[Discussion] Are the Canucks now a legitimate playoff team?

[Nucker 67]

I wouldn't mind this:

 

Ekman-Larsson - Myers

Hughes - Poolman

Juolevi - Hamonic

Schenn

 

 

Poolman has size, plays a defensive game, and can skate (keeping up with Hughes). If Juolevi plays more physical like he said he would, then a Juolevi - Hamonic pairing could be good too. 

[wallstreetamigo]

31 minutes ago, Patel Bure said:

Brad Shaw replaced Baumer did he not?  You are correct however (re - what kind of coaches).  

Baumgartner is still the defense coach. Shaw is more of an associate coach to Green. He will undoubtedly be involved in all areas other than goaltending.

[Nucker 67]

What effect could Ian Clark have on Halak? Apparently he hand-picked Halak to come here. 

 

OEL, Poolman and Schenn under Baumgartner/Shaw.

 

I predict:

 

- OEL and Poolman will have career years

 

- Podkolzin will be nominated for the Calder

 

- Horvat will better his season best of 27 goals

 

[cory40]

Best defensive core we may have ever had. A stay at home defenseman paired with swift moving defenders. I like how they scouted for players to fit with who they had. Looking for bigger bodies with good sticks to get the pucks to the quicker side. One major weakness that is not talked about enough is how the defenders last year did really well at forcing turnovers and chipping it up to forwards who continually failed  to move it out of their own end. I can't tell you how many times the puck was turned over and it ended up in the back of the net. Better forwards will cut this down drastically. THE DEFENSE HAS DEPTH TO HANDLE A INJURY OR TWO. Edler was so slow he was consistently taking bad penalties. OUR BOTTOM 6 FORWARD GROUP . Edmonton or Calgary are not going to stack up nicely agianst the Canucks. Duncan Keith is not a top 4 defender. OEL is a top notch defender stuck on a team who had no chance to win in April. Changed ownership ...changed coaches... was run by the league .... Lost draft picks .... always chaos.

 

Jim said he would be aggressive. Jim was aggressive. 

[cory40]

34 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said:

I wouldn't mind this:

 

Ekman-Larsson - Myers

Hughes - Poolman

Juolevi - Hamonic

Schenn

 

 

Poolman has size, plays a defensive game, and can skate (keeping up with Hughes). If Juolevi plays more physical like he said he would, then a Juolevi - Hamonic pairing could be good too. 

Having this group has me super excited to see play. Finally.... 

[cory40]

2 hours ago, iinatcc said:

They could be a 100 point team but everything has to go absolutely right for this to happen. Garland living to his potential, OEL bouncing back, injury free Sutter, and Hamonic being even better than he was last season. 

 

Not to mention Boeser and Demko matching their performance the previous year and Pettersson and Hughes taking another step forward 

Everything doesn't have to be perfect for them to be a play-off team. They have some depth at forward and on defense.  

[cory40]

11 hours ago, Patel Bure said:

Agreed but there are more elements involved in what I proposed.

 

-Getting rid of Myers’ long term contract for what has been very average value

-Recouping a 1st

-Getting a player (Ryan Graves) that addresses our biggest defensive need right now (top pairing shut down guy)

-Having a ton of cap space on July 2022 when we’d walk away from PK Subbann, and invest that money into areas that would allow us to take the next step, whether it’s Parayako, Klingberg, or whoever.  
 

Don’t get me wrong....I agree that losing Quinn Hughes would suck, but my biggest concern right now is that our current defensive configuration isn’t that great, and that the presence of Myers’ 6 million dollar contract could serve as an obstacle in us eventually taking the next step.  Hughes is an extraordinary PMD, but OEL is as well.......and Rathbone looks like he could be headed this way as well (good calculated risk....and again, even if he doesn’t take that step, then maybe you go HARD after Klingberg in the summer of 2022).

 

Out of the following three defenses, which one is the worst?

 

2022-2023:

 

A:

Graves-Klingberg

OEL-Hamonic

Rathbone-Poolman
 

B:

OEL-Parayko

Graves-Hamonic

Rathbone-Poolman

 

C:

OEL-Hamonic or OEL-Myers

Hughes-Myers Or Hughes-Hamonic

Rathbone-Poolman

 

I think B > A > C........but maybe that’s just me.

 

I think A and B are championship level defenses while C is the type of defense that would get caved in......but maybe that’s just me.

HUGHES is not going anywhere. I wish the period was bigger. OEL and Hughes on the same team is going to add alot of offensive potentia.l 

[Patel Bure]

6 minutes ago, cory40 said:

Best defensive core we may have ever had. A stay at home defenseman paired with swift moving defenders. I like how they scouted for players to fit with who they had. Looking for bigger bodies with good sticks to get the pucks to the quicker side. One major weakness that is not talked about enough is how the defenders last year did really well at forcing turnovers and chipping it up to forwards who continually failed  to move it out of their own end. I can't tell you how many times the puck was turned over and it ended up in the back of the net. Better forwards will cut this down drastically. THE DEFENSE HAS DEPTH TO HANDLE A INJURY OR TWO. Edler was so slow he was consistently taking bad penalties. OUR BOTTOM 6 FORWARD GROUP . Edmonton or Calgary are not going to stack up nicely agianst the Canucks. Duncan Keith is not a top 4 defender. OEL is a top notch defender stuck on a team who had no chance to win in April. Changed ownership ...changed coaches... was run by the league .... Lost draft picks .... always chaos.

 

Jim said he would be aggressive. Jim was aggressive. 

I love your enthusiasm and hope you’re right.  For me, I’m just not sure if Poolman is anything more than a 3rd pairing guy or if Hamonic and Myers are anything more than #4’s.  We’re pretty much depending on Hughes and OEL to carry whoever they are playing, and both of these guys might be defensively suspect as well.

 

Anyways, I guess we’ll see how things play out.  I’ll happily eat crow if I’m wrong.

[wallstreetamigo]

I am actually cautiously optimistic with the totality of the moves by Benning so far this offseason. 

 

I still think the team needs a true #1 RHD but overall the team has some nice depth. Its the first time since Benning has been GM that it seemed like there was actually a targeted plan to fill holes with the right kind of players rather than filling imaginary holes with character guys at inflated prices.

 

I am giving Benning a solid B so far even with taking on OEL (whose contract I hate). Now Green and company need to properly utilize this very changed group to get them playing the right way. Coaching needs tobe a difference maker now. And with this new group of players the style they plsy needs to besignificantly changed offensively and defensively.

 

Miller-EP-Boeser

Hoglander-Horvat-Garland

Pearson-Dickinson-Podkolzin

Highmore-Sutter-Motte

 

OEL-Myers

Hughes-Hamonic

Juolevi/Rathbone-Poolman

Schenn

 

Demko

Halak

 

Looks good on paper. Now the hard work begins.

[cory40]

13 hours ago, highwayman3 said:

Forwards, provided Petterson is healthy and takes another step forward, are elite imo.  Goaltending is very good.  Unfortunately the defence is and will be our achilles heel - don't think we'll be able to outscore a team like Edmonton as McDavid will feast on Myers on the top pairing.  Unless Myers is somehow magically replaced by Murphy I just don't see us making it.  We'll be close, and it will be a good development year for the squad.  Hopefully the defence can be addressed next offseason as there's a lot of work that needs to be done.  

dON'T LET THE MEDIA FOOL YOU.  Jim put together a solid team.

[VegasCanuck]

After the insane pace of the last week, and now the total calm today, it's almost feeling like a "And on the Seventh day, he slept" type of event!

 

Not that I'm even remotely religious

 

[cory40]

Just now, Patel Bure said:

I love your enthusiasm and hope you’re right.  For me, I’m just not sure if Poolman is anything more than a 3rd pairing guy or if Hamonic and Myers are anything more than #4’s.  We’re pretty much depending on Hughes and OEL to carry whoever they are playing, and both of these guys might be defensively suspect as well.

 

Anyways, I guess we’ll see how things play out.  I’ll happily eat crow if I’m wrong.

One thing I,ve noticed playing defense and watching it. Some guys bring you down some bring you up. I had all my doubt removed when i heard Jim say they scouted Poolman and like his long body and quick stick. Now put that with a Hughes he gets the puck its out. Put that with Myers they can chip it too each other all game and not get the puck out. Jim has two years or he is gone. One if they don't improve. People feel Jim is a awful manager that has made some brutal dicisions. IF THAT WERE the case I"m sure he would have been fired. WHAT I SEE was a meddling ownership group who were micro managing. I believe this to be the case for two reasons.

 

1) He has been given the check book to buy out some of these decisions.

 

2) Daddy was going to replace Aquillini with his other brother.

 

Now this is the first time I believe this is Jim Bennings team.

[VegasCanuck]

4 minutes ago, cory40 said:

dON'T LET THE MEDIA FOOL YOU.  Jim put together a solid team.

Exactly, we are a much younger and faster team. It remains to be seen how they work together when they hit the ice in 8 weeks (hard to believe it's that close already).

 

They can get Halak and Sutter shirts that say, "Grandpa" on them as they are some of the only guys on this team now, who are north of 30.

 

I really didn't see how Benning was going to engineer changes on this level, but he really has managed to do it. Now, players need to perform.

[cory40]

13 hours ago, BPA said:

Capfriendly has it around $14M.  But that includes some depth signing that I assume will go to Abbotsford.  It should really be about $17-$18M.  That's to get EP, QH, Dickinson, and OJ signed.  Also remember that we have $3.5M in Ferland LTIR money.

Does that include Ferlands cap hit?

[cory40]

15 hours ago, Patel Bure said:

I should mention this more on the 'proposals' forum but I have a suggestion that excites me (but may not excite you).   

 

Hughes and Myers to the Devils for Ryan Graves, PK Subban, and a 1st round pick.  

 

The Devils get their wish of reuniting the three Hughes', while we achieve the following:

 

1) We get a true top pairing shut down guy in Ryan Graves

2) We recoup one of the 1st round picks that we've given up over these past few years

3) After one year of PK Subban, he comes off the books, and we go HARD after one of Colton Parayko or John Klingberg based on our needs at time (i.e. if we feel like we need more offense from the back-end or if we need another tough stay-at-homer).    

 

The above trade, in my opinion, is what would REALLY set us up for signficant playoff success.   

Devils will never get thte three Hughes brothers together. BECAUSE VANCOUVER  will not sell their best generational offensive defender that they have been looking for since they came into the league. Quinn will be the best of the Hughes brothers to boot. Had he been in Colorado he is the calder winner.  .

[wallstreetamigo]

7 minutes ago, cory40 said:

One thing I,ve noticed playing defense and watching it. Some guys bring you down some bring you up. I had all my doubt removed when i heard Jim say they scouted Poolman and like his long body and quick stick. Now put that with a Hughes he gets the puck its out. Put that with Myers they can chip it too each other all game and not get the puck out. Jim has two years or he is gone. One if they don't improve. People feel Jim is a awful manager that has made some brutal dicisions. IF THAT WERE the case I"m sure he would have been fired. WHAT I SEE was a meddling ownership group who were micro managing. I believe this to be the case for two reasons.

 

1) He has been given the check book to buy out some of these decisions.

 

2) Daddy was going to replace Aquillini with his other brother.

 

Now this is the first time I believe this is Jim Bennings team.

So essentially any good move is Benning and any mistake is anyone but Benning?

 

Or, the reality could be that Benning has made bad decisions. The fact that he wasnt fired peobably has just as much to do with the team not wanting to pay him to sit at home while also paying a new GM. It doesnt immediately validate that he has been a great GM. Look at all the contracts he had to buy out or trade assets to get rid of. 

 

Aquilini allowing him to do that should actually be a plus to Aquilini, not Benning. Not many owners would let the guy who screwed up that much fix his own mistakes after this long. 

[cory40]

Just now, wallstreetamigo said:

So essentially any good move is Benning and any mistake is anyone but Benning?

 

Or, the reality could be that Benning has made bad decisions. The fact that he wasnt fired peobably has just as much to do with the team not wanting to pay him to sit at home while also paying a new GM. It doesnt immediately validate that he has been a great GM. Look at all the contracts he had to buy out or trade assets to get rid of. 

 

Aquilini allowing him to do that should actually be a plus to Aquilini, not Benning. Not many owners would let the guy who screwed up that much fix his own mistakes after this long. 

Not saying that. But saying he was cuffed as to the team he wanted to build.

[highwayman3]

19 minutes ago, cory40 said:

dON'T LET THE MEDIA FOOL YOU.  Jim put together a solid team.

I'm not lol.  I'm looking at past history, statistics and how the defence fits together and am not liking what I'm seeing.  Jim has put together a fantastic group of forwards but the d is putrid.

[cory40]

17 hours ago, kanucks25 said:

Yet I don't see any D-man remaining in the organization that I would trust more than Schmidt to match up against top-6 forwards on a regular basis.

 

I know Schmidt didn't perform as well as everyone had hoped for us but he wasn't a bum and if we're expecting the team/players to have a bounce-back in a more "normal" year next season, I don't see why Schmidt wouldn't fall under that category.

Oh Schmidt struggled big time. Maybe he is better. and I bet he is better. OEL is better on a bad year than what I seen of Schmidt

[Nucker 67]

I imagine the competition for a D spot at camp will be unreal.

 

Locks

OEL

Hughes

Myers

Hamonic

Poolman

 

Competition for last spot

Juolevi

Rathbone

Schenn