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[Friedman] Canucks looking to “overhaul blue line” ...Ekblad & Cernak could be available


EP40.

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13 minutes ago, peaches5 said:

Even if he is a top-line winger, which is questionable - he is definitely borderline, a top-line winger isn't worth nearly as much as a top pairing dman. A few b grade prospects and mid range picks isn't going to cut it. Why is Florida compromising? They have something you want and most teams want. They have no reason to compromise. 

I wouldn’t say they’re compromising. It’s not like they’d trade him for the sake of trading him. They need help upfront. Kinda like the Jones-Johansen trade that I’ve referred to in previous posts.
 

Turns out CBJ won that deal with Jones being the better player but not like it didn’t help both teams. In the same way, I don’t see how this sort of trade wouldn’t help both teams needs. Florida is scarce upfront and have surplus dmen. The opposite is true for the Canucks. 
 

...appreciate the honest opinions we shared :]

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4 hours ago, EP40. said:

 

 

I hear ya but disagree. Look at how Jones propelled CBJ to the next level. Ekblad would be that all around top dman. I feel our team has a much bigger glaring need on the backend and are surplus organizationally upfront.
 

So it’s a very sensible sacrifice to make to improve overall team balance.

Love this comparison.

 

Columbus has a situation where they have Werenski and Jones as a 1A/1B combo.

 

If the Canucks somehow can get Ekblad, we can emulate this with Hughes as 1A/1B on our backend.

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Alienhuggyflow said:

Actually, our d was far from terrible, what series were you watching? 

The main reason we got outshot and were getting hemmed in was on our forwards a lot more than our D.  Look at the Vegas series and the amount of shots we got and how little time we spent with the puck. It seemed every time our D got the puck out the forwards either dumped it in and changed or were unable to sustain any pressure when they did get it in.

It's obvious that JT, TT, were far from healthy and our 3rd line was complete garbage aside from Sutter who I thought was good most nights.

It's easy to blame the D when you look at the shot totals but our D did a fantastic job blocking shots, having active sticks and keeping the shots to the outside. I'm not saying our D doesn't need a few tweaks but it's not their fault that our forwards constantly gave up possession and couldn't sustain any time in the offensive zone. 

I think our top six was out of gas and clearly not healthy, it didn't help that because our third line sucked our top six was overused, not to mention the amount of games in such a short time. 

Game seven, tie game with a 5 min pp, we had 1 shot. 13 shots the whole game.

The last 3 games Vegas scored twice (not including empty net goals) sure Demko was awesome but our D made it pretty easy for him.

Look at Dallas, they played the exact same way we did, except they were able to sustain pressure and take advantage of mistakes. 

They gave up the blueline and let Vegas use their speed and then when they got the puck they ripped it around the boards, flipped it off the boards or had a forward come down to take it from in front of the net. They have to move the puck better and be able to play against big bodied forwards. Stecher playing top 4 minutes just can't happen. Edler is also on his last year of being effective.. and I am not a huge fan of Myers so you need to bring in another big bodied top 2 dman. Ekblad would be a great addition to solidify the defense for years. 

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16 minutes ago, erkayloomeh said:

 But we do need to work on our defense though.  

How much longer will Tanev last? Edler? Do they have another playoff run? 

How good do you think Myers is old news? 

We really have Hughes that's it. 

Rathbone is still a maybe and no matter what needs development. Same with juolevi. 

We can't really wait for those two can we. ? 

It seems our d needs to ketchup with the mustard we have in our top six. 

At minimum I would relish cernac next year.  

But ekblad would make me jump up in the air and scream hot dog. 

of course they're working on the blueline.  Tanev is expiring.  Stecher is an RFA. 

there are contingencies.

 

but I think you might be missing the point.

 

do you believe they are going to "overhaul" the blueline this offseason?

Edler is going nowhere.

Hughes is obviously a franchise pmd.

Myers is going nowhere.

The 3 LHD spot - has candidates like Fantenburg, Juolevi....Benn is still here.  Sautner, Brisebois, Rathbone are in the system.  Who believes that spot needs to be filled from outside/overhauled?

 

What we're talking about, almost exclusively is the 3RHD spot.

Does anyone believe the team will not look to re-sign Tanev?  I wouldn't buy that - I have little doubt their intention is to bring Tanev back, and I'm fairly doubtful that there are many realistic options that improve the team more than bringing back Tanev would.   What's the margin there?  An "overhaul"?   Sorry, that sounds ridiculous.

And then there is Stecher.   What are the odds that they let him walk - in favour of an acquisition or signing?  I don't know - perhaps that increases a bit if they re-sign Tanev - hoping to add a bit more weight to the right side.

 

But bottom line - to repeat - the idea that an overhaul is necessarily in  the works is drama-queening - borderline trollish on the part of Friedman.  Ermagerd, the Canucks didn't look quite as good as Dallas....time to rip it apart and overhaul the bluelinezzz.

Again - wadr to AF - anyone that pays close enough attention to this team ought to be able to diagnose the Vegas loss a whole lot better than the weak one liner he came up with.

 

If Friedman wants to talk blueline overhauls....here's some material for him.

 

Morgan Reilly

Jake Muzzin

 

 

 

 

 

Justin Holl

 

Martin Marincin.

Calle Rosen

 

show us your work, Friedman, lol.

 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, oldnews said:

Actually - I think Friedman's "Canucks looking to overhaul blueline" comment may trump the Ekblad idea for stupidity - so scratch my comments about bloggers or credible sources - clearly it's no longer a thing in the hockey world.

Isn’t it already in the process of an overhaul with Myers brought in as a new face? It would just be continuing it.

 

If one of Tanev/Stecher or even both leave, and a Cernak and/or Ekblad are brought in, that’s half the defense infused with new faces.

 

I’d say it’s overhauling. Considering Hughes a new face too. That’d be 4/6 dmen. Fantenberg will probably be replaced with one of the prospects so that’s another. Leaving on Edler as the only for sure long term face who we know will be around for the new season.

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7 minutes ago, EP40. said:

I wouldn’t say they’re compromising. It’s not like they’d trade him for the sake of trading him. They need help upfront. Kinda like the Jones-Johansen trade that I’ve referred to in previous posts.
 

Turns out CBJ won that deal with Jones being the better player but not like it didn’t help both teams. In the same way, I don’t see how this sort of trade wouldn’t help both teams needs. Florida is scarce upfront and have surplus dmen. The opposite is true for the Canucks. 
 

...appreciate the honest opinions we shared :]

Johansen is a topline centre. That is huge difference. Centre's are worth way more than wingers. If Johansen was a winger there is no chance that deal happens. Florida doesn't have a surplus of Dmen. Ekblad is by far the best D-man on Florida it doesn't make a ton of sense as to why they would consider trading him unless they were getting a pretty decent return for him. 

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5 minutes ago, EP40. said:

Isn’t it already in the process of an overhaul with Myers brought in as a new face? It would just be continuing it.

 

If one of Tanev/Stecher or even both leave, and a Cernak and/or Ekblad are brought in, that’s half the defense infused with new faces.

 

I’d say it’s overhauling. Considering Hughes a new face too. That’d be 4/6 dmen. Fantenberg will probably be replaced with one of the prospects so that’s another. Leaving on Edler as the only for sure long term face who we know will be around for the new season.

so Myers, Hughes, Juolevi (or whomever from within you feel might compete Fantenburg out of a job)  - can be considered part of the "overhaul" this offseason?

 

I'm pretty sure Friedman was talking about the blueline that just faced Vegas - that is theorized to evidence how inadequate the team's is, relative to Dallas.

 

When you hedge on the term to refer to it already being in process - and having already replaced half the blueline - then it doesn't really retain any meaning.

 

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, peaches5 said:

Johansen is a topline centre. That is huge difference. Centre's are worth way more than wingers. If Johansen was a winger there is no chance that deal happens. Florida doesn't have a surplus of Dmen. Ekblad is by far the best D-man on Florida it doesn't make a ton of sense as to why they would consider trading him unless they were getting a pretty decent return for him. 

I’d argue Boeser is more of a 1st line winger than Johansen is a 1st line centre. Brock has better production (p/g) and Johansen didn’t sustain the 70pt pace/season he had in Columbus. Never fully transferred over to Nashville. I’d still say he’s a 1C a part from the down year he had this season.

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7 minutes ago, oldnews said:

of course they're working on the blueline.  Tanev is expiring.  Stecher is an RFA. 

there are contingencies.

 

but I think you might be missing the point.

 

do you believe they are going to "overhaul" the blueline this offseason?

Edler is going nowhere.

Hughes is obviously a franchise pmd.

Myers is going nowhere.

The 3 LHD spot - has candidates like Fantenburg, Juolevi....Benn is still here.  Sautner, Brisebois, Rathbone are in the system.  Who believes that spot needs to be filled from outside/overhauled?

 

What we're talking about, almost exclusively is the 3RHD spot.

Does anyone believe the team will not look to re-sign Tanev?  I wouldn't buy that - I have little doubt their intention is to bring Tanev back, and I'm fairly doubtful that there are many realistic options that improve the team more than bringing back Tanev would.   What's the margin there?  An "overhaul"?   Sorry, that sounds ridiculous.

And then there is Stecher.   What are the odds that they let him walk - in favour of an acquisition or signing?  I don't know - perhaps that increases a bit if they re-sign Tanev - hoping to add a bit more weight to the right side.

 

But bottom line - to repeat - the idea that an overhaul is necessarily in  the works is drama-queening - borderline trollish on the part of Friedman.  Ermagerd, the Canucks didn't look quite as good as Dallas....time to rip it apart and overhaul the bluelinezzz.

Again - wadr to AF - anyone that pays close enough attention to this team ought to be able to diagnose the Vegas loss a whole lot better than the weak one liner he came up with.

 

If Friedman wants to talk blueline overhauls....here's some material for him.

 

Morgan Reilly

Jake Muzzin

 

 

 

 

 

Justin Holl

 

Martin Marincin.

Calle Rosen

 

show us your work, Friedman, lol.

 

 

 

I agree with you we don't need an overhaul. But maybe you are making a little light of the needs on defense as well.  

I don't want to wait till Edler Tanev can't perform anymore and can OJ and Rathbone be ready in time for serious competition? They aren't even gaurantees yet . 

If we can add a blue chip guy like ekblad we go for it.  

He's more in sync with his development than Rathbone and OJ 

When you say we're really only talking about our 3 rhd spot I think your giving our d needs not enough credit. 

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11 minutes ago, EP40. said:

I’d argue Boeser is more of a 1st line winger than Johansen is a 1st line centre. Brock has better production (p/g) and Johansen didn’t sustain the 70pt pace/season he had in Columbus. Never fully transferred over to Nashville. I’d still say he’s a 1C a part from the down year he had this season.

That's using hindsight. He was definitely a top-line centre when he was traded. I was pretty surprised Nashville gave up on Jones so early and I think the only reason they did was because Johansen was offered up for him which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. I think it just goes to show how much more value a D-man can have than a forward.

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There are only so many defensemen we can go through before one starts looking at our team defensive structure. We have some decent players. We should be better.

 

I think Cernak would be a great add and good lord he's a big dude. He would be a really good Tanev replacement candidate as much as it would pain me to see him go.

 

We still need a 2nd scoring defenseman behind Hughes. Benning should decide quickly if one of our young guys is shaping to be that guy. If not, we really do need to acquire him, and Ekblaud would be a great fit. I would be actually quite interested to put together a package if we had assets they were looking for. That includes a selection of any of our prospects not named Podkolzin.

 

Alas, no major moves like this as possible unless we unload cap which will cost us as well. To do that, I'd also be happy to lose some prospects.

 

After it all we would be leaving the cupboards pretty bare but if we solidified the D and add the likes of Pods, I think that's a real cup contender in a year or two and we should have the cap to run with it for few years as we rebuild the pool. 

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33 minutes ago, erkayloomeh said:

I agree with you we don't need an overhaul. But maybe you are making a little light of the needs on defense as well.  

I don't want to wait till Edler Tanev can't perform anymore and can OJ and Rathbone be ready in time for serious competition? They aren't even gaurantees yet . 

If we can add a blue chip guy like ekblad we go for it.  

He's more in sync with his development than Rathbone and OJ 

When you say we're really only talking about our 3 rhd spot I think your giving our d needs not enough credit. 

Is Ekblad 'available' in the sense being speculated?  - that is also a large part of the point here - I wouldn't bet a thing on it.

 

Edler - Tanev - you are talking about guys that are still in 'prime' form - so I'm not sure it makes sense to get anxious about replacing them - they have at least a couple good years in the tank (barring injury, which applies to literally everyone).

I am  in the camp that believes Juolevi will be a top 4 - I would wager on that - of course, that could prove not to be the case, but I'd put money on a top 4 LHD of Hughes and Juolevi before I'd bet against him. 

Every team has to ask itelf if a few of their veterans can be relied upon 3 or more years from now - but few can pretend to have a succession plan throughout their lineup that addresses all their concerns that far into the future.

So yeah - I do think it comes down primarily to a question of the 3RHD.

Not a bluechip like Ekblad - but a young Cernak, Mayfield, Foote (or even Manson) type imo and barring that, I'm fine with sticking with Stecher at this point - I fundamentally disagree with the idea that the team 'needs' to eclipse Dallas this summer.   There will always be emerging players to pursue - I believe the team 'could' compete for a playoff spot, for example, next season, with the existing group, and if they went into the deadline feeling an upgrade were needed, there is little to preclude them from making that move somewhere down the road.

I don't think I'm underplaying any 'need' - I would - as I've indicated already - be focusing far more of my energy on moving out a few veteran wingers and dealing with the extra forward contracts that could generate some more flexibility.  I would consider there to be as much or more room for improvement - or comparable performance at less cap - at a few LW spots than anywhere else in the lineup.

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3 hours ago, Petey40 said:

Not sure how you could “Overhaul the blue line”... Myers, Edler, Hughes aren’t going anywhere. And Benning has already stated he wants to resign Tanev. So moving Stecher or Benn is now an overhaul? 

Edler and Tanev can be mid-term solutions for us only if they move down the depth chart - the Canucks need to replace prime Edler and Tanev within a year or two,  if there is an opportunity to do it in a way that won’t hurt other parts of our team especially it should be considered.   It all depends on cap hit of course - will Tanev take a 4 x 4 deal?  Will Edler do one year deals at 4 after this contract is up?  What will be fair for the team and him etc?   Only Hughes and Myers are will be here for sure at this point - and really it was obvious our D needs a lot of work this playoffs.   OJ is a possibility still...and need to find out if Rafferty can play too. 

 

 

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Adding ekblad instantly solidifies the back end.  It will definitely cost Boeser+ though, and I'm ok with that.  Realistically, how do you make room for an elite talent like Hogs to play in the top 6 when you have it all filled up?

 

Podz could easily be a 3rd or 4th liner given his playstyle, but you either have Hogs in the top 6, or he's not in the lineup at all.

 

Moving Boeser makes room for Hogs, and adding Ekblad makes Myers our 3rd pairing RHD.  That's Stanley Cup contender depth.

 

Top 6 would look like:

Miller-Petey-Hogs (gives Hogs the perfect opportunity to excel)

Pearson-Horvat-Toffoli

 

Top 4 D:

Hughes Tanev

Edler Ekblad

 

3rd pairing D would be a rotation of Fanta, OJ, Benn, etc with Myers.

 

 

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big mobile d man. Like tryamkin lol. ... good thing they didn’t make tryamkin an offer before he resigned.... most on here have said the d here are slow old soft And Small  And it has been a issue before benning so did it really take him this long to see that. Yikes. 
Not sure going after more big names that’ll need protecting and eat a monster amount of cap is the best option right now.

First up should be fixing the cap  mess he’s made with over paid ufas. 
Let tanev Stecher leave marky too 
go with OJ Rafferty ect 

next years going to be a mess anyway with a wacky  schedule,Then get through expansion .
the young core will be Resigned a few more prospects will be ready and then fill the holes with no threat of expansion.

I’d say take a flyer on next year and go with the cards we have be ready for post expansion and if we’re really lucky the COVID messed schedule will be  behind them. 
nxt season ends possibly woo and tryamkin Can come in That changes the back end and it cost nothing but a tad of patience.

 

last thing  we need is Failures , another dud grubrason trade knee jerk to address the d size. 
Or a owner philosophy change to be bigger slower and tougher like after 2011. 

 

let’s see who the easily confused are :goat:


yeAh sign more old damaged UFAs

and trade for guys that will make protecting everyone important impossible.... so confusing.

 

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