Luc Bourdon, 18 year old rookie?

[Attica]

This is something that has been discussed on the canucks boards recently, and just trying to gauge what other fans think.

Luc Bourdon, 10th overall in 2005, has been playing fantastic in Vancouver in the preseason, had an assist tonight against Calgary, looks like he'll be on the roster for the opener against Pheonix. My question to the rest of HF is if you think, based on his performance, it's a good idea to keep him in the lineup, or to send him back to junior.

Obvious pros would be;
a better d-man than the competition : Baumer, Butenschon, Doig.

Cons would be: Slowing development, possibly rushing him, losing a year of RFA, more expensive.

IMHO if Bourdon IS good enough to play top 4 minutes, give it to him. He showed up Phaneuf tonight in the game against Calgary, and has been playing just as well so far, he's tied for 2nd in team scoring @ 4 points, he is hitting, and playing solid defense.


One more year of junior might help the kid, but the canucks time is now, and he can help this team.

Thoughts?

Click to read more...

 

[Drake1588]

Well on the one hand, Vancouver fans have seen him significantly more than fans of other teams, so what do we have to contribute since it's next to impossible for non-local fans to gauge his performance?

On the other hand, as a Caps fan, trust me that you want as much room between the starting six and Jason Doig as humanly possible if you plan to make a run. So go for it.

 

[UserName]

if there was no salary cap, bourdon would be on the team

 

[boredmale]

18 year old rookie, 25 year old Free Agent. I say send him down for 1 year at least

 

[the_gman83]

Well on the one hand, Vancouver fans have seen him significantly more than fans of other teams, so what do we have to contribute since it's next to impossible for non-local fans to gauge his performance?

On the other hand, as a Caps fan, trust me that you want as much room between the starting six and Jason Doig as humanly possible if you plan to make a run. So go for it.

Ha ha. Thanks for the heads-up! At least we haven't signed Doig yet.

As for the question, I think he was just trying to guage the opinion on whether or not it is a good idea to bring a young defenceman into the league so soon.

He's been outstanding so far, and I heard Pierre McGuire mention that he thinks Bourdon should be on the team, but I think he could benefit from one more year in junior. Besides, I don't think the Canucks have enough cap room to play him this year.

 

[clay]

18 year old rookie, 25 year old Free Agent. I say send him down for 1 year at least

I have to agree hear. It is too risky to have bourdon as a free agent at 25, just to play 5th or 6th man minutes.

 

[AgentNaslund*]

well heres a little bit about him.

Hes 6'3 200 pounds.

His skating and puck movement is NHL Quality.

His speed is the same as Jovo's. Basicallly, hes one of our fastest players on the team. Hes faster then any Dmans, hes faster then anyone on our top 2 lines, but what ever.

skills im not sure. I havent seen much of him except for the first 2 days of trainning camp.

has a booming slap shot.

His hitting is like Phaneufs. good clean nice open hits. I thought Pierrer Mcguire was being Pejorative Slured when he said Bourdon is another comming of Phanuef. But now I know why. destroyed Corry Perry the other game, smashed an Oiler so hard his helmet came off. not sure if he smashed any Calgary flames tonight.

Hes probably gonna make his mark at the world Juniors. Its gonna be fun seeing him smash americans and russians around.

 

[Hedberg]

I think he'll play 10 games, but probably not anymore than that.

 

[Drake1588]

Washington is struggling with the same problem. Namely, their kids have been playing lights out in the pre-season, none more so than 19-year old Mike Green out of Saskatoon. He's been simply great, poised, making very few mistakes. Showing offense, some physical play, judicious decisionmaking, and mature PP QB abilities. Only Steve Eminger has played better.

So do they keep Green in DC, or ship him to AHL Hershey? The kicker is that before they knew how good the kids would be, they went ahead and gave Mathieu Biron and Lawrence Nycholat one-way contracts as insurance... so if Mike Green sticks, those two make a cool million between the two of them playing in the minors.

Green's been so good that it seems they are considering it anyway.

 

[Hedberg]

so if Mike Green sticks, those two make a cool million between the two of them.

But it wouldn't count against the cap.

 

[Lars]

man, i really wish they added another year for players to become FA's

... 25 thats WAY too early... even if he plays next year 26 is also WAY too early... thats retarted.

 

[Roy G Biv*]

man, i really wish they added another year for players to become FA's

... 25 thats WAY too early... even if he plays next year 26 is also WAY too early... thats retarted.

bourdon means borderer in french, and Luc means mean unlucjy... so I would send him down down down.. into the roing of fire.

 

[KStewart113]

First off, regarding ^, they don't just call him LUcky Luc for nothing.

Secondly, the Canucks need him now, by the time hes 25 Vancouver prly won't be as good now, as Naslund will prly be gone.

 

[Drake1588]

But it wouldn't count against the cap.

No, it wouldn't, but it would count against the pocketbook of Ted Leonsis.

 

[Lars]

First off, regarding ^, they don't just call him LUcky Luc for nothing.

Secondly, the Canucks need him now, by the time hes 25 Vancouver prly won't be as good now, as Naslund will prly be gone.

yah thats the more reason we shouldn't let him play up this year... or else we will have a CRAP team 8 years down the road.

 

[AgentNaslund*]

just because he becomes a ufa doesent mean hes gonna say goodbye to vancouver. It doesent mean hes automatically gone. we will and probably end up signing here if this team is good and he likes it here. and he would probably wanna stay here. Every ex Canuck that entered into the UFA all of them wanted to stay in VAncouver except for Jason STrudwick . Lachance and Cassles both wanted to stay in Vancouver but Burke low balled them. Naslund could have left but he loves it here.

dont worry guys. It happens to anyone.

 

[K9]

People really overestimate the importance of the "7-year rule". Honestly who cares? That's 7 years from now. Last I checked the current CBA expires in 6 years, so that rule might not even be in there in the next CBA.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

People really overestimate the importance of the "7-year rule". Honestly who cares? That's 7 years from now. Last I checked the current CBA expires in 6 years, so that rule might not even be in there in the next CBA.

This board is full of wanna be capologists.

For those who cares, Gainey, a NHL GM, has said that this rule was a non-factor in Latendresse's case. So if it isn't a factor for him, why would it be for Bourdon ?

If Bourdon is the best man for the job, he should get the spot. Especially on a team like the nucks who are about winning now, not in 7 years.

 

[cc]

the way I see it, you have to be absolutely sure Bourdon can handle the rigors of the NHL, because you can't take the decision back a year from now. I don't know if what amounts to a few games in the preseason gives that assurance.

In this case, I'd say it's better to err on the side of caution.

 

[colonel_korn]

One thing we've also been discussing on the Canucks board is that the Canucks might simply not be able to afford Bourdon this year given their cap situation. Without Bourdon they're at about $38.15M, and that's if they carry the bare minimum at 21 men. Assuming Bourdon gets a salary of $850K (which is probably about right for a top 10 pick) then they'd be up at over $38.5M, since he'd be replacing a guy making the league min. That really doesn't leave the Canucks any room. Also if Bourdon earned any bonuses on top of that it would most likely put them over the cap. (And if he's not going to play well enough to earn bonuses, why have him up in the first place? ).

I'd like to see him get a few games at the NHL level before sending him down but I don't see any way that he'd stay for the whole season.

 

[ChemiseBleuHonnete]

I think you can actually slow down a player's developpement if he's being sent down when there's absolutely no need to. If the guy is good enough for the nhl, let him play.

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

not sure if he smashed any Calgary flames tonight.
.

No, he just got smashed.