Post-Game Talk: Games 1 and 2: Canucks win 4-2 / Canucks lose 5-2 (MOD Warning Post #61)

[biturbo19]

Sounds like Sestito did pretty much the exact opposite of what he needs to do to keep himself on the Canucks roster.

 

[tc 23]

Thanks for the report!

 

[alternate]

There were degrees of 'help in the top9' that I was willing to accept in order to retain that future potential. Santorelli was still here at that point.

I understand why Benning did what he did. He wanted a young top9 solution at the expense of a pure future asset, as you have described. Many, including myself, think that he would have been better served by taking the gift at pick #50 and by signing Santorelli. This still would have left the door open to pursue Vey afterwards, as LA was facing a roster crunch. Cest la vie...

I think if Vey flames out and McKeown becomes a "key Dman", that's a pretty clear indicator of who "won" the trade no?

Vey has, what, 18 NHL games under his belt? How is he not an asset for the future? And I don't agree that how McKeown develops influences whether or not this was a good trade. If Vey becomes the skilled top 6 C he's projected to be, it's a good use of a 2nd rounder. If Vey busts, well, he's no different than 3 of 4 second round picks anyway.

You can't assume McKeown would be our pick, or that his development would be the same in a different organization. If Vey meets his projection, but McKeown goes on to be a "better" player, that doesn't make it a "bad" trade. It's a bad trade if Vey never shows a skill set and potential worthy of drafting in the 2nd round. Game 1 he did, but that won't mean much until he shows it in at least a few dozen
games that count towards his pension.

It is concerning with Corrado though, that he doesn't look as good as he did last year. He looks...slower, both skating-wise and just in terms of his reads. Just didn't seem to be playing "his game". There just doesn't seem to be any confidence there. Really strange. Curious to see if that persists through the rest of camp.

Corrado was pretty bad last year though, at least if you're talking regular season. Looked completely lost last year. I didn't think he looked bad last night...but he didn't look ready for the NHL either.

For the circumstances, I liked the Sedins + Vrbata. Vrbata seems to think the game the same as they do. He did pass up a shot from a good position, everyone seems to get bit by the over-pass-the-puck bug when the first play with Hank and Dank, but I don't want it to become a regular occurrence.

I actually thought Lain's skating looked noticeably better. There were 2-3 times where he used an improved burst to close space in the neutral zone. He's never going to be fleet of foot, and his lateral movement doesn't look pretty, but with his stride and reach he covers a lot of ground. Low upside player for sure, but it won't surprise me if he sees some games if we lose 2-3 bodies from our bottom 6.

Overall, a good first effort that gives reason for optimism for both the big club and Utica.

 

[biturbo19]

Corrado was pretty bad last year though, at least if you're talking regular season. Looked completely lost last year. I didn't think he looked bad last night...but he didn't look ready for the NHL either.

More so referring to this time last year coming into the preseason and coming off some decent games in the NHL the year prior.

And like i said, i thought he was better than most people are giving credit for, just as Subban wasn't quite as good as people are making his game out to be. But Corrado still looks like he's taken a real step back from where he was coming in as a raw prospect straight out of Juniors. That happens, defencemen development curves can be pretty rocky, small sample sizes can be misleeding, etc...but it's like the confidence is just completely gone. That's the overwhelming impression i get from him, now and in the regular season he got into last season. It's kind of unfortunate. Hopefully he finds a groove again, sooner would be better.

 

[The Stig]

Next GDT is up!