[DEBATE] Which player is the greatest disappointment in Vancouver Canucks history?

[Ghostsof1915]

25 minutes ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

Hodgson was primed to be our future captain and top line center, had a decent year as a 3C and then attitude problems/dad stuff got in the way and ruined his career. Former 10th overall pick I believe but the expectations were so high for him so that was pretty disappointing.

 

I knew Virtanen was going to be trash from as soon as we drafted him but I guess everyone else thought he'd be some sort of faster Lucic-type so everyone else must be pretty disappointed.

 

Eriksson surprised everyone with how bad he was. He looked great in Boston and great in Dallas, dropped 20-30 goals consistently and was a beast of a power-forward, then gets his paycheck and disappears and pretty much drags down our cap situation with him, which we're still feeling to this day.

Don't you find it odd the only one that said Hodgson had an attitude was Gillis and his cronies? All the other GM's in Buffalo, and Nashville didn't seem to have an issue with him.

But he had health issues. Honestly I think it was Gillis doing damage control because he was shafted by Buffalo. Why didn't Gillis just say to the other GM's hey we're offering Hodgson, any takers? He would have gotten probably a good replacement centre and a draft pick. The fact that the Buffalo GM told Gillis specifically not to deal with anyone else, or the deal was off. He should have walked away right there. I have no issues trading Hodgson. I have a problem when the other GM seemed to be screwing Gillis over. At best both GM's screwed each other.

Edited August 10, 2023 by Ghostsof1915

[McBackup]

There is no other answer but Messier. The fact that he's so hated clouding how high the hopes were for him is indicative alone of what a disappointment he was. 

Edited August 10, 2023 by McBackup

[Ghostsof1915]

29 minutes ago, Sophomore Jinx said:

What about Brendan Gaunce? I remember the hype and expectations around here for this guy..."maybe next year" etc.

 

For being a big body, he was such a frustrating player and I was hoping for more offense than the putrid numbers he put up...

 

I mean really, the illustrious José Charbonneau has the same career points, in less than half the games 

2012 Draft.

Gaunce and Mallet. I think Mallet was taken because of his hair.

[canuck73_3]

Also will never be disappointed in Stojanov, he got us Naslund. 

[RWJC]

2 hours ago, -DLC- said:

David Booth - pretty boy dumb blonde who can't even hunt properly

Micheal Ferland - had high hopes when he came over to the good  side

Nikita Tryamkin - potential, but people were higher on him than he'd earned

Keith Ballard - meh, I was ok with him

Olli Juolevi - will forever be remembered in the fetal position

Loui Eriksson - forever in our hearts (and emoji's)

Jake Virtanen - what is and what should never be...over him already

Alek Stojanov - it is what it is

Shawn Antonski - love him

Jay Beagle - I like him and didn't really feel disappointment here

Mark Messier - all the words I can say don't start with dis but are prohibited on this site

Cody Hodgson - too bad...I think flying in via helicopter (parent/manager) was more of a disadvantage than anything that helped him

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - like him...not his fault we pay too much for players

Sven Baertschi - like him too...can't really say I was disappointed in him...more the league for not addressing the hit that concussed him and put him behind

Vladimir Krutov - tanker

Linden Vey - anyone with Linden in their name has big shoes to fill and are set up to fail

Jordan Schroeder - sounds like he should've been a teen idol from a 90's sitcom

I was super excited when we drafted Stoj, but he netted us Naslund. 
Cant be considered a disappointment for me because of that. 

[RWJC]

12 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Don't you find it odd the only one that said Hodgson had an attitude was Gillis and his cronies? All the other GM's in Buffalo, and Nashville didn't seem to have an issue with him.

But he had health issues. Honestly I think it was Gillis doing damage control because he was shafted by Buffalo. Why didn't Gillis just say to the other GM's hey we're offering Hodgson, any takers? He would have gotten probably a good replacement centre and a draft pick. The fact that the Buffalo GM told Gillis specifically not to deal with anyone else, or the deal was off. He should have walked away right there. I have no issues trading Hodgson. I have a problem when the other GM seemed to be screwing Gillis over. At best both GM's screwed each other.

Gillis, being a former agent, was not well liked around the league by other GMs. I think it handcuffed him a bit in his tenure.

[Wise Guy]

I picked the big MESS although Jake really disappointed me personally, a shame he couldn't get his sh!t together.

[singing chef]

Josh Holden 12th o/a 1996.  Great credentials coming out of junior and team needed a point producing centre.  Flopped - sort of like most of our 1st. round picks back then.  

 

EDIT:  Since posting I have been advised that Holden suffered a career threatening injury which limited his effectiveness.  Therefore I retract my comments.

Edited August 11, 2023 by singing chef
have been provided with info which caused a change of heart

[wai_lai416]

Olli Juolevi.. that pick set the franchise back and realistically cost this franchise a chance to compete for the cup with the current core.. even if we drafted and have to trade MT.. we would have gotten a haul.. the rest of the player.. meh it cost the owner money.. we weren't really gonna compete anyways so it's whatever.. OEL hurts.. but he can still play.. Juolevi is irrelevant in this league.. he was pumped up by a stacked finland team and the london knights

[Gassy Jack]

Krutov was one of the best players in the world and in his prime when he came to Vancouver. Unfortunately, as it turned out, he would destroy Phil Kessel in a hotdog eating contest.

[Ghostsof1915]

21 minutes ago, Gassy Jack said:

Krutov was one of the best players in the world and in his prime when he came to Vancouver. Unfortunately, as it turned out, he would destroy Phil Kessel in a hotdog eating contest.

To be fair, he was free of Russia. I honestly can't blame the guy.

 

 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

1 hour ago, singing chef said:

Josh Holden 12th o/a 1996.  Great credentials coming out of junior and team needed a point producing centre.  Flopped - sort of like most of our 1st. round picks back then.

Tough to knock a guy since he did suffer a major injury that pretty well cut short his professional career (during a game a skate sliced his wrist badly).  He never was able to regain his former ability with that rebuilt wrist (skate cut thru a bunch of his tendons).

[AK_19]

Hard to define disappointment. I think factors should include hype beforehand and what negative effect they left the team in. I'm not including people where the disappointment is a result of primarily an injury (David Booth, Michael Ferland, Cody Hodgson, and Sven Baertschi). Certain players I never watched I won't comment on (Alek Stojanov, Shawn Antoski, and Krutov). 

 

Nikta Tryamkin

 

He only cost us a 3rd round pick and although he showed he could play in the NHL, it was only at a 3rd pairing level. I don't believe his departure really affected the team as we just got similar skilled 3rd pairing dmen at UFA the following season.

 

Keith Ballard

 

This one may have cost us a cup. His large cap hit at the time (3/4 million) and the cost of acquisition (Grabner + 1st rounder) prevented us from obtaining better depth the last time we went to the finals. Ballard went from being a top 4 dman to having 7/8th dmen like Rome being played before him. The guy just fell off the map the moment he joined the team. The guy had more points the season joining us than he did the following five years. He was a cap anchor for three years we were competing for the cup.

 

Olli Juolevi

 

We have not had a draft pick that high bust so badly in a long time. This one stings because he was also not the BPA. Some may chop this one up to his injury but I don't. He had a terrible draft+1 before his injury issues. We desperately needed to develop dmen into our system at that time and our chronic issues and it is in part because Juolevi didn't work out. He wasn't even close.

 

Loui Eriksson

 

I would pick this one as the most disappointing. The hype was real for this guy coming in. I don't anyone predicted he would be so bad from the outset after having such a consistent career and just finishing off a season with 30G/30A. He looked amazing with the Sedins internationally. As far as I'm aware the Sedins even supported the signing. The guy then played at the level of a 3rd/4th liner for 6 years at the high cap hit of 6 mil. Some seasons he was our highest paid player. The signing sealed the end of the Sedin era and crippled the following on with Pete/Hughes/Demko. In part because of him, we lost important parts to our team after the bubble season (Tanev, Toffoli) and he is in part why we did the terrible OEL trade. Also, his contract prevented us from obtaining better long term contracts for Hughes and Pettersson. 

 

Jake Virtanen

Basically Olli Joulevi but not as bad. He wasn't drafted as high and he was at least was able to have a regular roster spot for a few years.

 

Jay Beagle

Overpaid but the expectations were relatively low to begin with. I actually thought our team lost something after he was traded as our PK has never been the same. Main disappointment was that he was a part of the terrible OEL trade.

 

Mark Messier

 

I know expectations are high but perhaps those were unwarranted. He was quite old when we got him, I'm not sure his stats were so bad that he sunk our team. If anything, I think if he stayed healthy we would've made the playoffs some of the seasons he was there. Furthermore, his contract was only 3 years and it was outside of the cap era. Nothing was stopping the owners from paying for a better supporting cast. I really think the concerns over Messier are overrated over players such as Eriksson. 

 

 

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

I did expect a top 4 D out of OEL so I was disappointed we didn't even get that. His cap hit and buyout is killer. This one is hard to rate because the effects of the buyout are still yet to be seen.  

 

Linden Vey

I mean we lost a second rounder. My expectations were already quite low and his cap hit was also low so it didn't really affect our team long term or even short term.

 

Jordan Schroeder

Basically Olli Joulevi/ Jake Virtanen except an even lower 1st rounder so lower expectations.

[Ghostsof1915]

I'm from an era where first round busts come with Canucks territory. So getting getting almost a season of Tryamkin is fine, and he's a 3rd round draft pick.

I didn't see the epic greatness that others see. I saw a guy who could skate. But I sure didn't think he was the answer to our defensive prayers.

Would our defence have been better? Probably. But I didn't see an All-Star.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

3 hours ago, Sophomore Jinx said:

What about Brendan Gaunce? I remember the hype and expectations around here for this guy..."maybe next year" etc.

 

For being a big body, he was such a frustrating player and I was hoping for more offense than the putrid numbers he put up...

 

I mean really, the illustrious José Charbonneau has the same career points, in less than half the games 

He had no real glaring weaknesses.  Problem was, he wasn't really good at anything either.  That said, he's still has a contract with a NHL team and he was drafted late (26th overall) in the 1st round.

[singing chef]

1 hour ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Tough to knock a guy since he did suffer a major injury that pretty well cut short his professional career (during a game a skate sliced his wrist badly).  He never was able to regain his former ability with that rebuilt wrist (skate cut thru a bunch of his tendons).

Did not know that - thanks for setting me straight and apologies to Josh Holden.  Cheers.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

11 minutes ago, singing chef said:

Did not know that - thanks for setting me straight and apologies to Josh Holden.  Cheers.

Truth be told, I didn't know it either.  I also wondered what happened to the guy when you mentioned him in the post (heh, my memory ain't *THAT* good ) & researched into it.

[canuckpuckluck1]

I watch this and just shake my head....

 

6 years (5 actually) and it didnt improve to much more than this...

 

 

 

[Sophomore Jinx]

37 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

He had no real glaring weaknesses.  Problem was, he wasn't really good at anything either.  That said, he's still has a contract with a NHL team and he was drafted late (26th overall) in the 1st round.

Puh-leeze, to say he is under contract is a reach, this guy is done like dinner. He's a 29 year old call-up from the "A"...a gross under achiever, who will turn 30 next year in the AHL, where he will likely finish his career.

 

As for "no glaring weaknesses", his 6g in 117gp in a Vancouver uni (and 11g in 153gp) say hello...he is a guy who can't score a goal to save his life (or career), and the guy couldn't connect on a pass either lol....in the minor pros, he's got decent, if not unspectacular numbers...approx. .65 PPG...but that is it...in the "show" he is beyond useless

 

That is my HOCKEY assessment of him...as a PERSON, he seems like a really nice guy...and as the Taylor Pyatts et al before him, I think that is a lot of Gaunce's problem, it hasn't served him well at the NHL level

[Ghostsof1915]

9 minutes ago, canuckpuckluck1 said:

I watch this and just shake my head....

 

6 years (5 actually) and it didnt improve to much more than this...

 

 

 

It was bad mojo. We should have traded him before the end of the season.