Adam Gaudette’s role as a Vancouver Canuck

[DrJockitch]

The NHL no longer generally has a top six, bottom six. 

Most good teams have three scoring lines and a shutdown line (usually 1,2,4 if you think about it in terms of line numbers).  

So, he fits as a centre on a third scoring line.

I think you underestimate his physicality.

[CR7]

10 hours ago, DarkIndianRises said:

Adam Gaudette’s role as a Vancouver Canuck:  
 

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

 

Gaudette is....

 

• A smart player that learns quickly

Gaudette isn’t 

 

• A guy that can play wing very well

 

 

So you have a smart player that can't play wing? This seems to contradict his smarts. Wing is one of the easier positions to figure out. Few hours of video time and a few games to get used to it and boom RW. If he earns the chance at a top 6 roll I would put him at RW along side Pearson and Horvat, 2 defensive guys with great offensive ability. Checks all the boxes.

 

If that doesn't work and bottom 6 is not an option I'm afraid its trade bate. I'm not moving Petey or Bo off C to give Gaud a top 6 C spot

[Crabcakes]

10 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

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

Sorry to break it to you but Malhotra took a job with the Leafs 

[Ghostsof1915]

4 minutes ago, Crabcakes said:

Sorry to break it to you but Malhotra took a job with the Leafs 

I meant when they were players.

[erkayloomeh]

11 hours ago, Captain Canuck #12 said:

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

What's Gaudettes value?

[Crabcakes]

It's not like shifting Gaudette to the wing hasn't been considered by the Canucks but, I think that I'll go with Green's assessment which is that Gaudette is better suited to centre than wing.  It's clear that he needs work on his face offs and defensively but these 2 things can be learned.  His skating and his mindset suit playing in the middle and it is felt that they should persist with him in the middle since he has progressed nicely in each of his first 2 seasons.  As far a physical play, he plays small but shifting him to the wing is going to mean more board work and fore checking which are more physical than what he's doing.   

 

Longer term, the Canucks are looking at the addition of Podzolkin, a left shot who plays right wing (we'll see where that goes), a physical winger who would put Gaud on the outside looking in.

 

No, they're better off continuing to develop Gaudette at 3C which is where he projects.  We'll be seeing in the next couple of seasons whether he is part of the Canucks long term.

[Crabcakes]

19 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

I meant when they were players.

Oh man, I mis-read your post   It's early, working on my first coffee....

[Ghostsof1915]

Just now, Crabcakes said:

Oh man, I mis-read your post   It's early, working on my first coffee....

Just thought you were feeling crabby on Friday the 13th.

[#Canucks]

Gaudette is genius for our third line. Every team needs a guy like him. As long as he can get the edge side to his game like Beagle/Rous. If he can get that down he will be nothing less than a fan favorite in Vancouver. 
 

16-20 goals a year / 20-25 assists. 

[smithers joe]

can you imagine our line up that has lind, pods, hogs, macewen and maybe hawrluk on it?

what could that line up look like?

millsey, petey, boes, bo,hog, pod, motte, gaud, hawr, mac, huggy, juol, schmidt, raffy, rath, woo, chatty and demko?

my mouth is watering. maybe a couple of physical guys too. 

Edited November 13, 2020 by smithers joe

[BCNate]

In a year or two's time:

 

Miller EP Virtanen

Hoglander Horvat Boeser

Podkolzin Gaudette (Trade/UFA Scoring winger)

 

We need 3 lines that can put up points

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by BCNate

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

12 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

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

Wanted some way to confirm this but it seems they only kept track of this starting 2008, the year Linden retired.

[canucklehead44]

Thoughts on Gaudette
- He performed fairly well in a sheltered role
- Still young and will develop strength and defensive ability
- Currently has value 5 on 5 offensively and on the power play 
-  Cheap salary

Worst case he is a cheap offensive specialist, best case he rounds out his game and becomes an effective 2nd line centre 

[Comeback_Kings]

I remember the line of Baertschi Gaudette Miller looked good in preseason.  Fans insisted Gaudette stay with the club and were shocked by the Baertschi demotion.  Maybe Miller just makes everyone he plays with better.   

[Devron]

10 hours 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.

I agree. I’m just trying not to bank on all of the above. I know we have some help coming but hard to gauge how soon and effective each player will be in the next year or two. Hence why I’d hold onto Gaudette. I think his overall game is developing and I’m not convinced he can’t be a bottom 6 forward either. Having said that I think it’s best we keep developing him as oppose to trade bait right now. Could bite us hard 

[J.I.A.H.N]

As a prospect.........I loved gaudette

As a pro, I am becoming less impressed

But in saying that...........

 

Face Offs, are a learned skill, which involves positioning, reflexes, technique, and IQ...all these can be taught or developed........Gaudette has the IQ and reflexes

Defensive Positioning, is totally a learned skill

 

What is not, is size, and Gaudette as a 3rd line center, would be matched up against some of the leagues better centermen, who are either  bigger or quicker 

IMO, this puts Gaudette at a disadvantage........

 

My trouble is I see Gaudette as a tweener.........not quite good enough for 2nd line duties, and not big enough for 3rd line match ups...........good enough until we get something better.............sorry Adam, I like you

 

In my opinion, the 3rd line center should be a veteran, whose skills match up better with the job at hand..........

 

IMO, Adam + is trade bait for a solid 3rd line center

[250Integra]

His role with the Canucks? Call of Duty ambassador.

[Patel Bure]

Here’s my thing with Gaudette:

 

Even if he improved his face off ability,  he’d still be in a role that wouldn’t be suitable for his game.  Gaudette isn’t the greatest defensively, and can’t carry a line offensively.  Hence, playing him with guys like Sutter, Roussel, Beagle, and Motte is a terrible mismatch.   

 

The end result?  An ineffective bottom six with Horvat still being used in a match-ups role with Pearson and Eriksson.  

 

Why not put Gaudette in a position that suits his style of game?   Put him with Miller so that Miller can help him on the defensive side of things along with face-offs.   Give Gaudette a GOOD winger that can actually convert on Gaudette’s attempts to create offense.

 

I like Gaudette, but he just reminds of Sven Baertschi, in the sense that he’s a misfit for a bottom 6 role.....Atleast in the way that Green and Benning view the role of the bottom 6 on our team (ie traditional “defense first” mindset).  

[boziffous]

Gaudette got off to a horrible start last season when it came to faceoffs, but he did improve as the season went on. In October and November combined of this past season he won only 33 of 111 faceoffs = 29.7%

From December on he won 154 out of 343 faceoffs = 44.9%

In the playoffs he won 46.7% of his faceoffs.

 

It's still not great, but he did show some improvement in the faceoff department.

[theo5789]

1 hour ago, DarkIndianRises said:

Here’s my thing with Gaudette:

 

Even if he improved his face off ability,  he’d still be in a role that wouldn’t be suitable for his game.  Gaudette isn’t the greatest defensively, and can’t carry a line offensively.  Hence, playing him with guys like Sutter, Roussel, Beagle, and Motte is a terrible mismatch.   

 

The end result?  An ineffective bottom six with Horvat still being used in a match-ups role with Pearson and Eriksson.  

 

Why not put Gaudette in a position that suits his style of game?   Put him with Miller so that Miller can help him on the defensive side of things along with face-offs.   Give Gaudette a GOOD winger that can actually convert on Gaudette’s attempts to create offense.

 

I like Gaudette, but he just reminds of Sven Baertschi, in the sense that he’s a misfit for a bottom 6 role.....Atleast in the way that Green and Benning view the role of the bottom 6 on our team (ie traditional “defense first” mindset).  

This is why he's played with defensive players like Sutter (who also helps him with faceoffs). He will get better wingers in time, but he's being sheltered until he's groomed further. When players like Hoglander/Podkolzin/Lind start joining, the offensive quality will go up on his line. Now he may be moved to wing to get more offensive looks, but his value will be much greater as a center for us. Once he becomes a winger, then the competition amongst the young players will be more fierce.