[Signing] Oscar Fantenberg signs in the KHL

[grandmaster 2,276]

On 10/27/2020 at 9:57 AM, CanucksJay said:

Ouch. I liked him more than Benn

Me too. We seem to like paying a bit extra for lesser players.

Fanta at league min > Benn at 2M.

 

[Odjick29willkillyou 411]

25 minutes ago, oldnews said:

?

this has nothing to do with cap space.

 

You think so? How about the Leivo or Stecher signings? I know we cannot keep bringing back the same old guys, but you cannot honestly say that either of them would not have been great depth signings at the contracts they agreed to. Fant is better than Benn and has shown at least that much between his availability in the POs and seemed to be more physical which we need on our backend. Not saying he was a game changer, but he was more serviceable than our other options will be at the 7-8 D role. 

[oldnews 49,703]

7 minutes ago, Odjick29willkillyou said:

You think so? How about the Leivo or Stecher signings? I know we cannot keep bringing back the same old guys, but you cannot honestly say that either of them would not have been great depth signings at the contracts they agreed to. Fant is better than Benn and has shown at least that much between his availability in the POs and seemed to be more physical which we need on our backend. Not saying he was a game changer, but he was more serviceable than our other options will be at the 7-8 D role. 

What does any of that have to do with cap space?

The team has enough contract spaces to sign a Leivo or Fantenburg - and in either case those contracts are/would be less than waivable minimum - the team would actually gain cap space signing one of them and waiving LE, Baer, Benn etc (anyone with a cap hit of a million and change or more) - has absolutely nothing to do with cap space, period.

They could have signed Fantenburg, waived Benn, and gained cap space.  I agree that he's better than Benn - however, if we are reading between the lines here, the team either intends to add an upgrade on either of them, or believe that a depth spot or two will be earned by youth.  My guess/hope would be that they intend to sign a Hainsey - we'll see - but regardless - not signing players to these sub million contracts has nothing to do with cap space.

Edited October 28, 2020 by oldnews

[Jimmy McGill 39,839]

3 hours ago, oldnews said:

What does any of that have to do with cap space?

The team has enough contract spaces to sign a Leivo or Fantenburg - and in either case those contracts are/would be less than waivable minimum - the team would actually gain cap space signing one of them and waiving LE, Baer, Benn etc (anyone with a cap hit of a million and change or more) - has absolutely nothing to do with cap space, period.

They could have signed Fantenburg, waived Benn, and gained cap space.  I agree that he's better than Benn - however, if we are reading between the lines here, the team either intends to add an upgrade on either of them, or believe that a depth spot or two will be earned by youth.  My guess/hope would be that they intend to sign a Hainsey - we'll see - but regardless - not signing players to these sub million contracts has nothing to do with cap space.

I think its this. They believe, or at least hope, one of Juolevi or Rathbone are ready to earn a spot. From that pov signing Fanta didn't make sense. 

[aGENT 33,032]

4 hours ago, Odjick29willkillyou said:

You think so? How about the Leivo or Stecher signings? I know we cannot keep bringing back the same old guys, but you cannot honestly say that either of them would not have been great depth signings at the contracts they agreed to. Fant is better than Benn and has shown at least that much between his availability in the POs and seemed to be more physical which we need on our backend. Not saying he was a game changer, but he was more serviceable than our other options will be at the 7-8 D role. 

Any player we can sign for under $1,075,000 has zero (or in fact, positive) impact on cap space. 

 

While Fanta was a decent #6/7/8 D, I'm guessing Benning sees opportunity to get an even better player at, near or under that above price threshold due to the covid price crunch. I'll happily take a Hainsey or Hamonic etc at $1m +/- over Fanta any day. Especially since Fanta isn't a righty (our bigger need)

 

That and we likely see more youth in our 6-10 D slots.

Edited October 28, 2020 by aGENT

[IBatch 10,378]

On 10/27/2020 at 4:26 PM, UKNuck96 said:

The A is hardly the second best league in the world, KHL, SHL are better, Liiga is as well, NLA probably.

 

i would put the AHL between the DEL and NLA maybe similar to the Czech Extraaliga 

The AHL used to be the second best in the league and was forever until the SHL upped their game and the KHL came around.   Yes things have changed.   The SHL climbed above them and the KHL at one point conversion rates were as high as .75.   Not anymore which was my point, they’ve dived over the past 3-4 years.   And  the AHL has stayed pretty steady.    Think you missed the point - it was that the KHL is no longer what it used to be.   The AHL was the second best league until the WHA came around right up until the KHL was formed.   There was some debate early on at who was the better at the time.   Not going to get into it - but usually NA leave when they no longer can get a job in the A and look to play on Europe.   The talent level is still very high. 

[PistolPete13 3,026]

On 10/27/2020 at 12:16 PM, GMmaster13 said:

Out of all of our UFAs JB couldn't re-sign, I bet now he would sign Graovac to a 5 year $15 million contract and then go on record calling him the next Malkin

Astute

[theo5789 11,031]

5 hours ago, grandmaster said:

Me too. We seem to like paying a bit extra for lesser players.

Fanta at league min > Benn at 2M.

 

Look at their numbers when they were signed. Benn was the better player and had a similar offer by Montreal, but he chose to play here instead. I imagine not many here even heard of Fantenberg prior to joining us. So yes he outplayed Benn, but that doesn't mean we intentionally chose to pay extra for a "lesser" player.

[CanucksJay 2,690]

8 hours ago, grandmaster said:

Me too. We seem to like paying a bit extra for lesser players.

Fanta at league min > Benn at 2M.

 

Yes Benn is lucky he signed a multi year or he'd be going overseas as well

[189lb enforcers? 8,210]

Serviceable depth Dman. 
Appreciated his game for what it was, which was just what the team needed and received. 
He will go down as a good Canuck memory for most of us. 

Good luck to him. 

[The Colt 45s 594]

The money issue in the Province was interesting. Even with a $700,000 contract, he would make less here than he does on a  $325,000 contract in the KHL.  Does not bode well for the future of the NHL.  https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/a-lesson-in-hockey-taxes-and-escrow-from-oscar-fantenberg

Edited October 29, 2020 by The Colt 45s

[Crabby 1,519]

On 10/27/2020 at 3:15 PM, NUCKER67 said:

Too bad, he was one of the better D in the playoffs IMO. 

 

Hughes - Schmidt

Edler - Myers

Juolevi - Rafferty

Benn

 

hmmm, that 3rd pairing sure looks promising

Fixed 

Edited October 29, 2020 by Brock Botanen

[IBatch 10,378]

2 hours ago, The Colt 45s said:

The money issue in the Province was interesting. Even with a $700,000 contract, he would make less here than he does on a  $325,000 contract in the KHL.  Does not bode well for the future of the NHL.  https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/a-lesson-in-hockey-taxes-and-escrow-from-oscar-fantenberg

The only guys that the KHL will continue to attract are league minimum fringe guys.   Their max salary is set at 1.5, not exactly a place players go to rake it in, escrow/Covid is the only reason a 700k salary here is less then a 325k salary there.  Linden Vey was a PGP guy there last year - that’s the quality of “stars” they attract. 

[oldnews 49,703]

23 hours ago, Jimmy McGill said:

I think its this. They believe, or at least hope, one of Juolevi or Rathbone are ready to earn a spot. From that pov signing Fanta didn't make sense. 

I think they're likely to still add a RH depth D - neither Juolevi nor Fantenburg would effect that.  We'll see.  One injury on the blueline and they'd be pairing a couple rookies together.

Four veterans is not enough.

[VancouverHabitant 3,952]

Why are we comparing Benn and Fanta? Benn was signed last off-season.  
 

Comparing pre-Covid contracts to current ones doesn’t make sense. 

[VancouverHabitant 3,952]

21 hours ago, 189lb enforcers? said:

Serviceable depth Dman. 
Appreciated his game for what it was, which was just what the team needed and received. 
He will go down as a good Canuck memory for most of us. 

Good luck to him. 

Right alongside Artem Chubarov for me! 

[kingofsurrey 7,984]

Going with youth.  If Ferland stays on IR and our young D falter...... then Canucks will  trade for  veteran  D  depth......

Edited October 30, 2020 by kingofsurrey

[The Colt 45s 594]

17 hours ago, IBatch said:

The only guys that the KHL will continue to attract are league minimum fringe guys.   Their max salary is set at 1.5, not exactly a place players go to rake it in, escrow/Covid is the only reason a 700k salary here is less then a 325k salary there.  Linden Vey was a PGP guy there last year - that’s the quality of “stars” they attract. 

Do you think that the level of taxation in British Columbia and Canada in general is a problem? What about the cost of the real estate and/or the rental market especially downtown? I agree with you that the KHL becomes an attractive solution for fringe players. But being paid little should be an awesome incentive to work harder and earn more money.  That is what happened for Burrows.  Of the practices I saw, he was the first on and the last off and actually earned his contracts. He even agreed to take less so he could have a chance to win the Stanley Cup.

[Elias Pettersson 5,305]

Canucks don't need Fantenberg.  He wasn't even in their plans this year.  I am sure they plan on giving Juolevi every opportunity to take that 3rd pairing left hand D position.  And I firmly believe he will get it barring any injury.  Juolevi is a stud, just wait until you see him in action 100% healthy.  His first pass out of the dzone is sick.  And he can run a PP.  He has top 4 potential and if he doesn't get another serious injury he will turn heads.  

 

As for depth, we need a right hand Dman to cover.  Rafferty might be that guy or they will look to get a guy like Hamonic at a discount closer to training camp.  I can see Hamonic signing a 1 year $1 million deal just to stay in the league.  Which would be perfect for us.  All depends on Ferland as well.  Ferland going to LTIR would open up over $3 million in cap space we can use to sign Hamonic and possibly another forward.

[skategal 1,810]

Given the COVID pinch and cap crunch, it's probably easier going into training camp with spots open for the young players to step into if they prove they are ready rather than having to clear spaces by making trades.  I suspect that may be the Canucks management approach, knowing that if they youth demonstrate they aren't ready, it won't be that hard to find a serviceable D that can fill a bottom 6 - 8 role on our team at that point.