GDT: Free Agency / Fantasy GM Part 6

[Bettman Returnz]

Avs- Never solve their biggest issue which was goaltending. Don't trust either of that duo in a playoff series
Knights- Haven't fixed their main problem still have questionable finishing and even worse centre depth.
Oilers- Replaced Number 1Dmen in terms of ice time and responsibilities (Kelfbomb) with Barrie. Had a historic great Powerplay which is set to regress and relied heavily on PK which was the best in the league unlikely to repeat. Still have the same shit goaltending and Defence
Blues-Replaced AP wit Krug. Might have one of the worst D-cores in the west outside of Parayko
Stars- Half the team suffered major injuries including sequin who could be out for months. Long playoff run took a tool
Flames- Improved greatly and are a regular season juggernaut but Gaudreau and Monahan are some of the worst 5on5 playoff performers in the league

I mean these are all hypotheticals... I suppose I am not sold on the idea of a weak conference. Canucks have a lot to prove themselves. Suppose we see how the season plays out before getting too ahead of ourselves. But I appreciate your point of view on this.

 

[Grub]

Are we really raving how we should have kept Hutton? Hutton was a defensive train wreck and trash.

 

[elitepete]

Are we really raving how we should have kept Hutton? Hutton was a defensive train wreck and trash.

This is just a lie. Hutton was decent in his own zone and moving the puck.

 

[elitepete]

Really wish we had the space to sign Vatanen and Koekkoek. It would allow us to pair Schmidt with Hughes.

Hughes-Schmidt
Edler-Vatanen
Koekkoek-Myers
Benn/Juolevi/Chatfield/Brisebois/Rathbone

Now that is actually an upgraded d core.

 

[elitepete]

Until Myers got here to take the load off, the Canucks were always an Edler, Tanev (usually both) injury away from collapse..The current top 4 is the strongest it's been in Bennings tenure.

The 2015 Canucks would like a word with you.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

The 2015 Canucks would like a word with you.

about what?

 

[elitepete]

about what?

About the fact that they had 2 top 20 dmen and a really good #3 in Hamhuis, and even Yannick Weber played closed to the level of a #4 paired with Hamhuis that one year (but fell off next season).

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

About the fact that they had 2 top 20 dmen and a really good #3 in Hamhuis, and even Yannick Weber played closed to the level of a #4 paired with Hamhuis that one year (but fell off next season).

Having Quinn Hughes on your D blows away anything the Canucks had in 2015..Edler had a good season, Bieksa did not, and Hamhuis was starting to get past his 'best before' date. Then there's Sbisa..................So, I disagree with you on that.

 

[elitepete]

Having Quinn Hughes on your D blows away anything the Canucks had in 2015..Edler had a good season, Bieksa did not, and Hamhuis was starting to get past his 'best before' date. I need not have to comment on Sbisa..So, I disagree with you on that.

You said top 4 though. The awful Sbieksa pairing was the bottom pairing. Hughes is a beast and makes this defense dangerous offensively but the 2015 defense was rock solid in it’s own end.

 

[brock hughes007]

Really wish we had the space to sign Vatanen and Koekkoek. It would allow us to pair Schmidt with Hughes.

Hughes-Schmidt
Edler-Vatanen
Koekkoek-Myers
Benn/Juolevi/Chatfield/Brisebois/Rathbone

Now that is actually an upgraded d core.

still can sign them as we do not have to be cap complient before start of the season..send Baertschi down,LTIR Ferland. im sure Vatanen and Koekkoek can be had on small deals i think...

 

[sting101]

Agreed. I remember a certain poster calling Baertschi a coward and loser because he didn't join the bubble, too.

It's the most primal, tribalistic "you're either with us or against us!" polarizing mentality.

That was me on Baertschi and i stand by it. It had little to do with Covid but it did put me over the edge because he probably is planning on showing up in December for training camp to collect his cheque's now that he didn't get the buy out he had planned for.

Furthermore he already publicly contemplated quitting and was becoming increasingly soft and quit on the Flames before that because they didn't gift him soft top 6 minutes.

I was extremely disappointed by both Hutton and Stecher leaving as well as Leivo. It was too bad we couldn't keep Toffoli because of Eriksson but i'm not a fan of the contract going forward as i worry about his skating and ability to compete. So i've been critical of Toffoli to pad my argument for that reason.

Tanev is a warrior and one of my favorites. It's too bad but i wouldn't make him one of my 3 big contracts on D after this year and at 31 and a lot of hard miles and a bad injury track record.

If your point is directed at me your wrong.

 

[valkynax]

That was me on Baertschi and i stand by it. It had little to do with Covid but it did put me over the edge because he probably is planning on showing up in December for training camp to collect his cheque's now that he didn't get the buy out he had planned for.

Furthermore he already publicly contemplated quitting and was becoming increasingly soft and quit on the Flames before that because they didn't gift him soft top 6 minutes.

I was extremely disappointed by both Hutton and Stecher leaving as well as Leivo. It was too bad we couldn't keep Toffoli because of Eriksson but i'm not a fan of the contract going forward as i worry about his skating and ability to compete. So i've been critical of Toffoli to pad my argument for that reason.

Tanev is a warrior and one of my favorites. It's too bad but i wouldn't make him one of my 3 big contracts on D after this year and at 31 and a lot of hard miles and a bad injury track record.

If your point is directed at me your wrong.

In my opinion, loss of Toffoli hurts the most - did not like the trade at the time but I was surprised how good he looked on our team, and there's no sure way to fill in for the void he left.

Very unfortunate loss.

 

[BB06]

For a few games against Vegas Canucks could actually ice 2 legit good lines. Back to Lotto Line+Horvat and a bunch of misfits

 

[tyhee]

Why do you think the west is weak? Avalanche and Golden Knights are arguably the top 2 teams in the league right now. As well, Flames have improved. The Predators, Stars, Blues and Oilers could still cause some damage too.

There has been some talk of having a Canadian division this coming season. That would put together the teams that during this past regular season ranked T8/9 (Oilers), T11/13 (Leafs), T16/18 (Jets), 20th (Canucks), 21st (Flames), 26th (Canadiens) and 30th (Senators) in pts% in the NHL. On the face of it, that would be a weak division, one in which the Canucks might be a bubble team even if things don't go well.

It seems to me that is what the optimists should be hoping for. The Pacific may be weak again but the Canucks would still need to improve just to stay in the top 3 to make the playoffs.

 

[Teflon Jim]

Basically you arguing that signing terrible players to bad long term contracts is smart because there are other stupid GM's who may or may not trade you a tiny amount of value for said player in the future. BTW, if anyone else has made that argument in the past, they were just as wrong as you are.

The saddest part is you deciding to taking your own advice and "leave the keyboard alone for a few days". I prefer when you keep posting for the humor.

The reality is hes right because of the trades that actually happened and your opinion is false because non of it actually happened except in your fantasy.

 

[ginner classic]

Best possible (realistic) trade I can come up with right now:

Benn (500k retained), Roussel and Brisebois for Colin Miller. Saves Buffalo cash and balances out their LD and LW depth chart. Saves us a bit of cap this year and costs a bit the next, costs extra cash (which is why I could see ownership declining it). We could then look for some waiver fodder (Kylington, Juulsen, McKeown), and/or cheap UFAs (Koekkoek, Hutton) to fill out the rest.

 

[Teflon Jim]

What drugs are you on? Stecher was at times our most effective defender on the right side last season. On the whole has was substantially better than Myers at every metric that matters.

Stecher to whatever replaces him will be a huge step back.

I get the hometown thing but Stetcher was never gonna be a top 4 for us and will be a bottom pairing guy and his pay indicates his value pretty accurately.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

What drugs are you on? Stecher was at times our most effective defender on the right side last season. On the whole has was substantially better than Myers at every metric that matters.

Stecher to whatever replaces him will be a huge step back.

Weren't you in the 'we should have qualified him' camp..?...According to Thomas Drance, Stecher had a strong arbitration case, which realistically, would have landed him in the $2.7M per region...

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Weren't you in the 'we should have qualified him' camp..?...According to Thomas Drance, Stecher had a strong arbitration case, which realistically, would have landed him in the $2.7M per region...

Couldn't the Canucks have walked away from his arbitration and still signed him as a free agent?

 

[Teflon Jim]

Are we really raving how we should have kept Hutton? Hutton was a defensive train wreck and trash.

Keep in mind that in a hf poll 25% thought Hutton was better then Meyers so that might explain things.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Couldn't the Canucks have walked away from his arbitration and still signed him as a free agent?

I guess they could have...If thats the case, why would they go through the whole ordeal in the first place.?..It was clear from the start, that Stecher was a very low priority on their ' to do ' list.

 

[Cogburn]

Best possible (realistic) trade I can come up with right now:

Benn (500k retained), Roussel and Brisebois for Colin Miller. Saves Buffalo cash and balances out their LD and LW depth chart. Saves us a bit of cap this year and costs a bit the next, costs extra cash (which is why I could see ownership declining it). We could then look for some waiver fodder (Kylington, Juulsen, McKeown), and/or cheap UFAs (Koekkoek, Hutton) to fill out the rest.

I don't see Buffalo going for this. Offensive depth is still lacking a little bit, but Benn is junk for them (they have two potential top four D in the minors, and Davidson if things get really hairy with them), Roussel is a bottom six forward with little hope to move up in the line up short of a catastrophe's worth of forward injuries, and Brisebois can't even stay in the NHL as a 7th D. Miller's is still an asset, especially with a reasonable cap hit and no internal pressure to move him, and likely a top four D. Nothing we're sending them has any value what so ever.

I don't think he's a bad target, I just think it will take more than 2 cap dumps and a tweener with ho hum numbers in the AHL and 8 games in the NHL (he's 23, so he's got to improve, he's just not got pedigree, being freshly drafted, or a promising upswing in metrics to claim he has value).

I'd consider Sutter+futures+possible retention for Miller, but what do we add? I'd argue Sutter would contribute more to Buffalo then Roussel, and his expiring contract is probably a plus. Miller still has value at his cap hit, Sutter retained to match his salary is at best neutral value, and we still have to solve for X.

 

[timw33]

Couldn't the Canucks have walked away from his arbitration and still signed him as a free agent?

I guess they could have...If thats the case, why would they go through the whole ordeal in the first place.?..It was clear from the start, that Stecher was a very low priority on their ' to do ' list.

Can't walk away unless the award was over around $4MM which was not happening.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Can't walk away unless the award was over around $4MM which was not happening.

Just reading up on that..Also, the max term is 2 years, with the club having the rights to walk away in the second year.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

I guess they could have...If thats the case, why would they go through the whole ordeal in the first place.?..It was clear from the start, that Stecher was a very low priority on their ' to do ' list.

Huh? Your post seemed to imply that the Canucks were wise to walk away from Stecher based on his potential arbitration award, but that wasn't the only option on the table for the Canucks.

Stecher, a player who is a solid bottom pairing dman who is a passable top 4 when injuries arise, at $1.7 million is much preferrable over whoever takes his spot (likely to be a fringe #6/7). Losing Stecher just means losing a significant depth piece, which Benning has been horrible at acquiring (Pedan, Larsen, Pouliot, Clendening, Bartkowski, etc.).