Confirmed with Link: Canucks sign D - Brogan Rafferty

Hansen

tyler motte simp
Oct 12, 2011
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His offensive IQ and transition game is NHL calibre. And I think he could provide value to an NHL team in the right sheltered 3rd pairing/PP situation.

Problem is, how many defenders are we planning on sheltering next year?

It's hilarious that we're taking a blueline that was already a hot mess defensively and apparently moving on from both Tanev and Stecher (and Edler will be a year older) and replacing them with kids. This could get really ugly.
This is why we absolutely have to give up our first this year. We could be giving over a top 5 lottery pick next season
 

Blue and Green

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Dec 17, 2017
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His offensive IQ and transition game is NHL calibre. And I think he could provide value to an NHL team in the right sheltered 3rd pairing/PP situation.

Problem is, how many defenders are we planning on sheltering next year?

It's hilarious that we're taking a blueline that was already a hot mess defensively and apparently moving on from both Tanev and Stecher (and Edler will be a year older) and replacing them with kids. This could get really ugly.

The good news is that it will be the perfect season to be ugly. There might not even be a season, and if there is it will be shortened and probably without spectators.
 

VanJack

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Jul 11, 2014
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I know it's early in camp, but apparently Rafferty hasn't been successful in dislodging Jalen Chatfield from the top group for drills, scrimmages and inter-squad games.

Seems to have his skates firmly planted with 'the black aces' group. Is this a disappointment, or has Chatfield improved that much?
 

Nucker42

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I think Chatfields game is so simple that it is his advantage. He doesn’t need offence what so ever to be effective. Where as Rafferty needs to flash offence to be effective.
 

MS

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I know it's early in camp, but apparently Rafferty hasn't been successful in dislodging Jalen Chatfield from the top group for drills, scrimmages and inter-squad games.

Seems to have his skates firmly planted with 'the black aces' group. Is this a disappointment, or has Chatfield improved that much?

It tells you that this coaching staff is bad at evaluating defenders and would prefer a player showing ‘sound fundamentals’ while being stuck in his own zone shift after shift over a guy playing in the right side of the rink but making an occasional coverage error.
 

Blue and Green

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Chatfield in a nutshell: NHL wheels & effort levels; AHL hockey sense; ECHL puck skills. I like the guy because he gives it everything he's got, but he just doesn't have the skills to be anything but an AHLer.

Rafferty's defensive zone reads improved and I don't think that's an issue anymore. The problem remains with his lateral agility, turns, transitioning from backward to forward. It's why he gets walked his fair share of the time on the rush in the AHL, i.e., he'll get walked more than his fair share in the NHL. Could afford to cut down on giveaways, too. But he's easily a better player than Chatfield.
 
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lousy

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It tells you that this coaching staff is bad at evaluating defenders and would prefer a player showing ‘sound fundamentals’ while being stuck in his own zone shift after shift over a guy playing in the right side of the rink but making an occasional coverage error.

The only problem with occasional coverage errors is that in the NHL you can pay for them quickly. Goals are usually scored at that high level from someone making an error, and I can see why they want to minimize that
 

tradervik

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Rafferty made a nice move in the offensive zone that led to Graovac’s goal in one of the scrimmages. However, it looks like Brisebois has emerged as the early favourite to be the 8th defence man. Have to mention that Virtanen needs to wake up. Getting deked out of his socks by Chris Tanev is not good.
 
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Blue and Green

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Take my nutshell summation of Chatfield; upgrade the puck skills to AHL-level instead of ECHL-level. That's basically Brisebois at this stage.

Pairing players like Brisebois/Chatfield with Fantenberg/Benn... OMFG.
 
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MS

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Take my nutshell summation of Chatfield; upgrade the puck skills to AHL-level instead of ECHL-level. That's basically Brisebois at this stage.

Pairing players like Brisebois/Chatfield with Fantenberg/Benn... OMFG.

Just to be clear, Oscar Fantenberg - who is about as talentless a plug defender as you'll see in the NHL - scored at about a 40-point pace in the AHL in his one stint there. Chatfield scored 4 points in 50 games last year. Brisebois has averaged about 20 points/AHL season.

People greatly underestimate how big the jump is from the AHL to the NHL and how big the jump is from 'guy good enough to get an emergency cup of coffee' to 'actual competent regular NHL defender'.
 

Fatass

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Just to be clear, Oscar Fantenberg - who is about as talentless a plug defender as you'll see in the NHL - scored at about a 40-point pace in the AHL in his one stint there. Chatfield scored 4 points in 50 games last year. Brisebois has averaged about 20 points/AHL season.

People greatly underestimate how big the jump is from the AHL to the NHL and how big the jump is from 'guy good enough to get an emergency cup of coffee' to 'actual competent regular NHL defender'.
Giordano played parts of three seasons in the A and had okay offensive stats, but nothing out of this world.
Players physically, and mentally mature at different rates. Rafferty looks like he could be an effective NHL player.
 

MS

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Giordano played parts of three seasons in the A and had okay offensive stats, but nothing out of this world.
Players physically, and mentally mature at different rates. Rafferty looks like he could be an effective NHL player.

Giordano was a unicorn with a very strange career arc but even then he had a massive 58-point season in his second year in the AHL.

That said, yes, I agree that Rafferty could be an effective NHL player. As I said above, his puck skills, offensive IQ, and transition game are absolutely NHL-calibre and if he's sheltered in the right fashion on a 3rd pairing to hide his defensive issues I think there is reason to believe he could be a contributor for this team next season. But, again, the problem is how many young defenders who struggle defensively we're going to need to shelter.

My comment you're quoting was referring to Chatfield and Brisebois who both really struggle transitioning the puck and are both very unlikely to be NHL regulars as a result.
 

Fatass

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Giordano was a unicorn with a very strange career arc but even then he had a massive 58-point season in his second year in the AHL.

That said, yes, I agree that Rafferty could be an effective NHL player. As I said above, his puck skills, offensive IQ, and transition game are absolutely NHL-calibre and if he's sheltered in the right fashion on a 3rd pairing to hide his defensive issues I think there is reason to believe he could be a contributor for this team next season. But, again, the problem is how many young defenders who struggle defensively we're going to need to shelter.

My comment you're quoting was referring to Chatfield and Brisebois who both really struggle transitioning the puck and are both very unlikely to be NHL regulars as a result.
Chatfild and Brisboise will never be full time NHL players. They are depth guys, and it’s unfair to include them in a comparison to Rafferty.
Rafferty is a very smart defender, who (while transitioning to the NHL game) would play bottom pair. He’s also not small, so wouldn’t need the sheltering (which sounds negative) you suggest.
 

MS

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Chatfild and Brisboise will never be full time NHL players. They are depth guys, and it’s unfair to include them in a comparison to Rafferty.
Rafferty is a very smart defender, who (while transitioning to the NHL game) would play bottom pair. He’s also not small, so wouldn’t need the sheltering (which sounds negative) you suggest.

I was never comparing them to Rafferty?

Rafferty's pivoting and footwork is iffy and he gets caught out of position defensively. And isn't physical at all and his coverage is too soft. Even at the AHL level. Like I said, I'm very complementary of his skills and think he has something to offer and could help this team next year in the right role, but he will absolutely 100% need to be sheltered heavily as an NHL rookie.
 

Vector

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Size has nothing to do with sheltering. Young defenders, with very few exceptions, need sheltering as they learn the speed and strength of NHL opposition. Tryamkin has all the size in the world and needed sheltering. Hell, Chara needed quite a while to adjust. It’s the mental side and learning how to best utilize their own strengths that require young defenders to need careful management.
 
Last edited:

Didalee Hed

I’m trying to understand
Sep 14, 2019
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Jimbo is running out of people to blame.

But Gillis!
Like...

Hmmmmm

Lose to Minnesota and gain 12.5% odds to draft first overall

Or

Beat Minnesota and pick with their own pick

So, then...

Pick goes to New Jersey next year who have either an 11.5 or 13.5% chance at first overall with the Vancouver pick when Benning’s brilliant cap maneuvering has them finish 29 or 30

Then...

Come back for more of the same cause Benning is still the GM and apparently we love the punishment

lol

f*** me

What are the odds, seriously, that all of us were huge pieces of shit in past lives and deserve this Aquilini/Benning debacle?
 

ProstheticConscience

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I know it's early in camp, but apparently Rafferty hasn't been successful in dislodging Jalen Chatfield from the top group for drills, scrimmages and inter-squad games.

Seems to have his skates firmly planted with 'the black aces' group. Is this a disappointment, or has Chatfield improved that much?
That's...not good. If he can't seriously outperform Chatfield or Brisebois at this point I wouldn't hold out much hope for him being any halfway decent NHL dman.
 

Bad Goalie

Registered User
Jan 2, 2014
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That's...not good. If he can't seriously outperform Chatfield or Brisebois at this point I wouldn't hold out much hope for him being any halfway decent NHL dman.

You have to remember who coaches this team. Green insists his D play in their own zone first. Rafferty and Juolevi both have serious problems with this assignment.

Chatfield is the best of the 3 at this job and he's not better than a middling AHL D-man at the task.

IMO Brisebois is more like Juolevi and Rafferty than Chatfield but skates better than Juolevi and doesn't turn it over as much as Rafferty and can win more board battles than either of them.

Rafferty's saving grace is his offensive prowess. That alone has made many a player a long and fairly lucrative career. However, if that's all you've got the NHL can't use you. The AHL has a good sized crop of AHL All-Star D-men that can't play NHL defense.

If they let Tanev walk and dump Stecher, the backend is going to be a much greater adventure than it already is.
 

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