Some thoughts as the preseason wraps up here...
Forwards:
Sedins: Definitely assuaged concerns i may have had about their ability to win us games in OT with the 3-on-3 format. When they have the puck, they make it look too easy.
Sutter: Looked utterly and completely lost on the wing most of the game. I kind of understand the idea, and maybe if Sutter can re-acclimate himself to the wing position, it could have some success eventually. But tonight, i completely disagree with WillieD on that combo...it looked completely disjointed to me all night. Slightly improved later on, but just doesn't seem to take advantage of anyone's strengths as a player.
Baertschi: Has improved as the preseason has gone on. That Bae-Bo duo looks like a great fit...Horvat seems to be the exact sort of center Baertschi could thrive with. Always looking for the guy in a dangerous scoring area...and Bo is a guy who is always Ox-ing his way to those dangerous scoring areas, to actually be a recipient for Bae's passes. Baertschi looking quicker as the preseason goes on as well, which is promising.
Vrbata: Still kind of sleepwalking through the preseason it seems. Putting him with the Bae-Bo duo kind of seemed to put him in an uncomfortable role. With that trio, Bo is really the only one who forechecks effectively...and as the center, that makes things a bit awkward. Vrbata got in and made some hits and it's not horrible as a fit with Bo necessarily, but as a trio i don't think that's really where you get the most out of Vrby the sniper leaking into open space.
Burrows-Hansen: I'll lump these two together, as i'd describe their games as pretty much exactly what you'd expect. Hansen had a few kind of uncharacteristic "ooops" moments with puck management, but i think we know what we've got here.
McCann: Didn't exactly stand out, but i thought he played overall, a good
decent game. He did a good job generally putting himself in the right positions, and he doesn't look like a real liability out there...still really working to making things happen. I think he
should at least get a look in the "real season" to see if he can maintain this. Seeming to "lose steam" in the final preseason game is a bit of a concern...but as far as carrying through to the regular season...there really is only one way to find out.
Cracknell: Noticeably physical and he does his job. Absolutely looked the part of an NHL 4th liner, and i would have no qualms with him in the opening night lineup.
Virtanen: Really don't like seeing him in this sort of role; think it pretty clearly changes Jake's approach to the game and what he sets out to do. But tonight he did seem
a bit more assertive in controlling and playing
with the puck. Played the sort of game that reaffirms the idea he could very easily play the season with the Canucks in a 4th line role and do just fine. Just not convinced that's the best for him in the long-run. For me, it'd be "top-9 or WHL" with Virtanen...despite him looking "ready" to just muck and grind in the NHL all year.
Prust: Cannot skate. At all. This is looking like Hodgson-level mobility. Whatever happened to him this offseason, it's completely removed his ability to be effective as a role player. You can see flashes of his ability when the play lands in his lap and he doesn't have to move much to be a part of it...but he just spends so much time trying to move himself to where he needs to be. And it's so hard to watch too...he makes it look soooooooo hard to move around the ice. If he can't improve his mobility, this looks like a guy who is going to need a lot of nights off. May not hurt us if he has to come in here or there...but wow, he's just fallen off an absolute cliff since last season even.
Defence:
Tanev: Uncharacteristically sloppy game. Still clearly a cut above even still, but made plenty of mistakes tonight which you don't expect to see. Not really worried about it though.
Hutton: Got totally walked on the Nuge play, almost walked himself into trouble a few times...but he really does seem to have a bit of the unflappable Tanev-gene. Really impressive. Wasn't initially convinced, but he's just continued to churn out good results with a puck-moving skillset that's badly needed here. Deserves to be on the opening night roster.
Sbisa: Blamed far too much on the goal where Hutton got exploited...but on the whole, had one of those games where at least some of the Sbisa hate is genuinely well founded. Had plenty of good shifts, but the bad ones were just cringeworthy. Noteworthy...seemed a lot of those worst shifts came away from Hutton.
Bartkowski: Obviously very mobile...but had a game tonight where most of the mobility seemed to be used to move himself to where he didn't actually need to be. Outside of the wild careening out of control bad decision on the linesman goal, all night he seemed to be skating himself to weird spots for no particular reason. Indecisive off the rush at times as well defensively. Little offensive contribution. Has had some strong games in the preseason, but this was not one of them.
Weber: Looked like he was afraid to get hit tonight. Infuriating to watch for me. Very little actual "puck movement" of any kind...beyond dumping it off to someone else to avoid a checker. Didn't get a chance tonight to show off his one redeeming asset as a RH PP shot on the point...and consequently didn't look like a regular NHL defenceman.
Goaltender:
Miller: Looked dialed in tonight. Was seeing pucks, anticipating plays, calm and composed, moving well. This is the Miller we're gonna need this year. Hope this continues.
As far as a lineup based on this wrap-up of the preseason, i'd go with something like:
Sedin-Sedin-Vrbata
<---this works, and everyone's happy.
Bae-Bo-Virtanen
<---shame we didn't get a chance to see if it was a fluke, but this worked.
Burrows-McCann-Hansen
<---wasn't a world-beater tonight, but it still works.
Cracknell-Sutter-Dorsett
<---let Sutter just do his thing and "carry" a line.
When Higgy comes back...either you send down one of Virtanen/McCann if they're lagging behind...or you slot him in on the Sutter line in place of Cracknell for an amazing "forechecking defensive line".
Edler-Tanev
<---duh.
Hamhuis-Bartkowski
<---don't really like the chemistry, but kind of how it shakes out.
Hutton-Sbisa
<---Hutton's ability to move the puck seems to help Sbisa a lot, and Sbisa's ability to physically compete seems to help around the net.
