Akito Hirose | #41 | D

[wildcam]

On 8/18/2023 at 10:48 PM, Smashian Kassian said:

Hughes - Cole

Scoucy - Hronek

Hirose - Myers

 

As of now I think he's one of our 6 best D tbh, he's got the most important attributes for modern NHL defenseman (IQ & skating ability).

We have lots of guys fighting for #6 & 7 spots.

1. Hughes--2. Horenk 3.Cole  4/5 Soucy 6'5-Myers 6'7. 6. Wolanin LD 6'1 -- Juulsen RD 6'2 -- Hirose LD  6'0 - Briesbois 6'2 LD

Johansson RD 6'1 -  Rathbone 5'11  LD

Woo RD 6'0

Irwin 36--

McWard RD 6'2

[ilduce39]

53 minutes ago, wildcam said:

We have lots of guys fighting for #6 & 7 spots.

1. Hughes--2. Horenk 3.Cole  4/5 Soucy 6'5-Myers 6'7. 6. Wolanin LD 6'1 -- Juulsen RD 6'2 -- Hirose LD  6'0 - Briesbois 6'2 LD

Johansson RD 6'1 -  Rathbone 5'11  LD

Woo RD 6'0

Irwin 36--

McWard RD 6'2

For sure. I think Tocchet and Foote have a lot more to think about than what fans have been casually pencilling in after the offseason. 
 

Cole AND Soucy can both play the right side and (not equal chances) but any of Irwin/Wolanin/Juulsen/Woo/Hirose/Brisebois/Rathbone could end up as #6-7 on opening night.  
 

It will be interesting to see if the coaches build from the “top down” IE prioritize finding the best partner for Hughes (including Hronek) or if they go about building a solid top 4 or even a balanced 3 pairs. 
 

There’s a world where they could say Hughes can carry a lesser partner and give Hronek / Myers the stronger partners. Or maybe Hronek finds some chemistry with Hirose or Wolanin and Myers / Cole look like they can play matchup. 
 

With 3 new top 4 players in Hronek, Cole and Soucy plus Hughes’ “regular” partner in Schenn gone and Myers also without a regular partner ON TOP OF the glut of 6-7+ guys we’ve listed it could get pretty interesting in camp.

 

Or it’ll just roll out Hughes-Cole, Soucy-Hronek and Irwin-Myers. 

[Diamonds]

1 hour ago, ilduce39 said:

For sure. I think Tocchet and Foote have a lot more to think about than what fans have been casually pencilling in after the offseason. 
 

Cole AND Soucy can both play the right side and (not equal chances) but any of Irwin/Wolanin/Juulsen/Woo/Hirose/Brisebois/Rathbone could end up as #6-7 on opening night.  
 

It will be interesting to see if the coaches build from the “top down” IE prioritize finding the best partner for Hughes (including Hronek) or if they go about building a solid top 4 or even a balanced 3 pairs. 
 

There’s a world where they could say Hughes can carry a lesser partner and give Hronek / Myers the stronger partners. Or maybe Hronek finds some chemistry with Hirose or Wolanin and Myers / Cole look like they can play matchup. 
 

With 3 new top 4 players in Hronek, Cole and Soucy plus Hughes’ “regular” partner in Schenn gone and Myers also without a regular partner ON TOP OF the glut of 6-7+ guys we’ve listed it could get pretty interesting in camp.

 

Or it’ll just roll out Hughes-Cole, Soucy-Hronek and Irwin-Myers. 

While we still don't necessarily have a long-term partner for Hughes, management definitely did a complete overhaul of the defense this offseason (including trade deadline). There's a very high possibility that 4 of the defenseman being iced in the opening night lineup are new to the team. My biggest concern is with so much turnover it takes a long time to develop chemistry (and also communication with Demko) and we again come out slow and have to play catch up.

 

I'm excited to see what a new defense corps is capable of but I'm really hoping they settle on pairs early in training camp to start building chemistry and don't just run a revolving door until opening night. Likewise, after his teaser at the end of last season I'm excited to see if Hirose can force his way onto the opening night roster. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

39 minutes ago, Diamonds said:

While we still don't necessarily have a long-term partner for Hughes, management definitely did a complete overhaul of the defense this offseason (including trade deadline). There's a very high possibility that 4 of the defenseman being iced in the opening night lineup are new to the team. My biggest concern is with so much turnover it takes a long time to develop chemistry (and also communication with Demko) and we again come out slow and have to play catch up.

 

I'm excited to see what a new defense corps is capable of but I'm really hoping they settle on pairs early in training camp to start building chemistry and don't just run a revolving door until opening night. Likewise, after his teaser at the end of last season I'm excited to see if Hirose can force his way onto the opening night roster. 

Sure it would be great if we had a Scott Stevens as his partner but I think Hughes has progressed to a point he doesn't need one to be effective.  Granted being asked to carry a guy like Myers for example might be asking a bit much but I don't think Hughes needs to be babysat anymore.

[Diamonds]

2 hours ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Sure it would be great if we had a Scott Stevens as his partner but I think Hughes has progressed to a point he doesn't need one to be effective.  Granted being asked to carry a guy like Myers for example might be asking a bit much but I don't think Hughes needs to be babysat anymore.

Babysitting maybe not, but a complementary player that can actually log 20 minutes a night would sure be nice to have on what should be our top pairing. Ian Cole is very much a stop gap option and, while I like him, he has only averaged more than 19 minutes in ice time twice over the last 5 seasons. Maybe Hronek is that guy, but at the moment he seems better poised to anchor our second pairing rather than stack our top pairing offensively. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

16 minutes ago, Diamonds said:

Babysitting maybe not, but a complementary player that can actually log 20 minutes a night would sure be nice to have on what should be our top pairing. Ian Cole is very much a stop gap option and, while I like him, he has only averaged more than 19 minutes in ice time twice over the last 5 seasons. Maybe Hronek is that guy, but at the moment he seems better poised to anchor our second pairing rather than stack our top pairing offensively. 

That is true; if for nothing else, it helps in case of injuries to have even a little depth on the blueline.

[Citizen Erased]

On 8/20/2023 at 5:14 PM, NewbieCanuckFan said:

That is true; if for nothing else, it helps in case of injuries to have even a little depth on the blueline.

Yeah, the more he plays, the more he’s risking injury. We don’t need him playing a ton, unless it’s by necessity, like being down a goal or two.

[wildcam]

On 8/20/2023 at 11:45 AM, ilduce39 said:

For sure. I think Tocchet and Foote have a lot more to think about than what fans have been casually pencilling in after the offseason. 
 

Cole AND Soucy can both play the right side and (not equal chances) but any of Irwin/Wolanin/Juulsen/Woo/Hirose/Brisebois/Rathbone could end up as #6-7 on opening night.  
 

It will be interesting to see if the coaches build from the “top down” IE prioritize finding the best partner for Hughes (including Hronek) or if they go about building a solid top 4 or even a balanced 3 pairs. 
 

There’s a world where they could say Hughes can carry a lesser partner and give Hronek / Myers the stronger partners. Or maybe Hronek finds some chemistry with Hirose or Wolanin and Myers / Cole look like they can play matchup. 
 

With 3 new top 4 players in Hronek, Cole and Soucy plus Hughes’ “regular” partner in Schenn gone and Myers also without a regular partner ON TOP OF the glut of 6-7+ guys we’ve listed it could get pretty interesting in camp.

 

Or it’ll just roll out Hughes-Cole, Soucy-Hronek and Irwin-Myers. 

I don't think Irwin Makes #7 spot. Irwin makes a great mentor for Abby players and great depth guy..

There are guys Like Wolanin, Hirose, Juulsen, zbriseboise I would put a head of 36 year old Irwin.

[Guest]

On 8/20/2023 at 4:58 PM, Diamonds said:

Babysitting maybe not, but a complementary player that can actually log 20 minutes a night would sure be nice to have on what should be our top pairing. Ian Cole is very much a stop gap option and, while I like him, he has only averaged more than 19 minutes in ice time twice over the last 5 seasons. Maybe Hronek is that guy, but at the moment he seems better poised to anchor our second pairing rather than stack our top pairing offensively. 

Keep in mind that Quinn gets those crazy minutes primarily on nights when he gets 3-4 minutes of power play and occasionally gets double shifted.  

 

Cole could take a regular shift with Quinn and be kept to normal 18 mins per night unless he's also our first PK option. In that case, all bets are off. 

[Diamonds]

12 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

Keep in mind that Quinn gets those crazy minutes primarily on nights when he gets 3-4 minutes of power play and occasionally gets double shifted.  

 

Cole could take a regular shift with Quinn and be kept to normal 18 mins per night unless he's also our first PK option. In that case, all bets are off. 

I still think Hughes would greatly benefit from a partner that can regularly log 20+ minutes. One of the reasons Myers kept getting overplayed is that Hughes needed someone to double shift with as Schenn couldn't really handle those minutes. That of course led to Myers making more mistakes as he started regularly playing more minutes than is ideal. 

[aGENT]

On 8/23/2023 at 1:18 PM, Diamonds said:

I still think Hughes would greatly benefit from a partner that can regularly log 20+ minutes. One of the reasons Myers kept getting overplayed is that Hughes needed someone to double shift with as Schenn couldn't really handle those minutes. That of course led to Myers making more mistakes as he started regularly playing more minutes than is ideal. 

Myers also isn't, and has never been, a guy to cover his partner (which is what Hughes needs). Myers also needs that guy as well. Too many square pegs, round holes.

Edited August 26, 2023 by aGENT

[NewbieCanuckFan]

5 minutes ago, aGENT said:

Myers also isn't, and has never been, a guy to cover his partner (which is what Hughes needs). Myers also needs that guy as well. Too many square pegs, round holes.

I respectfully disagree.  I think Hughes has developed/progressed beyond that (imho).  

[hammertime]

On 8/18/2023 at 11:31 AM, Fred65 said:

Irwin with his experiencewill likely be #7

[aGENT]

43 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

I respectfully disagree.  I think Hughes has developed/progressed beyond that (imho).  

What do you think Schenn was doing there last year? Does Hughes need that guy to have success? No. Does Hughes need that guy to get the most out of him? Absolutely. Sure, he's a good enough player to play with "anyone". But if we're actually looking to set him up for success and get the most out of him...

 

By all means a guy who can cover him, AND add some physicality, AND skate/play/pass with him would be ideal... But those are legit, high end, 1st pair guys that don't grow in trees.

[Alflives]

8 minutes ago, aGENT said:

What do you think Schenn was doing there last year? Does Hughes need that guy to have success? No. Does Hughes need that guy to get the most out of him? Absolutely. Sure, he's a good enough player to play with "anyone". But if we're actually looking to set him up for success and get the most out of him...

 

By all means a guy who can cover him, AND add some physicality, AND skate/play/pass with him would be ideal... But those are legit, high end, 1st pair guys that don't grow in trees.

Hughes made Schenn (and his other AHL level partners) look like nHL players. Schenn will struggle mightily now. He’s a fringe NHLer. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

24 minutes ago, aGENT said:

What do you think Schenn was doing there last year? Does Hughes need that guy to have success? No. Does Hughes need that guy to get the most out of him? Absolutely. Sure, he's a good enough player to play with "anyone". But if we're actually looking to set him up for success and get the most out of him...

 

By all means a guy who can cover him, AND add some physicality, AND skate/play/pass with him would be ideal... But those are legit, high end, 1st pair guys that don't grow in trees.

Well Hughes does need somebody with a pulse on that side.  He ain't *THAT* good.

 

[aGENT]

1 hour ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Well Hughes does need somebody with a pulse on that side.  He ain't *THAT* good.

 

Schenn may be slow, old and not remotely a 1st pair D, but he brings physicality and solid defensive play. Both of which yes, helped cover for Hughes and is why both players had solid seasons last year. They complement eachother (even if one is at a MUCH higher level).

[Citizen Erased]

3 hours ago, hammertime said:

I think he called it a day.

[-Vintage Canuck-]