Recalled/Assigned: Canucks recall D Jack Rathbone (Apr 16)

[ChilliBilly]

As stated before ... we now have Rathbone. As i predicted as an excellent prospect. We also have Juolevi Woo and Tryamkin in the mix . Yes, these are not great shut down D men, but we are not in trouble. ( well yes we are ... CAP)

 

[Jack Burton]

You gotta give credit where credit is due
Way to go Jimmy

 

[Buresflyingelbow]

I have been reserved about him due to the Hutton factor and him being in roughly the same boat!
I really want this kid to succeed and love his pivots and skating. Comparing his spot to a RHD under Travis green will not happen. He will play in the AHL or another Pro League due to COVID to develop the transition and strength aspect of men. I could see him and Joulevi both taking a year in Europe to develop a little further and both become great Dmen.
The transition play from the left side will be epic I believe with the talent they have to play with on the team and who’s coming up the pipeline. Players like Podkolzin, Hoglander, Lind, DiPietro , Woo and a few black aces will all help this team stay cap complacent or recover an asset value wise. Contacts will end and players will not be resigned but this team is something every player should want to be a part of going forward.

Top 5 team under 25 in the league with so much depth at a cost effective salary should hand us our first Stanley Cup with a few more after that. I’m stoked on the future and the people in charge minus the actual owners who I think play assistant GM and last call.

Either way.... LET’s GOOOOOOO

 

[mathonwy]

You gotta give where credit is due
Way to go Jimmy

Congratulations to Benning for signing a player that he drafted?

What's all the hub bub?

 

[ProstheticConscience]

we weren't going to sign Boeser
we weren't going to sign Gaudette.
we weren't going to sign Demko
we weren't going to sign Lockwood
we weren't going to sign Rathbone

whoever thought of this is 0 for 5 right now!

Who said that?

 

[Bitz and Bites]

Well,this is pretty awesome.Should really improve our D-corps going forward and helps make up for the OJ debacle.
Sometimes it seems like defencemen are almost as voodoo as goalies.

 

[lawrence]

Who said that?

some of the nay sayers thought we were not going to be able to sign him. this goes back to even before we signed Brock Boeser fearing, he will be another Justin Shultz.

 

[StreetHawk]

some of the nay sayers thought we were not going to be able to sign him. this goes back to even before we signed Brock Boeser fearing, he will be another Justin Shultz.

Do people realize the financial impact of someone the caliber of Brock doing that?

he would be in year 1 of his 2 year elc. Making $925k plus bonuses. He was already a finalist for the Calder in his year. He’d be up against Hughes and Makar this year. Given their numbers I’d doubt he beat one of them out.

so, after he completes his second elc year he would have been 2/3 years into his rfa contract making $10 or so mill of his $17 mill deal. Elc values would be close to the same. So at 24 he could either make his elc context only or have an extra $10 mill banked. All for the cost of being a 22 year old free agent.

 

[Bougieman]

Oh man, this is good news! I'm really nervous about losing Tanev next season thanks to the well publicized cap problems we're wading into, so knowing there is someone talented and highly touted, and CHEAP coming along at the D position for Vancouver is a bit of a relief.

 

[bandwagonesque]

Who said that?

MS, for one, said Rathbone likely wouldn't sign here:

"I've said for months now that I don't expect him to sign here."

Various others made similar statements:

"The Brackett firing could well end up costing the Canucks Rathbone. He was his coach in minor hockey and they are very close family wise. I have a bad feeling about this - that he is going to free agency."

"Yet another gift from Benning/Wisebrod. Our top D prospect refuses to sign, because of these two guys."

"Looks like the Canucks will have to start looking at getting a late pick for him which is really sad because he is worth so much more."

"I’m thinking we end up watching this kid star with the Bruins, and we don’t get anything in compensation.
Seems like a good kid though, who puts family first. He’d have fit in well with this group. "

"It just looks more and more like the kid isn’t signing here."

"So might as well trade the guy i guess, what can we get for his rights? 3rd round pick? 4th round pick?

Too frickin bad"

 

[Bam19]

Oh man, this is good news! I'm really nervous about losing Tanev next season thanks to the well publicized cap problems we're wading into, so knowing there is someone talented and highly touted, and CHEAP coming along at the D position for Vancouver is a bit of a relief.

Plus what if he gets hurt year 3/4 and is never the same player. Never gets signed.

 

[Sneezy]

Well done by the team to get this done.

As I’ve said, if I were Rathbone’s agent I would have been advising him not to sign.

Why would you advise him not to sign? because you hate JB or hate the Canucks?

 

[StreetHawk]

Why would you advise him not to sign? because you hate JB or hate the Canucks?

The risk of not signing is him not playing any competitive hockey in 2021 until nhl preseason or prospects camp.

that’s the pro/con that he had to weigh. How much of his pro future would be impacted without being able to play. Pros are more likely to play than the Ivy League.

seen enough ncaa free agents get traded from their choice of clubs in recent years to drive home the fact that you are not untouchable. There is a reason you are 4 years removed from your draft class before you went pro, good enough to be a pro but not great enough to be a top player that teams don’t want to part with.

 

[MS]

Why would you advise him not to sign? because you hate JB or hate the Canucks?

Neither? I’m very happy he signed and just complimented management for getting it done but I think it was a bad decision for him.

As a LH skill defender, Vancouver is literally the worst team out of 31 in the NHL for him to be breaking in on, because Quinn Hughes is the best young LH skill defender in the NHL.

Rathbone’s earning potential in the NHL will be determined by 1) how quickly he makes an NHL roster and 2) how much PP time he gets and how many points he scored - points are what get you paid.

With Hughes here (plus Edler, plus Rafferty and Myers who while RH will compete for PP minutes) his PP skills aren’t needed here at all and that will make it far harder to make the team initially, and because he won’t get PP minutes behind Hughes he simply isn’t going to produce points at a high level if he does make the team.

Same principle as why Tyson Barrie was a miscast mess in Toronto as a skill defender without a real role or way to produce stuck behind Morgan Rielly.

If he waits a year, he can cherry pick a team badly lacking in skill defenders (say NYI) and potentially do an Adam Fox and walk straight into a situation where he scores 40+ points from first-unit PP time as a rookie. And be closer to his family and his disabled brother. I’m surprised his agent didn’t convince him to go that route.

 

[bandwagonesque]

Neither? I’m very happy he signed and just complimented management for getting it done but I think it was a bad decision for him.

As a LH skill defender, Vancouver is literally the worst team out of 31 in the NHL for him to be breaking in on, because Quinn Hughes is the best young LH skill defender in the NHL.

Rathbone’s earning potential in the NHL will be determined by 1) how quickly he makes an NHL roster and 2) how much PP time he gets and how many points he scored - points are what get you paid.

With Hughes here (plus Edler, plus Rafferty and Myers who while RH will compete for PP minutes) his PP skills aren’t needed here at all and that will make it far harder to make the team initially, and because he won’t get PP minutes behind Hughes he simply isn’t going to produce points at a high level if he does make the team.

Same principle as why Tyson Barrie was a miscast mess in Toronto as a skill defender without a real role or way to produce stuck behind Morgan Rielly.

If he waits a year, he can cherry pick a team badly lacking in skill defenders (say NYI) and potentially do an Adam Fox and walk straight into a situation where he scores 40+ points from first-unit PP time as a rookie. And be closer to his family and his disabled brother. I’m surprised his agent didn’t convince him to go that route.

Adam Fox signed with a team which had an incumbent young, small offensive D playing his side who had just led his team's defence in scoring and went on to be one of the highest-scoring defencemen in the league last season without impeding Fox at all.

 

[bandwagonesque]

Neither? I’m very happy he signed and just complimented management for getting it done but I think it was a bad decision for him.

As a LH skill defender, Vancouver is literally the worst team out of 31 in the NHL for him to be breaking in on, because Quinn Hughes is the best young LH skill defender in the NHL.

Rathbone’s earning potential in the NHL will be determined by 1) how quickly he makes an NHL roster and 2) how much PP time he gets and how many points he scored - points are what get you paid.

With Hughes here (plus Edler, plus Rafferty and Myers who while RH will compete for PP minutes) his PP skills aren’t needed here at all and that will make it far harder to make the team initially, and because he won’t get PP minutes behind Hughes he simply isn’t going to produce points at a high level if he does make the team.

Same principle as why Tyson Barrie was a miscast mess in Toronto as a skill defender without a real role or way to produce stuck behind Morgan Rielly.

If he waits a year, he can cherry pick a team badly lacking in skill defenders (say NYI) and potentially do an Adam Fox and walk straight into a situation where he scores 40+ points from first-unit PP time as a rookie. And be closer to his family and his disabled brother. I’m surprised his agent didn’t convince him to go that route.

Also, Fox didn't get consistent first-unit PP minutes , averaging 1:58 a game to DeAngelo's 3:04. Tyson Barrie averaged 2:40 while Reilly averaged 2:20.

 

[Vector]

If he waits a year, he can cherry pick a team badly lacking in skill defenders (say NYI) and potentially do an Adam Fox and walk straight into a situation where he scores 40+ points from first-unit PP time as a rookie. And be closer to his family and his disabled brother. I’m surprised his agent didn’t convince him to go that route.

I imagine that having Harvard's fall sports semester cancelled is a big factor for the agent. His earning potential would, arguably, go down if forced to sit idle for the equivalent of an entire season. Essentially, they have several million guaranteed now, an opportunity to go to the safest place in North America, and participate in the abbreviated NHL camp.

 

[Vector]

Also, Fox didn't get consistent first-unit PP minutes , averaging 1:58 a game to DeAngelo's 3:04. Tyson Barrie averaged 2:40 while Reilly averaged 2:20.

Fox and DeAngelo both play on the 1st unit because they are L & R. Barrie played 70 games while Reilly played 47. Barrie's PP time increased because while Reilly was away he was the primary PP guy.

 

[Vector]

Why would you advise him not to sign? because you hate JB or hate the Canucks?

Yeah, MS, when did you stop beating your wife?

 

[bandwagonesque]

Fox and DeAngelo both play on the 1st unit because they are L & R. Barrie played 70 games while Reilly played 47. Barrie's PP time increased because while Reilly was away he was the primary PP guy.

None of this is accurate. Fox and DeAngelo are both right-handed and primarily play the same side, which meant Panarin was often on the 1st unit beside DeAngelo, and Barrie replaced Reilly on the Leafs' 1st unit by early December and was in and out of that role even while Reilly was healthy.

 

[Hoghandler]

The Canucks were the worst team in the NHL for Rathbone to sign with, due to Hughes. They were also the furthest team away from Rathbone’s family. You know you’re doing something right with organizational culture when you can get this done, with these impediments staring you in the face.

Bennings hires have been grossly under appreciated. Highins/Johnson killing it on the developmental side, Ian Clark with the goaltenders, Manny Malhotra etc...

Todd Harvey as director of amateur scouting is next.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Jesus. As usual, everything turns into a pissing match of “I was right”, “You were wrong”.

Lets just be happy the kid signed regardless of whether one thought he was or not.

Team needs help everywhere and it’s nice to add another potential piece on the backend.

 

[Jyrki21]

Great news for the team, although I've never watched him play and hope that the promising predictions are right.

And for those trying to thump their chests, the issues that @MS and others have raised are absolutely very real considerations, and you can't simply say "other guys signed, so he was always going to as well". You can't pretend that, if not for the cancellation of the NCAA season, everything would have been the same. That's obviously a huge factor here that may have really bailed the team out by tipping the scales. Nothing wrong with acknowledging that.

 

[Vector]

None of this is accurate. Fox and DeAngelo are both right-handed and primarily play the same side, which meant Panarin was often on the 1st unit beside DeAngelo, and Barrie replaced Reilly on the Leafs' 1st unit by early December and was in and out of that role even while Reilly was healthy.

You're right about the first part. I've been starting at L & R for so long that my brain broke.

 

[MS]

Great news for the team, although I've never watched him play and hope that the promising predictions are right.

And for those trying to thump their chests, the issues that @MS and others have raised are absolutely very real considerations, and you can't simply say "other guys signed, so he was always going to as well". You can't pretend that, if not for the cancellation of the NCAA season, everything would have been the same. That's obviously a huge factor here that may have really bailed the team out by tipping the scales. Nothing wrong with acknowledging that.

Yeah, it's hard to say what would have happened in a normal situation. Obviously the uncertainty surrounding everything does make it more attractive to get paid sooner and give yourself more of a chance of playing hockey in 20-21.

I'm fascinated to see that some of the usual suspects are angry at me for congratulating management on making a tough signing.