Are We Back on the JR Bandwagon Yet?

[Fred65]

Well according to Jimbo

 

Jim Benning introduced as Canucks' GM: 'This is a team we can turn around in a hurry' | theScore.com

 

“I like this team - I like the core players. This is a team we can turn around in a hurry.” - Benning

— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) May 23, 2014

[48MPHSlapShot]

After some very questionable signings a poor 1st rd pick last year, and the Bruce situation, my confidence in the current management was at an all time low I'm, but I'm slowly starting to come around on them. Allvin has made a few good trades in a row and seems to be embracing the tank. This deadline and offseason will go a long ways toward determining how I feel about this group.

[Alflives]

19 minutes ago, Fred65 said:

Well according to Jimbo

 

Jim Benning introduced as Canucks' GM: 'This is a team we can turn around in a hurry' | theScore.com

 

“I like this team - I like the core players. This is a team we can turn around in a hurry.” - Benning

— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) May 23, 2014

Benning simply saying what the owner wanted. Clearly we know now Gillis was right. We needed to rebuild. 

[Alflives]

27 minutes ago, iceman64 said:

Well using your scenario at the end of the day is a step forward I agree but it's from 2 sports writers and didn't come from FA himself so it may or may not be b.s. but I lean towards it being b.s., I don't trust anything I read by anyone unless it's from the horses mouth. 

 However IF this team gets built over the long-term, none of this will mean anything, just like the last 40+ years will it? 

 Alf, you know as well as I do that unless we support a good roster for once with depth, you know where this ship is sailing, as always.

Yup. I think we have a very good key core three (Hughes, Petey, Demko) But, like you Point out, we need to support those three great players properly. Hopefully we are headed in that direction. 

[awalk]

It's a weird time to ask this, days before the trade deadline. I like what they have done last few moves, but it's still very much we'll see. 

[ShawnAntoski]

3 hours ago, iceman64 said:

At least he gave a shite and tried his best but people can't seem to get their idiot heads around what he was faced with and wasn't a professional GM really for any amount of time and no I never said he didn't make mistakes but the league is full of GM's who have as well but the disaster he was handed and given a 2 fold job of trying to re-tool a contract locked in roster by MG and keep seats warm aka Aquaman at the same time isn't a job I would have ever taken in the first place, remember how 2012 ended with a depthless broken (to say the least) and zero farm prospects.. and not a lot of pick from drafts either plus Canada being a second rate destination amongst players, then taxes here a big part of that.

 Yeah it's easy to throw stones until we put ourselves in their places in the same circumstances.

 I've asked others countless times, what would YOU have done in his place and I've never got a single answer to that, not one! 

 Lots of talking heads who don't know $hit but that's nothing new, those same people come on here and parrot what the media says about anything like it's true or something! 

 P.S. obviously if you want to blame someone, in my mind it's franchesco 

He should have hired a seasoned GM with a successful track record instead.. 

 

If you had read my past posts - my middle finger is pointed directly, on Francesco cause it is him, that is continueing to handcuffed his FO's to chasing a playoff spot or the medicore middle.  Gillis has the trophy but a big part of his legacy, is what he ultimately passed onto to JB and the same goes for JB.  Right now, I am cautiously optimistic about the new FO.

 

https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/569255

Edited February 28, 2023 by ShawnAntoski

[Metal Face Doom]

This is so stupid imo.  You need a lot more than a season and a half to make a mark.  JR and PA have been doing a good job so far.

[JeremyCuddles]

They haven't really done anything yet, and the few things they have done are still in the oven. I mean, they did nothing to improve the defence over the offseason, thought it was a good idea to add more wingers. They drafted an undersized smurf that needs lots of development time, and is a winger, at 15 overall. They keep trading for more wingers. I dunno. I am not saying they're bad, but they haven't done anything that has me thinking they've done a good job. Horvat trade was good though. I'll give them that. What they do with the pick and how Raty develops still remains to be seen. Sooooo, yeah. Wait and see mode.

[IBatch]

So-So would be where I'd put them at.   Given what they've had to deal with as far as finding trading partners with our overpaid guys... don't blame them much for that other than the Brock contract.  A bit too much but even that is somewhat understandable given the circumstances - they were damned if they did and damned if they let him walk to free agency, especially after their comments about this team not being able to afford it.  

 

Dickie deal was fine, actually turned out very decent.   Good even. 

 

Kuzmenko was their prize - a total coupe.   Great. 

 

Miller was so-so.  

 

Horvat is looking good to even great right now.   But way too early to judge. 

 

Tochett, Foote and Gonchar could end up their best work.   Way too early to know for sure. 

 

Bruce handling was bad.   JR shouldn't have said some of the things he did throwing him under the bus ... although maybe he was right - again time will tell. 

 

Kravstov was a steal.    Do that trade 10/10 times, still blinking at the cost lol.   Just wow. 

 

Last years draft seems underwhelming.   Still early to actually judge.    JB drafts usually created some buzz even though most his later stuff didn't work out. 

 

Spending on wingers didn't make sense even if Ilya Mikeheyev seems like a decent deal.   

 

Horvat was bad IF that was the player he wanted to go for ... I don't buy we'd get him in the summer as much as some,  the optics changed for me the moment he signed his boffo deal.    Beware players with career years coming into free agency.   Miller at least did his a year before he was up.   That signing was actually good - but still given where we are as a team it might age poorly.   Why a so-so. 

 

It seems like they are fine with embracing the tank.   Suspect Demko was ready weeks ago.     Trying out Silvos was fine too.   That pair might end our tank which is not good.    Hope they at least play them 50/50.   

 

Overall this was never going to be a quick process.    IF the league allows us a free buyout this summer,  and believe that there is an excellent chance of that, OEL is gone and it could give us that extra boost to make this a two year fix.   Otherwise I'm pretty sure unless they pull off some miraculous deals, it's going to take 3-4 years.    And that would be so-so average GMing.    

Edited February 28, 2023 by IBatch

[Harold Drunken]

16 hours ago, 48MPHSlapShot said:

After some very questionable signings a poor 1st rd pick last year, and the Bruce situation, my confidence in the current management was at an all time low I'm, but I'm slowly starting to come around on them. Allvin has made a few good trades in a row and seems to be embracing the tank. This deadline and offseason will go a long ways toward determining how I feel about this group.

There's no way you can judge last year's first round pick (Lekkermiaki) as poor less than 1 year removed from being drafted lol. He's 18 for Christ sake, he's had a rough year injury wise so it's a write off. Not to mention, he was actually picked right where he should have been and was seen as a steal by many....man to give up on a pick so quick is classic Canucks fanbase. He was ranked the 6th best European skater by NHL central scouting was top 10 in most experts final draft boards. To say it was a poor pick already is pretty laughable. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Harold Drunken

[Harold Drunken]

On 2/26/2023 at 3:24 PM, hammertime said:

How's our defense.  

They are clearing up cap room first to address the defense. Don't expect huge changes there until the offseason. Not many teams have the room to take on OEL or Myers nor do they want to. Can't improve the back end until the have the flexibility to do so. 

[hammertime]

26 minutes ago, Harold Drunken said:

There's no way you can judge last year's first round pick (Lekkermiaki) as poor less than 1 year removed from being drafted lol. He's 18 for Christ sake, he's had a rough year injury wise so it's a write off. Not to mention, he was actually picked right where he should have been and was seen as a steal by many....man to give up on a pick so quick is classic Canucks fanbase. He was ranked the 6th best European skater by NHL central scouting was top 10 in most experts final draft boards. To say it was a poor pick already is pretty laughable. 

We need D not fricking wingers. 

the entire rest of the 1st round were better picks. Bichsel, Pickering, Kemell, Gaucher, Kulich, Miroshnichenko, Lambert, Rinzel, Bystedt, Schafer, Ohgren literally any of them would have been a better pick for our team. Lekkerimaki was the absolute worst possible pick. Ranking shmanking wanking thats how you get Jordan Schroeders and Hunter Shinkaruks and Lekkerimakis.  Why have a scouting dept at all if not to get the players you need in your system. 

[spook007]

4 minutes ago, hammertime said:

We need D not fricking wingers. 

the entire rest of the 1st round were better picks. Bichsel, Pickering, Kemell, Gaucher, Kulich, Miroshnichenko, Lambert, Rinzel, Bystedt, Schafer, Ohgren literally any of them would have been a better pick for our team. Lekkerimaki was the absolute worst possible pick. Ranking shmanking wanking thats how you get Jordan Schroeders and Hunter Shinkaruks and Lekkerimakis.  Why have a scouting dept at all if not to get the players you need in your system. 

[spook007]

16 hours ago, Alflives said:

Yup. I think we have a very good key core three (Hughes, Petey, Demko) But, like you Point out, we need to support those three great players properly. Hopefully we are headed in that direction. 

I'm starting to think we can add Kuz to that group. He is magic, and also showing playmaking skills in the upper end. His age fits the time line....

[hammertime]

13 minutes ago, spook007 said:

I'm starting to think we can add Kuz to that group. He is magic, and also showing playmaking skills in the upper end. His age fits the time line....

I think Beauvellier has been equally as impressive if not more so. I don't think we can call either of them core. They are in the Mikael Samuelsson category guys who contribute and you want to surround your core with. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by hammertime

[spook007]

1 minute ago, hammertime said:

I think Beauvellier has been equally as impressive if not more so. I don't think we can call either of them core. They are in the Mattias Samuelsson category guys who contribute and you want to surround your core with. 

Yes that is like closer to the the truth. 
Regardless, add Miller and Mika, and we have (on paper at least), what could be a strong top 6. 

 

I don't see neither being moved, as they fit as hand in a glove. 

[Harold Drunken]

1 hour ago, hammertime said:

We need D not fricking wingers. 

the entire rest of the 1st round were better picks. Bichsel, Pickering, Kemell, Gaucher, Kulich, Miroshnichenko, Lambert, Rinzel, Bystedt, Schafer, Ohgren literally any of them would have been a better pick for our team. Lekkerimaki was the absolute worst possible pick. Ranking shmanking wanking thats how you get Jordan Schroeders and Hunter Shinkaruks and Lekkerimakis.  Why have a scouting dept at all if not to get the players you need in your system. 

Majority of those players you listed were ranked behind Lekkerimaki on pretty much every scouting board, so not sure what your point is there?? They should have picked a lower ranked player? Your argument is all over the place. 

 

A- You have no idea how those players are going to turn out either - way too early. (Unless, you have a crystal ball?)

B - Reaching for positional need has never treated this franchise well...or many others.

C - Drafting for immediate need is short sighted and illogical, most players won't compete to be on the team for another 3-5 years. A lot changes between then and now and immediate needs are addressed in other ways (free agency, trades)

D - You can discredit NHL central scouting all you want, they know more than you.  Not debatable. 

 

"to get the players you need in your system."

 

We need talent in our system, period. Those are the players you need in your system, talented players with high upside, plain and simple that's what they did. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Harold Drunken

[iceman64]

18 hours ago, Metal Face Doom said:

This is so stupid imo.  You need a lot more than a season and a half to make a mark.  JR and PA have been doing a good job so far.

They just F'd up large! letting Schenner go, but to be fair, maybe they spoke to him and he was going to ask for money more than he was deemed worth. IF that wasn't the case, he is the stereotypical 3 line D with an edge we need, not trade away! 

Another poster I read, hit it on the head, we still have a super soft team and I agree, if we came up against the Preds in the post season next year first round, they'd stomp us into next week and yet another first round exit.. . 

 That would suck!!!!  

[iceman64]

5 hours ago, spook007 said:

Grow em and trade em is the only thing I can think of for that, however I'm thinking it's going to be a busy off season for us, I can picture Tocchet saying a want a tougher team as well as smaller skilled because anyone who knows anything about hockey will say a soft team and the playoffs do not mix when bigger teams start laying on the body and it gets rough, we've had that enough times before and it didn't work for us either.

[PhillipBlunt]

Nah. 

• Lowballing Horvat over the summer and dragging it out until they traded him was amateur hour
• Signing Miller to an 8 year deal was bunk
• Signing Boeser to way too much for 3 was bunk
• Dragging out the Boudreau situation, and stating that they "didn't know" that he was signed for another season is such a lame excuse
• AILvin stating that he thought that the defense was good enough to compete shows cluelessness.

How this team looks next season will be telling. I don't have much faith in Old Man Witheredturd and his cyborg man servant AIlvin, but time will tell.