Confirmed with Link: Canucks sign F Adam Cracknell (1-Year, 2-Way Deal - $575K)

[me2]

Well I was the one that made it go "sideways" apparently by questioning the use of that word superb and how the player has NHL upside. I simply said fine depth signing but this isn't anything more and we probably don't want to see him getting much if any time with the big club because it either means the team has serious injury problems up front or the likes of Gaunce, Cassels, and Shinkaruk are not progressing well enough to even be a call up.

But yes I took exception to the word superb: "marked to the highest degree by grandeur, excellence, brilliance, or competence". Cracknell and this move quite frankly aren't that. It's depth signing for Utica. That is perfectly fine and is a good move in that regard.

I don't know, there are only about 50 or 60 moves like this every year, any can't they are all superb.

 

[MS]

I remember thinking that line with him, Porter and Reaves looked dominant out there in the playoffs for STL a few years back. Thought for sure he would've stuck in the NHL as a capable 4th liner at the very least.

Yeah, I was high on him back then too and advocated trying to pick him up in the 2013 offseason as a depth forward.

But neither he nor Porter was ever able to capture that again - between them they have 1 goal in 83 games since.

I think it's more about ... trying not to set the bar too high that this player will almost certainly not meet it.

I remember when the cAnucks signed Bulis and fans all over were calling him a "20 goal scorer." It was not a reasonable expectation for a player who had scored 20 goals exactly once, the season before, and only 20 goals. It meant that even though Bulis honestly was a decent player for us, many fans saw him as a failure because he didn't produce the 20-goal second-line numbers they were expecting. If they instead saw him for what he was, a pretty good 2-way complementary, the evaluation of him would have been more fair.

It's not about "taking exception to someone being positive" it's about lowering the expectation to something more reasonable. If you're expecting him to play to his absolute best stretch of hockey that he achieved one time 3 years ago, you're probably going to be disappointed.

Exactly. Great example.

 

[carolinacanuck]

TSN Radio Vancouver ‏@TSN1040 2m2 minutes ago
Cracknell: It's going to be physical, play with guys like Prust and Dorsett. Establish a forecheck, play hard low, and contribute

sounds like crack thinks he's gonna play in vancity

 

[DL44]

TSN Radio Vancouver ‏@TSN1040 2m2 minutes ago
Cracknell: It's going to be physical, play with guys like Prust and Dorsett. Establish a forecheck, play hard low, and contribute

sounds like crack thinks he's gonna play in vancity

His first stop is the NHL camp... so you would hope he's wanting to bring it and try to make it. And then hopefully he busts his ass to get called back up once he's sent down.... Tony Robbins would approve of him not entertaining the idea of Utica at this point

 

[MS]

His first stop is the NHL camp... so you would hope he's wanting to bring it and try to make it. And then hopefully he busts his ass to get called back up once he's sent down.... Tony Robbins would approve of him not entertaining the idea of Utica at this point

Yeah, right attitude to have, for sure. And if he was a center you could see him competing for a spot.

But unless we get absolutely decimated by injuries in preseason, we have too many wingers in the picture for him to have a realistic shot at making the team.

 

[carolinacanuck]

His first stop is the NHL camp... so you would hope he's wanting to bring it and try to make it. And then hopefully he busts his ass to get called back up once he's sent down.... Tony Robbins would approve of him not entertaining the idea of Utica at this point

true story

 

[arsmaster*]

His first stop is the NHL camp... so you would hope he's wanting to bring it and try to make it. And then hopefully he busts his ass to get called back up once he's sent down.... Tony Robbins would approve of him not entertaining the idea of Utica at this point

Linden Vey for top line C in Utica?

 

[NoShowWilly]

why does it sound like they are entertaining the thought of Brandon Prust at centre?

 

[DL44]

why does it sound like they are entertaining the thought of Brandon Prust at centre?

There was a time when he being traded back and forth from Cgy and NYR that he was versatile enough to play and played all three positions... i don't think he's played much center in recent yrs due to his teams' construction not requiring it.. but i think he still has the ability to do so...

If injuries hit or people struggle, it could be what we see in flashes this season. The benefits of versatility..

 

[PM]

He has never played centre regularly since at least juniors. The most face-offs he had in one year is 125 in 2013-14. For comparison, Linden Vey took 502 last year so even if Prust did play centre regularly that year he must have had someone else take face-offs for him the majority of the time.

He is just not a centre, plain and simple. However, just as Sbisa isn't a top-4 dman I wouldn't be surprised to see Prust played as a centre because it makes absolutely zero sense and seems to jive with the general theme of our buffoonery team.

 

[duplo]

why does it sound like they are entertaining the thought of Brandon Prust at centre?

Do you have any quotes or info to back that up? I haven't heard anything alluding to that at all.

If anything, Cracknell implied that he's more comfortable as a centre in that interview. Sounds like he's knows the centre-depth issue when it comes to the 4th line. Should Vey falter or look miscast, he'd be next on the depth chart and might be a better 'fit' on a line with Prust and Dorsett. Not saying he deserves to be in the NHL, but it seems like Canucks management have him higher on the depth chart than dudes like Blair Jones.

 

[Bad Goalie]

The Vancouver site lists a total of 12 forwards. Kenins, Virtanen, and Cracknell are not listed.

5 RW and one is Vey.

4 LW and one is Prust

3 C

If Prust is actually moved into the 4th center position Kenins is the 4th LW.

If Virtanen is kept for at least 9, Vey becomes an extra forward and one more forward leaves the lineup, but that would be 14 forwards and 7 D-men and Cracknell is still not in the picture.

He goes to camp told he has a chance, gets sent to Utica told he will be a call-up, spends the season in Utica unless dire straits occur in Vancouver.

The alternatives are Kenins to Utica (which could happen anyways) or send Vey down while Crack stays in Vancity. I don't see the latter.

 

[NoShowWilly]

i'm likely talking out of my own ass but i know Prust has been used as a centre for a bit. Cracknell never has been in the NHL. Really neither of them are centres so yeah most likely just garbage on my part.

This team severely lacks centre depth though and i know they were not overly comfortable with Vey last year.

Sedin
Sutter
Horvat
Vey
Jones
Cassels
Friesen

possibly Mccann but he did not look NHL ready in the ohl playoffs in my opinion.

 

[rypper]

Dorsett - prust - cracknell.

Meat and potatoes to the max.

 

[MS]

Dorsett - prust - cracknell.

Meat and potatoes to the max.

That line would be lucky to score 12 goals all season.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

That line would be lucky to score 12 goals all season.

I'm not sure how we went from the team that wanted nothing at all to do with Tom Sestito, to ... whatever this is.

 

[NoRaise4Brackett]

I'm not sure how we went from the team that wanted nothing at all to do with Tom Sestito, to ... whatever this is.

I guess it's because every current roster player could tie their left skate to their right one, and still out-skate Sestito

 

[rypper]

That line would be lucky to score 12 goals all season.

Meat and Potatoes ain't about scoring goals. It's about scrums. leadership. culture carrying. facepunching. being overpaid. taking spots from rookies. yeah. Meat and Potatoes ************.

 

[drax0s]

Meat and Potatoes ain't about scoring goals. It's about scrums. leadership. culture carrying. facepunching. being overpaid. taking spots from rookies. yeah. Meat and Potatoes ************.

I really hope you're joking, but just in case you're not -- "Meat and potatoes" as an expression means "Simple, not flashy", not "big and tough".

 

[ProstheticConscience]

I really hope you're joking, but just in case you're not -- "Meat and potatoes" as an expression means "Simple, not flashy", not "big and tough".

Unfortunately, Benning's definition seems to mean "not much bloody good at actually playing hockey".

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

I really hope you're joking, but just in case you're not -- "Meat and potatoes" as an expression means "Simple, not flashy", not "big and tough".

Good post

 

[ProstheticConscience]

And full fistbumps to Cracknell for positive thinking, but there's literally no good situation in which he sees NHL ice next season.

 

[vanuck]

Yeah, I was high on him back then too and advocated trying to pick him up in the 2013 offseason as a depth forward.

But neither he nor Porter was ever able to capture that again - between them they have 1 goal in 83 games since.

Yeah I guess that's one of the downsides of trying to project fringe NHL'ers at times. Nowadays you can just sign a legitimate top 9 forward for peanuts and have that luxury spill over onto your 4th line - Lee Stempniak for instance, who's still unsigned, went for 900k last season and looks to do the same again this year. Likewise with Santorelli.

 

[Disappointed EP40]

Yeah I guess that's one of the downsides of trying to project fringe NHL'ers at times. Nowadays you can just sign a legitimate top 9 forward for peanuts and have that luxury spill over onto your 4th line - Lee Stempniak for instance, who's still unsigned, went for 900k last season and looks to do the same again this year. Likewise with Santorelli.

Didn't Santorelli quietly sign with the Ducks this year ? I recall it was for peanuts. Like, less than 900K.

 

[me2]

Yeah I guess that's one of the downsides of trying to project fringe NHL'ers at times. Nowadays you can just sign a legitimate top 9 forward for peanuts and have that luxury spill over onto your 4th line - Lee Stempniak for instance, who's still unsigned, went for 900k last season and looks to do the same again this year. Likewise with Santorelli.

Now Anaheim's 4th line is great.