Taxi Squads Again - What do Canucks do?

[Junkyard Dog]

1 minute ago, Outsiders said:

Halak should be in the minors and Mikey should be up here. Halak  sucks. 

Not sure DiPietro is ready

 

He has a 3-6-3 record with a 3.13 goals against average and .901 save percentage.

 

Only started 2 of the last 6 games in the AHL and was pulled in one of them. He most recent start wasn't bad though.

[204CanucksFan]

1 hour ago, Junkyard Dog said:

We should be fine, we have more options to choose from.
 

For D 2-3 of of Saunter, Hunt, Bowey, Juulsen, Brisebois

 

For FWD 2-3 of Dowling, Bailey, Di Giuseppe, Petan.

 

For G 1 of Silovs/Martin.

 

This is exactly how our taxi squad should be built, with Martin as the 3rd goalie. There is absolutely no reason for it to be either of DiPietro or Silovs, regardless of current stats in the the AHL. Both DiPietro and Silovs lost an entire season of playing games for development,  DiPietro especially went over 400 days without any game action and Silovs only got 1 start in over a year. Both Clark and Sanford are well aware of this and I fully trust they will ensure it doesn't happen again.

 

Just look how BB actually went to Clark and listened when Clark told him Halak should start against CBJ because he hadn't played at all recently and it would be good to give him a game before the upcoming back to back where he would have to get one of the starts. Clark has a level of influence and respect as a goalie coach that is basically unmatched around the league.

 

The biggest problem will be whether or not Johnson and Cull decide to listen to Clark and Sanford. It seems as though Abbys GM and coach have been given a strong mandate to win over develop, especially with it being the teams inaugural season, and seem to be making roster decisions with that mantra in mind. It seems to me that lately, especially after watching the main club clean house, they are much more concerned with winning and saving their jobs as opposed to what best for player development. 

 

As far as I'm concerned this taxi squad situation should be viewed by Temporary GM Rutherford as an opportunity to thin out a bit of the top heavy veteran presence in Abby and allow more ice time for youth to develop and see what you have to make better informed roster decisions in the upcoming off season. And I believe that former GMJB saw this situation potentially arising this season and saw how some younger players may have had development stunted by sitting on the taxi squad last season and that was why he made a point of going out and signing so many NHL/AHL tweeners to ensure that it wouldn't happen again.

[coolboarder]

Bringing the taxi squad on the road up to 3 players and no taxi squad at all during homestand while Abby is playing at home at the same time on a revised schedule so that their own players can be called up and be there in an hour drive at moment's notice..  Ideally up to one forward, one Defenseman and 1 goaltender on the road as a back-up  Then you put more players on taxi squad for any players entering Covid-19 protocol.    Our players in the farm system needs to play as much as possible.

Edited December 27, 2021 by coolboarder

[204CanucksFan]

17 minutes ago, Outsiders said:

Halak should be in the minors and Mikey should be up here. Halak  sucks. 

If Halak sucks then Demmer must suck too. Up until the last game against CBJ, even though he didn't have a win at that point, Halak and Demko had almost identical stats.

[mll]

1 hour ago, Googlie said:

Isn't the whole point of a taxi squad that we don't need waivers to move players back and forth between the squad and the team... whereas we would if moving from team to farm - or from taxi squad back to farm (assuming waiver-eligible)

The purpose of the taxi squad is to have players readily available in case a team has players entering Covid protocol - they want to minimise the risk of having games postponed or teams being forced to play short-handed due to players testing positive.  

 

Waivers apply to be assigned to the taxi squad, just like they did last season.  From the protocol:

 

NHL Clubs are permitted to assign a maximum of six (6) Players to their Taxi Squad. All such assignments will be subject to Waiver requirements as applicable. No individual Player may spend more than twenty (20) cumulative days on the “Taxi Squad” during the temporary formation period.

 

[Quantum]

Remember: Hunt and Dowling are already on the regular roster and will remain there as the "official" extras.

 

The taxi squad will likely include: Juulsen or Bowey (RD), Brisebois or Sautner (LD), Di Giuseppe (LW), Petan (C and versatile W), Bailey (RW), and Martin (G).

 

They won't put any prospects who need AHL time on the taxi squad. Taxi squad players likely wont be playing much for a month or the rest of the season and I doubt Rutherford and co will want to sacrifice their development further by putting them on the taxi squad -- that means players like Klimovich, Rathbone, Woo, Silovs, and DiPetro don't make sense as taxi squad picks. Also -- Abby is close enough to Vancouver that if any of those players go on an NHL call up worthy streak -- they can make the callup happen.

 

All the players I've got listed as my likely taxi squad picks are all 24 or older. You could swap them out easily for players like Sheldon Dries/Devante Stephens/John Stevens/Sheldon Rempal easily but the players I've listed have all either played games with the Canucks or have played with the NHL team in past seasons. The only exception is Spencer Martin, though he did play 3 games for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2016-2017 season -- so he's got a *little* bit of NHL experience.

 

In regards to Spencer Martin, I can see the Canucks using his taxi squad time to evaluate if Martin could reasonably backup Demko in the event Rutherford and co can find a trade that sends Halak out for some pieces (probably a draft pick + b prospect). I think a team like Florida, who will need an experienced backup for their attempt at a long playoff run this season, might be interested in Halak's experience come trade deadline time, for instance.

 

Either way, I don't expect much from the Canucks taxi squad. I expect it to be full of NHL tweeners.

[Junkyard Dog]

2 hours ago, 204CanucksFan said:

This is exactly how our taxi squad should be built, with Martin as the 3rd goalie. There is absolutely no reason for it to be either of DiPietro or Silovs, regardless of current stats in the the AHL. Both DiPietro and Silovs lost an entire season of playing games for development,  DiPietro especially went over 400 days without any game action and Silovs only got 1 start in over a year. Both Clark and Sanford are well aware of this and I fully trust they will ensure it doesn't happen again.

 

Just look how BB actually went to Clark and listened when Clark told him Halak should start against CBJ because he hadn't played at all recently and it would be good to give him a game before the upcoming back to back where he would have to get one of the starts. Clark has a level of influence and respect as a goalie coach that is basically unmatched around the league.

 

The biggest problem will be whether or not Johnson and Cull decide to listen to Clark and Sanford. It seems as though Abbys GM and coach have been given a strong mandate to win over develop, especially with it being the teams inaugural season, and seem to be making roster decisions with that mantra in mind. It seems to me that lately, especially after watching the main club clean house, they are much more concerned with winning and saving their jobs as opposed to what best for player development. 

 

As far as I'm concerned this taxi squad situation should be viewed by Temporary GM Rutherford as an opportunity to thin out a bit of the top heavy veteran presence in Abby and allow more ice time for youth to develop and see what you have to make better informed roster decisions in the upcoming off season. And I believe that former GMJB saw this situation potentially arising this season and saw how some younger players may have had development stunted by sitting on the taxi squad last season and that was why he made a point of going out and signing so many NHL/AHL tweeners to ensure that it wouldn't happen again.

AHL isn't just a developmental league. You have to balance it out. Like I said Abbotsford is in the fight for a playoff spot. Why take out their best goalie right now who will help them win games in order to sit on the taxi? We have Silovs already who's just starting out. Also Silovs was playing in Europe last year before hopping over to NA. 

 

I also think playoffs for the youngsters development is better than anything. A part of development is internal competition as well.

 

Also consider the fact that you can always rotate goalies in and out of the taxi as well as everyone. I stated we should start Silovs as the taxi goalie since he's 3rd string in the AHL right now. They should ride Martin while he's hot considering he has a 5-0-1 record, they'd be stupid to take him off the team right now. You ride the hot hand. They already are gonna have a good portion of their team gutted. We've seen already a hot goalie can win you games.

 

The biggest problem with the AHL team is the lack of prospect depth. There isn't a lot of youth down there. We've traded prospects and picks over the years. We don't have much quantity in prospects this year. That's a part of the reason we signed so many guys this year.

 

This is a lot of guys 1st and 2nd years too. Focht, Plasek, Keppen, Silovs, Klimovich first year guys.

 

There is not much on the way next year either. McDonagh if he makes the jump, Karlsson and Persson.

 

This is gonna be a much different taxi squad with our AHL team in Canada. We're gonna be able to swap guys in and out a lot more easier. Whoever is on it isn't necessarily gonna stick. The best way to go about it is to rotate guys in and out so nobody is sitting too long.

[D-Money]

If DiPietro is struggling so much, and Martin is getting the starts, maybe this is a good time to put Mikey on the taxi squad. Gives him some time with Clark, gets Silovs some game time, and hopefully Abby keeps winning. Can change it up later. Martin has never played this well before, so it's likely that this won't last all season.

[JM_]

8 hours ago, mll said:

The purpose of the taxi squad is to have players readily available in case a team has players entering Covid protocol - they want to minimise the risk of having games postponed or teams being forced to play short-handed due to players testing positive.  

 

Waivers apply to be assigned to the taxi squad, just like they did last season.  From the protocol:

 

NHL Clubs are permitted to assign a maximum of six (6) Players to their Taxi Squad. All such assignments will be subject to Waiver requirements as applicable. No individual Player may spend more than twenty (20) cumulative days on the “Taxi Squad” during the temporary formation period.

 

 

I'm not clear on why we'd bother with a taxi squad if they need waivers to be part of it. Why not just call guys up as needed, particularly if there's an option to bring up players making under 1 mil as emergency call ups outside of a taxi squad?

 

Do we have to have one, or could the Canucks get away with emergency call ups instead?

 

[IBatch]

10 hours ago, VegasCanuck said:

The question that I’m asking is, do the Canucks need a Taxi squad with our farm team an hour drive away?

An hour if your doing it really early or really late lol.   Better plan for more time then that. 

[John.Tallhouse]

[VegasCanuck]

1 hour ago, IBatch said:

An hour if your doing it really early or really late lol.   Better plan for more time then that. 

I just prefer to see guys getting actual in-game playing time for development.

 

That said, we do have some now who could probably travel with the team, who we know are pretty close to maxing out their potential.

 

My guess is something like:

 

Petan,

Bailey

Dries

Sautner

Bowey

Martin

 

[mll]

2 hours ago, JM_ said:

 

I'm not clear on why we'd bother with a taxi squad if they need waivers to be part of it. Why not just call guys up as needed, particularly if there's an option to bring up players making under 1 mil as emergency call ups outside of a taxi squad?

 

Do we have to have one, or could the Canucks get away with emergency call ups instead?

 

 

Players in the AHL already went through waivers to be assigned there.  Movements between the AHL and the taxi squad aren't subject to waivers because being on the taxi squad is akin to being in the minors.  

 

It's a demotion from the NHL roster to the taxi squad that is subject to waivers, like it is when a player is assigned to the minors.

 

Teams can't use the taxi squad as a way to manage their cap, unlike last season.  Without waivers teams would probably be trying to send their extras down to the taxi squad to bank cap space (if not in LTIR).  The purpose of the taxi squad is really to palliate a covid situation where teams unexpectedly need extra players.  

 

Not every AHL team is just around the corner and there are road games.  Testing results might also not come in in time to make recall arrangements by game time.  There's no minimum this season - last season teams had to have at least 4 players on the taxi squad. 

 

If teams are missing players due to injuries /non-Covid related sickness and don't have enough cap space to recall a player, they still need to play a game short-handed.

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by mll

[JM_]

27 minutes ago, mll said:

 

Players in the AHL already went through waivers to be assigned there.  Movements between the AHL and the taxi squad aren't subject to waivers because being on the taxi squad is akin to being in the minors.  

 

It's a demotion from the NHL roster to the taxi squad that is subject to waivers, like it is when a player is assigned to the minors.

 

Teams can't use the taxi squad as a way to manage their cap, unlike last season.  Without waivers teams would probably be trying to send their extras down to the taxi squad to bank cap space (if not in LTIR).  The purpose of the taxi squad is really to palliate a covid situation where teams unexpectedly need extra players.  

 

Not every AHL team is just around the corner and there are road games.  Testing results might also not come in in time to make recall arrangements by game time.  There's no minimum this season - last season teams had to have at least 4 players on the taxi squad. 

 

If teams are missing players due to injuries /non-Covid related sickness and don't have enough cap space to recall a player, they still need to play a game short-handed.

 

thanks @mll its nice to be able to rely on you for these explanations

 

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

Considering now that Vancouver has Abbotsford, the taxi squad could be very fluid to get our young players exposed to our coaching staff.

 

 

Spenser Martin has earned his keep to be the taxi squad goalie. DiPietro sat out all of last year basically and he needs reps. Especially this year, his game has really slide because of the long time off from playing. He hasn't had a good season and arguably the worst of the three in Abbotsford. 

 

[GB5]

13 hours ago, Junkyard Dog said:

Abbotsford probably doesn't want to lose Martin. He's started in 4 of the last 6 games and is undefeated in regulation. Check my post above.

It's not Abby's call. Martin is a Van Canuck property and meets the criteria better than the youngsters.

[ShawnAntoski]

14 hours ago, VegasCanuck said:

The question that I’m asking is, do the Canucks need a Taxi squad with our farm team an hour drive away?

Due to the [fluid] nature of the restrictions, the taxi squad is necessary to field a game day roster - back to the future.

[86Viking]

13 hours ago, Junkyard Dog said:

Yeah but Abbotsford is in the playoff hunt and they seem to be doing so with him 5-0-1 .930 save percentage and 1.98 goals against. He has started 4 of the last 6 games. DiPietro has only started 2 of the last 6 and got the hook in one of them.

 

We wouldn't be calling up DiPietro, we have 3 goalies under contract in the AHL. Silovs is under contract on his first year of his ELC and has been the 3rd string for Abbotsford as of late. He hasn't started in a while and his last action was when DiPietro got pulled. Clarke is high on him and can get 1 on 1 time with him. You can always rotate goalies too when one is struggling in the AHL and bring him up for 1 on 1 time with Clarke.

Hopefully with a new President and soon a new GM running things they will see it that way. Dipietro needs to play, play him through his struggles in my opinion and like you said your DEVELOPING him not a 26 yr old Martin who is doing well for us. That said this question needs answered...Do we want to just win as many AHL games as possible WHILE risking prospect development OR are we willing to play prospects DURING a SLUMP to help them keep active and work THROUGH said slumps... IF the management and coaching staff in Abbotsford are NOT on board then things need to be changed.

 

Silovs AND Dipietro barely played last season...now we are running 3 G in the AHL and the one playing the most lately is NOT named Silovs or Dipietro...instead they sit cold on the bench or press box and they are PRACTICING but NOT playing as much as they likely should.

 

I agree, bring 1 G up to taxi squad for  a period of time to work with Ian Clark, then send him back down and allow the same to happen with a different G. As much as fans would like to see Klimovich get a call up or NHL game this year, do NOT do it! Let him learn the game in the AHL with low expectations...sounds like he is learning quickly from GM Johnson's comments he is impressed with the kid, so let the KID stay on that same path.

[86Viking]

13 hours ago, Junkyard Dog said:

Yeah but Abbotsford is in the playoff hunt and they seem to be doing so with him 5-0-1 .930 save percentage and 1.98 goals against. He has started 4 of the last 6 games. DiPietro has only started 2 of the last 6 and got the hook in one of them.

 

We wouldn't be calling up DiPietro, we have 3 goalies under contract in the AHL. Silovs is under contract on his first year of his ELC and has been the 3rd string for Abbotsford as of late. He hasn't started in a while and his last action was when DiPietro got pulled. Clarke is high on him and can get 1 on 1 time with him. You can always rotate goalies too when one is struggling in the AHL and bring him up for 1 on 1 time with Clarke.

Hopefully with a new President and soon a new GM running things they will see it that way. Dipietro needs to play, play him through his struggles in my opinion and like you said your DEVELOPING him not a 26 yr old Martin who is doing well for us. That said this question needs answered...Do we want to just win as many AHL games as possible WHILE risking prospect development OR are we willing to play prospects DURING a SLUMP to help them keep active and work THROUGH said slumps... IF the management and coaching staff in Abbotsford are NOT on board then things need to be changed.

 

Silovs AND Dipietro barely played last season...now we are running 3 G in the AHL and the one playing the most lately is NOT named Silovs or Dipietro...instead they sit cold on the bench or press box and they are PRACTICING but NOT playing as much as they likely should.

 

I agree, bring 1 G up to taxi squad for  a period of time to work with Ian Clark, then send him back down and allow the same to happen with a different G. As much as fans would like to see Klimovich get a call up or NHL game this year, do NOT do it! Let him learn the game in the AHL with low expectations...sounds like he is learning quickly from GM Johnson's comments he is impressed with the kid, so let the KID stay on that same path.

[86Viking]

13 hours ago, Junkyard Dog said:

 

EDIT: site froze never posted...this is #3

Edited December 27, 2021 by Canuckster86