Player Discussion What do we have in Erik Gudbranson?

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PuckMunchkin

Very Nice, Very Evil!
Dec 13, 2006
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With Gudbranson signed to a 3 year / 4mill per deal, we will should get used to the idea of seeing no 44 for the next few years in Canucks jersey.

He comes advertised as a physical presence and a defensive specialist.

Lets look at some of the metrics commonly used to measure a D man of his ilk. (If you feel I left out something, please feel free to add what you feel is warranted in your reply)

Posession I chose CF% as its the most widely used stat for posession at the moment. He ranks last among Canuck defenders this year. We were a horrible puck posession team this year, so Erik starting 57% of the time in the Dzone having a low CF% is no surprise. Him being worst of our bad D core isn't good tho. (His 57% starts in the Dzone is 9th highest amongst players we started with 20 games or more played)

RkPlayerGPCFCACF%
1Derrick Pouliot711079105050.7
2Alex Biega4459858550.5
3Ben Hutton6184287349.1
4Philip Holm1171848.6
5Troy Stecher681063113948.3
6Chris Tanev4255061247.3
7Alexander Edler701182134346.8
8Michael Del Zotto821271148246.2
9Ashton Sautner5506145.0
10Erik Gudbranson5265884043.9
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
( 2017-18 Vancouver Canucks Roster and Statistics | Hockey-Reference.com )


The Athletic’s Corey Sznajder tracks micro stats for NHL games and the results appear poor in the 14 Canucks games that he’s tracked. He is the worst at all categories except Fail% where Pouliot has him beat by 2%.

5v5 Zone ExitsAttemptsExit %Posession Exit %Fail %
Pouliot8568,241,229,4
Hutton100833714
Del Zotto13175,635,118,3
Stecher10780,433,615
Edler9975,831,318,2
Tanev7772,728,623,4
Gudbranson8167,924,727,2
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
(Weekly Thoughts: Sutter’s Deployment, Edler’s Rejuvenation, and the Importance of Zone Exits)

The conclusion I draw from these stats is that when Erik Gudbranson is on the ice we are less likely to be controlling the puck. And when the opposing team gets the puck to our end of the ice we are less likely to get it out, then with any of our other D men.

Gudbransons physical play, stats wise, seems highly over-rated. He is averaging 2,42 hits per game this year. Alex Edler is averaging 2,24 this year. If we wanna go oldschool and look at his PIM stats, he averaged 0,69 penalty minutes per game. (Hardly a great measuring stick for physical play, but you can tell he isn't rushing to drop the gloves to defend his team mates every other game...)

He has played 393 of 540 possible games during his NHL career. Missing 147 (27%) games between 2011 - 2018. His injuries have ranged from his recent Shoulder Injury to a major wrist injury and a number of smaller injuries.
( The Hockey News )


Now then...
We can assume his shoulder has affected his play... could actually get a E.G 2.0 next year?
What would you consider the utmost highest upside for E.G? What sort of development should / can we expect?

What would you consider a successful season for E.G in 2018-19?

How about trade talk;
Can he be moved with his new contract, and if so what kind of return would he bring?
(I highly doubt this is an option the current management is considering at the moment)

0722-feat-erik-gudbranson-2-jpg.jpg


Dood does look fantastic in a suit.
 

geebaan

7th round busted
Oct 27, 2012
10,193
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We have an overpaid bottom 6 defenseman at best. What else is new with this team?
 

The Extrapolater

Registered User
Apr 22, 2014
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Well, he's a target for opposing team's offences. Dump the puck in his corner, get him turned around trying to play the puck on his backhand, and take the puck back either by taking it off his stick or by intercepting his backhand pass to his partner. If Gudbransson gets the pucks out of the zone, usually by flipping it off the glass, then rinse and repeat.

If Gudbransson pins an opponent against the glass, then note there's probably a Canucks' defender that'll have to come out of position to retrieve the puck, which messes up the Canucks' breakout.

The opposing teams wants to turn the game into a series of puck battles when he's on the ice, because Gudbransson is just terrible at that. He doesn't have the speed or quickness to compete with skilled players. He's also generally a half-step behind at reading plays.

Bluntly, he's a liability on the ice. The team might as well be playing short-handed when he's on the ice. His only skill is flipping the puck out of the Canucks' zone, which is only useful on the penalty kill. Otherwise, he has no business being on the ice at even-strength.
 

xtra

Registered User
May 19, 2002
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We have meat and potatoes

Though I’m not convinced that a sack of potatoes left in front of the net wouldn’t be better at defending than gudbranson
 

timbermen

Registered User
Nov 14, 2017
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All those geek stats don't mean a thing,Gudbranson's a top 4 NHL D-man on any team.
 

82Ninety42011

Registered User
Jul 2, 2011
7,527
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He's a pylon but were stuck with him. Thankfully he's well liked in dressing room and can stick up for teammates. He needs to be utilized correctly and paired with a fast mobile partner as he's going to be the stay at home guy. Not sure who that partner is whether they are in the organization now or we need to find someone.
 

timbermen

Registered User
Nov 14, 2017
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Just heard that Gudbranson will be the new captain,named later this week.It's about time.
 

Fire Benning

diaper filled piss baby
Oct 2, 2016
6,970
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Hell
An overpaid 3rd pairing dman who bleeds shots and goals every time he steps on the ice and has been less physical than Alex Biega despite that being his only selling point.

Thank god we have him for 3 more years to teach the young guys to be a man or whatever.
 

rypper

21-12-05 it's finally over.
Dec 22, 2006
16,200
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If he brings out that sharp red suit he picked up in China a few times this year, he's worth every cent of that 4 million he makes, in my opinion.
 

vancityluongo

curse of the strombino
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Jul 8, 2006
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Just heard that Gudbranson will be the new captain,named later this week.It's about time.

Assuming you're trolling but this would be f***ing awesome if true. People currently on the fence (somehow) would even hate that move.

Erik Gudbranson is a useful tool for determining who is good at evaluating talent and who isn't.

Take out about 12 words out of that sentence and I agree 100%.
 
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