On a positive note: Olli Juolevi is getting better every game

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, MikeyD said:

Thats a big ask. Hamhuis was a fantastic defenseman. Elite defensively. 

If OJ is Hamhuis 2.0, anyone complaining about that pick needs to give their head a shake. 

[Hairy Kneel]

1 minute ago, IBatch said:

Won't disagree with that.   That said you can't argue with the results - OJ isn't injured, he's been slowly gaining minutes and that's how rookies are supposed to be introduced into the NHL.    It's not the reason our record is what it is, with the exception of one terrible Chatfield game - maybe we'd have one more win or OT loss in the column who knows.   Not that concerned about the past it is exactly that - the past.   Now if OJ has a terrible Chatfield game too - i'd be surprised if he was benched at this point - he's gaining capital with the coaching staff at this point and for sure his minutes should keep rising. 

Last nights game is in the past too? No need to analyze? The Chatfield decision was pretty bad. And if Chat didn't get hurt he'd probably be still playing.

[Pickly]

OJ has been my favourite player to watch this season. He's so calm and collected back there. He seems to make up for his odd mistakes with a timely stick or a nice check. Still can't believe he sat while Chatfield fumbled his way through that 7 game strech. 

[EternalCanuckFan]

I can't recall any specific past players to compare Juolevi to, but here's what I have observed of him so far this season:

 

Pros:

• Juolevi is a very smart player.  Positionally he's almost always in the right position and, much more often than not, he makes good decisions either with the puck or in his positioning.
• He has good puck movement skills
• While he's not flashy, he does the basic things very well
• Has shown a knack for hitting the net with his shots
• Is starting to show that he can use his size when needed

Cons:

• While he's not a terrible skater, he's quite lacking in foot speed
• It could be more that he's still learning the pro-game, but I don't think he projects to be a particularly dynamic puck moving D.  It's not the end of the world, but I think this is what could hold him back from elevating his game to elite levels

 

I understand why the Canucks have Juolevi paired with Myers and overall, it's not a bad pairing.  I wonder however if Juolevi-Schmidt may be a better pairing.  If I remember correctly, then Schmidt played the right side when he was with VGK and his most frequent D partner was Brayden McNabb.  Now Juolevi is a very different player from Brayden McNabb, but he's more of a stay at home D at this point of his career which may provide some stability for Schmidt who likes to roam.  My guess is they won't pair Juolevi with Schmidt because Myers may not pair well with Edler, Hughes or Benn, but I personally would like to see them give it a shot sometime.

[Provost]

If he can be a solid 3rd pairing guy for us at this point we have to take it as a win.... forget about his draft position.

 

Whether he can ever be more than a depth piece is still to be determined... but at least he has gone from an outside chance of becoming an NHLer to at least even money.

 

Going into next season with him and Myers as a 3rd pairing isn’t the worst thing, some teams will certainly have worse.  If we need them to play higher in the lineup, that is where things get dicey.  Myers is super frustrating in that he looks really good with manager minutes against lesser competition... then there is like a brick wall where you ask just a little too much and the guy is all minor penalties and huge gaffes.

 

We still need to find  2 more top 4D above them to make this work though... maybe we can squeeze a year more out of Edler, but he should really be a 13-15 minute guy at his age too, and not a big minute munching workhorse.

Edited February 24, 2021 by Provost

[BCNate]

7 minutes ago, Provost said:

If he can be a solid 3rd pairing guy for us at this point we have to take it as a win.... forget about his draft position.

 

Whether he can ever be more than a depth piece is still to be determined... but at least he has gone from an outside chance of becoming an NHLer to at least even money.

 

Going into next season with him and Myers as a 3rd pairing isn’t the worst thing, some teams will certainly have worse.  If we need them to play higher in the lineup, that is where things get dicey.  Myers is super frustrating in that he looks really good with manager minutes against lesser competition... then there is like a brick wall where you ask just a little too much and the guy is all minor penalties and huge gaffes.

 

We still need to find  2 more top 4D above them to make this work though... maybe we can squeeze a year more out of Edler, but he should really be a 13-15 minute guy at his age too, and not a big minute munching workhorse.

Really?  Edler has been absolutely fantastic for this team this year.

[Provost]

6 minutes ago, BCNate said:

Really?  Edler has been absolutely fantastic for this team this year.

Being the 2nd best D on an atrocious defence is kind of like being the skinniest kid at fat camp.

 

We should be well past leaning on him to be our minute munching beast.  You see him wearing down just like last year.  If we only needed him to be a 3rd pairing guy who can do spot duty in the top 4, he could probably play years more in the league.

[JM_]

2 hours ago, Hairy Kneel said:

If that was the thought then it wasn't a smart decision for winning hockey games. That would be a AHL decision.

which makes me wonder why Chatfield isn't in the AHL getting those games? it would be very useful to have that option and its a bit odd that the team isn't lining that one up. 

[Hairy Kneel]

1 minute ago, Jimmy McGill said:

which makes me wonder why Chatfield isn't in the AHL getting those games? it would be very useful to have that option and its a bit odd that the team isn't lining that one up. 

I think Chatfield is fast and aggressive, but needs to calm down and gain some experience and hockey IQ in Utica.

[JM_]

Just now, Hairy Kneel said:

I think Chatfield is fast and aggressive, but needs to calm down and gain some experience and hockey IQ in Utica.

I think he's shown he's a capable 7/8 guy with a little more seasoning. I'm more concerned about expansion options tbh than where he fits,  because if its in the top 6 we're in trouble. 

[Provost]

4 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

which makes me wonder why Chatfield isn't in the AHL getting those games? it would be very useful to have that option and its a bit odd that the team isn't lining that one up. 

They might be worried he would be picked up on waivers.  Brian Burke (before he got a job), said he wood absolutely pick up Chatfield if he was available as they really thought well of the player.

[JM_]

2 minutes ago, Provost said:

They might be worried he would be picked up on waivers.  Brian Burke (before he got a job), said he wood absolutely pick up Chatfield if he was available as they really thought well of the player.

Not a major loss, really, if that happened. We need hm for expansion more than we need him for the 7/8 spot which is easily filled by Sautner or Hamonic. 

 

We could also pick a guy off waivers too if need be.

 

Edited February 24, 2021 by Jimmy McGill

[Hairy Kneel]

1 minute ago, Jimmy McGill said:

Not a major loss, really, if that happened. We need hm for expansion more than we need him for the 7/8 spot which is easily filled by Sautner or Hamonic. 

 

We could also pick a guy off waivers too if need be.

 

If were making decisions to protect a 7/8 defenseman over trying to win hockey games, that's ludicrous. 

[DSVII]

6 hours ago, Drakrami said:

lol no he wont. We could have drafted Tkachuk, Keller, Sergachev, McAvoy. This is a failed #5 draft pick, it is just a matter of how much fail. 

I know, i was trying to be positive for once

[khay]

11 hours ago, Phil_314 said:

I'm liking his pairing with Myers.  Though he was on the ice for the GWG, can't blame him for that one as he was boxing Khaira out but then it just took a funny bounce.  Edler and Schmidt have had their gaffes and blown coverage, and Benn can't cover everything that Hughes does, but at least this bottom pairing is looking reliable.  Hopefully we could have a shutdown pair in the making as this team could sorely use one.

The funny thing is that OJ looks like calm and collected vet on that pairing (not a sleight on Myers).

 

But yeah, that pairing is great.

[CoquitlamDave]

OJ could be better then some of those ...

Quote

We could have drafted Tkachuk, Keller, Sergachev, McAvoy. This is a failed #5 draft pick, it is just a matter of how much fail.

.... The jury is still Juoluvi 

[BCNate]

1 hour ago, Provost said:

Being the 2nd best D on an atrocious defence is kind of like being the skinniest kid at fat camp.

 

We should be well past leaning on him to be our minute munching beast.  You see him wearing down just like last year.  If we only needed him to be a 3rd pairing guy who can do spot duty in the top 4, he could probably play years more in the league.

Edler has been outstanding defensively this year, by any measure on any team. He is far from the problem here.  

[Gawdzukes]

8 hours ago, Drakrami said:

lol no he wont. We could have drafted Tkachuk, Keller, Sergachev, McAvoy. This is a failed #5 draft pick, it is just a matter of how much fail. 

If the criteria is you could have drafted a better player just about every pick in the draft is a failed pick. 

[Gawdzukes]

2 hours ago, Jimmy McGill said:

which makes me wonder why Chatfield isn't in the AHL getting those games? it would be very useful to have that option and its a bit odd that the team isn't lining that one up. 

They want to have the best possible reserves for injuries.

[IBatch]

3 hours ago, Provost said:

If he can be a solid 3rd pairing guy for us at this point we have to take it as a win.... forget about his draft position.

 

Whether he can ever be more than a depth piece is still to be determined... but at least he has gone from an outside chance of becoming an NHLer to at least even money.

 

Going into next season with him and Myers as a 3rd pairing isn’t the worst thing, some teams will certainly have worse.  If we need them to play higher in the lineup, that is where things get dicey.  Myers is super frustrating in that he looks really good with manager minutes against lesser competition... then there is like a brick wall where you ask just a little too much and the guy is all minor penalties and huge gaffes.

 

We still need to find  2 more top 4D above them to make this work though... maybe we can squeeze a year more out of Edler, but he should really be a 13-15 minute guy at his age too, and not a big minute munching workhorse.

Wrong though.  QHs and Benn are our third pairing, they get the easier 5 x 5 assignments, where as Myers has taken on Edler's old role and whomever he's paired with gets double shifted and matched up against top competition.   At this point Edler is being used as a second pairing shut down d zone heavy player - and OJ Myers taking on the a two way tough competition role.   I'd say that's our top four.   QHs Benn is our bottom pairing.   QHs doesn't kill penalties, is used primarily like the Sedins used  to used,  as in the ozone, and if we weren't always behind he'd be sat waiting for the next power play.  Instead he's been often overplayed which ends up with the puck in our own net.    OJ  Myers is quietly becoming our top pairing.   

 

Wrong as going into next season QHs plus whomever,  as the third pairing isn't the worst thing - but the eye test says that's where he should be for now.    Not that he doesn't try - of course he does.    Until we get another Tanev level RHD to work with  QHs 5 x 5 minutes should be good 3rd pairing ones and nothing more.  

 

In the meantime - OJ and Myers can build some chemistry .... it's already started - and become a solid top four pairing. 

 

Edit:  Folks should be prepared for a totally different system if we get a new coach that's defense oriented.   QHs could easily become a 14 minute 3rd D plus PP time - so 16-20 minute guy depending on the game situation.    Hopefully he can evolve... 

 

Edit:  And on Myers.  Folks are delusional if they think we are going to find an upgrade in free agency this year.   All the upgrades or equals have been signed already.   We'd be lucky to get something similar the following year too.   And by then, one year left.   No he's not a top pairing guy on a good team, everyone knows that.  But for sure he's a solid top four RHD, he's proven that since his very first season.   How's Trouba and his 8 million dollar contract working out anyways?  Terribly so far.   Losing his spot and injured AGAIN.   Wake up - spend some time and look around.  Brodin signed.  32 year old Petry signed (in his prime - something Myers easily could also perform too, just like Burns, just like Lidstrom, just like Visnovsky and a pile of blue chip d's having career years in their early 30's).... Hamilton is left.   LOL.  The Duchene of RHDs maybe - or maybe not who knows.     

Edited February 24, 2021 by IBatch