Discussion: Are we a Lottery Team?

[PM]

It would be Sbisa Weber Clendening, Bart will be the 3LD in these circumstances. I am not sure this is better.

Actually your right, and it will be even worse then as Corrado still wont get playing time in favour of the Benning acquisitions. Sbisa will probably start on the right side with Hamhuis and destroy the remaining value Hamhuis has. I believe Hamhuis was a negative possession player when paired with Sbisa but when separated was one of our best defenders. Sbisa is bad enough already on his natural side, putting him on his off-side and giving him even more minutes is ridiculous, but I fully expect it to happen.

Maybe Sbisa is their tool to get all of our players to waive their NTC. He dragged the Sedins down quite a bit as well if you believe in the fancy stats (although the eye test would confirm this as well).

 

[bobo]

you bet we are.

 

[Love]

I think a lot of people in our fan base are going to be surprised at just how much better the Oilers are going to be. No longer are they a guaranteed win opponent. SJ is about the only team in our Div who did worse than us this offseason.

Is that a joke? SJ had a great offseason.

 

[vancityluongo]

Is that a joke? SJ had a great offseason.

SJ is exactly one year behind us. They had a pretty weak offseason (don't think Jones was worth it at all, but we'll see), but they had such brutal luck last season that they're bound to bounceback. Guessing it will all be credited to Deboer (like it was with Willie here), but there's a lot of talent there that just had everything go wrong. The Sharks will be right in the mix and are IMO much better than the current Canucks. Don't know if stats/other analysis backs that up, just my hunch.

The Sedins will prop the Canucks up past the bottom-5 in the standings, but I'm really having a tough time justifying any other team in the West besides Arizona as being definitively worse. Colorado? Maybe. Edmonton? Eh.

Bottom-2/3 in the conference unfortunately won't ensure a top-5 pick with the state of the East and the potential of ****ing expansion teams. Sigh.

 

[Love]

SJ is exactly one year behind us. They had a pretty weak offseason (don't think Jones was worth it at all, but we'll see), but they had such brutal luck last season that they're bound to bounceback. Guessing it will all be credited to Deboer (like it was with Willie here), but there's a lot of talent there that just had everything go wrong. The Sharks will be right in the mix and are IMO much better than the current Canucks. Don't know if stats/other analysis backs that up, just my hunch.

The Sedins will prop the Canucks up past the bottom-5 in the standings, but I'm really having a tough time justifying any other team in the West besides Arizona as being definitively worse. Colorado? Maybe. Edmonton? Eh.

Bottom-2/3 in the conference unfortunately won't ensure a top-5 pick with the state of the East and the potential of ****ing expansion teams. Sigh.

Agree with you in part.

SJ is a good team, I agree with you on that. I think they have the potential to be a lot better than we were last season (a first round exit).

Remember they also added Joel Ward and Paul Martin. They got better everywhere, not just in goal.

Add that to the fact that they actually have some young NHL ready talent that is improving (Hertl, Tierney, Mueller, Karlsson, Nieto, Jones) and guys who are right in the middle of their primes (Vlasic, Couture, Pavelski, Burns). Then there's the usual suspects like Thornton and Marleau.

That team really has it all. I wouldn't count them out of anything, and to me they are certainly twice the team we are/were last year on paper at least.



I also agree with you that there is no definitive argument that we are not the 2nd worst team in the West. We could certainly finish ahead of teams like Calgary, Edmonton, or Dallas but I think it would require a significant injury to one or more of those teams and relatively good health on our part. Overall, we're not in a good spot looking at this year alone.

 

[MikeK]

Is that a joke? SJ had a great offseason.

LOL. Thanks. After the last 6 months I needed a laugh that didn't involve the Canucks.

 

[vancityluongo]

Agree with you in part.

SJ is a good team, I agree with you on that. I think they have the potential to be a lot better than we were last season (a first round exit).

Remember they also added Joel Ward and Paul Martin. They got better everywhere, not just in goal.

Add that to the fact that they actually have some young NHL ready talent that is improving (Hertl, Tierney, Mueller, Karlsson, Nieto, Jones) and guys who are right in the middle of their primes (Vlasic, Couture, Pavelski, Burns). Then there's the usual suspects like Thornton and Marleau.

That team really has it all. I wouldn't count them out of anything, and to me they are certainly twice the team we are/were last year on paper at least.



I also agree with you that there is no definitive argument that we are not the 2nd worst team in the West. We could certainly finish ahead of teams like Calgary, Edmonton, or Dallas but I think it would require a significant injury to one or more of those teams and relatively good health on our part. Overall, we're not in a good spot looking at this year alone.

Martin and Ward combined having the positive effect of Vrbata last year would be a huge victory for them. Martin is pretty underrated but he's on his last legs.

I agree that Pavelski, Couture, Burns and Hertl are players of a calibre and age that don't exist on the Canucks, so they probably won't collapse next year like I expect we will this year. Also essentially agree that regardless of the offseason they had, they're going to be a team that bounces back next year.

Calgary just dominated us in the playoffs and got way, way better. You want a team that had a good offseason, look no further. Hamilton is a huge addition for them, they'll have Giordano back, the kids will all be a year old, and 18 year old Sam Bennett is now 19 and ready for a full season. I'd be shocked if they finished worse than the Canucks, but they could always have a Colorado like collapse. Dallas might have a suspect D, but with Sharp and Spezza behind Seguin and Benn, along with Nichushkin back (remember him?), they'll outscore they're problems. Oh, and Niemi + Lehtonen >>> Miller + Markstrom.

All those years people feared becoming the 2010 Calgary Flames? This might be worse. We're turning into the Carolina Hurricanes of the past five years - picks in the 5-10 range with little superstar potential, and even less hope of a playoff run.

 

[biturbo19]

The only way I could see it happening is if there's an unusually high number of major injuries to Western Conference rivals. But, obviously, traditionally the Canucks get hit harder than anyone, and that's unlikely to change with a veteran team.

New Head Trainer though, so we're good.

 

[Love]

LOL. Thanks. After the last 6 months I needed a laugh that didn't involve the Canucks.

Why did they have a bad offseason again?

They added a top 6 winger, a top 4 d man and upgraded their goaltending.

I think you might just be completely misinformed.

 

[vancityluongo]

Why did they have a bad offseason again?

They added a top 6 winger, a top 4 d man and upgraded their goaltending.

I think you might just be completely misinformed.

This is what the guy in your avatar said about the Canucks last offseason. Vastly different circumstances, though, for sure.

 

[Love]

This is what the guy in your avatar said about the Canucks last offseason. Vastly different circumstances, though, for sure.

Benning said we added a top 6 forward, top 4 d man and upgraded in goal? I really dont think he did. Feel free to provide a link.

But yes you're right the Canucks and Sharks are in very different positions.

Edit: Nevermind I missed the "last offseason" part.