Confirmed with Link: #Canucks sign forward Joseph LaBate

[BeardyCanuck03]

he was complaining at one point about getting taller cause he couldn't put on weight

Being a stocky/short guy I want to tell him to shut up but it makes sense. It'll be very interesting to see what he'll fill out to. At 6'6 he'll need to be at least 220lbs to not look like stick and even then he'll look skinny.

I think if he develops correctly, a Joe Colborne/Shawn Matthias (2nd/3rd tweener with size and speed) type player would be a realistic target for him and the Canucks.

 

[Tiranis]

Odd signing. Guy didn't seem to improve in his four college seasons. Hopefully he becomes a solid AHL contributor.

He did look promising in his two AHL games. Much better than someone like Kellan Lain.

 

[Verviticus]

labate is a lot more like colbone than he is matthias i think. matthias is pretty fast for his size

He did look promising in his two AHL games. Much better than someone like Kellan Lain.

imagine if we had some way to get him in to more than two games. pity the comets season ended and the supply of games ran dry

 

[BeardyCanuck03]

labate is a lot more like colbone than he is matthias i think. matthias is pretty fast for his size



imagine if we had some way to get him in to more than two games. pity the comets season ended and the supply of games ran dry

I agree, but as we saw with Horvat this season, skating can improve. Honestly if Labate can turn into a Colborne type player, even if he is that type and a bottom 6 player that'll be great.

The problem with these big bodied players is that they can tend to be "Gentle Giants" due to them growing up and not wanting to hurt anyone / getting bad calls called against them because they are the big player. I'm not sure if this is the case with Labate but if they can get him to play with even a little bit of an edge he will get a look in the NHL at some point.

 

[Verviticus]

I agree, but as we saw with Horvat this season, skating can improve

you might as well say "as we saw with alex burrows, echl walk-ons can become 30 goal scorers in the nhl". very, very few people are going to improve their skating like that and you should pretend it can't happen rather than qualifying every slug as having potential like that

 

[BeardyCanuck03]

you might as well say "as we saw with alex burrows, echl walk-ons can become 30 goal scorers in the nhl". very, very few people are going to improve their skating like that and you should pretend it can't happen rather than qualifying every slug as having potential like that

I'm not saying he can make that big of an improvement but I think his skating (which isn't suppose to be bad) can still improve. If he puts on the proper muscle mass and weight his skating will improve just based on that.

The Canucks will have to work hard with Labate to get his foot speed and agility to be good enough for the NHL though. Players Labate's size struggle with developing foot speed and agility for the obvious physical issues of being so tall.

 

[VanJack]

What's his upside?.....few times I saw him in Wisconsin his skating didn't appear all that bad.....kind of surprised they signed him though after a six goal season.....he's either a Stefan Schneider or Joe Colborne, hopefully closer to the latter....does he even start in Utica next year?

 

[MS]

Not a huge fan of spending a contract slot on him. Too tall and not a great skater.

 

[FOurteenS inCisOr]

you might as well say "as we saw with alex burrows, echl walk-ons can become 30 goal scorers in the nhl". very, very few people are going to improve their skating like that and you should pretend it can't happen rather than qualifying every slug as having potential like that

Why "pretend" anything? Just accept the reality that it rarely happens, but still could. Seems much easier...