The Glass is Half Empty....

[herb]

The Canucks are not royally screwed and they are not a sure fire playoff favourite like Chicago or LA. They are a top 1/3 of the league team. They’ll make the playoffs, and from there we know anything can happen.

I don’t think the “regression” from a top team speaks to poor management. Similarly, the Red Wings are no longer an elite team, and I don’t think that speaks to bad management on the part of Ken Holland. On paper, the Pens should be the best regular season team year in and year out, yet they’re not because it’s a tough league.

The last couple of years, there have been injuries, players have left via free agency, and there have been some defensible gambles that haven’t worked out. There are some things I would have liked Gillis to do differently, but overall I think we’re on the right path.

I think it’s incredibly hard to stay at that level, and I think this group obviously lost focus after the loss to Boston. To me it looked like the Canucks began to coast through the regular season because all they really cared about was the playoffs, but then found out it’s not so easy to “flip the switch” once the playoffs begin.

I am optimistic that the coaching change will renew the team’s focus. I am cautiously optimistic that some of our young players are not that far away from being true impact players, and I think the holes we have (3C, 6th defenseman, back-up goaltender) are rather small in the grand scheme of things and can be filled this season either through trades or through internal growth.

[sagebrush]

Re: OP points 2 & 3; D & goalie depth. Both positions suffered from excess drama last season. Less is better. Would like to have seen more done with top 4 D resource allocation, but ... que sera sera.

Fodder for goalie controversy left with Schneider. Still, an emotional guy like Luongo is gonna provide some goalie
drama every year. Hopefully, Luongo's learned to keep it on the light side, but I wouldn't count on it.

If a half full glass could talk, it would say Luongo's compete level is still high, & when he's on his game he's dominant.

Then there's Edler. Like others here, I've criticized this space cadet for his inconsistent play. But there is a ray of hope. It's possible that under the comfy AV regime, Edler achieved a level of play that ensured good ice time, & Edler saw little reason to do more. Lack of incentive can get boring. Torts may change that. Edler may not like how Torts does it.

Too many more moving parts to comment on the rest (at this time). Have atter boys (& girls).

[Strangelove]

just responding to the people (HOMERS) around here that refuse to admit the team is backsliding.

Who you callin "HOMER" Omar?

Seriously, WHO are these people to which you refer (and "respond")??

And why didn’t YOU respond directly to their posts?

Yeah cuz I'm saying they don't exist and I'm here to help.

[Jovocop]

If you have nothing better to do and still think that the Canucks could be a lot better with Dave Nonis than Mike Gillis, there is a pretty good article about the Leafs and Dave...

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... eason-been

[Strangelove]

If you have nothing better to do and still think that the Canucks could be a lot better with Dave Nonis than Mike Gillis, there is a pretty good article about the Leafs and Dave...

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... eason-been

[Spock]

FYI----Spock has generally been a "half-full" kind of poster. But the change in the CBA and the Cap combined with some pretty poor trades has put the team and my attitude in a "half-empty" position.

Could Gaunce, Horvat, Jensen and Shinkakuk change that? Not this season. Very unlikely (not impossible).

Face it, folks. Canucks are older, and with less depth and still not enough *jam*. Strange-One - even you would have to admit there are simply not enough assholes on this team.

From the looks of the roster, it looks like the Canucks are planning on Schroeder and Jensen *not* working out.

[Strangelove]

Canucks are older, and with less depth and still not enough *jam*. Strange-One - even you would have to admit there are simply not enough assholes on this team.

What if Gaunce and Lain step up and GMMG signs Murray...


FORWARDS
Daniel Sedin ($6.100m) / Henrik Sedin ($6.100m) / Zack Kassian ($0.870m)
David Booth ($4.250m) / Ryan Kesler ($5.000m) / Alexandre Burrows ($4.500m)
Chris Higgins ($2.500m) / Brendan Gaunce ($1.057m) / Jannik Hansen ($1.350m)
Brad Richardson ($1.150m) / Kellan Lain ($0.600m) / Dale Weise ($0.750m)
Tom Sestito ($0.750m) /

DEFENSEMEN
Dan Hamhuis ($4.500m) / Kevin Bieksa ($4.600m)
Alexander Edler ($5.000m) / Douglas Murray ($1.750m)
Jason Garrison ($4.600m) / Chris Tanev ($1.200m)
Yannick Weber ($0.650m) / Frank Corrado ($0.599m)

GOALTENDERS
Roberto Luongo ($5.333m)
Eddie Lack ($0.750m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,959,444; BONUSES: $162,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $503,056

Still not enough asshole, but bigger, grittier.

Sestito/Weise/Richardson rotate....

[Jovocop]

DEFENSEMEN
Dan Hamhuis ($4.500m) / Kevin Bieksa ($4.600m)
Alexander Edler ($5.000m) / Douglas Murray ($1.750m)
Jason Garrison ($4.600m) / Chris Tanev ($1.200m)
Yannick Weber ($0.650m) / Frank Corrado ($0.599m)

GOALTENDERS
Roberto Luongo ($5.333m)
Eddie Lack ($0.750m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,959,444; BONUSES: $162,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $503,056

Still not enough asshole, but bigger, grittier.

Sestito/Weise/Richardson rotate....

Murray would simply make the backend a lot bigger and nastier... As slow as Murray is, I would still take him over Albert or Fistric. Edler and Murray would be a perfect marriage. Two big guys who can hit hard. One brings offense and the other brings solid defense.




Murray is a monster...

[FAN]

Murray would simply make the backend a lot bigger and nastier... As slow as Murray is, I would still take him over Albert or Fistric. Edler and Murray would be a perfect marriage. Two big guys who can hit hard. One brings offense and the other brings solid defense.

Sounds good on paper, but teams might be able to skate circles around that pairing.

[Jovocop]

Murray would simply make the backend a lot bigger and nastier... As slow as Murray is, I would still take him over Albert or Fistric. Edler and Murray would be a perfect marriage. Two big guys who can hit hard. One brings offense and the other brings solid defense.

Sounds good on paper, but teams might be able to skate circles around that pairing.

Edler is a pretty good skater. Murray is a pylon but he is a huge pylon. It takes a bit of time to skate around him...

[Rumsfeld]

[Jovocop]

Pretty much!

[Jovocop]

Murray would simply make the backend a lot bigger and nastier... As slow as Murray is, I would still take him over Albert or Fistric. Edler and Murray would be a perfect marriage. Two big guys who can hit hard. One brings offense and the other brings solid defense.

Sounds good on paper, but teams might be able to skate circles around that pairing.

The Canucks have a very mobile group of defensemen but a little bit to the small size, except Edler. Adding a guy like Murray should not affect the overall speed of the group but definitely make the team a lot tougher to play against. The only challenges are whether Murray wants to be a Canuck and how much he wants.

[Meds]

Regardless of whether the glass is half empty or half full, the moves, or lack of moves, that Gillis has made this offseason are certainly more confidence inspiring than those made by Jay Feaster or Dave Nonis.

If nothing else, subscribing to a little schadenfreude helps somewhat.

[SKYO]

Murray would simply make the backend a lot bigger and nastier... As slow as Murray is, I would still take him over Albert or Fistric. Edler and Murray would be a perfect marriage. Two big guys who can hit hard. One brings offense and the other brings solid defense.

Sounds good on paper, but teams might be able to skate circles around that pairing.

The Canucks have a very mobile group of defensemen but a little bit to the small size, except Edler. Adding a guy like Murray should not affect the overall speed of the group but definitely make the team a lot tougher to play against. The only challenges are whether Murray wants to be a Canuck and how much he wants.

Yup, especially around the net we have zero big crease clearers, team has some gritty dmen but they all definitely lack the size to battle with some of the big men in the league, in the playoffs this is even more prevalent.