Player Discussion Erik Gudbranson

[Foundational Player]

I liken EG without an offensive defense partner like Q to Boeser without a playmaking center like EP. Guddy is still a good player in his own right but he needs to find chemistry with a certain type of player to show his true potential.

Gudbranson continues to regress.

His game hasn't improved since being traded to the Canucks.

Boeser looked pretty decent last year prior to injury without Pettersson playing in the middle.

We shall see how Gudbranson finishes the season but his time with the Canucks has been nothing short of disappointing.

 

[VanJack]

Unfortunately the league has grown away from d-men like Gudbranson. It's a track meet now, particularly through the neutral zone. D-men who can't pivot and basically just throw the puck off the glass and out and going the way of the dodo bird.

When Jimbo acquired him, he was coming off a strong playoff run for the Panthers. But Dale Tallon had been supplanted by a couple of analytics guys, a GM and Assistant GM's. They took a look at Gudbranson's underlying numbers and realized there was no way they could justify paying him what he would likely be asking.

So they 'sold high' and Jimbo was a willing foil. And after a year of assessing the same kind of negative analytics numbers, Benning still re-ups him at $4m a season. So they're stuck with him and that contract.

 

[timw33]

he was coming off a strong playoff run

He was not good in the playoffs—look at how the Islanders scored their goals and without fail Gubranson is the main cause of ~8 of them against. I did a post earlier in the summer breaking down every goal against and how blatantly awful he was on each of those plays.

 

[Hit the post]

Much as it pains me to speak in his defense ( bad pun intended), remember that he is a #6 D. Like most 6 D, they’re going to have a lot of flaws. Can’t defend that contract though.

I do find it hilarious that many on CDC are infatuated with him.

 

[Snatcher Demko]

According to Elliott Friedman,.. As an asset,..Gudbranson does have value around the league..Does Jared McCann..?..I'm not so sure.
Not trying to pump Guddys tires..but from an asset point of view..I dont think there was a big win by either team in that trade.

No, I agree that neither team really won big but McCann is (slowly) developing into a good middle 6 centre which does have value. I do get the sense that McCann could break out soon and be a 50 point guy too - he has the skills.

From our perspective we've definitely been "losing" thusfar, and it's mainly due to that opportunity cost. Imagine if we got Clague or DeBrincat with our 2nd? That was a very solid 2nd round. McCann would be a useful piece here too.

Florida and Vancouver are currently a good match for trades - they're quite deep with young wingers and winger prospects, while being thin and soft on defense.

 

[Diamonddog01]

According to Elliott Friedman,.. As an asset,..Gudbranson does have value around the league..Does Jared McCann..?..I'm not so sure.
Not trying to pump Guddys tires..but from an asset point of view..I dont think there was a big win by either team in that trade.

It was junk for junk. The 2nd round pick had by far the most value.

 

[Hit the post]

It was junk for junk. The 2nd round pick had by far the most value.

McCann has only one less point than Virtanen this season so far.

 

[sting101]

McCann is definitely not junk. On pace for 30-40 pts and same age as Gaudette. He's pretty responsible two way player as well.

We got skinned badly in that deal.

Gudbranson needs to get demoted. Hutton-Tanev, Edler-Stecher, Hughes-Gudbranson playing sheltered minutes with Gudbranson on PK duties and Quinn on PP duties is what i would like to see by March if we cant trade him

 

[timw33]

I would happily swap McCann for Gudbranson 1 for 1 and accept the loss of the 33 and 94 picks.

 

[WTG]

I think they’d work well together and Guddy would probably become a 30-40 point defenseman playing with an actually good offensive defender like Quinn Hughes. Everyone always talks about other guys like Hutton or Pouliot playing with Gudbranson like it’s a negative but what about the partners Guddy gets? It’s not like they are helping him be as good as he can be either.

You cant be serious.
Gudbranson will probably get 1 more chance after his contract then he will be out of the league. Just like Sbisa.

Gudbranson getting 30 points along side with Leivo being a 60 point player. Prepare to be dissapointed.

 

[Fire Benning]

McCann scored 30 even strength points last year in bottom six minutes with his most common linemates being Maxim Mamin and Jamie McGinn. You'd take that in a heartbeat over some of the garbage that was playing big minutes on this roster.

They also gave up the 33rd overall pick (basically a first rounder), that part of the trade is constantly ignored.

Either of those assets on their own would be infinitely more beneficial to this organization over a turd defenseman making 4 mil. They gave up both. Florida might've not won the trade, but the Canucks definitely lost it.

 

[Intangibos]

Gudbranson continues to regress.

His game hasn't improved since being traded to the Canucks.

Boeser looked pretty decent last year prior to injury without Pettersson playing in the middle.

We shall see how Gudbranson finishes the season but his time with the Canucks has been nothing short of disappointing.

 

[xtra]

Tha kfully everyone here has realized how bad that trade is and pointed out how Jared McCann is doing damn fine.

17 points, in 41 games averaging a min less per game ice time than Jake and goldy.

He’s a solid piece for them that’s developing nicely for a late forst

 

[Pavel96]

Actually that *IS* the other major problem with Guds. Guy can't stay healthy (even injures himself in the offseason).

don't forget the time when he injured himself during the season, while on holiday in Mexico. Even little sam made it back, uninjured from that trip

 

[Pavel96]

According to Elliott Friedman,.. As an asset,..Gudbranson does have value around the league..Does Jared McCann..?..I'm not so sure.
Not trying to pump Guddys tires..but from an asset point of view..I dont think there was a big win by either team in that trade.

Does he have more value than a 33rd overall pick, by itself?

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Does he have more value than a 33rd overall pick, by itself?

Maybe.?...my opinion (or yours) on the matter has no bearing on what other GM's think that Gudbranson value is...Just because he's a resident whipping boy in Van,..does not mean that he couldn't be coveted somewhere else.

 

[xtra]

Maybe.?...my opinion (or yours) on the matter has no bearing on what other GM's think that Gudbranson value is...Just because he's a resident whipping boy in Van,..does not mean that he couldn't be coveted somewhere else.

This is true, the amount of stupid gms out there is amazing.

 

[Pavel96]

Maybe.?...my opinion (or yours) on the matter has no bearing on what other GM's think that Gudbranson value is...Just because he's a resident whipping boy in Van,..does not mean that he couldn't be coveted somewhere else.

It does have bearing on whether or not you think no team won the trade. And he's not the "resident whipping boy" - he's simply a brutal hockey player whose flaws stand out. Over and over.

Is he Sportsnet's whipping boy because of last year's entire segment on how horrible he was? What about the rest of the media that has written articles about how bad the trade was, extension etc- is he the media's whipping boy too?

He could be coveted elsewhere because maybe/hopefully there is a GM that is as bad at assessing pro level dmen as Jim Benning is.

 

[TruKnyte]

I'd trade him for the bag that a bag of pucks come in.

 

[Intangibos]

You know, maybe I'm wrong and Gudbranson really is worse than Pouliot. I'm still not 100% convinced because lul Pouliot but there is definitely an argument and I think I'm starting to lean that way.

I'm a big fan of possession players being the best defensive players as long as they're not complete inept in their own zone as you don't get scored on when you have the puck. That's why I preferred Bonino to Sutter. Despite Sutter's, supposedly, superior play in the defensive zone Bonino had the puck more. Pouliot is an absolute disaster in his own zone. He gets walked and when he has the puck in the stick he's a turnover machine. However, I like Hutton who gets walked and I think Gudbranson has a significantly better partner in Hutton than Pouliot does in Stetcher (not a knock on Stetcher, I like him but Hutton is better).

I tend to notice whenever our D makes a puzzling move it's Pouliot and I notice he's frequently on the ice for goals against, but I literally never notice Gudbranson until the puck is in the net and I spot him on the replay doing literally nothing, or I notice him when he does something Pejorative Slured in frame.

I think quiet defencemen are often underrated like Edler because you don't notice them except when they make a rare mistake, but Gudbranson sure makes noise frequently for a player who should be a low-event guy. Pouliot makes a lot of noise as well, but at least sometimes he can get the puck out of the zone when Gudbranson can't even get the puck. I think I might have just been victimized by this bias in a way I didn't expect and thus didn't pick up on.

I still maintain he's comparable to Alberts, but instead of a relative version of Alberts with the improved play in the NHL he might be if 2010 Alberts played in 2019 NHL. Also softer than Alberts.

It's close between Badbranson and Pouliot, and that's sad. It's kind of funny in a way though that at least 1 GM in the league said they would give Gudbranson a $4m contract "in a heartbeat". I wish I had the same type of connection these bozos do...

If Hutton is ever set free from this hell it's going to be like he's just emerged from the hyperbolic time chamber with a pretty solid power level. I hope he gets a long stretch with Stetcher or Edler so fans appreciate him and don't run him out of town.

 

[Zippgunn]

There can be no question that Guddy has been a real disappointment since he got here but he is hardly unique in that regard. Just about every single player that we have acquired in the last 3 years or so is in the same boat. Poo, Goldy, Loui, Gagner, Nilsson, Granlund, Jake, Sutter, the list goes on and on. All players who were expected to play considerably better than they have. I can't think of a player who has exceeded expectations other than Pete, Bo and maybe Boeser (and even he is faltering). Could it possibly be the coaching staff?

 

[Peter10]

There can be no question that Guddy has been a real disappointment since he got here but he is hardly unique in that regard. Just about every single player that we have acquired in the last 3 years or so is in the same boat. Poo, Goldy, Loui, Gagner, Nilsson, Granlund, Jake, Sutter, the list goes on and on. All players who were expected to play considerably better than they have. I can't think of a player who has exceeded expectations other than Pete, Bo and maybe Boeser (and even he is faltering). Could it possibly be the coaching staff?

Or maybe they were just bad acquisitions to begin with.

 

[geebaan]

There can be no question that Guddy has been a real disappointment since he got here but he is hardly unique in that regard. Just about every single player that we have acquired in the last 3 years or so is in the same boat. Poo, Goldy, Loui, Gagner, Nilsson, Granlund, Jake, Sutter, the list goes on and on. All players who were expected to play considerably better than they have. I can't think of a player who has exceeded expectations other than Pete, Bo and maybe Boeser (and even he is faltering). Could it possibly be the coaching staff?

I just think those players, all when acquired, had just had great years and we bought high on unsastainable play. The opposite of what you should do.

 

[I in the Eye]

In fairness to Benning, the Gudbranson trade was only a bad trade since long before it happened. There is no way that Benning could have known it wouldn't work out. He still might not know that it didn't work out.

 

[Bleach Clean]

It was junk for junk. The 2nd round pick had by far the most value.

I've never heard a high 2nd rounder referred to as "junk" before. Add a 20 year old former 1st round pick to the lot, and I highly suspect that only an extreme minority would refer to that as junk.

Interesting trade analysis though, DDog.