Line Combos: Lineup of the Future

[galiano]

2yrs From now

Sedin - Sedin - Jensen
Shinkaruk - Vey - Kassian
Bonino - Horvat - Virtanen
Gaunce - Matthias - Dorsett

Edler - Tanev
Hamhuis - Sbisa
Stanton - Corrado

Most on this board are in love with Jensen. What the hell has this guy done to be considered a top six player ? I see him as a career American leaguer. Or at best an occasional call up.

 

[Spectrefire]

What the hell has this guy done to be considered a top six player?

Play 17 games last season and not look too out of place in the top six? He's done well at every professional level of hockey so far, save for the first half of the AHL last season which was largely due to him recovering from an injury.

 

[Wilch]

I can't believe this thread went a page without anyone mentioning McDavid.

 

[huntison]

I can't believe this thread went a page without anyone mentioning McDavid.

Shinkaruk - McDavid - Kassian
McCann - Horvat - Virtanen
Sedin - Sedin - Fox
Cassels - Bonino - Gaunce

 

[SillyRabbit]

Thankfully there is such things as veterans and UFAs, because if we want our prospects to fill out a line-up, we have to hope:

- One of Virtanen or Shinkaruk become first line players. Shinkaruk has a better chance than Virtanen, i'd put this at a 35% chance of happening.
- Kassian becomes a first line player. Very unlikely, 10% chance of happening.
- Either we draft a 1C this year, or we luck out and one of Horvat or McCann becomes a 1C If we draft in the top 10, we should be able to get a #1C. Benning seems hell bent on trying to make the team finish 9th in the West however so you never know... Horvat/McCann are not top line players
- One of Vey, Jensen, or Matthias becomes a top 6 player... Decent chance of happening, i'd put it at 50%
- Two of Fox, Gaunce, and Cassels can fill out our bottom 6 centers... Guance has the best shot, i'd put it at 40%
- One of Archibald/Kenins/Lain finds their way as a solid NHLer. Unlikely. 20% chance.

All of our D prospects exceed expectations. That's just asking too much.

One of our goalies becomes a starter level talent... Goaltenders are too hard to predict

Honestly the future doesn't look as bleak as it did a couple years ago but with how Canuck fans go on about our prospect pool you'd think we'd have some elite talent.

Realistically we don't have any future 1st line, or future 1st D-pairing.

I've said it once and i've said it again, 2015 is the perfect year to tank for a high draft pick to lock up a #1C.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

I can't believe this thread went a page without anyone mentioning McDavid.

Because there is 0% chance we get the #1 overall draft pick this year. That's probably why. It's a pipe-dream. I think we still have a small shot at one of Barzal/Konecny/Strome though.

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

Because there is 0% chance we get the #1 overall draft pick this year. That's probably why. It's a pipe-dream. I think we still have a small shot at one of Barzal/Konecny/Strome though.

Slightly more than that

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=728795

 

[Canadian Canuck]

Draft Barzal. If we don't have the right pick. Package a deal to get Barzal. Please Benning.

 

[Get North]

Here's how I see it for the 2017-18 season:

Sedin - Sedin - ________ < UFA/Trade.
Shinkaruk - Horvat - Kassian
Gaunce - Bonino - Jensen
Matthias - Cassels - Vey

Edler - Corrado
Hamhuis - Tanev
Hutton - Tryamkin

Lack
______ < UFA/Trade

This will be a transitioning period for Horvat, Shinkaruk and the rest of our prospects to start taking over the team. Sedins will be in their final contract and might get re-signed for another year but they'll have to take over and take the load off the Sedins. Hamhuis will still a be a reliable two-way defenceman playing shutdown minutes with Tanev, I can see Edler and Corrado doing great playing offensive and against the weaker competition. Hutton playing sheltered minutes should do well along with a big DFD in Tryamkin.

We should try and package Jensen + 2016 1st + Hansen for a guy like E.Kane now so he'll fit right into our top 6 for the future aswell. We have alot of prospect depth, we should definitely turn that into some quality pieces and when all the pieces are ready we should go all in for the cup while making big moves for UFAs.

Something interesting about Horvat and Shinkaruk that reminds of another duo, Kane and Toews. I don't want to go to this again and say Horvat = Toews, Shinkaruk = Kane. On Chicago when Toews and Kane are together they are dangerous obviously and teams need to shut that down but when Kane is on another line he faces the 2nd pairing or the easier competition while Toews takes the hard minutes against hard opponents. If we can do something like that with Shinkaruk and Horvat it'll be extremely difficult for other teams to play against that, throw in McCann and Virtanen and we might have something.

When everyone is all ready to make big moves at the NHL level, I think our roster will look like:

Shinkaruk - McCann - Virtanen
"Trade/UFA" - Horvat - Kassian
Gaunce - Cassels - Vey
______ - Bonino - ______

Edler - Hutton
_____ - Tanev
Tryamkin - Corrado

Lack
Demko

Our defence definitely needs help.

 

[Wilch]

Slightly more than that

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=728795

Booyah.

 

[Virtanen2Horvat]

I am just going to ask the question in here instead of making a thread. But would you rather draft Kylington instead of a center?


Shinkaruk - Horvat - Jensen
Virtanen - McCann - Kassian
Guance - Bonino - Vey
Matthias - Cassels - Dorsett

Edler - Tanev
Sbisa - Kylington
Stanton - Tryamkin

Lack
Demko

 

[RingWraith]

The prospect of a Virtanen-Horvat-Kassian top line is really interesting. Assuming of course they all match their potential and pan out, we could be looking at a new West Coast Express. Virtanen, the Naslund esque sniper with more size and more edge. Kassian already looks like a budding Bertuzzi, and Horvat a stronger, better Morrison. None of them may scream first liners at first, but together that combination is very interesting.

 

[Havre]

The prospect of a Virtanen-Horvat-Kassian top line is really interesting. Assuming of course they all match their potential and pan out, we could be looking at a new West Coast Express. Virtanen, the Naslund esque sniper with more size and more edge. Kassian already looks like a budding Bertuzzi, and Horvat a stronger, better Morrison. None of them may scream first liners at first, but together that combination is very interesting.

Agree and there are so many "kinds" of 1st lines. With the Sedins and players like Bure and Mogilny before we have been used to a lot of skill on the 1st line, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Personally I think the future will be more teams built like the current NYRs. 3 lines sharing ice-time with a 4th checking line. Clearly if you got players like the Sedins you want to utilise their skill-set, but I could see the value of that 1C diminishing somewhat. 3 solid Cs that can do a bit of everything and that are defensively sound is fine with me. Then you can acquire a bit of skill on the wings - like NYR did with Zuccarello.

I don't really know much about our prospects. Living in Europe I don't watch junior hockey etc. other than the odd national team game, but I like the "idea" at least of our current set of forwards. Having players like Horvat, McCann, Virtanen and Kassian will give us a lot of flexibility in how to build our line-up. Skilled players that might not be seen as good enough for a top 6 role could be acquired very cheaply if you can afford to have that kind of player on a solid 3rd line. That player might then prove himself worthy of a top 6 spot later. Now the "7th" player often struggles because he is either asked to produce quickly whenever he gets a shot in the top 6 or he is seen as a liability in the bottom 6.

Obviously it depends on how they develop, but you can put almost any kind of winger next to any combination between Horvat/McCann and Virtanen/Kassian to get either a well balanced line or potentially a fairly heavy line. And in any case hardly any "risk" of a line not being able to at least stay defensively sound.

It never works out that smoothly, but add Jensen and Shinkaruk and we should have two very decent lines right there. We will be difficult to play against if we can add a similar 3rd line in the top 9. Might not be a "flashy" team, but should be rock solid.

 

[Tip Touchers]

This lineup strictly includes prospects.

Virtanen - Horvat - Kassian
Shinkaruk - McCann - Jensen
Gaunce - Cassels - Vey
Kenins - Fox - Grenier

Hutton - Corrado
Tryamkin - Subban
Cederholm - McEneny


Demko
Eriksson

I am pretty happy with our forward group if everyone lives up to their potential which is a big if obviously. Our D really concerns me though, if we are somehow able to add Kylington I would be stoked.

 

[Numbers]

Most on this board are in love with Jensen. What the hell has this guy done to be considered a top six player ? I see him as a career American leaguer. Or at best an occasional call up.

At the end of last season he really picked up his production in the AHL. He was also the Canucks best forward in 2-3 games. When he gets a chance to shoot with confidence it is pretty evident that he is a top 6 player. I'm not sure why you see him as a career AHLer because he really hasn't played much at AHL or NHL levels.

 

[medhatcanuck]

Virtanen - ______ - _______
Shinkaruk - Horvat - Kassian
Gaunce - McCann - Jensen
Matthias - Bonino - Vey/Cassels/Fox

____ - Tanev
Hutton - Corrado
McEneny - Subban
Tryminakin

Lack
Demko
Eriksson

 

[CP]

Eliminating all the experienced Canucks and really long shot prospects, and just using players with a decent shot at playing in the NHL, the line up might be:

Shinkaruk - Horvat - Kassian
Virtanen - McCann - Jensen
Matthias - Gaunce - Vey
Kenins - Cassels - Dorsett

??? - Tanev
Hutton - Corrado
Sbisa - Stanton

Lack
Demko

If these prospects make it, this line-up lacks elite scoring, but it should have really strong checking centres, okay scoring on the wings, and really good size and strength throughout the forward lines. The goalies could be the strength of the team. The real weakness in the future will be the defensemen. There is time to add depth because the vets still on the team can play for a number of years, especially Hamhuis. They should start drafting lots of D-men in the next couple drafts. The Canucks have enough depth, they need a couple elite players for the future. If the Canucks can add a true number one defenseman, and a true number one centre before the Sedins retire, the transition to youth could go pretty smoothly.

 

[Pip]

Draft Barzal. If we don't have the right pick. Package a deal to get Barzal. Please Benning.

What team is going to trade that pick?