Will major things be done in the offseason to improve our team?

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, ilduce39 said:

I can see a world where we don’t change very much and have a completely different season on the ice.  

 

It’s just been such a strange year - stumbling hard out of the gate and now slogging through a series of 2-in-3 nights post-COVID and no Petey.  

There’s no magic wand moves to turn us into contenders - our best young players need to get back on track before that outcome gets into view. 

 

Biggest off-season items are Petey and Hughes contacts.  Unless you want to see management sink assets to ship out Eriksson talk about “decade long rebuild” is irrelevant as long as we position ourselves for the near future. 
 

For actual moves, I’d like to see Sutter and Hamonic back on reasonable deals.  Sutter works as a 3 or 4 C depending on what you want to do with Petey-Miller-Bo.  
 

We’re already adding Podkolzin whose two way profile and passing should gel perfectly with our offensive-oriented shooters. 

 

The D remains a work in progress - mostly because I don’t see how you land a 1D outside of a massive UFA contract or a trade that opens a hole elsewhere. That remains the issue and outside of winning the draft lottery there’s no easy fix. 
 

We have Schmidt as part of a top pair... and Hughes-Hamonic works as a second pair for me. Juolevi-Meyers I like as the last pair.  
 

We’re just missing Edler from 5 years ago to play with Schmidt - or a comparable.  Rathbone next year brings some rookie sizzle.
 

Demko locked up between the pipes looks solid. 
 

Again, it’s a lot more about guys regaining their form rather than making big sweeping moves - then you look to land a home run in trade or FA as Loui/cap rrecapture fade out next offseason.   To that end, I could see moving on from Green and co but I’d be bummed if we lost Clark.

Yeah Sutter and Hamonic have been good for us this year and I'd like to see them back.  

 

It's been tough to watch Roussel out there this year.  That leg injury really impacted his career.  I'd like to see him and our gluttony of bottom 6 guys moved on from with the exception of Matthew Highmore.  I think that we may have another Motte in him.  

 

Maybe we will land a top three pick this year and get that first pairing d-man.  Odds are increasing with every game.  

 

[wallstreetamigo]

The easiest changes to make are going to be management and coaching. Thats where the team should start but likely wont.

[Chris12345]

43 minutes ago, Bure2Win said:

It's as simple as improving the defense, i've been saying it for decades. You improve the defense it makes the the rest of the team play with that much more confidence thus your over game improves, more goal scoring and better goal tending.  It's not rocket science, even an idiot like myself can see it.

Yea I agree. I don't like their d or defensive forwards at all and find their backend is incredibly unbalanced and not diversified.

[wallstreetamigo]

1 minute ago, VancouverHabitant said:

Yeah Sutter and Hamonic have been good for us this year and I'd like to see them back.  

 

It's been tough to watch Roussel out there this year.  That leg injury really impacted his career.  I'd like to see him and our gluttony of bottom 6 guys moved on from with the exception of Matthew Highmore.  I think that we may have another Motte in him.  

 

Maybe we will land a top three pick this year and get that first pairing d-man.  Odds are increasing with every game.  

 

Sutter and Hamonic only make sense on shorter term, low dollar contracts. Hamonic has at most 4 teams he is willing to play for and has already been through 2 of them. That needs to limit his next contract for sure.

 

Highmore is not the answer. If you actually watch him yes he hustles but he also has very limited offensive ability and regularly blows his coverage in the defensive zone or overcommits. I would not say he is better than average defensively at this point. Maybe he improves but I just dont see anything from him to suggest he is worth keeping long term.

[hammertime]

LOL how?????

 

There is literally nothing that can be done this offseason. The only improvments that can actually be made will be additions of Podkolzin, Rathbone, Juolevi becoming a regular? Opportunities for Lind and Gadjo to push themselves onto the depth chart.

 

Out Virtanen, Sutter, Edler, Holtby. That money barely pays for Huggy and Pete let alone filling holes with guys on ELC's I don't see how you or anyone could possibly expect any kind of improvement. Just gonna have to grind it out until more money comes off the books 

[JM_]

1 hour ago, tas said:

I'm sorry, but this is a ridiculously meaningless statement. "team x is only succeeding because the player they chose to sign as their starting goaltender is playing well." that doesn't make them lucky, it makes them smarter than you. 

OK champ. If you don't think Edmonton didn't get incredibly lucky with Smith this year, thats fine. 

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, wallstreetamigo said:

Highmore is not the answer. If you actually watch him yes he hustles but he also has very limited offensive ability and regularly blows his coverage in the defensive zone or overcommits. I would not say he is better than average defensively at this point. Maybe he improves but I just dont see anything from him to suggest he is worth keeping long term.

We'll have to agree to disagree on Highmore. 

 

5 minutes ago, hammertime said:

LOL how?????

 

There is literally nothing that can be done this offseason. The only improvments that can actually be made will be additions of Podkolzin, Rathbone, Juolevi becoming a regular? Opportunities for Lind and Gadjo to push themselves onto the depth chart.

 

Out Virtanen, Sutter, Edler, Holtby. That money barely pays for Huggy and Pete let alone filling holes with guys on ELC's I don't see how you or anyone could possibly expect any kind of improvement. Just gonna have to grind it out until more money comes off the books 

How much money do you think will be required to sign Elias and Quinn?  Give me a number for each. 

[wallstreetamigo]

Just now, VancouverHabitant said:

We'll have to agree to disagree on Highmore. 

 

How much money do you think will be required to sign Elias and Quinn?  Give me a number for each. 

I understand that people need to believe Highmore is some great untapped player to justify a pretty bad trade. But he isnt. He is like several other bottom 6 guys who simply dont move the needle for the team at all.

 

In his games in Van he has been given a lot of ice time and has not showed anything yet. Will he? Maybe. But the odds are he is what he is and simply cant hustle his way past his lack of skill.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, wallstreetamigo said:

I understand that people need to believe Highmore is some great untapped player to justify a pretty bad trade. But he isnt. He is like several other bottom 6 guys who simply dont move the needle for the team at all.

 

In his games in Van he has been given a lot of ice time and has not showed anything yet. Will he? Maybe. But the odds are he is what he is and simply cant hustle his way past his lack of skill.

I don't need to believe anything, I expected more from the Gaudette trade but I don't miss having Adam on this team at all.  

 

Highmore is always in the middle of a puck battle and is getting to the right places on the ice.  He's just playing with a team that's checked out physically and mentally and no good can come out of that. 

 

What you said right now could've been said about Tyler Motte when we traded for him.  

[PhillipBlunt]

4 hours ago, DSVII said:

We can cross Tryamkin off any plans next year

 

 

I guess Benning ran out of time. 

[wallstreetamigo]

8 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

I don't need to believe anything, I expected more from the Gaudette trade but I don't miss having Adam on this team at all.  

 

Highmore is always in the middle of a puck battle and is getting to the right places on the ice.  He's just playing with a team that's checked out physically and mentally and no good can come out of that. 

 

What you said right now could've been said about Tyler Motte when we traded for him.  

It also could have been said about a long list of reclamation projects who flamed out of the NHL.

 

For every Motte there is 10 Etem, Vey, etc.

 

Trading skill for grinders never turns out well. You sign guys like Highmore. You dont trade offensive minded younger players for them. Well, at least smart GM's dont. They are far more easily replaceable than someone who can actually score.

Edited May 2, 2021 by wallstreetamigo

[4petesake]

4 minutes ago, wallstreetamigo said:

I understand that people need to believe Highmore is some great untapped player to justify a pretty bad trade. But he isnt. He is like several other bottom 6 guys who simply dont move the needle for the team at all.

 

In his games in Van he has been given a lot of ice time and has not showed anything yet. Will he? Maybe. But the odds are he is what he is and simply cant hustle his way past his lack of skill.

I think Highmore is fine for what he brings as long as he is the weakest link in the bottom six. You keep him until you find a low salary upgrade. Unfortunately he’s not the weakest link, he’s just another guy that hasn’t yet moved the needle in any significant way.
 

As I’ve said before I find no point in judging a trade after a few games and pointing fingers. Both  sides of the argument have been guilty of that. I don’t wish for either of these guys to fail to prove a point of view on JB. 

[wallstreetamigo]

1 minute ago, 4petesake said:

I think Highmore is fine for what he brings as long as he is the weakest link in the bottom six. You keep him until you find a low salary upgrade. Unfortunately he’s not the weakest link, he’s just another guy that hasn’t yet moved the needle in any significant way.
 

As I’ve said before I find no point in judging a trade after a few games and pointing fingers. Both  sides of the argument have been guilty of that. I don’t wish for either of these guys to fail to prove a point of view on JB. 

I dont wish for either of them to fail either. I see people gushing over Highmore though and it makes me laugh. He has not added anything this team didnt already have too much of, namely bottom 6 guys who cant chip in offensively and get hemmed in their zone repeatedly.

 

We need guys who can score, not guys who can eat minutes doing nothing that helps the team win.

[wallstreetamigo]

I like Highmore for what he is. I just dont think he is a 16 minute, get looks in the top 6 type of player. He is simply another symptom of what is wrong with this team's construction, like Vesey, Boyd, Hawryluk, Roussel, etc. A few of those types are needed. Not that many though. The bottom 6 still needs some ability to play in the offensive zone once in awhile.

 

The combination of dump and give up the puck offensive strategy (because our "chase" part of that equation and ability to win pucks back is garbage) combined with a five man stationary box defense is a terrible combination.

[hammertime]

24 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

We'll have to agree to disagree on Highmore. 

 

How much money do you think will be required to sign Elias and Quinn?  Give me a number for each. 

I think due to the current market they probably take 3 year bridge deals back loaded for maximum payout to qualify them 3 years from now.

 

6.5 for Huggy 

7.5 for Pete

 

 

[4petesake]

4 minutes ago, wallstreetamigo said:

I like Highmore for what he is. I just dont think he is a 16 minute, get looks in the top 6 type of player. He is simply another symptom of what is wrong with this team's construction, like Vesey, Boyd, Hawryluk, Roussel, etc. A few of those types are needed. Not that many though. The bottom 6 still needs some ability to play in the offensive zone once in awhile.

 

The combination of dump and give up the puck offensive strategy (because our "chase" part of that equation and ability to win pucks back is garbage) combined with a five man stationary box defense is a terrible combination.

I agree, if we keep one or two of the guys you mentioned that’s fine. Keeping the lot of them means we haven’t improved.

[AlexBurrows14Yu]

Why is everyone Obsessed with Tryamkin!? He played like 10 games and did not do much... 

[Gurn]

4 minutes ago, AlexBurrows14Yu said:

Why is everyone Obsessed with Tryamkin!? He played like 10 games and did not do much... 

 79 games.

 

[wallstreetamigo]

4 minutes ago, AlexBurrows14Yu said:

Why is everyone Obsessed with Tryamkin!? He played like 10 games and did not do much... 

I thought he was ok. I think people see him as a different and complimentary type dman to what we already have and what we have in our system. 

[smithers joe]

if being a GM was easy, we'ld all be doing it, like we do on our computers. what i see is a lot of differing opinions from many fans. should we poll all the fan's opinions and tell FA that he has to take the majority of our opinions and build his team accordingly? 

if they make a different path forward than my opinion, i wish them well, because my opinion ain't worth stink.