Player Discussion Brendan Gaunce (Canucks will not extend qualifying offer - Dhaliwal)

[I am toxic]

How can this not get more likes???

Like seriously, it has to be watched to the end.

I am still hurting from laughing so hard.

 

[tyhee]

The inevitability of this was part of what made me really sour on the UFA signings of 2018. Clearly they'd left no room for Gaunce and had already decided to move on from him.

Gaunce isn't going to be a big difference maker and he may or may not have much of a career left, but imo this is an example of problems with the team's way of roster building.

Whether you're a contending team paying Dan Hamhuis and Yannick Weber a total of $1.925 mm per season between them to be your third defensive pair or a rebuilding team that should keep the bottom of the roster cheap and flexible so as not to run into problems if you are successful and need to pay your young players what they are worth, it just seems poor planning to me to decide to get rid of your cheap depth and replace it with mid-price older players who get contracts with term.

The Canucks sign players to mid-length and mid-money type contracts in an attempt to upgrade the 4th line for a couple of years while using draft picks as throwins for trades for players such as Derrick Pouliot, Brandon Sutter, Brandon Prust and Erik Gudbranson. So far it has worked out about the way many of us on this forum expected.

 

[VanJack]

I don't understand why this team has such a bias against cheap depth. Decent depth shouldn't cost $1m+. That doesn't automatically make it good. More money /=/ better players. Gaunce costs $750k, can play in Utica and Vancouver when injuries arise, and is a good role model to young guys to help develop sound defensive games. He's not the most talented guy in the world, but he's good depth. As was Archibald, as was Grenier, as was Jeffrey, as was O'Reilly, as was DeFazio, as was Fedun, and Sanguinetti...

I get these guys come and go, but we have done a bang up job just getting rid of guys and not replacing them with much. If the team goes out and doesn't qualify Gaunce, but instead replaced him with a #1/2C for Utica next season I'm happy. That's a positive move. But what has been shown in the past is a desire not to get serviceable depth for Utica and good depth for the Canucks even though we get crazy injuries every year. Utica was decimated last season and we plan on getting rid of one of the rocks of the roster? We better replace him with a top 6 player that's cheap and has NHL experience and can play in an NHL bottom 6 if needed

Totally agree with this. Gaunce was stamped as a fourth-liner, who could play wing or center, and was cheap. Canucks have $4.9m a season tied up in Beagle and Schaller....and there's no doubt in my mind they'd have been no worse off employing Gaunce and maybe keeping Nic Dowd around for depth.

Benning just can't stop himself from dramatically overpaying for grinders and fourth liners.

 

[VC]

Gaunce is a meh winger though a quietly effective cheap one but still meh. Contractually a way better option than Beagle, Schaller, Granlund, etc. for the bottom 6.

He was doomed within the organization when his former AHL coach wouldn't play him though that may of come from higher up and keep Schaller around instead.

Wish him the best, hope he lands somewhere that will give him a chance.

 

[DL44]

Just as expected as Pouliot.

Wonder if he gets a 1-way contract offer from someone this summer.
I did not enjoy or appreciate his game at all.

 

[VanJack]

I'd be shocked if either Pouliot or Gaunce fetches a one-way contract from anybody.

But I do know one thing.....they'll go elsewhere and look a lot better than they did in a Canucks uniform. Bad teams drag even mediocre players down by the ankles.

 

[Intangibos]

Didn't we decline offers for Gaunce at the TDL?

 

[StreetHawk]

Didn't we decline offers for Gaunce at the TDL?

What did you hear? I can’t recall anything about him.

Maybe a swap of a similar type player situation aka Spooner and Gagner.

 

[VanillaCoke]

His QO has to be less than 2m. Just sign the guy if nothing else than for utica. Or maybe give him a shot on the 4th line like every other good team is doing.
Letting good assets go for nothing and no reason is just asinine.

Its getting hard to care about this team with such incompetent management.

 

[me2]

Just as expected as Pouliot.

Wonder if he gets a 1-way contract offer from someone this summer.
I did not enjoy or appreciate his game at all.

He'd take any 1 way we offered, which is why we didn't. He's not getting one here and most teams are as well off as we are, nobody wanted him on waivers either.

 

[EpochLink]

This guy was a first round pick.
Holy crap, what were we thinking..

 

[StreetHawk]

His QO has to be less than 2m. Just sign the guy if nothing else than for utica. Or maybe give him a shot on the 4th line like every other good team is doing.
Letting good assets go for nothing and no reason is just asinine.

Its getting hard to care about this team with such incompetent management.

It’s under $1 million. A QO would mean a 1 way deal. For him, it’s just better to be a free agent cause he’d likely sign either a low cost 1 way deal or a 2 way contract somewhere else.

He’s clearly not in the plans of Green. So, it’s best to let this 25 year old try somewhere else.

Good asset? He’s been a pro for the past 5 seasons and cleared waivers last year. Best to move on if he hasn’t stuck here. Bummer but there goes another former 1st rounder.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Wish him the best of luck wherever he goes. I’ll bet that if someone gives him a chance, be turns out to be a decent bottom 6 guy for a smart team.

 

[MS]

This guy was a first round pick.
Holy crap, what were we thinking..

It was a terrible draft and he was one of the best players available, even in hindsight.

2 of the next 17 players taken are NHLers (Pearson and Skjei).

 

[MS]

I don't understand why this team has such a bias against cheap depth. Decent depth shouldn't cost $1m+. That doesn't automatically make it good. More money /=/ better players. Gaunce costs $750k, can play in Utica and Vancouver when injuries arise, and is a good role model to young guys to help develop sound defensive games. He's not the most talented guy in the world, but he's good depth. As was Archibald, as was Grenier, as was Jeffrey, as was O'Reilly, as was DeFazio, as was Fedun, and Sanguinetti...

I get these guys come and go, but we have done a bang up job just getting rid of guys and not replacing them with much. If the team goes out and doesn't qualify Gaunce, but instead replaced him with a #1/2C for Utica next season I'm happy. That's a positive move. But what has been shown in the past is a desire not to get serviceable depth for Utica and good depth for the Canucks even though we get crazy injuries every year. Utica was decimated last season and we plan on getting rid of one of the rocks of the roster? We better replace him with a top 6 player that's cheap and has NHL experience and can play in an NHL bottom 6 if needed

It’s pretty simple. Jim Benning is an idiot who can’t evaluate talent.

If a guy put up POINTZ! at some point, he’ll be a great player in Dim Jim’s eyes until he’s basically out of the league.

If he happened to be on a Cup winner ... winner forever, gotta get him!

If he was a high draft pick with pedigree ... he’ll think he’s a great prospect until he completely flushes out to Europe.

If a guy wasn’t a high draft pick and doesn’t have eye popping tools or pedigree ... minor leaguer. No interest.

There is no ability to think critically. There is no ability to adjust to new information. There is no ability to evaluate talent. There is no ability to identify players of value that underpriced and others have missed.

Just throw money and assets at ‘name’ players who were good at some point.

If you look at a guy like Jordan Martinook - who has a lot of similarities to Gaunce - that player would never have been given a look in this organization.

 

[GetFocht]

Good, time to clean out some trash

 

[xtra]

How can this not get more likes???

Like seriously, it has to be watched to the end.

I am still hurting from laughing so hard.

Like
I’m so impressed I just hope he got to keep the fridge

 

[Bubbles]

If the organization knew they wouldn't qualify, why the hell would they not try to get some assets for him. Just letting him go for free is such a waste of an asset.

You don't just decide from March to May that he's no longer a part of the team. That decision should have been made earlier.

He was perfectly fine as a 4th liner. Cheap, homegrown, defensively reliable. That's what every good NHL team does...fill their 3rd/4th lines with home grown talents, and see which players will rise. Us on the other hand...

 

[tyhee]

It’s under $1 million. A QO would mean a 1 way deal. ...

The Canucks could give Gaunce a 2-way qualifying offer.

Article 10.2 (b)(iii) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement provides that a qualifying offer must be one-way if:

(A) the player played 180 NHL games in the preceding 3 seasons, or
(B) the player played at least 60 NHL games the preceding season, and

(C) the player did not clear waivers from 12 days before until the end of the preceding season.

In all other cases the qualifying offer may be 2-way.

None of (A) through (C) apply to Gaunce. He's only played 97 NHL games the last three seasons, only three of them were last season, and he did clear waivers last season.

Accordingly, to qualify Gaunce the Canucks could make an offer for a 2-way contract at $840K in the NHL (5% raise on $800K, his salary last season) and, since he had no minor league salary in his contract last season, the minor league component only needs to be at least as high as the AHL minimum salary.

It would seem sensible to me to try to negotiate a contract with him for something like $700K in the NHL and $200K in the AHL, but going by the 2018 free agent signings and Gaunce not really getting a chance to stick with the Canucks this season, I think the team has simply decided to move on.

 

[F A N]

If the organization knew they wouldn't qualify, why the hell would they not try to get some assets for him. Just letting him go for free is such a waste of an asset.

You don't just decide from March to May that he's no longer a part of the team. That decision should have been made earlier.

Usually players who previously cleared waivers don’t have much in the way of trade value.

It’s hilarious that people blame Benning and calling him an idiot (pot calling kettle black) but don’t take into consideration that Travis Green may have had a say?

 

[TruKnyte]

Usually players who previously cleared waivers don’t have much in the way of trade value.

It’s hilarious that people blame Benning and calling him an idiot (pot calling kettle black) but don’t take into consideration that Travis Green may have had a say?

Or maybe both are idiots?

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

How can this not get more likes???

Like seriously, it has to be watched to the end.

I am still hurting from laughing so hard.

I'm legitimately worried I'm going to run out of things to do here if The Fridge is really leaving us

 

[Frank Garrett]

GONEce

 

[I in the Eye]

Usually players who previously cleared waivers don’t have much in the way of trade value.

It’s hilarious that people blame Benning and calling him an idiot (pot calling kettle black) but don’t take into consideration that Travis Green may have had a say?

Green maybe had a say, as long as he agreed.

 

[Carnal]

I'm glad I read through this thread, I thought I was the only one who liked him, or appreciated what he brought for a bargain bin cost. I thought he was extremely defensively responsible this year, always played with confidence, and could have used more deserved opportunities offensively here and would have been a far better option than a lot of the overpriced crap we have in our bottom six.

I'm seriously contemplating having him over Eriksson, Beagle, Sutter, Etc even at the same price. Pretty frustrating asset/player management on what should be an obvious minor decision.