2019 offseason

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Madcombinepilot
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2019 offseason

Post by Madcombinepilot »

Hate to say I am looking ahead, but its getting to be that time of year for me...

current lineup (including injuries)

Goldobin - Pettersson - Boesser
Beartschi - Horvat - Virtanen
Grandlund - Sutter - Roussell
Motte - Beagle - Ericksson
Pearson - Gaudette - Spooner
Schaller Lievo


Edler - Tanev
Hutton - Stetcher
Schenn - Pouliot
Biega

Markstromm
Demko

Starting in net, we have no questions. Dipietro will get the AHL and grow older there and develop. The rest of Utica goalies is sematics.

On Defence, there is some decisions to make. We have Brisebois, Sautner, Joulevi and Hughes in the wings. I am all in for resigning Edler to some kind of 2 year contract, moving on from Pouliot (get anything for him at the draft table would be nice - ill take a 7th for him. I aint proud) If we can sign a UFA like Myers or Gardner (5-6 million for 3-5 years would be awesome) that would be deadly to shore up top 4. We are not in the running for Karlsson, so lets just put that to bed. Give Hughes his games up here and see how he looks in training camp. If he sticks (and we all think he should) he is in. if he needs development time, he gets it.

so we now look like:

Edler - Tanev
Meyers? - Hughes/Joulevi (Schenn if all else)
Stetcher - Hutton
Schenn - Biega

That lets us start Joulevi in Utica to get his game back. If he tears it up, we can trade Tanev in November or December and call him up. or keep him for the inevitable injury to the top 4. Using the Stetcher - Hutton pairing as your 5-6 defencemen sets low end of the bar. If guys coming in cant be better than those 2, they aint on the team. Sautner and Brisbois are serviceable depth call ups when the injuries hit but we are better next year because the low end of this years bar (Gudbandson and Pouliot) are not in the lineup, on the roster, etc..

On forward, we have a clusterfuck. we have 17 forwards, so 4 have to go. I want to move more than just 4, but that's the minimum. Jettison Schaller. Hopefully trade Grandlund at the draft table for something. Ask Sutter for his 15 teams (or 8 or whatever) on july 1st. Also on the 1st, Explain to Ericksson that there are 31 other teams he can play for. 30 are in the NHL, 1 is Utica. Its up to him what he wants to do. I think Baertschi is finished because of concussion problems, but if not, he move him down to the third line. We need to be looking for a top 6 left winger. I am not worried about the Beagle and Rousel contracts as our first line is super cheap. We need to find a buyer for 1 of Pearson or Spooner - or both - (we simply have too many tweeners).

Goldobin - Petterson - Boesser
{new guy} - Horvat - Virtanen
Baertschi - Gaudette - Roussell
Motte - Beagle - {survivor of Pearson/Spooner} - perhaps a MacEwan call up if we move them both
Lievo is your 13th forward.. I keep Lievo over Pearson/Spooner because of contract and age.

This gives us MacEwan and Lockwood as our first call ups for forwards, depending on where the hole in the lineup is. No more shit about calling up the likes of Gaunce, Dowd, Boucher, Chaput or Megna "best player available in Utica" now we have enough players down there to call up based on position.. those were the dark days of years gone past. They are over. The signing of Beagle, Rousell and Motte acquisition sets the low end of the talent bar for us. None of those other pylons are better than these 3, so that's the new low part of the bar. If Schaller would have worked out, fine.. but he didn't, so whatever. 2 out of 3 signings aint bad, and it sorted out the problem

Utica keeps on keeping on, developing MacEwan, Lockwook, Joulevi, Brisbois, Sautner, Gadovich, Lind, the new Karlsson kid.. Utica got the short end of the stick for 2 years in a row with the injury call ups and the need to be compentative. They have done a decent job of developing some serviceable depth, and if they continue to bring 6-8 guys along, I am happy with that. I wouldn't mind some more high end prospects, but hey - they all don't work out anyways (as much as we want them to) and every other team is probably saying the same thing about their prospect pools. The loss of Dahlen isn't that bad as there is always someone who should make it tot the show but doesn't for whatever reason..

We are still looking at having a lot of rookies in and out of the lineup next year (Hughes, Demko (still a rookie?), McEwan, Joulevi, etc) so the youth movement is still in full swing.

With the upgrade to the blue line, and with just a little internal development from guys (Boesser, Goldobin) and a no sophomore slump from Pettersson, injuries aside, that's a lineup that battles for the playoffs.. but lacking depth at center, so its a brittle lineup...
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Carlyee
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Carlyee »

Good post. I would keep Pearson over Baertschi.
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Madcombinepilot »

Carlyee wrote: Tue Mar 05, 2019 1:15 pm Good post. I would keep Pearson over Baertschi.
sure. Tweeners are Tweeners. It doesn't matter which of the 3 we keep, but we can only keep 1 is the point :)
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Mickey107 »

Yup; Fantastic post MCP; Plenty of thought went into that. :)

I am worried about Baertschi. In particular, if he's forced to retire. Hope not. Even if it isn't here he plays.
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Cornuck »

Explain to Ericksson that there are 31 other teams he can play for. 30 are in the NHL, 1 is Utica. :D

Good post- nice to see it laid out, and looking ok on paper.

Adding a decent UFA on D is a necessity. Seeing what happened when no action was taken last year, it's obvious we need more help than is in the pipeline. Question mark: Hughes - can he make the jump right away?
Question mark: ju - how much time does he need to recover / regroup and be NHL ready?
Question mark: Edler - will he offer a hometown discount / shorter term to stay put?
Most of the questions are on the D.

Up front, we have the bodies, but I would like to see what Horvat can do as a 2C without covering for Sutter or playing with the largest mathematical possible number of linemates. First line is set (but I'm still not sold on Goldy).
Question mark: Baertschi - can he play close to a full season? Putting him on the 3rd line means less disruption in the top 6, so I'm for that.

The PP is not our friend this year- will Hughes make it that much better? Or it it just too predictable at this point?

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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by rats19 »

Don’t see the Wooinater anywhere is he too young to contemplate yet?

But nice work mcp
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Hockey Widow »

rats19 wrote: Tue Mar 05, 2019 1:59 pm Don’t see the Wooinater anywhere is he too young to contemplate yet?

But nice work mcp
Woo, Hughes and Juolevi are all rookies. I can't see Benning going with 3 rookies on the back end. Most of us penciling in Hughes to be a starter right away but we have prospects camp and main camp to get through first.

If Edler re-signs we have Hutton and Edler on the left side leaving one spot on the left open.

If we assume Stetcher is staying and we keep Tanev then we have one spot on the right open.

So assuming the status quo we have one left and one right spot open. Woo has just as good a chance at that as anyone. Hughes and Juolevi may just battling it out for that one left spot.

But that's assuming the status quo. Its up in the air that Edler comes back. He may decide to wait until July first but if he does that frees Benning up to look at FA. Edler would lose any leverage he thinks he has. I think they look hard at trading Tanev.

There is no question we are better with Tanev and Edler than without but do to their ages and injury problems this is the perfect opportunity to move on. But even if we do I still can't see Benning going with 3 rookies on D.
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by rats19 »

Yah fair enough thnx wids
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Ronning's Ghost »

Madcombinepilot wrote: Tue Mar 05, 2019 1:07 pm injuries aside, that's a lineup that battles for the playoffs.. but lacking depth at center, so its a brittle lineup...
I submit that it's also a smallish and not particularly fierce lineup. While I still eagerly await the day the NHL decides that there's more money to be made protecting its star players, i'm not convinced we're there yet (and I may be wrong about where the money is -- i'm sure some people watch auto racing for the crashes).

In this competitive context, is there appetite on this board for making the new left winger a Certified Psychopath to ride shotgun with Pettersson? Or for that matter, one of the new defencemen protection for Hughes? No one who's commented so far seems to think MCP's projected lineup has Stanley Cup Champion written all over it, so is it worth sacrificing a few points to improve the chances that the players we are counting on to be difference makers when the Canucks are competitive again can extend their productive careers a bit? Do you think the deterrent goon strategy still works (if it ever did) ?

Mickey's on a tear lately about the coaching staff. I'll bring up the training staff again. Sure, the Canucks (necessarily) have one of the worst possible travel schedules, but it's not that much worse than Edmonton's of San Jose's, and they don't seem to have the same high injury rate year after year. If it's not the training staff, I'd argue that management has to look at shifting the blueprint to more durable players (maybe they could call it the "Meat & Potatoes" program), but I think it would be easier to try a different training staff first.
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Hockey Widow »

You have to look at the injuries before you jump to conclusions its the training staff. Not that you are, you are asking the question, I get that.

When a player falls face first on the ice, not much to do with the training staff. When a player blocks a shot not much to do with the training staff. When a player gets taken into the boards and turns his ankle not much to do with the training staff. When a player gets hit with a puck not much to do with the training staff. When a player takes a crosscheck to the ribs not much to do with the training staff. When a player tweaks a knee in practice not much to do with the training staff. When a player gets thrown to the ice not much to do with the training staff. When a player gets tossed into an open door not much to do with the training staff. When a player gets blind sided not much to do with the training staff. Etc, Etc, Etc.

If a player has a repeat injury or isn't healing or keeps damaging the same thing then look at the training staff. Mostly the players we have that keep getting injured are players who keep getting injured. It may be lack of depth and guys are overused or over exposed. It may be age. it may be style of play.

I like the idea of looking at durability. For at least three years a lot of fans have been harping on Tanev's susceptibility to always getting injured. It is predictable now. If he has durability problems then you need to look at moving him. Simplistic thinking I know but I'm not sure how else you address it.
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Ronning's Ghost »

Hockey Widow wrote: Tue Mar 05, 2019 5:16 pm When a player takes a crosscheck to the ribs not much to do with the training staff..... When a player gets blind sided not much to do with the training staff.
I must agree. Do you think those kind of injuries have anything to do with a lack of on-ice deterrence ? Or is there a base level of NHL assholery that every team, no matter how well-favoured by the League or well-populated with players who stick up for teammates, must weather ?
Hockey Widow wrote: Tue Mar 05, 2019 5:16 pm it may be style of play.
Again, I must agree. I think it would be valuable for someone to take a look at how worthwhile it is for players not wearing goalie equipment to block shots -- especially in light of how often shot-block attempts turn into deflections, anyway. I don't know many goalies (and certainly none at the NHL level), but the ones I do know prefer to have the defence take away the pass and give them a clear view of the shot.

You have persuaded me that there are better avenues to explore first in addressing the injury situation than a reassessment of the training staff. I think I might be biased in this respect because I have such a high regard for Mike Twist, and am disappointed that he is not more directly involved with the Canucks organization.
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Cousin Strawberry »

Jake Gardiner would be a nice piece for that d opening we have
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Madcombinepilot »

Yeah, Woo will need time in Utica. I can't see him jumping straight to the show, he is just a good prospect. Like Wids said, we have young guns, prospects and main camp to sort out who does and doesn't make the team.. if any. It's just nice to have prospects ready to compete to play, opposed to being gifted a spot.. and to have 5-6 guys on defence you have to be better than to make the team. It's one thing to compete to make the team, it's another to have to compete AND have a minimum standard. But we are still looking at a super young lineup and I just can't see Woo as yet another rookie on the team..

As to the injuries, like I mentioned, it's a lineup that can compete, but it's brittle. Need center depth, but we are still suspecptible to mass injuries (as is every team) but hopefully can avoid the 2 ten game skids that sink the season. If Joulevi plays his way onto the team mid season, and we move Tanev, we are slowly phasing out the injury prone players that keep sinking us.

Now, as to the certified physcopath on the left wing, if her wasn't going to cost so much, a Ferland type that played 2nd/3rd line and did spot duty on 1st line with Pettersson would make all 3 of spooner, Pearson and Baertschi expendable, but then we are still looking for another top 6 heavy playing style left winger... and I am ok with that.
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by Hockey Widow »

Woo is still young. Is heaven eligible for the AHL next season?

Benning is high on Sautner and Brisbois. If the likes of Hughes, Juolevi and Woo are not NHL ready then the likes of Sautner, Brisbois and Chatenfield are the next placeholders.
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Re: 2019 offseason

Post by ESQ »

Wids, I'm just taking a wild shot in the dark here...


...but is it possible your sources are on the training staff? :lol:
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