Free Agent Frenzy | Part 2

[m9]

Knight or Jooris would be fine. Let them compete at the bottom of the roster, Utica needs a body like one of them or whomever they would beat out like Gaunce or Granlund.

 

[biturbo19]

Can Gagner play wing? I mean, I guess he's an upgrade on Granlund? Otherwise not sure where he fits in with the top-three centre spots already taken.

I'd say Gagner is better off on the wing really. He's played there a decent amount. He'd be a versatile enough piece, with a bit of scoring upside. He's always scored pretty well at least, when pushed into bigger roles on bad teams.

I think he'd probably end up a skilled "Utility forward" slotting in wherever as needed. Like Santorelli when he was here. With the chance to, like Santorelli did, move up the lineup if he can still produce some offense.


I like Gagner as a low-risk buy-low bargain bin pickup for this team. There are enough ???s that he'd have some opportunities, and he seems to have reached the point in his career where he's accepted a lesser role without rocking the boat. Heck, i'd say he's probably a better Center than Granlund right now...though Granlund being younger maybe wins him the edge here.

Either way, wouldn't mind having Gagner around as a spare part for a million or so.

 

[iceburg]

Pirri's stat line from 14/15 is one of the more bizarre I've seen...

49 games, 22 goals, 2 assists.

 

[biturbo19]

Pirri's stat line from 14/15 is one of the more bizarre I've seen...

49 games, 22 goals, 2 assists.

I think that's also known as "kinda fluky".

 

[iceburg]

I think that's also known as "kinda fluky".

yeah. it's a head shaker.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Habs fan coming in peace,

I'm truly sorry if it isn't the right place to post (I don't see any ''Trade proposal thread'').

Would you guys be open to something around

Alexei Emelin
Sven Andrighetto

for

Jannik Hansen

Canucks have too many D.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

I like it. He rounds out the top 6.

Looks like the Canucks are the only team in the Pacific with a soft, skilled top 6.

Every team has a bruiser. Calgary adds Brouwer, Edmonton Lucic, Arizona Doan, and the California teams have always had meat.

Better hope the Canucks can outskill their opponents, because they won't be wining any street fights for a while.

LOL I don't have much faith a team bottom 5 in NHL scoring last year is going to out-skill many teams.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Gagner, Hudler, Pirri are interesting, depending on price and term.

As it stands, our forward depth is basically exactly the same as last year (Eriksson being a respectable upgrade on Vrbata, but hardly a swing guy), and we all know where that got us.

Ya I still see a bottom 5 team in NHL scoring unless all the young guys see massive progress.

 

[Nuckles]

Pirri's stat line from 14/15 is one of the more bizarre I've seen...

49 games, 22 goals, 2 assists.

Those are some Cy Young stats if I ever saw them.

 

[Red]

Like the idea of taking a risk on a cheap Gagner, Pirri contract.

Jooris to me is redundant. Knight is fine to round out the Utica roster.

 

[biturbo19]

Ya I still see a bottom 5 team in NHL scoring unless all the young guys see massive progress.

The young guys continue to take steps forward obviously has to be part of getting better here...but i think there's some good reason to think they could score a decent amount more than last year.

Some people will groan, but if Sutter can actually stay healthy and play the full season, he should be good for at least another 10g over what he brought last year. Bo, if he can bring his late season play for more of the season, seems a credible threat to break the 20g mark. Bae if he plays an entire season like he did after "breaking out" in the New Year seems a credible threat to chip in another 5g or so. Eriksson should hopefully be a threat to effectively double what Vrbata managed last year (maybe another 15g there alone). Virtanen should be better prepared for the NHL game and can hopefully bang in at least a few more than last year...with the potential to really break out.

Hansen is really the only guy who had a "career year" where i'd be expecting possible regression this season. And hopefully not by much...though it probably comes down to how much Sedin time he gets this season.

Biggest thing is still goal-scoring from the back end, which still looks lacking. A lot on Larsen's shoulders there for sure. But then, if he can actually notch even a single powerplay goal, he'll have already pretty much topped Weber's contribution in that facet last year. So...improvement. That's probably where we're talking about the biggest need for more goals - and it falls on the young-ish Larsen, and hopefully having Edler for the whole year i guess. Maybe Hutton continuing to progress and actually score goals now and then?

Requires quite a few things to go right, but that's the case for most non-elite teams. There's easily potential for quite a bit more offensive production. Enough to lift us out of bottom-5 at least.

 

[Hit the post]

Enough to lift us out of bottom-5 at least.

For a team that spends to the cap limit (and then some) - that shouldn't be the minimum/floor of expectations IMHO.

 

[biturbo19]

For a team that spends to the cap limit (and then some) - that shouldn't be the minimum/floor of expectations IMHO.

I'd say that's a very conservative bottom-end of expectations. With potential to do a lot better.

Just Eriksson scoring ~15 more goals than Vrbata last year, another 5g each from Horvat and Baerschi, and Sutter healthy for another ~10 goals...Just those contributions alone would be ~30 goals right there, which would be good for pretty much exactly middle of the pack.

I mean, this team is also not hugely far removed from the 2014-15 group that finished Top-10 in scoring. People don't want to admit it, but a lot of little things went wrong for this team offensively last year. And down the stretch...much of the team was absolutely just mailing it in. With the parity in the league these days and the general lack of scoring around the league...with a few lucky/unlucky breaks, "bottom-5" like last year isn't necessarily as far out of striking distance of "top-15" as it's often made out to be.

 

[iceburg]

Those are some Cy Young stats if I ever saw them.

I'm still trying to figure out how it's even possible. You'd think being on the ice to score 22 goals would at least allow time for a few excuse me assists...

 

[iceburg]

Ya I still see a bottom 5 team in NHL scoring unless all the young guys see massive progress.

The lack of scoring last year was a perfect storm of injuries, a disenfranchised Vrbata, young players being inserted into the line-up, and an extreme lack of depth on the back-end. Even conservatively one has to project a significant bump this year. Taking the top 13 forwards in scoring and top 7/8 D it is very feasible that they could get +30 goals from the forwards and +10 from the D, especially if they were to add another 15+ goal scorer to displace one of Burrows, Etem, Gaunce or Granlund.

D. Sedin (28) -3
H. Sedin (11) even
Horvat (16) +4
Hansen (22) -2
Baertschi (15) +5
Vrbata (13) Eriksson +12
Burrows (9) even
McCann (9) Granlund even
Dorsett (5) even
Virtanen (7) +5
Etem (7) even
Sutter (5) +10
Cracknell (5) Gaunce even

+31 from forwards

Edler (6) +2
Tanev (4) even
Hutton (1) +5
Bartkowski (6) Larsen even
Hamhuis (3) Gudbranson even
Biega/Weber (0) Tryamkin +5
Sbisa (2) even

+12 from D

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

I'd say that's a very conservative bottom-end of expectations. With potential to do a lot better.

Just Eriksson scoring ~15 more goals than Vrbata last year, another 5g each from Horvat and Baerschi, and Sutter healthy for another ~10 goals...Just those contributions alone would be ~30 goals right there, which would be good for pretty much exactly middle of the pack.

I mean, this team is also not hugely far removed from the 2014-15 group that finished Top-10 in scoring. People don't want to admit it, but a lot of little things went wrong for this team offensively last year. And down the stretch...much of the team was absolutely just mailing it in. With the parity in the league these days and the general lack of scoring around the league...with a few lucky/unlucky breaks, "bottom-5" like last year isn't necessarily as far out of striking distance of "top-15" as it's often made out to be.

I don't see conservative I see the Canucks in the top 20 as best case scenario IMO. EDIT: by that I mean 15-20 range scoring.

 

[biturbo19]

I don't see conservative I see the Canucks in the top 20 as best case scenario IMO.

It could happen that way if things don't go well. But that's life as an aspiring bubble team. A key injury or two and we could easily be Bottom-5 again. A bit of luck and we could be much much better than that.

I think if key guys stay healthy and we get some breaks like 2014-15, iceburg's breakdown right above is a reasonably fair expectation. Maybe a little bit optimistic on a few things, but even coming close to those sort of numbers would put us Top-15 in the league, and i don't see anything outlandishly over-optimistic there. Your mileage may vary with your levels of pessimism.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

The lack of scoring last year was a perfect storm of injuries, a disenfranchised Vrbata, young players being inserted into the line-up, and an extreme lack of depth on the back-end. Even conservatively one has to project a significant bump this year. Taking the top 13 forwards in scoring and top 7/8 D it is very feasible that they could get +30 goals from the forwards and +10 from the D, especially if they were to add another 15+ goal scorer to displace one of Burrows, Etem, Gaunce or Granlund.

D. Sedin (28) -3
H. Sedin (11) even
Horvat (16) +4
Hansen (22) -2
Baertschi (15) +5
Vrbata (13) Eriksson +12
Burrows (9) even
McCann (9) Granlund even
Dorsett (5) even
Virtanen (7) +5
Etem (7) even
Sutter (5) +10
Cracknell (5) Gaunce even

+31 from forwards

Edler (6) +2
Tanev (4) even
Hutton (1) +5
Bartkowski (6) Larsen even
Hamhuis (3) Gudbranson even
Biega/Weber (0) Tryamkin +5
Sbisa (2) even

+12 from D

Calling BS on those + numbers without decreases elsewhere. That would put the Canucks tied with the Panthers of last year in 8th overall for goals for and I don't see that happening without some major renovations on defense and the top 6.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

The lack of scoring last year was a perfect storm of injuries, a disenfranchised Vrbata, young players being inserted into the line-up, and an extreme lack of depth on the back-end. Even conservatively one has to project a significant bump this year. Taking the top 13 forwards in scoring and top 7/8 D it is very feasible that they could get +30 goals from the forwards and +10 from the D, especially if they were to add another 15+ goal scorer to displace one of Burrows, Etem, Gaunce or Granlund.

D. Sedin (28) -3
H. Sedin (11) even
Horvat (16) +4
Hansen (22) -2
Baertschi (15) +5
Vrbata (13) Eriksson +12
Burrows (9) even
McCann (9) Granlund even
Dorsett (5) even
Virtanen (7) +5
Etem (7) even
Sutter (5) +10
Cracknell (5) Gaunce even

+31 from forwards

Edler (6) +2
Tanev (4) even
Hutton (1) +5
Bartkowski (6) Larsen even
Hamhuis (3) Gudbranson even
Biega/Weber (0) Tryamkin +5
Sbisa (2) even

+12 from D

None of the numbers by themselves are unreasonable but I think that the odds that every player turns out that positive is pretty remote.
For example, if I read your numbers correctly that would give us 5 20 plus goal scorers. In other words, five out of our top six players excluding Henrik crack the 20 goal mark.
That seems unlikely to me given our anemic power play and lack of offence in general last year.

 

[SgtToody]

I think the Trade Route will be the way to go.

Family is appeased with the Eriksson deal for now.

They want another Big Name before the Fall.

Only way I want us to go the trade route is if the spirit of Magellan takes on our GM duties... Benning can't deal his way out of doggie bag. I'm seriously scared that, now having gotten use to peeling off 2nd round picks like they're C-notes at a strip bar, he's going to package our 2017 first pick for something... I don't care if the name Barrie or Kane or Landeskog is attached; I would never trade a 1st rounder especially with a track record of being taken out to the wood shed over and over again.

 

[fancouver]

The lack of scoring last year was a perfect storm of injuries, a disenfranchised Vrbata, young players being inserted into the line-up, and an extreme lack of depth on the back-end. Even conservatively one has to project a significant bump this year. Taking the top 13 forwards in scoring and top 7/8 D it is very feasible that they could get +30 goals from the forwards and +10 from the D, especially if they were to add another 15+ goal scorer to displace one of Burrows, Etem, Gaunce or Granlund.

D. Sedin (28) -3
H. Sedin (11) even
Horvat (16) +4
Hansen (22) -2
Baertschi (15) +5
Vrbata (13) Eriksson +12
Burrows (9) even
McCann (9) Granlund even
Dorsett (5) even
Virtanen (7) +5
Etem (7) even
Sutter (5) +10
Cracknell (5) Gaunce even

+31 from forwards

Edler (6) +2
Tanev (4) even
Hutton (1) +5
Bartkowski (6) Larsen even
Hamhuis (3) Gudbranson even
Biega/Weber (0) Tryamkin +5
Sbisa (2) even

+12 from D

If Eriksson scores over 20+ goals, there's no way Hansen gets close to that. Just not enough ice time to go around.

 

[iceburg]

None of the numbers by themselves are unreasonable but I think that the odds that every player turns out that positive is pretty remote.
For example, if I read your numbers correctly that would give us 5 20 plus goal scorers. In other words, five out of our top six players excluding Henrik crack the 20 goal mark.
That seems unlikely to me given our anemic power play and lack of offence in general last year.

Which is pretty much the reason I put 30+ in the body of the post rather than the total of 41+ that the numbers add up to. Builds in some flexibility for injuries and reduced ice time/offensive ops for guys like Hansen. As you say, not unreasonable for each individually. Also built in some conservatism in the numbers - not expecting Eriksson to repeat his 30 goal season, for example, even though he may exceed 30 if he really clicks with the Sedins. Not expecting anything out of Gudbranson, only saying Tryamkin will get 5. These are all conservative estimates.

If Eriksson scores over 20+ goals, there's no way Hansen gets close to that. Just not enough ice time to go around.

I hear you. But remember Hansen scored the vast majority of his goals even strength. I'm guessing Eriksson will get most of his on the pp. I wouldn't be surprised if Hansen has a fair amount of time with the Sedins at 5 on 5.

Calling BS on those + numbers without decreases elsewhere. That would put the Canucks tied with the Panthers of last year in 8th overall for goals for and I don't see that happening without some major renovations on defense and the top 6.

Yeah. 30 would put them at 16. This is what I would expect. The individual numbers are just that, more individual. If Sutter plays 30 games...there goes 10 goals.

 

[WinterEmpire]

I'm still trying to figure out how it's even possible. You'd think being on the ice to score 22 goals would at least allow time for a few excuse me assists...

Maybe the only time he touched the puck was to shot

I bet those two assists were tipped shots lol

 

[fancouver]

I hear you. But remember Hansen scored the vast majority of his goals even strength. I'm guessing Eriksson will get most of his on the pp. I wouldn't be surprised if Hansen has a fair amount of time with the Sedins at 5 on 5.

Let's put it this way, if Eriksson and Hansen are 20+ goals each, then you can expect some blowout wins by Vancouver throughout the season. I certainly hope so, but I don't think that's realistic.

For reference, you have four 20+ goalscorers in your projection. Last year, the Canucks only had two. Even a team like the LA Kings had only four 20+ goal scorers and they were expected to contend for a cup.

20 goals for any player is really impressive.

 

[iceburg]

Let's put it this way, if Eriksson and Hansen are 20+ goals each, then you can expect some blowout wins by Vancouver throughout the season. I certainly hope so, but I don't think that's realistic.

For reference, you have four 20+ goalscorers in your projection. Last year, the Canucks only had two. Even a team like the LA Kings had only four 20+ goal scorers and they were expected to contend for a cup.

20 goals for any player is really impressive.

The 20+ are just 20....Hansen, Horvat and Baertschi all at 20. And there are no projected 30 goal scorers. Hansen might fall back to 15 but it's equally as probable that Eriksson hits 30 playing with the Sedins. I think it's very reasonable to anticipate Horvat and Baertschi taking a step and I've only added 4 and 5 goals respectively to their totals. It's more likely that Daniel will fall off to the 20 range. And Burrows might not see enough ice time to get 9 goals. Nevertheless, I think +30 goals from the forwards is realistic.