I don't disagree with your point, but is it due to a lack of effort? I see the Canucks try to sign guys to play in the AHL who have NHL experience to serve as "first callups". You talk about the Comets, in 2013-2014 they had Pelletier, O'Reilly, and Ferriero up front. Are these not quality players? In 2014-2015 they went all the way to the Calder Cup finals. They obviously had a good group. O'Reilly was still there and they signed Jeffrey and Sanguinetti. In 2015-2016 they signed Fedun, Blair Jones, and Cracknell. This season, they signed Chaput, Megna, and Rendulic. They have now also brought Pelletier back.
Ideally, Canucks' "kids" would have all the major roles. But it's not like the team did nothing to try and stock the Comets with the necessary veterans. Megna has a one way contract and Chaput is being paid over $200K to play in the AHL. Like Cracknell, the fact that these guys are playing in the NHL rather than AHL is not exactly the plan. And the Comets brought Pelletier back (is this a coincidence in terms of coinciding with Virtanen staying in Utica?)
I also remember you arguing that Zalewski was so much better than Guance and that us Canucks fans should listen to you Comets fans. Like I said before, it's all about NHL projection.
To answer both you and Mathonwy, Zalewski suffered a concussion and this year we believe he had another though no one will confirm it. He was down and out when the opposing goalie was waving frantically for help on Novemebr 11. He just returned on 12/30 and looks like a shadow of his former self. That answers that.
Your brilliant remembrance of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 acquisitions will ring as echos of the praise given to Lorne Henning for his work to build a competitive team to comprise the farm for the Canucks.
Note that Pelletier and Ferriero on the 13-14 non playoff team were not re-signed to the team in 14-15. Former AHL All star Cal O'Reilly and former Stanley Cup winning Kent Huskins, who Henning brought in after the start of the 13-14 season became the backbone of the the 14-15 team along with new acquisitions in former AHL All-stars bobby Sanguinetti and Dustin Jeffrey. Lorne rid the team of dead Vancouver weight like Sauve, Mullen, Marshall, etc. and built a team around his recruits and carry over prospects like Jensen, Grenier, DeFazio, Archibald, Friesen, Corrado, and Andersson combined with new prospects Markstrom, Shinkaruk, Gaunce, Zalewski, and Kenins. As the season progressed and weaknesses stood out trades were made to acquire Andrey Pedan, Will Acton, Sven Baertschi, Cory Conacher, and later Adam Clendening. That team garbered 3 All stars in Markstrom and repeats for O'Reilly and Sanguinetti.
Two good years in which players went up and down and the Utica roster was well cared for by the executive assigned by the Canucks to oversee the farm so that the team was able to proper in spite of the call-ups and injuries because it had built in depth.
Before the 2015-16 season began Henning was fired. Must be he did a bad job with Calder Cup finalist Utica. Fingers have been pointed but it has never been officially posted as to who actually was in charge of Utica for the past two seasons, but whoever it was/is they have failed miserably at their post.
In 15-16 O'Reilly and Sanguinetti were not re-signed. Conacher sought greener paychecks in Euorpe. Huskins retired. Baertschi, Markstrom, and Biega were promoted to Vancouver. The top prospects no longer rookies were expected to shoulder a heavier load. No argument there.
However, now you want to equate the acquisition of Taylor Fedun to Sanguinetti. Fedun was a decent D-man who actually became the best of what they had but a large downgrade occurred throughout the D-corps. Biega's promotion and Huskins' retirement were combined with Tommernes seeking his release mid season 14-15, Andersson returning to Sweden, and Corrado was lost to waivers. A Huskins type defensive leader, mentor and on ice coach was never attempted to be replaced. No replacement was ever acquired for Biega after he was signed to an NHL contract. So while Fedun was a good player, he couldn't replace the guy he was intended to stand in for and the other D were not up to the standards of any who were lost. Subban was a defensive disaster. Sautner needed to play with Fedun in order to exist. Then they signed 2 AHL PTOs in David Shields and Jon Landry to go along with depth players from the previous season in John Negrin and Travis Ehrhardt to round out the D. For much of the season due to call-ups and injuries at home the Comets D was comprised of Landry, Shields, Ehrhatdt, Negrin, one or the other of Pedan/Fedun, and Subban and Sautner.
Now you also want to equate Blair Jones to O'Reilly and Adam Cracknell to Conacher? Not even close. Shinkaruk was a good fix for Baertschi, but the this began the absence of quality centers in Utica. Vey was the best it got and he was afraid of his own shadow. Then he went up and never returned leaving Gaunce, Freisen, and Zalewski as the best centers in Utica and 2 of them were better players on the wing. Cracknell was no better than a 4th line center either in Utica or Vancouver and was actually better as a checking winger. It didn't matter he went up and never came back. The wingers on this team were abandoned to fend for themselves and try to make due with inferior play makers between them. To add to the travesty they traded Jensen and failed acquire a replacement. Soon they would trump that by trading away the team's top scorer and their only All star and did nothing to attempt to replace him as well. Trading players is a normal event in the lives of players and teams, but replacements are usually acquired in those trades or they find suitable replacements in other ways. Not only did they do neither they gave up draft picks as well.
The Comets were forced to replace the guys they lost and those recalled and those injured with ECHL PTOs. As many as 9 at one time were in the Comets' lineup.
You go ahead and try and tell us what a great job the new Vancouver guys charged to oversee Utica did inreplacing the efforts of Lorne Henning.
During this past summer so many Canucks' fans on this site said that the 2015-16 handling of the Comets was unthinkable and an embarassment to the Vancouver brass. They would surely take strides to protect against such disastrous results in 2016-17.
Let's see. Again the Comets lost their best D-man, this time in the name of Fedun. Re-signing him to be the #2 guy and bringing in a true #1 was the route that should have been followed considering the Canucks had no new defensive prospects to assign here. They signed Billins. A guy who doesn't even qualify as an AHL vet and let Fedun walk to join O'Reilly in Rochester. Billins started the season Okay, then got hurt, and now is not as good as McEneny! He is way to small. Can't handle physicality and therefore can't protect his crease or use his body to keep players from manhandling him in puck battles. Poor signing.
Pelletier was acquired because the Comets had zero quality, let alone high caliber, AHL centers and they let the two who at least could function in the middle go. TJ Hensick, acquired very late in the season in an AHL trade with Charlotte for guess who, Blair Jones, now plays for the AHL Ontario Reign wasn't re-signed by Vancouver despite the fact he had requested his agent seek a contract here. Hensick would have been very valuable depth to hold up the fort with Megna and Chaput gone. Not surprisingly after his performance, they didn't re-sign Friesen either.
Problem with Pelletier is he no longer meets the definition of a top center either. He attended no preseason camp and arrived here out of shape and still isn't at his peak. Top that off with the fact that age has caught up with him and it shows. Asking him to come in here now and successfully assume the role of a #1 center is unrealistic. It would be like Vancouver going out and bringing back Vey to center their second line in terms of the role he can fill. Pascal looks like he will achieve the level of a #2 if he gets back to his top level.
As to Megna and Chaput who were point blank acquired to offer a base for the Comets to build around and then have them spend the season in Vancouver is ludicrous. If they were acquired to serve as the major Vancouver call-ups then the brass should have acquired more depth on the farm. That would have been accomplished by assigning LaPlante, Carcone, and Kunyk to Alaska with Moynihan and passing on signing the likes of Hulak, Roy, and Rendulic and replacing that entire number with some guys who are at least decent AHL level players because none of these guys are.
As to the salary amounts. The Comets have always had guys making this kind of money, but they were worth it. Rendu and Billins are stealing their money again reflecting the guy running this show has no handle on what kind of talent is necessary to win in this league.
I didn't include Stecher in this discussion because he was a new acquisition from the 2016 NCAA champs and his pedigree said he was going to get a look if someone went down in Vancouver. It took 4 games to get him there and we know the rest. He was not acquired for the Comets, so he is not in this conversation.
Anyone who can compare the treatment of the Comets and their acquisitions under Henning in the first 2 seasons and their acquisitions and the ****fest that has surrounded this team under, you tell me who, the last two seasons and see any similarity is blind to put it mildly. You seem to be back slapping the efforts of Canucks management for all 4 seasons. I'll slam their backs right along with you for the first 2 seasons. The last two reveal a total abandonment of the farm. They have ignored their needs in putting the team together both seasons and then failed to provide the in season help that Henning seemed to find in both of seasons once the year was underway. No parent team can take a team from Calder Cup finalists to the last place team in the AHL in less than a season and a 1/2 without totally ignoring their responsibility and they do have a responsibility to that franchise and should have enough common sense to know what that farm team means to them.
