Confirmed with Link: Alex Biega contract extension: 2 year deal, $1.5 million (AAV $750K)

[thepuckmonster]

If we want to ice a competitive roster Hutton should be starting on the 3rd pairing this season and next, only moving up when there's injuries.

I agree, that's what I was inferring.

 

[Soups On]

If we want to ice a competitive roster Hutton should be starting on the 3rd pairing this season and next, only moving up when there's injuries.

With the way this management group sees Sbisa, I'm hesitant to believe they'll actively be looking for a top 4 LHD to ensure Hutton is on the bottom pair.

The way I see it, like most, is the team is desperately in need of a top 4 RHD and Demers would be perfect for that. Biega on the bottom pair with Hutton seems like a good idea to me. Really glad he was re-signed to a good deal like this.

 

[CCF]

Nice to see management throw in a good move once and a while.

Yay Biega!

 

[mathonwy]

All cheap options that won't perform as well as better veteran players. So yes some internal promotion can help but you also then fast track raises to those players moving forward and there is a big chance the team gets worse. It's not a great cap situation.

Biega should be a 7th type guy. Is Hutton ready for second pairing? Maybe but it would be better to keep him protected with ample PP time for a couple more seasons I think (he'll get plenty of top 4 time with injury). I see the following right now for next year:

Edler-Tanev
nothing-nothing
Hutton-Sbisa
Biega

I easily see 10+ mil of spending on the blueline this summer if anyone is actually available and I'm not convinced there will be. I very much highly doubt the playoffs are ever off the table. If they miss this year they will not be allowed to miss a second year and management will plan for that accordingly.

Right now, I'm very comfortable running Biega for 18-20 minutes.

I trust Biega way more than I trust Hutton (and versus Sbisa its not even close). He's not as fancy but he's a hell of a lot more stronger and wins about 75-90% of his board battles (ball park of course).

I also haven't seen Biega over-extend himself. I think this is a pretty important trait a lot of people are overlooking on him. At age 27, I think he's figured out exactly where his limitations are and he consistently plays within them.

He's prone to mistakes but honestly (I watch every game on average twice), I don't see them very much. It's less mistakes and more a forward gets position on him or it's a system break down.

 

[me2]

Good Signing by Vancouver. Well deserved By Biega. He could have gotten another 250 to 500 K out of the Canucks and it still would be a good cap hit at $1 or $1.5 per year. shows a excellent team play on his part. Canucks looking for high level character guys. and Beiga is one of them


Well done

You must have loved Vey contract.

 

[yoss]

Good. I like how he stuck up for Henrik that one time, although i wish it were Pedan sticking up for him in that particular instance, still it's nice to see, Bieksa isn't around anymore to take affront to cheap shots on the twins, not that Biega is any sort of deterrent whatsoever, it's more the principle of the thing.

Besides all that, honestly he seems to make fewer mistakes and questionable plays than at least 3 other defensemen currently on the roster, so I'm happy for him and glad to see this signing.

 

[kanucks25]

Replacements will come, at least in part, from internal promotion on cheap contracts. Hutton becomes our #3 and Pedan and maube Tryamkin will be on the team. To replace Vrbata, Virtanen can move up, Shinkaruk might get a look, and maybe Rodin comes over. All cheap options that get us younger.

You're counting on players with little chance of becoming impact NHL players to jump into the NHL and fill important roles. That's asking a lot, and it's asking for trouble.

TBF Hutton has been more impressive for a longer stretch than Frankie did. I'm not sure he's 100% ready to be a top 4 guy yet but I'm pretty confident that he will be at some point next season.

I think Corrado might have been better than Hutton in that stretch, but obviously I can't remember exactly how he played. Hutton looks to have the more dynamic game but I thought Corrado was much more solid defensively.

Just like Hutton, I think a lot of people had Corrado as a lock for a future 2nd-pairing guy with us.

addition is your friend

I just ballparked the numbers 'cause it's hard to use exact numbers when we're talking about future contracts that don't exist yet.

Still, my point stands. And saying that Benning's bad contracts don't matter for the future is completely asinine.

 

[alternate]

You're counting on players with little chance of becoming impact NHL players to jump into the NHL and fill important roles. That's asking a lot, and it's asking for trouble.

Ok, so I assume you are against the now started youth movement? That's fine, but not a position I agree with. Still plenty of veteran insulation on the roster, so I'm fine with giving our youth larger rolls and seeing if they can swim.

I haven't crunched the numbers, but on the surface I don't expect it to be difficult to spend on a top 4 dman with the number of ELCs we will have in prominent rolls.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I'm fine with giving our youth larger rolls

I'm all for the youth movement but proper nutritional guidelines must be followed.

I'm sure the Canucks youth would be well served by their current portion of rolls. If anything up their protein.

 

[kanucks25]

Ok, so I assume you are against the now started youth movement? That's fine, but not a position I agree with. Still plenty of veteran insulation on the roster, so I'm fine with giving our youth larger rolls and seeing if they can swim.

I haven't crunched the numbers, but on the surface I don't expect it to be difficult to spend on a top 4 dman with the number of ELCs we will have in prominent rolls.

Actually I'm pro full tank, but I'm not pro make all the mistakes you want 'cause it doesn't matter in the long run.

The extra cap space wasted on bad contracts means not having the ability to sign more quality 26-28 YO UFAs for when we're ready to compete. Heck, without all that wasted cap space, we could be competitive as early as next year with how the Sedins are still chugging along.

I don't mind giving prospects a chance, I'm all for it, but just throwing undeveloped prospects into the ocean hoping they'll swim is dangerous for their respective futures. Guys like Hutton, who you'd think would need a year or two in the AHL but jump straight into the NHL and play well, are exceptions.

Right now there's nobody in our prospect pool that I can look at and legitimately think they are ready to swim in the NHL. Gaunce and Zalewski are probably the only ones, and that's as 4th liners.

 

[Wilch]

I'm all for the youth movement but proper nutritional guidelines must be followed.

I'm sure the Canucks youth would be well served by their current portion of rolls. If anything up their protein.

Maybe he's thinking Rick Roll?

 

[alternate]

Actually I'm pro full tank, but I'm not pro make all the mistakes you want 'cause it doesn't matter in the long run.

The extra cap space wasted on bad contracts means not having the ability to sign more quality 26-28 YO UFAs for when we're ready to compete. Heck, without all that wasted cap space, we could be competitive as early as next year with how the Sedins are still chugging along.

I don't mind giving prospects a chance, I'm all for it, but just throwing undeveloped prospects into the ocean hoping they'll swim is dangerous for their respective futures. Guys like Hutton, who you'd think would need a year or two in the AHL but jump straight into the NHL and play well, are exceptions.

Right now there's nobody in our prospect pool that I can look at and legitimately think they are ready to swim in the NHL. Gaunce and Zalewski are probably the only ones, and that's as 4th liners.

Well Virtanen and McCann will still be young but they will be second year players. Rodin is likely to be over on an inexpensive deal. He's been playing professional hockey for a few years now. And there is veteran support in the form of the Sedins, Sutter and Hansen and even Burrows. It's a good balance with room to be flexible. I don't see any reason that a prospect will need to be rushed, and I don't see any reason the prospects won't have enough mentorship, and I don't see a need to go spend big dollars on a Vrbata replacement.

I will double check this later when I have more time, but off the top of my head the only forwards we have signed to more than $3m for next season are the Sedins, Sutter, and Burrows. The rest are either ELCs, good value contracts (Hansen), rfas that should be cheap, and Dorsett. With push from below , even if it just fills out the bottom 7 forwards, means we should have plenty of room for a top 6 addition if Benning feels the need, but we have enough internal options that there's no urgency to add a ufa 8f the dollars don't make sense. Imo.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Replacements will come, at least in part, from internal promotion on cheap contracts. Hutton becomes our #3 and Pedan and maube Tryamkin will be on the team. To replace Vrbata, Virtanen can move up, Shinkaruk might get a look, and maybe Rodin comes over. All cheap options that get us younger.

This is the most HFBoardsiest post of all time.

Pedan or Tryamkin will replace Hamhuis.

Jesus Christ.

 

[F A N]

Excellent deal. Replacement for Weber.

 

[bossram]

Right now, I'm very comfortable running Biega for 18-20 minutes.

I trust Biega way more than I trust Hutton (and versus Sbisa its not even close). He's not as fancy but he's a hell of a lot more stronger and wins about 75-90% of his board battles (ball park of course).

I also haven't seen Biega over-extend himself. I think this is a pretty important trait a lot of people are overlooking on him. At age 27, I think he's figured out exactly where his limitations are and he consistently plays within them.

He's prone to mistakes but honestly (I watch every game on average twice), I don't see them very much. It's less mistakes and more a forward gets position on him or it's a system break down.

Wow...that's an interesting opinion.

I don't really get the Biega love. At best, he is press box fodder and can jump in the lineup when there are injuries. He basically is an AHL journeyman.

He looks like he works hard but...he just doesn't accomplish much. He has very little puck-moving or puck skills in general. He battles but I don't really see him winning as much as you seem to think. And he spends most of his time in his own end. Advanced stats aren't too pretty either.

Is Hutton a riskier player? Yes probably. He makes occasional brain farts too. But he just brings so much more to the table than a guy like Biega. And he still plays so poised. Biega can't make those kinds of plays. He just doesn't have the skillset for it.

I honestly don't see why we had to re-sign him right now. As a 7/8 guy it's fine, but there are hundred of those guys floating around in free agency every summer. I mean, NJ signed Schlemko (who I was an advocate of) for 650k and he's basically turned into a top-four quality guy for them.

 

[tantalum]

Right now, I'm very comfortable running Biega for 18-20 minutes.

I trust Biega way more than I trust Hutton (and versus Sbisa its not even close). He's not as fancy but he's a hell of a lot more stronger and wins about 75-90% of his board battles (ball park of course).

I also haven't seen Biega over-extend himself. I think this is a pretty important trait a lot of people are overlooking on him. At age 27, I think he's figured out exactly where his limitations are and he consistently plays within them.

He's prone to mistakes but honestly (I watch every game on average twice), I don't see them very much. It's less mistakes and more a forward gets position on him or it's a system break down.

When you look at the blueline yes you are going to say "well I guess play Biega 18-20 minutes". But that is only because of the other options right now. Hutton should be getting third pairing 5-on-5 minutes now and next year (with PP time). Sbisa shouldn't be in the NHL. Bartkowski should be a #7 at most. etc etc. That is the problem. Biega SHOULD be a 7/8 type guy but somehow he's better than 2 or 3 of the players that in September were thought to make up half of the top 6.

 

[MarkMM]

Wow...that's an interesting opinion.

I don't really get the Biega love. At best, he is press box fodder and can jump in the lineup when there are injuries. He basically is an AHL journeyman.

He looks like he works hard but...he just doesn't accomplish much. He has very little puck-moving or puck skills in general. He battles but I don't really see him winning as much as you seem to think. And he spends most of his time in his own end. Advanced stats aren't too pretty either.

Is Hutton a riskier player? Yes probably. He makes occasional brain farts too. But he just brings so much more to the table than a guy like Biega. And he still plays so poised. Biega can't make those kinds of plays. He just doesn't have the skillset for it.

I honestly don't see why we had to re-sign him right now. As a 7/8 guy it's fine, but there are hundred of those guys floating around in free agency every summer. I mean, NJ signed Schlemko (who I was an advocate of) for 650k and he's basically turned into a top-four quality guy for them.

I don't think Biega is very good either, but he's good enough in a pinch to be 6/7 and at a two-way deal next year with a one-way deal below the amount that would bleed into our cap if sent to the AHL, he's zero risk to sign now. If he does better then expected, bonus.

With Tanev the only RHD signed through next year and Weber and Bartkowski not looking like attractive options (and certainly costing more than Biega) might as well lock Biega up so there's peace of mind that we've got something on the right side for next season as we go shopping for some better ones.

 

[Hit the post]

Excellent deal. Replacement for Weber.

If Weber was used as #7 (as he should've been) then I wouldn't be that worried about either player.

 

[alternate]

This is the most HFBoardsiest post of all time.

Pedan or Tryamkin will replace Hamhuis.

Jesus Christ.

Lol, your reading comprehension sucks.

 

[me2]

Excellent deal. Replacement for Weber.

Biega is not a #4, Weber was our designated #4 so we still need a #4 to replace Weber. Biega is Bartkowski replacement 6-7-8.

 

[I am toxic]

Right now, I'm very comfortable running Biega for 18-20 minutes.

I trust Biega way more than I trust Hutton (and versus Sbisa its not even close). He's not as fancy but he's a hell of a lot more stronger and wins about 75-90% of his board battles (ball park of course).

I also haven't seen Biega over-extend himself. I think this is a pretty important trait a lot of people are overlooking on him. At age 27, I think he's figured out exactly where his limitations are and he consistently plays within them.

He's prone to mistakes but honestly (I watch every game on average twice), I don't see them very much. It's less mistakes and more a forward gets position on him or it's a system break down.

This. 100% agree.

IMO he is carrying Barts.Put Biega with Hammer or Hutton and he will look even better.

 

[mathonwy]

When you look at the blueline yes you are going to say "well I guess play Biega 18-20 minutes". But that is only because of the other options right now. Hutton should be getting third pairing 5-on-5 minutes now and next year (with PP time). Sbisa shouldn't be in the NHL. Bartkowski should be a #7 at most. etc etc. That is the problem. Biega SHOULD be a 7/8 type guy but somehow he's better than 2 or 3 of the players that in September were thought to make up half of the top 6.

I honestly don't think I'm overvaluing Biega.

I think Biega is better than other 6/7/8 d-men the Canucks have had.

- Rory Fitzpatrick
- Mike Weaver
- Andrew Alberts
- Yannick Weber
- Keith Ballard
- Nolan Baumgartner
- Alex Sulzer
- Shane O'Brien
- Marc-Andre Gragnani

He's maybe on par with Aaron Rome in Rome's hey day.

He doesn't hit as hard as Rome but his puck handling makes up for it.

 

[Hit the post]

I honestly don't think I'm overvaluing Biega.

I think Biega is better than other 6/7/8 d-men the Canucks have had.

- Rory Fitzpatrick
- Mike Weaver
- Andrew Alberts
- Yannick Weber
- Keith Ballard
- Nolan Baumgartner
- Alex Sulzer
- Shane O'Brien
- Marc-Andre Gragnani

He's maybe on par with Aaron Rome in Rome's hey day.

He doesn't hit as hard as Rome but his puck handling makes up for it.

Remains to be seen - you should be comparing him to Weber being used actually as a #7 instead of a #4 (which is how he was used at the start of the season).

 

[geebaan]

"Glad you signed with us Biega! We are excited to have you for 2 more seasons after this one! Now here's the bench."

 

[HSD19]

If the current regime benched players based on their play then it would be Sbisa sitting out but no not happening.