How Do We Fix The Defense?

[opendoor]

There's no easy answer, regardless of who the GM is. This team has completely ****ed itself by wasting 5 years without bringing in a single quality defender. The options for having a defense that could legitimately anchor a great team are:

-absolutely nail a bunch of pro scouting moves to rebuild the defense within a few years. Extremely difficult under the best circumstances, and impossible with this group in charge

-do little, and pray that their current prospects save them and they somehow get a couple of top pairing defenseman or 4 high end guys out of Hughes, Juolevi, Brisebois, Woo, etc. This seems to be their current plan, and it has so little chance of happening it's not even worth considering

-trade one of their valuable young forwards (Horvat, Boeser, or Pettersson) for an equivalent defenseman. Or maybe one of the top 5 picks the team is sure to get in the next bit. This probably has the best chance of succeeding in terms of rebuilding the defense, but it's not like the Canucks are swimming in quality forward prospects to replace whomever they move out. And it's not the type of move you want a guy like Benning in charge of.

So to echo the above, really the first move should be to replace management and then go from there. Even under a fairly optimistic scenario this team is still years away from having a quality defense unless someone falls in their laps.

 

[mathonwy]

Replace the entire front office with real hockey executives.

Woo Tryamkin back.

The only quality top 4 defenders that this franchise are going to see in the foreseeable future are ones that don't have a choice being here.

 

[DarrenX]

What can the Canucks do? Just build the D through the draft?

Fire Benning. Hire someone competent who has full permission to tank. Wait four years. That's what it will take.

 

[VanJack]

Canucks have to make room for Juolevi and Hughes (both left-siders); and if Tryamkin were to return, they'd need to make room for him as well. Obviously MDZ isn't going to be re-signed. Would he nice to deal him for a pick at the deadline, but not likely happening.

So looking at the Canuck left siders, there's obviously Edler, Pouliot and Hutton. Edler would garner the most return, but apparently wants to re-sign and might take a home town discount to do it. They couldn't get a used hockey bag for Pouliot, so that leaves Hutton as the only decent trading chip.

He'd be of interest to some teams....but the likelihood of Jimbo extracting any decent value for him is not high, And if the Canucks would just target a decent UFA d-man instead of the steady parade of useless forwards, that would at least be a start.

 

[Lindgren]

If we had any foresight they would have stockpiled 2nd 3rd and 4th round picks and walked away every draft with 5 defenseman taken. 3 in the first 5 rounds at least.

Easily should have had a bunch of shots to land Montour Dunn Carlo Clague Girard etc and had Tkachuk and Theodore on our team with some smarts.

Oh well...as is we have to get doing this and fast before they waste Horvat and Petterssons best years.

Exactly. 100%

 

[Carl Carlson]

We need more picks, time and patience. The other key is having a proper management team with a plan and the ability to actually pull it off.

 

[thekernel]

Let MDZ and Pouliot walk. It's fascinating just how much worse they make us.

 

[Mr Plow]

How much would Stralman get in free agency?

 

[Ziostilon]

If we had any foresight they would have stockpiled 2nd 3rd and 4th round picks and walked away every draft with 5 defenseman taken. 3 in the first 5 rounds at least.

Easily should have had a bunch of shots to land Montour Dunn Carlo Clague Girard etc and had Tkachuk and Theodore on our team with some smarts.

Oh well...as is we have to get doing this and fast before they waste Horvat and Petterssons best years.

this team rarely had assets to make these type of roster player for draft pick trades

And when they did, they spent it on reclamation projects like Clendening, Granlund, Motte. or the filler picks in those Sutter, Gudbranson, Prust trades

One would argue that this team would look even worse the past couple years without Granlund, Motte, Prust, Gudbranson, Sutter, Baertschi. And that would not have been acceptable to ownership or management

 

[Phenomenon13]

They did..looks like they bolstered the bottom 6 than try to acquire a D...

bolstered...

HAHAHAHAHAHHAA

That's not how I'd phrase it.

 

[valkynax]

Fire Dim Jim

 

[I am toxic]

bolstered...

HAHAHAHAHAHHAA

That's not how I'd phrase it.

Bolster is a fancy word for decorative pillow - soft, kinda doesn't do anything, good for show.

So I think it is bang on.

 

[VanJack]

Two years ago Vegas didn't even have a blue-line, and after just two seasons they're already better on the back-end than the Canucks. And obviously all their d-men were deemed expendable by the teams that either traded them or lost them in the Expansion Draft.

So it sure would be a help if Jimbo could somehow trade for a decent d-man. But after a string of guys like Gudbranson, Pedan, Pouliot, MDZ, and Wiercioch I'm just not optimistic. The Canucks braintrust couldn't identify a decent UFA if he was swimming in their soup.

 

[Luck 6]

We need to hope that Hughes and Juolevi work out as top 4 defenseman. Then, we need to be aggressive in acquiring at least one or two defenseman by free agency. Retain both Edler and Tanev, and hope some of our guys develop beyond expectations.

 

[I am toxic]

Two years ago Vegas didn't even have a blue-line, and after just two seasons they're already better on the back-end than the Canucks. And obviously all their d-men were deemed expendable by the teams that either traded them or lost them in the Expansion Draft.

So it sure would be a help if Jimbo could somehow trade for a decent d-man. But after a string of guys like Gudbranson, Pedan, Pouliot, MDZ, and Wiercioch I'm just not optimistic. The Canucks braintrust couldn't identify a decent UFA if he was swimming in their soup.

You forgot Sbisa and Clendenning and Barts.

And Hammer and Tryamkin and Forsling. Guess what we have to show for them.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

You burn it to the ground by trading everyone and starting over.

I'd maybe take Biega as a 7/8 dman.

 

[Canadian Canuck]

Trade for Cale Makar.

 

[elitepete]

Our D hasn't been very good for years now even when everyone is fully healthy (which is a rarity). I think the D needs to be completely revamped and it's time to change for the sake of change. I think management needs to look beyond the individual players in a vacuum because if you're just looking at individual players, Edler is still a top 4 Dman. Tanev is a 1st pairing Dman at his best and a top 4 Dman when he's not. Advanced stats suggests that Hutton is a top 4 Dman. Stecher was/is too. Yet is the D any good with all 4 of those guys in the lineup? Not at all.

The problem of course is a lack of options. Quinn Hughes should arrive next year and if he doesn't bring immediate returns he is no doubt a building block for the future. But that's not going to be enough. There aren't any Dmen we can draft in the 2019 draft that can or you want stepping in immediately. Unless Juolevi fixes his knee and takes some huge steps in development, he's not a top 4 Dman in the NHL.

Edler will actually be one of the best Dman available on the UFA market if he reaches free agency, do you bring him back? Erik Karlsson is obviously the big name if he reaches free agency but he's unlikely to sign here and even if he does he's unlikely to get less or much less than Doughty money at 29 years of age.

This past summer, I wanted the Canucks to look into signing a guy like De Haan but would he have made a difference? He would have been an upgrade over Del Zotto. Is that the path? Add good 2nd pairing Dmen at an affordable price? If that's the case, do you re-sign Edler?

There's always the trade market. Tyson Barrie will be entering his last year of his contract and if the Avs can't re-sign him they may trade him. Justin Faulk may be available but I'm not sure the Canucks can re-sign him.

What can the Canucks do? Just build the D through the draft?

The solution is easy. Fire Benning and hire a GM that can competently assess defensemen.

 

[Melvin]

The solution is easy. Fire Benning and hire a GM that can competently assess defensemen.

Ding.

 

[RebuildinVan]

Ding.

Ding Ding

 

[Ainec]

sign good dmen like de Haan instead of whatever they came up with

 

[vanuck]

You start by firing Benning and Weisbrod. They aren't capable of fixing this.

 

[vanuck]

this team rarely had assets to make these type of roster player for draft pick trades

And when they did, they spent it on reclamation projects like Clendening, Granlund, Motte. or the filler picks in those Sutter, Gudbranson, Prust trades

One would argue that this team would look even worse the past couple years without Granlund, Motte, Prust, Gudbranson, Sutter, Baertschi. And that would not have been acceptable to ownership or management

Whaaaa...?!

 

[Askel]

The biggest problem with the defense as it is right now is their inability to move the puck. They are probably the worst group in the NHL at this. Combine that with a lot of defensive misstakes and you have the mess we have now.

Hughes is a start but he will probably take a year or two before he can play on the top pair, and it wold be best for his development to start out in somewhat sheltered role, like the Sabres has done with Dahlin.

Joulevi can't defend at the AHL level and would be eaten alive up in big league. he really needs to get his defensive game in order before he can move up. Still he is probably the second best puck mover in the organisation, so there e is som hop there.

Canucks needs to move out Pouliot, Del Zotto, Gudransson. Stetcher should be no 6 on an NHL defense and Hutton at best a 4. Also one of Edler and tanner probably have to go since you can't have 2 so injury prone to 4 d-men. Also if Tryamkin wanted to come back, he would be a nice addition for this team, dont think that is happening though.

But hey fantasy defense:
Hughes-Stralman
Edler- Myers
Hutton-Tryamkin
Stetcher
Joulevi in the minors until he can take a spot from Hutton or Edler.

 

[The Extrapolater]

It's a multi-pronged approach. Management shouldn't just "fix the defence". That's not the only problem with the team. The severe lack of scoring also indicates there's something borked in the forward corps. There's a severe lack of balance and versatility in the makeup of the team, which means when opposing teams shift strategies during games, the Canucks are left scrambling when the few strengths the team actually has are neutralized. There's a reason the Canucks have their awful third period scoring differential.

Bring in new pieces, one piece at a time. Try to sign a top-four d-man in free agency at a good rate. Draft well. Also, bring in good two-way forwards who can do something with the puck when they get it from the defence - that would probably make the clearest difference in the team's defence, as they wouldn't be back on their heels for the majority of the game. This is a problem I've been harping on for four years now. It's the same bloody issue that's plagued the team since Benning shed the team's depth in free agency for his one-trick show ponies and his beloved but useless tweeners.

The turnaround on drafted d-man also isn't four years or so. It should be two or three years at maximum, much the same as with forwards. If your drafted d-men are struggling to make the NHL in their third or fourth years when they're turning 21, 22 years old, then they're probably not NHL-caliber players.

The goal is to bump players down the lineup with better players brought in in the off-season. There's no need to "make room" for prospects. The team's prospects should instead be coming into training camp prepared to win their place on the roster by outright playing better than their competition. Next man up. If the coach doesn't play the best players on the opening season roster, than that's on the coach and management, but if prospects are merely playing as well as the rest of the players in camp, there's no need to keep them up. Send them down, and let them know there's no tolerance for being just good enough. Hell, give that message to the veterans that are on the cusp as well. Let the veterans understand there's openings in the AHL for players just going through the motions too. Reaffirm this message when necessary.

But again, this is all done one step at a time. One piece at a time. Concentrate on the Edler UFA situation. As well as the del Zotto situation, as even he might fetch a draft pick in the latter rounds if there's retained salaries.