Waived: Canucks place D Cam Barker on waivers

[No Face No Case]

it's funny cuz barker was probably more physical yesterday than in any of his previous outings this season combined, then he gets waived

He was one of our better D's last night.

he was pretty bad last night.

've seen Edler and Bieksa burnt more in one game than Barker all year.

700K ?

one of our better guys on that first pass and a decent depth guy.

unlike Garrison hits the net.

i hope he resigns for cheap.

lets hope someone kinda epic is coming in.

 

[David71]

weaver/obyrne>? whatever is avalible.

 

[Wizeman*]

Barker is one of these guys who gets better as the game goes on. His first and second shifts are HORRID. Then he gets a little better and so forth until finally in the third period he is doing just as well as any other of our D.

Canucks hope he passes , as do I because he can play. He needs more playing time and development and next year we can give it to him.

 

[M A K A V E L I*]

weaver/obyrne>? whatever is avalible.

AV is probably campaigning for Rome.

 

[No Face No Case]

Barker is one of these guys who gets better as the game goes on. His first and second shifts are HORRID. Then he gets a little better and so forth until finally in the third period he is doing just as well as any other of our D.

Canucks hope he passes , as do I because he can play. He needs more playing time and development and next year we can give it to him.

Clearly has skills , decent puck mover, and was playing the body last night.

if he stepped up the physicality he could remain in the league imo.

i would keep him as a depth guy.

 

[PG Canuck]

Good. Can't handle anymore defensively numb defensemen.

 

[orcatown]

Damn he was awful. Any cap space used up on him was waste.

Last round-up for Barker - he's done at NHL level or almost anywhere in hockey

How could something that looked so good, go so bad.

 

[Jack Tripper]

watching barker play last night just made me angry, i've never seen a d-man play with more indifference and less intensity in the defensive zone

this signing was up there in the marco sturm category of 'what the hell was gillis thinking'...at least one of gillis' strong points is admitting mistakes rather quickly and correcting them before they become too much of an issue

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

I thought Barker, for all the consternation associated with the signing (including some from me), was a perfectly serviceable 8th defenseman.

 

[vanuck]

watching barker play last night just made me angry, i've never seen a d-man play with more indifference and less intensity in the defensive zone

this signing was up there in the marco sturm category of 'what the hell was gillis thinking'...at least one of gillis' strong points is admitting mistakes rather quickly and correcting them before they become too much of an issue

The problem was that we even signed him in the first place. There's no way there was nobody better out there.

 

[BoHorvatFan]

We are soft enough without him. Glad he's gone.

 

[David71]

We are soft enough without him. Glad he's gone.

he'll be back when nucks do get into dman injury trouble

 

[BoHorvatFan]

he'll be back when nucks do get into dman injury trouble

Lets just pray that doesn't happen. Maybe we'll add another depth d-man tomorrow so we never see Barker again.

 

[jigsaw99]

AV is probably campaigning for Rome.

HAHA

you know he is...

 

[nuckfan insk]

honestly never liked him dating back to his whl days. i thought campoli would have been a better depth signing

 

[me2]

I feel

Another forward. Probably cheaper centre ie. Goc level guy for 4C.

Another D. Cheaper 3rd pairing Weaver/O'Byrne. best hope though would be a Streit level guy.

 

[thepuckmonster]

Bye bye Accidental Cam.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

watching barker play last night just made me angry, i've never seen a d-man play with more indifference and less intensity in the defensive zone

this signing was up there in the marco sturm category of 'what the hell was gillis thinking'...at least one of gillis' strong points is admitting mistakes rather quickly and correcting them before they become too much of an issue

^^^^^^^^^^^This. A thousand times this.

The Barker and Sturm signings really were WTF moments. Barker was just lost in his own zone. There's no other way to describe it. The defenseless defenseman. No idea what MG saw in him. Okay, he's decent offensively which begs the question of why the hell he isn't just a forward, but maybe *crosses fingers* someone claims him and he's officially no longer our problem.

 

[me2]

^^^^^^^^^^^This. A thousand times this.

The Barker and Sturm signings really were WTF moments. Barker was just lost in his own zone. There's no other way to describe it. The defenseless defenseman. No idea what MG saw in him. Okay, he's decent offensively which begs the question of why the hell he isn't just a forward, but maybe *crosses fingers* someone claims him and he's officially no longer our problem.

Barker was not a terrible gamble given the price (dirt cheap) and the fact he has a solid offensive side. $700K to gamble you can turn him into a bottom pairing level adequate defender is reasonable. If he was expected to crack the starting 6 it'd be a bad error of judgement but he was a cheap #8 experiment.

 

[stevecanuck16]

Jeez, people, the defensive depth of the NHL is not what you think it is. Most of the defensemen playing as top pairing D in the AHL and floating around the 7-8 spots have massive flaws in their games, just like Barker. The ones who don't, move up quickly, a la Tanev. Like most of the flawed, Barker also provides a few pieces of upside. Look at a depth chart and then explain how Cam Barker is a terrible 8th defenseman.

He's average. You could argue slightly above average due to NHL experience, but you could also argue he got that experience due to a longer leash as a high draft pick. So basically, he's an average 8th defenseman. And yes, like most 8th defensemen, he kinda sucks. But that's just what an 8th defenseman does.

EDIT: Some comparables in roughly the 8th D position.
Nate Guenin, Jordan Hendry- ANA
Michael Stone-PHO
Nick Petreck- SJ
Justin Falk, Drew Bagnall- MIN
Steve Montador- CHI
Kent Huskins-DET (Now PHI)
Mitch Bartley-NAS
Jeff Woywitka- STL
Michal Jordan- CAR
Eric Gryba- OTT
Aaron Johnson- BOS
Yannick Weber, Tomas Kaberle (yuck)- MTL
Mike Komisarek- TOR
Peter Harrold- NJ
Thomas Hickey- NYI
Stu Bickel (lol) NYR
Kurtis Foster- PHI
Robert Bortuzzo, Resse- PIT

See? Average. Middle of the pack! Notice that many top contenders have the worst, and thus cheapest. A necessary sacrifice.

 

[vanuck]

Huskins I think could have been had. Campoli too. Pretty sure there are other, better alternatives who signed in the minors.

 

[Bougieman]

I thought he was actually pretty decent with a few exceptions. I think a lot you were seeing what you decided you were going to see, and didn't really ever hold him to the same standard as you would another 8th defenceman.

 

[BoHorvatFan]

I thought he was actually pretty decent with a few exceptions. I think a lot you were seeing what you decided you were going to see, and didn't really ever hold him to the same standard as you would another 8th defenceman.

He's just too soft and slow for an already soft defence.

Carl Gunnarsson would lead our defence in hits per game(subjective stat i know but still) we are full of poke checkers that don't wear anyone down or make it difficult to play along the boards or in front of the net. Adding another VERY soft d-man to our regular group makes no sense.