B+ -Bad calls against him in the playoffs, he is part of the reason Edler and Tanev stayed relatively healthy this season.

Stecher: B  played well enough in the playoffs to deserve a contract offer..

Fanta: C+ Played well for a depth D man, better than expected all season.

Benn: C+ Depth D man not a difference maker,

Juolevi: N/A- did not play enough to see what he can do but would like to see what he brings full time. Hope he has a great camp.

 

Markstrom: A+ our best player all season long and in the playoffs. Without him we dont get there. Looked great in playoffs as well. He has earned a bigger payday than we can afford to pay him.

Demko: A+ The future. He played incredible in the 3 games against the Knights but would like to see him in a full season.

 

 

[VancouveriteinSanDiego2]

Really noticed beagle slowness against vegas, now his faceoffs are still good but he has two years on his contract.  

 

 

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, Provost said:

I like this rating system better.  It accounts for what role the player has and what “should” be expected of them.

 

My only change would be that I think Sutter did better, and he gave us a lot of good games earlier in the playoffs.  The 3rd line was better with him as the centre than Gaudette.

 

Fantenberg was a bit of a revelation.  If he played closed to that physical style during the regular season we would have been raving about him.  He was our only D who provided push back and some nastiness.  If we can trade Benn, signing him as depth next year might be a good idea.  If we want to get a guy like Juolevi onto the roster, then having an experienced veteran to spell him off would be smart.

 

I would be pretty mercenary looking forward.  Vegas showed us what it looks like to be a contender.  I wouldn’t make every decision based on one playoffs (we have no idea who was hurt... though I fully expect to hear that Toffoli wasn’t close to 100%)... but we need to get better and not everyone is going to get us there.

 

Out of our bottom six, Motte is the only one that needs to be retained.  Any of the others could be traded and replaced by prospects or cheap veterans on short term deals.

 

In our top six. Petterson, Horvat, and Miller are untouchable... but any of the rest could be moved for other assets.

 

On D... it is tough because they are hard to replace.  Hughes is going to be a perennial Norris candidate.  Tanev would be the best defensive D on the UFA market if he makes it there and should be signed “if” we can get a decent deal. We have to price in the assumption he will go back to getting injured 20 games a season and will keeping slowing down.

 

Edler needs to have a reduced role.  He just can’t be playing the hardest minutes at this age.  He would be spectacular if we didn’t ask so much from him.  His next deal should be paid as a 2nd pairing D.

 

Myers was fine but should be exposed in expansion to hope they bite on a big veteran D.  He is overpaid by a couple million dollars.

 

Stecher is a difficult decision.  He has always outplayed his contract.  He is an average 2nd pairing D who should really be on the 3rd pairing of a team with a really good defence.  He clearly wants to be here, and will provide good value if we can get him signed to modest raise... I am totally fine giving him lots of term to keep the AAV down.

I laughed at this for two reasons.   I actually loved what you said about Sutter and the untouchables but completely disagree on two points.

 

One Fatenburg met or exceeded expectations maybe - but he was far from the only D that played with pushback.  Stecher was all playoffs, sure he’s small but his did it anyways, Benn was his usual self, didn’t make it easy on the boards and played his best hockey after no training camp etc.  Edler was usual self - lunging full on body check cross check comes to mind and of course crushing Smith come to mind and how could you leave out Tyler Minors, the toughest and roughest of the D group - always involved after the whistle and played the best Prongeresque performance he could manage.

 

Leads to the second thing.   We expose Myers at the draft and this team takes a massive step back figuratively and literally.   With Hughes and Stetcher and a passive Tanev - we absolutely need his size and truculence.    And how’s he overpaid?   Ridiculous.   Who’s available this year for RHD... Hamonic yeah.   Or Ceci yeah yeah.   He’s better then them and they paid in the range your suggesting.   He’s also our best rushing defenseman with no slight to Q Hughes - maybe three rushes in two games doesn’t make you a rushing defenseman.  QHs game is passing the puck and staying back, he looks great when he’s behind or infront of the other teams met but Hedican pinched more often then he does.   Myers is better at it or at least has the confidence to do it at this point.   Wish he did it more ... he was most definitely our second best D all playoffs ...  and for sure is worth every penny.   In fact I’m hoping JB does the same thing next season - as in goes after another high end top four RHD.   4/6 guys that fit the bill if they make it that far starting with Hamilton who I’d take over AP at this point.   Would have won the Norris if he didn’t go down this year - sick stats and he’s big and he scores goals.  Petry would be great too.
 

TT, meh.   Hot streak I’ve seen enough to back away, only because we need another quality RHD in the same level as Myers.   OJ plays like Tanev minus the blocks - a smart safe game our left side should be good.   Rathbone maybe Stecher 2.0, or nothing - doubt Rafferty is ever going to be anything more then an injury replacement - same with Brisbois.   None of these kids can hold Myers jock strap at this point - we don’t need to expose Myers - we need to find another player like him to compliment our team.   4.5 million is a joke.  Go look at who’s getting paid that, even with Covid and no cap the good top four Ds coming up won’t get less then Myers next year.    Don’t know what a few are still stuck on this point - it’s like saying JB is bad at drafting or sticking to your guns on the Miller trades as been a bad one.   Stecher, Tanev, Rafferty is awful. Agree Stetcher is not a top four D on most playoff roster or deep D teams like NSH, ok as a fill in although he’s getting better so you never no.  

[Provost]

30 minutes ago, IBatch said:

 

We expose Myers at the draft and this team takes a massive step back figuratively and literally.   With Hughes and Stetcher and a passive Tanev - we absolutely need his size and truculence.    And how’s he overpaid?   Ridiculous.   Who’s available this year for RHD... Hamonic yeah.   Or Ceci yeah yeah.   He’s better then them and they paid in the range your suggesting.  

Ummmm... expansion isn’t this year, so it doesn’t matter who is available NOW.  That is a nonsense argument.

 

NEXT year, there will be a ton of D available that teams can’t protect in expansion.  We could retool our D then by picking up guys In trade for relatively cheap.  We could probably get two top

4 D who are upgrades on what we have and are better values than Myers.

 

Myers is not “truculent”... that isn’t his style of play even remotely, never has been.  Actually listen to people who know hockey and the common thread is that if you are expecting physical play out of Myers you will

be disappointed. You are mistaking being large for being physical.  Getting a bunch of tripping and holding penalties doesn’t equal having a mean streak.  Myers isn’t terrible... he is just a 2nd pairing guy getting paid too much. 

We should also consider trading away a package of forwards/prospects for a Top 4D this offseason.

[grandmaster]

Was not happy with Virtanen, Rousell, Sutter and Stecher. They all had one or two good games in total but were pretty bad in all the rest. I give them all a C-
 

I know Tofu was playing injured, so I will give him a B for when he wasn’t. 

 

Pearson needs to go, he was a big let down for a top 6 so he gets a D

 

Rest of the top 6:

Brock - B

Petey - A

Miller - A

Bo - B

 

 

[PetterssonOrPeterson]

4 hours ago, 189lb enforcers? said:

So many players were playing on one leg. It’s hard to rate a performance without knowing why guys like Sutter couldn’t shoot the puck or make a hit, heck even just pivot. 

Jake for Lowry? 

I’m pretty much ready to move on from the Virtanen experience. 

I had hometown bias and hope, but he’s at best a 3rd liner who has next to no hockey IQ and is relatively an unphysical player, despite his supposed physical attributes, which might need to be reassessed at this stage in his career. Late bloomer? The guy is our Allen-bust of forwards, for super high draft picks. 

 

Of all the Canuck players, I think JV was the one player who I expected more from, but he wasn’t effective. I’ll give him a C. 
The rest played to their potentials, or more. 

 

My hope was to see JV in the playoffs, which I’d assumed he was built for, but he was just as streaky and invisible as he was in the regular season. He doesn’t bring the physical element when he’s not scoring, well, not any more than any other smaller plug-type. Jake on the PP is something of a gaff, IMO. 
 

Last summer I had said that this team could win in the playoffs, if it could just get there. They did not disappoint. 

The team is growing. I am confident that JB saw what we did and will make adjustments. I’m not sure he can afford Marky. 

 

 

 

I agree. 

 

While it might have been too high of an expectation, I was hoping that he would have some sort of a Kassian-type playoff coming out party we saw a few years ago with what he did in Edmonton.

 

One key thing that I noticed is that Virtanen has the tools to do so, but he has no edge whatsoever. He’s not mean and doesn’t play nasty. That’s the difference.

Edited September 5, 2020 by PetterssonOrPeterson

[smithers joe]

3 hours ago, Googlie said:

Yeah, I was prolly too demanding of Sutter, who did play well before his whatever it was injury that kept him out of the circle for a couple of games.  I just expected more hitting/checking from him

 

And I agree, Toffoli came back not 100% fit - made an immediate impact then disappeared.

 

Fanta has played some right D in the past, so would be a great #7 d- man, and I agree, would be a good partner/mentor for Juolevi.  He would also be a good left side partner for Rafferty (as would Edler). But I think that 3rd right side D slot is Stecher's to lose, if, as you say, he settles for term and a home town discount. He and Juolevi might have a similar look as Edler-Stecher did.

 

Of the bottom six. I'd keep Motte and Gaudette, and let Beagle's and Sutter's contracts just run out.  We have lots of hungry youth in the system just itching to be given their chance, and that also helps keep the cap hits manageable during the next 2 or 3 years of a flat cap era.

 

As an aside, I love Louie - a class act -  but he had better be apartment hunting in Utica these next couple of months, cos that's where he'll be a playing assistant coach this winter

 

 

 

who would be our penalty killers? motte and ?

[Baggins]

Rate the players since the play-ins:

 

Pettersson: A+ - 100% effort with no fear. 

Miller: A - Leads by example. Hand injury hampered him against Vegas.

Toffoli: B - Even injured makes an impact

Horvat: A - Oh captain, my captain. Exceeded expectations

Pearson: C+ - Constant two way effort but needed more results

Boeser: C+ - Same as Pearson

Roussel: C - Wasn't bad but a little disappointing

Sutter: B - Delivered what's expected despite a wrist injury.

Gaudette: D - Wasn't awful but no points in 10 games is a disappointment. Not good enough defensively to compensate production.

Motte: A+ Plays the way you want in bottom six and contributed offensively

Beagle: C - Hoped for more. Played well enough for his role.

Virtanen: C - Scored a couple of timely goals. Has all the skills to play like Motte with more skill but lacks the commitment

Macewen: C - Made mistakes but was decent for his role

Edit to include this guy:

Eriksson D  - Doesn't hurt you defensively and good on the PK. Lacks physicality. Good D play alone is not enough. 

 

Hughes: A+ - An absolute star

Tanev: A - Not flashy but absolutely solid at what he does best

Edler: A - Did it all. 

Myers: B - Would get an A if it wasn't for some foolish penalties. But played solid.

Stecher: B - Stecher is good but his size is often a problem. He's a warrior in effort though.

Fanta: C+ - Surprised me all year. I expected a fringe D-man and he's a solid bottom pair player.

Benn: C - Not a lot of games but held his own. Could have used his size more.

Juolevi  C+ - Sheltered minutes but didn't look out of place at all. Had some good breakouts and showed his passing skill.

 

Markstrom: A - Our MVP delivered in playoffs

Demko: A+ - Thought it was over with Marky injured. Demko swapped an average regular season for a superhuman playoff performance.

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Baggins

[LowerMainLander18]

A+:

EP40  

Huggy

Millsy

Marky

 

A:

Bo

Demmer (averaged out as A+ in the playoffs and B in regular season)

Tanev

 

B+:

Boeser

Edler

 

B:

Pears

Tofu

JV

Myers

Stetch

Fanta

Motte

Beagle

Sutter

 

C+:

Gaud

Big Mac

Rouss

Benn

 

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

I wanna see the injury reports come out before assigning final grades.

 

We know Marky was hurt, and it just came out that Hughes was playing through ankle and knee injuries, and receiving treatment three times a day to keep his body going (perhaps raising him to A+++ level, given how good he was, even hurt). I suspect Pearson also picked up an injury at some point, based on the drop off in his play. I’m sure others were playing hurt as well.

Edited September 5, 2020 by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

[Googlie]

48 minutes ago, smithers joe said:

who would be our penalty killers? motte and ?

Well, Sutter has 1 and Beagle 2 years left on their contracts, so our 1a and 1b PK centers are pencilled in for next season. If in that time Gaudette hasn't honed his defensive skills,  then I'd consider him trade bait.  And it can't be long before Petey is asking for PK duty - all the great centers used to kill penalties from as long as I have been a fan (Perrault, Dionne, Trottier when I first became aware) but in today's specialization era they don't (Crosby, MacKinnon,  Matthews and McDavid), but Petey is a throwback with Peter Forsberg as his idol, so he'll be driven to exceed Foppa's 16 goals and 16 assists while short handed.

 

Lind will make the team within the next 2 years, and he took MacEwen's place on Uticas second PK unit when Big Mac was brought up to Vancouver,  so both Lind and MacEwen could be pencilled in as futures.  Podz too will be here by then.

 

One thing I am a little disappointed in is that Green never persevered with moulding Jake into a penalty killer when he (Green) came up to Vancouver. When they were both in Utica for the 2016-17 season, Green had Jake on the second unit.  I remember a Comets interview when Green said "speed kills on the PK, and Jake has it in spades"

 

 

[Baggins]

4 hours ago, Googlie said:

One thing I am a little disappointed in is that Green never persevered with moulding Jake into a penalty killer when he (Green) came up to Vancouver. When they were both in Utica for the 2016-17 season, Green had Jake on the second unit.  I remember a Comets interview when Green said "speed kills on the PK, and Jake has it in spades"

I've been preaching patience for Jake since his first season but I'm at the point that he's expendable. First with Willie and now with Travis they've been trying to get him to play the way Motte does. That's five seasons now and he either lacks the smarts or lacks the commitment. Possibly both. Motte creates scoring opportunities by being hard on the forecheck, hard on the backcheck, and finishing checks. Motte's speed and aggressive style is part of what makes him a good PK'er. Plus he's good positionally, times his shot blocking well, and is good at the poke check. Jake just doesn't seem to have those skills. I honestly wasn't surprised to see Motte was getting more ES ice time than Jake in the playoffs. Despite a lesser shooting skill, he has that 100% commitment to playing hard that Jake seems to lack. I wouldn't put Jake on the PK either purely because he doesn't play in his own end well enough at ES to have any confidence he could do it well shorthanded.

[Dazzle]

15 hours ago, Baggins said:

I've been preaching patience for Jake since his first season but I'm at the point that he's expendable. First with Willie and now with Travis they've been trying to get him to play the way Motte does. That's five seasons now and he either lacks the smarts or lacks the commitment. Possibly both. Motte creates scoring opportunities by being hard on the forecheck, hard on the backcheck, and finishing checks. Motte's speed and aggressive style is part of what makes him a good PK'er. Plus he's good positionally, times his shot blocking well, and is good at the poke check. Jake just doesn't seem to have those skills. I honestly wasn't surprised to see Motte was getting more ES ice time than Jake in the playoffs. Despite a lesser shooting skill, he has that 100% commitment to playing hard that Jake seems to lack. I wouldn't put Jake on the PK either purely because he doesn't play in his own end well enough at ES to have any confidence he could do it well shorthanded.

I've been quite supportive of JV but his play these playoffs have been pretty lackluster for the most part. That being said, I saw some good defensive plays by him, but to me, it seems like his overall game just isn't good enough at this point in time. If he wants to be serious about staying in Vancouver, he has to step it up even more than now. IF he does this, he will be good. He has all the tools he needs already, but needs to refine them.

 

In other words, the same old story as before. JV's time is clearly running out though. I don't know if he cares enough to stay to play for his hometown team.

[Baggins]

1 hour ago, Dazzle said:

I've been quite supportive of JV but his play these playoffs have been pretty lackluster for the most part. That being said, I saw some good defensive plays by him, but to me, it seems like his overall game just isn't good enough at this point in time. If he wants to be serious about staying in Vancouver, he has to step it up even more than now. IF he does this, he will be good. He has all the tools he needs already, but needs to refine them.

 

In other words, the same old story as before. JV's time is clearly running out though. I don't know if he cares enough to stay to play for his hometown team.

I have previously given Jake credit for improved effort in his own end. But like most of his game, he's inconsistent there as well. My problem is after 5 NHL seasons the song remains the same: inconsistent play and effort. There's been improvement, but not enough considering how long he's had to buy in and round out his game. I agree the kid could be a great middle six player if he just bought in and made the effort. But how many years do you wait for that penny to drop?