Adam Gaudette’s role as a Vancouver Canuck

[Patel Bure]

Adam Gaudette’s role as a Vancouver Canuck:  
 

Let us be clear on what Adam Gaudette is and isn’t.

 

Gaudette is....

 

• A decent playmaker
• offensively inclined with good offensive instincts
• A guy with a decent shot
• A smart player that learns quickly
• A guy with a good off-ice work ethic

Gaudette isn’t 

 

• Very good defensively 
• a good face off man
• physical or aggressive
• A guy that can play wing very well
• Suited to being a bottom 6 guy.  In many ways, he’s the Sven Baertschi of centers.
• A guy that is going to drive offense.  He can produce offense YES, but he’ll need good offensive linemates to help him.

 

So here are my arguments:  

 

• Adam Gaudette is a misfit for the bottom 6 for the above reasons.
• Putting Gaudette with guys like Sutter, Roussel, and Beagle does nothing for Gaudette because they aren’t going to help Gaudette produce offense, and Gaudette’s strength isn’t on defense.  All Beagle and Sutter will do is help Gaudette take face offs.
• Gaudette and Virtanen are misfits together IF the 3rd man on that line isn’t good defensively 
• Gaudette and Boeser are misfits together IF the 3rd man on that line isn’t good defensively.

 

Possible solutions to maximize Gaudette:

 

• Move Gaudette to the top 6 and put him in an offensive role so that it caters to his style of play.
• Give Gaudette capable scoring wingers.  
• Make sure that Gaudette has a guy on his line that can take face offs, but isn’t a black hole offensively.
• Give Gaudette a chance to take advantage of his smarts and ability to learn quickly and place him on the top 6.

 

The idea that I have in mind is putting Miller and Boeser with Gaudette.

 

Miller-Gaudette-Boeser 

 

Miller can help Gaudette defensively and with face offs, while also bringing the physical element.  Boeser can help bring out Gaudette’s offensive game.

 

Pearson-Horvat-Pettersson

Miller-Gaudette-Boeser

 

OR

 

Pettersson-Horvat-Virtanen

Miller-Gaudette-Boeser

OR

 

Miller-Horvat-Pettersson

Pearson-Gaudette-Boeser (the Pettersson line would the toughest match-ups which would allow Gaudette to grow his game a little more in this role while still playing with some good scoring linemates).

 

Take a chance with Gaudette, give him a legit top 6 opportunity with legit top 6 wingers, and see where it goes.  

 

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by DarkIndianRises

[Captain Canuck #12]

His role with the Canucks?  Two words:  Trade Bait.

[YEGCanuck]

Adam can be trained to be better at face offs.

[Ghostsof1915]

Pretty sure Linden and Manny were not great on face-offs from the get go. 

[lmm]

my question is why does Gaudette deserve this special treatment?

why not Motte?

or bring back Beartschi and put him on the top line?

What has Gauddy done to deserve the Jason Megna treatment?

[Devron]

He’s a late bloomer obviously. Look at his trajectory. Let’s not get caught up in the usually impatience. I can see Guadette being a very important player for us, give it time 

[Devron]

1 hour ago, Captain Canuck #12 said:

His role with the Canucks?  Two words:  Trade Bait.

We do not have spectacular forward depth. Especially in the next year or 2. A lot of vets will be out the door. 

[Coconuts]

Defensive play and faceoffs can be learned/taught. I think it's important to keep in mind that Gaudette just turned 24 and has played parts of two fullish NHL seasons. 

 

He managed to put up 33 points in 59 games, I think management believes it's worth seeing whether he can contribute the same or more regularly. He may never be a 50 point guy, but I don't think his game has peaked just yet. 

 

As vets are allowed to walk over the next number of seasons we'll need guys who can capably step up. Maybe he'll be one of those guys. 

[Coconuts]

It's not as if he's expensive either, at just under 1m. He'll have to be re-upped next season, but unless he absolutely blows us away he shouldn't be due for a massive raise. Isn't reasonably priced depth what many of us have been wanting? 

[Patel Bure]

5 minutes ago, lmm said:

my question is why does Gaudette deserve this special treatment?

why not Motte?

or bring back Beartschi and put him on the top line?

What has Gauddy done to deserve the Jason Megna treatment?

Gaudette being a center was what gave me this thought.    I feel that Gaudette is being wasted away on the bottom 6 since he doesn’t defend particularly well, and can’t really play wing.   While Gaudette does have offensive skill and promise, he can’t really carry a line offensively and so sticking him with plugs like Sutter and Roussel isn’t going to do much to cater to his strength and subsequent development.  
 

Pettersson can play all three forward positions and so you can shift him to the wing and play him with Horvat (which would be deadly by the way :-o).   
 

Im just wondering if a top 6 consisting of Miller-Gaudette-Boeser (with Pearson-Horvat-Pettersson as the first line) would be better than Pearson-Horvat-Virtanen (with Miller-Pettersson-Boeser as the first line).  

[Canuck Surfer]

Gaudette appears penciled in long term as our 3rd line center.  And he is neither exceeding, nor disappointing expectations. 

 

That is his role to lose? 

 

This is especially true as we have no logical prospect heir apparent? Plus Sutter & Beagles contracts expire next year & the year after. 

[nux_win]

9 minutes ago, Canuck Surfer said:

Gaudette appears penciled in long term as our 3rd line center.  And he is neither exceeding, nor disappointing expectations. 

 

That is his role to lose? 

 

This is especially true as we have no logical prospect heir apparent? Plus Sutter & Beagles contracts expire next year & the year after. 

Sometimes the obvious answer is the correct answer.  In fact, quite often.  I agree that Gaudette's role with the Canucks seems to be as a third line center.  At least for the time being.  These things aren't set in stone.  Go Canucks Go!

Edited November 13, 2020 by nux_win

[-AJ-]

I don't like the idea of moving Petey to the wing. He's played it before, but I think he can be more effective as a centreman. I think Gaudette can learn to get better at faceoffs. We have a captain who's an expert and two experienced centremen as well, both of whom are strong at faceoffs, especially Beagle. I'm not as worried about his defense. In today's day and age, it's not too uncommon to have three scoring lines and one checking line. Gaudette could be a great option for that third scoring line.

[Phil_314]

Setup man for Motte, and maybe Hawryluk (if Jake is played up the lineup).  I think that should be a long-term option for him.
 

Those 3 as a unit would be quick and hard to contain.  They're not the biggest but they're strong and combative for their size.  Play them against lesser units (bottom-6/ bottom pair D guys) for secondary scoring.

[Nuxfanabroad]

Kid always looks like he's all-in. Performed well in clutch College tilts. Let's be patient here..o-keydoke?

[Davathor]

The problem isn't that he isn't capable of being an effective 3rd C, the problem is we don't have the wingers for an effective scoring 3rd line until some of these expensive grinders contracts are gone and we can afford to pick up better depth wingers... 

 

Ferland could still be one of those guys if he's ever 100% again. A 3rd line with Gaud and Ferland and a decent FA pickup who can play D and not be an offensive black hole could do wonders for secondary scoring

[Chronic.Canuck]

2 hours ago, Devron44 said:

We do not have spectacular forward depth. Especially in the next year or 2. A lot of vets will be out the door. 

Pearson is highest on the depth chart of the guys you're referring to: Sutter, Roussel, Beagle (and Eriksson lol).

 

I'm sure between Podkolzin, Hoglander, Lind, the young guys we already have on the team (Motte, MacEwen, Virtanen), and maybe another surprise (Jasek?) we have those minutes covered. What we could use is a C prospect ready in a year or two - I just listed 6 wingers who should all show age related improvement in the next two years to add to Boeser and Miller and all of a sudden that's 8 wingers and a full winger lineup lineup with a good mix of scoring, size, speed, and grit.

 

Gaudette is in a good spot to grow as a center here with Horvat and Petey sheltering him for the next 2-3 years and I'm sure he'll find some chemistry with wingers sooner than later. He was already on a 46 point pace last year and I don't see 50-60 points a year out of the question at all.

 

Now we just need a 25 year old Jay Beagle/Manny Malholtra type to be our primary defensive center and we can let Bo off the leash.

[Captain Canuck #12]

4 minutes ago, Chronic.Canucks.Fan said:

Pearson is highest on the depth chart of the guys you're referring to: Sutter, Roussel, Beagle (and Eriksson lol).

 

I'm sure between Podkolzin, Hoglander, Lind, the young guys we already have on the team (Motte, MacEwen, Virtanen), and maybe another surprise (Jasek?) we have those minutes covered. What we could use is a C prospect ready in a year or two - I just listed 6 wingers who should all show age related improvement in the next two years to add to Boeser and Miller and all of a sudden that's 8 wingers and a full winger lineup lineup with a good mix of scoring, size, speed, and grit.

 

Gaudette is in a good spot to grow as a center here with Horvat and Petey sheltering him for the next 2-3 years and I'm sure he'll find some chemistry with wingers sooner than later. He was already on a 46 point pace last year and I don't see 50-60 points a year out of the question at all.

 

Now we just need a 25 year old Jay Beagle/Manny Malholtra type to be our primary defensive center and we can let Bo off the leash.

And his name is..... Jayce Hawryluk (fingers crossed).

[Lancaster]

To be a very good defensive player, you really need to excel in at least 1 facet of the game..... overall brute strength, fast skating to fore/backcheck, or very smart positioning.  

Bo has a high degree of all 3, Pettersson with speed and positioning.... Gaudette seems lacking in all 3.  Not saying he's useless defensively, but he's not the quickest guy on the ice and he's a very very light player.  How light?  Lets just say that Elias Pettersson is heavier than Adam Gaudette.  Hockey IQ can only go so far if you can't physically do what's required (eg. Cody Hodgson).  

 

I still rather see Gaudette as a winger to let him focus on offense, then leave the defensive work for Sutter.  

[IBatch]

6 hours ago, DarkIndianRises said:

Gaudette being a center was what gave me this thought.    I feel that Gaudette is being wasted away on the bottom 6 since he doesn’t defend particularly well, and can’t really play wing.   While Gaudette does have offensive skill and promise, he can’t really carry a line offensively and so sticking him with plugs like Sutter and Roussel isn’t going to do much to cater to his strength and subsequent development.  
 

Pettersson can play all three forward positions and so you can shift him to the wing and play him with Horvat (which would be deadly by the way :-o).   
 

Im just wondering if a top 6 consisting of Miller-Gaudette-Boeser (with Pearson-Horvat-Pettersson as the first line) would be better than Pearson-Horvat-Virtanen (with Miller-Pettersson-Boeser as the first line).  

Or make instead we use him to add offense on the third line - exactly what he did last year.   40 points on the third line is very decent production...

 

Im not apposed at all with trying him in the top six - and a big reason for this is Motte impressed me so much in the playoffs in believe he’s earned a promotion to the third line himself.   But I don’t where we’d put him.    
 

Edit:  Move Motte up to the third line and keep AG with Sutter to help him with face offs...that line would have both a defensive and offensive flair - more or less what you want.  
 

On Motte.   He was the best takeaway guy last playoffs in the entire league when we lost.   His stick and hand to eye is off the charts...and he’s shown he can bury the biscuit with the chances he creates.   Would love to see what he could do in a more offensive role ... he’s a hidden gem in our own lineup and has a lot of potential to become this teams version of Hansen IMO...

Edited November 13, 2020 by IBatch