Whatcy'all think of BRIAN CAMPBELL? (future NORRIS winner?)

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Farhan Lalji

Whatcy'all think of BRIAN CAMPBELL? (future NORRIS winner?)

Post by Farhan Lalji »

Whatcy'all think of BRIAN CAMPBELL? (future NORRIS winner?)

Hey all,

Just wondering what your thoughts were on Brian Campbell......and if the Canucks should take a serious run at him in the off-season. Personally, I'd be all for it: Here's why:

1) Arguably, the best UFA available this summer. Although the Canucks don't really need another defenseman, the Canucks could always sign Campbell, and then trade another one of their defensmen for offensive help.

2) Great puck carrying d-man, that would also help our PP significantly. If I understand Brian Campbell correctly, these are his strong suits.

3) A form of secondary scoring? Even if the Canucks aren't getting much secondary scoring from forwards, a guy like Campbell might be able to provide this. Think back to the WCE era. Even when the WCE were the only forwards carrying the team, guys like Salo, Ohlund, and Jovo were always there to provide secondary scoring.

4) If the Canucks open up their style a bit and encourage their 'D' to join the rush, then this will play into Campbell's game.

5) Call me a bit optimisitc, but do you Campbell is the type of guy that could win a Norris one day?

Thoughts?
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levelheaded
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Post by levelheaded »

As the resident Sabres fan I'll chime in once again to say that Campbell is REALLY overrated. He is an insane defensive liability. Sure he can rush the puck, but that's about it. His shot is only average and he can't dish extremely well. Future Norris winner is a HUGE stretch. He injects offence into a game, but not always for the team he plays for. He certainly isn't worth the $6.5-7.5M he wants. Until this year he wasn't even the best defenceman on a very average (defensively) Sabres team. He is an incredible buyer beware. Bieksa does the same thing, but with more grit for $3-4M less (sure he destroyed Umberger with that hit a couple years ago, but don't expect him to crash and bang with any regularity).
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Post by Farhan Lalji »

levelheaded wrote:As the resident Sabres fan I'll chime in once again to say that Campbell is REALLY overrated. He is an insane defensive liability. Sure he can rush the puck, but that's about it. His shot is only average and he can't dish extremely well. Future Norris winner is a HUGE stretch. He injects offence into a game, but not always for the team he plays for. He certainly isn't worth the $6.5-7.5M he wants. Until this year he wasn't even the best defenceman on a very average (defensively) Sabres team. He is an incredible buyer beware. Bieksa does the same thing, but with more grit for $3-4M less (sure he destroyed Umberger with that hit a couple years ago, but don't expect him to crash and bang with any regularity).
Oh ok. Thanks for clearing that up. I admittedly don't know much about Campbell, but people seemed to make such a big deal when he went to San Jose. How has he looked in San Jose so far?

I just figured that if Campbell was as good as I thought, then we'd finally have that great puck carrying defenseman (one that could successfully join the rush a la Jovanovski?). I was also thinking that a guy like Campbell would dramatically improve our power play.

Let me ask you this though - under Veenyo's defensive system....and if paired with a guy like Willie Mitchell, do you think Campbell's liabilities could be minimized?

For example - back in the WCE era, the Canucks MAXIMIZED Jovanovski's offensive prowess, but also effectively limited his boneheaded mistakes for the most part (i.e. the canucks paired him up with Marek Malik). I was wondering if a guy like Willie Mitchell (or even Mattias Ohlund) could have a similar impact on Campbell?

If Campbell is the type of guy that can DRAMATICALLY improve a power play (is there a reason why teams would even CONSIDER paying Campbell that much?), then I strongly consider pony'ing up the money. If Campbell can dramatically improve the power play, while the Canucks go back to the way they were LAST season (i.e. #1 penalty kill, extremely low goals against, etc.), then we could be a pretty dangerous team.
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Post by levelheaded »

Farhan Lalji wrote:Let me ask you this though - under Veenyo's defensive system....and if paired with a guy like Willie Mitchell, do you think Campbell's liabilities could be minimized?
I wouldn't even consider not pairing him with one of the two, but in general he is a left side defenceman, so I don't know how well it would work. His liabilities could be minimized sure, but for $7M it's just not worth the risk. Bieksa brings just as much offence IMO, and has better leadership and hitting abilities. Campbell will get a big payday for some club desperate for offence from the back end, we're not one of those teams. I think the amount we'd have to spend would be much better suited plugging holes in our forward depth.
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Post by Blob Mckenzie »

For what he is going to get, jovo's 6.5 will look like a bargain. Campbell doesn't have the heart, grit or passion that jovo has either. No thank you.
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Post by Farhan Lalji »

My only counter-points to the arguments above, are this:

1) Brian Campbell is only 29 years old. While that isn't "young" by NHL standards, it's definitely not old either. Defensemen usually start to peak around their late 20's (I'd even argue that a defenseman's peak is between 30-33......unlike a forward's for instance).

2) Campbell does seem like a guy that is really emerging. I'm still curious as to why so much was made of him going to SJ?

3) If Campbell is a guy that can SIGNIFICANTLY improve our PP (and keep in mind, that a lackluster PP was what may have ultimately cost us an easy series win against Dallas, and from being competitive with Anaheim), then even if he's worth a lot of money.....it MIGHT be worth the investment (despite his other apparent shortcomings....that can perhaps be nullified).

From the sounds of it however - Campbell might be overrated (for the reasons others gave in this thread). Perhaps I wouldn't accept the risk after all.

p.s. I'm still wondering if the statement, "He doesn't have heart, grit, or passion" has much validity.
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Post by magnum44 »

Not for the price he is sure to command. When healthy :evil: we have a very solid Dcorp with good young talent coming up. Campbell is a good offensive Dman but he is not a franchise #1 guy, which he is probably going to get paid. For the money I'd rather get Jovo back. Imo the only way we get another defenseman is to create trade chips from the ones we got (who pretty much all have NTCs) I don't think campbell would be that much of an upgrade over guys we have to justify overpaying to get him just so we could move someone else. Better off putting the ufa money into the forwards and trying to keep our Defense intact because we need the depth.
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Post by Canuck-One »

So much was made of him going to Sj? It's called hype and the more there is the more he'll get. I was amazed at the hype as I don't believe him to be a valuable D asset. He is as levelheaded describes him, a huge defensive liability, end of story. Don't want him.
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Post by Sid Dithers »

I don't pay $6M for a guy with major holes in his game. Pass!
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Post by jchockey »

He's an excellent puck-mover, but one of the reasons he was so successful in Buffalo was because their scoring options ran pretty much 9-deep. I've seen him play on SJ, and he doesn't really do anything that wows me. Defensively he's not that good, and offensively he's only top 25 in the league.

Other than that I don't see anything too special.
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Post by stevethiessen »

I'd rather wave money in the face of Mark Streit. Won't have to pay the kind of coin that it would cost for Cambell, and you still get the puck movement and power play help.
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Re: YES Farhan, but I like Redden better

Post by Farhan Lalji »

morrison1980 wrote:I would love to see Campbell, this team needs a rover on the back end. Either Campbell or Redden would be a Top Priority if I was GM. This teams offence has never been the same since the departure of Jovanovski. With highly skilled players like Campbell you have to take the good with the bad, usually theres more good than bad, especially if he's paired with an Ohlund type player. I totally agree buddy, I think Redden would be my first choice though, and might be easier to lure here from Ottawa then Campbell from a pretty good situation in San Jose where he knows then want him and traded for him.
I honestly don't know Campbell very well....and to be honest, some of the comments in this thread have scared me. :?

The ONLY question in my mind however, is HOW much can Campbell help us OFFENSIVELY....or QUARTERBACK our powerplay? If Campbell TRULY is an elite defenseman in this ONE regard, then I don't mind paying him the big bucks.

With the Canucks' defensive system (combined with the fact that if a guy like Campbell played with Mitchell or Ohlund), I think this would be a case where the Canucks could MAXIMIZE Campbell's strengths....while MINIMIZING his weaknesses.

Keep in mind - one thing that made Jovanovski so great during the WCE era, was that he was partnered with the lower-keyed, but rock-solid Marek Malik.

Even if Campbell doesn't have the heart or the grit, other players can more than make up for that. Even on the BEST of teams, it's not like every single player is full of heart and grit (although I obviously don't encourage teams stacking up on too many guys like these).

If Campbell can fill a MAJOR need (in this case, a power play, and to provide efficient forward puck movement).....and his liabilities can be neutralized....then I say "consider the deal."

Having said that - I honestly don't know how good (or how bad) Campbell really is. Based on the comments that I've seen in this thread, perhaps Campbell is pretty overrated.....and as result, the Canucks may be better off exploring other options.
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Re: YES Farhan, but I like Redden better

Post by Farhan Lalji »

To respond to your subject heading, I also like the idea of getting Redden (although one poster on here...can't remember who.....also talked about how overrated Redden is).

Here's my MAIN thought however:

-There are a limited number of free agents out there this summer that can TRULY help us to the point that we want.

-It's obvious that the Canucks need help up front.

The only thing that I'm suggesting, is perhaps the Canucks shouldn't just focus on signing forwards.....but signing top quality defensemen as well. IF the Canucks are successful in signing a guy like a MattiasNorstrom, or a Wade Redden, or a Mike Commodore, etc., etc., then the Canucks can TRADE one of their defensemen for forward(s) that they WANT to have here.

On top of that - since you've now signed NEW defensemen, you can trade defensemen for forward help WITHOUT depleting the overall strength of your defense.

Make sense?

For example - take a run at signing guys like Redden and Norstrom. Hell - sign both! THEN you can make the move of trading guys like Bieksa and Salo...or whoever to Philadelphia for some FORWARD help.

Basically - by doing this, the Canucks can trade for forwards on THEIR terms. You don't have to sign "band-aid" forwards in this off-season to simply "fill a need."
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