Around the league (signings, RFAs injuries)

[Blob Mckenzie]

I'm ok if he bats around .500 for trades.Certainly we should strive to be in the .600 + range but he has been better of late. It's the long term contract blunders that are the biggest problem right now.

[Ronning's Ghost]

I'm ok if he bats around .500 for trades.Certainly we should strive to be in the .600 + range but he has been better of late.

Can the Canucks make progress if they only break even on trades ?

It's the long term contract blunders that are the biggest problem right now.

For myself, I am more concerned about implementing a blueprint for a team. I never understood Benning's articulation of his vision, but Hockey Widow was kind enough to explain it for me:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9706&p=253848&hilit=model#p253848

This included:

He has said you need to be big, strong, tough down the middle.

I don't know whether Benning is actually correct on this point, or whether he has since changed his mind (the League continues to evolve), but so far, the only player in the organization that I know of who even begins to approach this description is a Gillis draft pick from four years ago.

Of course I appreciate that the team is still a work in progress ("1-2 years from now", and all that), but I might have expected to see some movement in this direction by now.

[Hockey Widow]

I'm ok if he bats around .500 for trades.Certainly we should strive to be in the .600 + range but he has been better of late.

Can the Canucks make progress if they only break even on trades ?

It's the long term contract blunders that are the biggest problem right now.

For myself, I am more concerned about implementing a blueprint for a team. I never understood Benning's articulation of his vision, but Hockey Widow was kind enough to explain it for me:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9706&p=253848&hilit=model#p253848

This included:

He has said you need to be big, strong, tough down the middle.

I don't know whether Benning is actually correct on this point, or whether he has since changed his mind (the League continues to evolve), but so far, the only player in the organization that I know of who even begins to approach this description is a Gillis draft pick from four years ago.

Of course I appreciate that the team is still a work in progress ("1-2 years from now", and all that), but I might have expected to see some movement in this direction by now.

You missed this part:

There really isn't a magic formula. It's trying to develop depth and consistency. To win the cup a lot of things have to go right. Luck, injuries, other teams play. I sense he wants to develop a lot of depth in all positions while making the team younger, faster, more skilled, harder to play against. Not every player will necessarily fit that mold, thus the mix of veterans and depth players to round out the core.

And this part:

Fact is he is no different from 29 other GMs. I think they all have a similar vision. Some are better at drafting. Some are better making trades. Some get incredibly lucky with draft position. Some organizations are better at developing.

[Strangelove]

He is not even worth that.

Well you're the expert.

[Ronning's Ghost]

You missed this part:

Nope. As i replied at the time, I just found that vision rather discouraging. Improved formulations of Doc's special kool-aid administered in the mean time had allowed me to forget.

I quoted you only to offer proper attribution, not to argue.

[UWSaint]

Can the Canucks make progress if they only break even on trades ?

Yes, because breaking even on trades should still put you in a better overall position because you are balancing out depth, age, position, etc. But you'd like to do better.

[Hockey Widow]

Jordan Nolan claimed by Sabres from waivers. So far he's the only guy plucked from waivers.

I was glad when I read that. I think of him as a cheap shot type of guy and he always seemed to run a Canuck or two. Glad to have him back in the East.

[SKYO]

Good pickup by the Sabres, it's too bad the Canucks are stacked with depth to take him. *salute*



Poor Robby Fabbri -

Robby Fabbri will miss all of the 2017-18 season after re-injuring his surgically repaired left knee.
http://www.tsn.ca/blues-fabbri-knee-to- ... n-1.865316

[Hockey Widow]

Good pickup by the Sabres, it's too bad the Canucks are stacked with depth to take him. *salute*



Poor Robby Fabbri -

Robby Fabbri will miss all of the 2017-18 season after re-injuring his surgically repaired left knee.
http://www.tsn.ca/blues-fabbri-knee-to- ... n-1.865316

With the second shot at grabbing anyone from waivers it's safe to assume the Canucks haven't put in a claim for anyone. Amazing what depth does eh. Keeps us off the waiver track.

[Island Nucklehead]

Andrew Hammond on waivers in Ottawa.

[Carl Yagro]

Andrew Hammond on waivers in Ottawa.

I hope he saved those hamburgers that were thrown on the ice. Those things have a longer shelf-life than radioactive waste.

[Island Nucklehead]

Andrew Hammond on waivers in Ottawa.

I hope he saved those hamburgers that were thrown on the ice. Those things have a longer shelf-life than radioactive waste.

$1,500,000 USD buys a lot of $.69 cheeseburgers.

[DonCherry4PM]

Appears virtannen isn’t the only guy having a resurgence.
http://www.tsn.ca/mccann-has-hat-trick- ... -1.870410

[Jovocop]

Appears virtannen isn’t the only guy having a resurgence.
http://www.tsn.ca/mccann-has-hat-trick- ... -1.870410

Perhaps it was a good idea to separate those two kids.

[Hockey Widow]

From SN

Jaromir Jagr won’t be suiting up this weekend for his hometown team HC Kladno in the Czech Republic, according to a report.

Instead, the veteran forward will continue to wait and see if he can get a deal done with an NHL team.


“I won’t play for Kladno because there are still some negotiations in the NHL,” Jagr told iDNES.cz, which was translated by NHL.com. “Those teams don’t want me to play here and I have to respect that.”



One of the teams, not surprisingly, is the St. Louis Blues.