Management Thread: Don't Forget. You're Here Forever

[JiffyPB]

Why are people penciling OEL into this shutdown role? He hasn’t been that guy in 5 years, and didn’t penalty kill last year at played 3rd pairing minutes at ES. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills reading all these posts about him.

Don't you know. A guy coming off 10 even strength points in 46 games in an all-situations role with #1PP time is magically going to become a consistent 30-40 point defenseman in a shutdown role where he only gets #2PP time at best.

It's totally not going to go like Trouba in NYR.

 

[Bubbles]

Because Benning thinks that he can fulfill that role. Like it or not.

"Put me in, coach!"

 

[GreatSaveLuongo]

15.65 mil - if Benning had napped through free agency last year and this year

Hughes-Tanev (4.5)
Edler (3.5)-Schmidt (5.95)
Rathbone-Stecher (1.7)


18.76- Benning "focuses on the defense"

Hughes-Hamonic (3)
OEL (7.26)-Myers (6)
Rathbone-Poolman (2.5)


We were literally better on ice, on cap dollars, and on term if Benning had just slept his way through free agency the last several years.

But as always he just had to "focus on the defense"

"We wanted to shift money from our d group to our forward group."

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Still need: Top 4 RHD

 

[CpatainCanuck]

Has this been the busiest week ever for the Canucks’ front office? I’ve lost count of the number of players traded and signed.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

"We wanted to shift money from our d group to our forward group."

It's crazy. Defense is a thousand more times important than forward, except arguably center.

 

[Hit the post]

It's crazy. Defense is a thousand more times important than forward, except arguably center.

Schmidt > Hamonic & The Poolman.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Schmidt > Hamonic & The Poolman.

Schmidt didn't want to be here though. The minute he got traded we all accepted that as indisputable fact.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

The defensive targets all throughout this run have been cringeworthy.

 

[Hit the post]

Schmidt didn't want to be here though. The minute he got traded we all accepted that as indisputable fact.

I want alternative facts.

 

[CpatainCanuck]

You guys need to take a step back here.

1. The forward core is arguably top 10 in the NHL now. Quite deep.

2. Demko is a top 15 starter in the NHL.

3. The defense is not as bad as you guys are making it out to be. Are you guys forgetting we have a guy named Hughes? Look at Karlson's 3rd season... Hughes has the potential to do something like that. He could be our Karlsson. Also, OEL is good. You guys already hate him, its absurd.

IMO the weakest point is the coaching, not the D-core.

If Hughes takes a big step forward, OEL returns to form, Myers doesn’t decline, Rathbone doesn’t skip a beat at the nhl level, and the depth defencemen all play to their potential, yeah the Canucks D will be ok. The problem is that in reality, approximately half of this ragtag group Benning has put together is likely to underperform relative to expectations.

 

[maroon 6]

Schmidt > Hamonic & The Poolman.

Schmidt that didn’t want to be here < Hamonic, Poolman, 1 million cap space and 3rd round pick

 

[carrotshirt]

Hyman,nothing
Coleman,nothing
Tavares,nothing
Panarin, nothing
Duchene,nothing
Bobrovsky,nothing

Am I missing something here, or does this only ever happen to the Canucks?

Clearly.

 

[carrotshirt]

All I wanted in that media availability was for someone to ask why Edler walked/what happened and none of those jokers even said his name.

Great player for this team for a long time, nobody even asks about him?

 

[tantalum]

I’m not convinced the team is appreciably better. Regardless of whether Schmidt wanted to be a canuck or not, compared to last season the blueline has somehow been downgraded. I believe Edler and Schmidt are both better all round than OEL and Poolman. Hamonic being a returnee is a wash.

This will be what sinks the team yet again. Especially with the comments of no expected changes to system. A system that as far as anyone can tell doesn’t actually exist and if it does all it serves to do is hang the goaltender out to dry.

 

[AwesomeInTheory]

 

[mathonwy]

I’m not convinced the team is appreciably better. Regardless of whether Schmidt wanted to be a canuck or not, compared to last season the blueline has somehow been downgraded. I believe Edler and Schmidt are both better all round than OEL and Poolman. Hamonic being a returnee is a wash.

This will be what sinks the team yet again. Especially with the comments of no expected changes to system. A system that as far as anyone can tell doesn’t actually exist and if it does all it serves to do is hang the goaltender out to dry.

It might not be appreciably better but it IS appreciably more entertaining.

The subtractions are massive.

 

[MikeK]

I’m not convinced the team is appreciably better. Regardless of whether Schmidt wanted to be a canuck or not, compared to last season the blueline has somehow been downgraded. I believe Edler and Schmidt are both better all round than OEL and Poolman. Hamonic being a returnee is a wash.

This will be what sinks the team yet again. Especially with the comments of no expected changes to system. A system that as far as anyone can tell doesn’t actually exist and if it does all it serves to do is hang the goaltender out to dry.

It's hard to argue with what you say. Still though, we must wait and see what this team looks like on the ice. Nobody can deny that there was an enormous turnover this offseason and none of us really knows what we have until the puck drops. At the very least it gives us something interesting to look out for... for a few months anyway.

 

[AwesomeInTheory]

I’m not convinced the team is appreciably better. Regardless of whether Schmidt wanted to be a canuck or not, compared to last season the blueline has somehow been downgraded. I believe Edler and Schmidt are both better all round than OEL and Poolman. Hamonic being a returnee is a wash.

This will be what sinks the team yet again. Especially with the comments of no expected changes to system. A system that as far as anyone can tell doesn’t actually exist and if it does all it serves to do is hang the goaltender out to dry.

I would argue that there is a lot more potential for success than last year's team.

But this is very much the Goldilocks Canucks. Everything has to be 'just right' for it to all work, particularly on the back end.

 

[logan5]

Our roster is pretty much set now, and I'm feeling fairly confident that the defence will be adequate to support a superb offence. This group of forwards will be on the attack much more than in the past, and that make the d mans job a lot easier.

This team is built for Quinn Hughes, and I can see a huge year coming from him.

 

[AwesomeInTheory]

Our roster is pretty much set now, and I'm feeling fairly confident that the defence will be adequate to support a superb offence. This group of forwards will be on the attack much more than in the past, and that make the d mans job a lot easier.

This team is built for Quinn Hughes, and I can see a huge year coming from him.

Hughes #1 partner last year was Hamonic, followed by Benn and then Myers.

He did not have a good season last year. I am concerned that he may not be getting put into a position to succeed.

 

[logan5]

I’m not convinced the team is appreciably better. Regardless of whether Schmidt wanted to be a canuck or not, compared to last season the blueline has somehow been downgraded. I believe Edler and Schmidt are both better all round than OEL and Poolman. Hamonic being a returnee is a wash.

This will be what sinks the team yet again. Especially with the comments of no expected changes to system. A system that as far as anyone can tell doesn’t actually exist and if it does all it serves to do is hang the goaltender out to dry.

The d group I'm not sure is better, but it's not worse either. Rathbone is a positive addition to the 3rd pairing imo. And Quinn Hughes is still only 21, and players his age and with his talent tend to take large leaps forward in their game at this stage of their career. And OEL of course, so their is potential for the d group to play mauch better than expected.

But there is no denying that our offence has improved by a lot. We are much deeper than before, and like Quinn, Pettersson is likely to take another step forward.

I think there is enough talent now that we can genuinely say, when we make the play-offs, anything can happen.

 

[Scorvat]

Why are people penciling OEL into this shutdown role? He hasn’t been that guy in 5 years, and didn’t penalty kill last year at played 3rd pairing minutes at ES. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills reading all these posts about him.

With Myers as a partner...

 

[joelCAMEL]

Lets also take a second to remember how many of the D pieces walked for nothing:

Hutton, nothing.
Tanev, nothing.
Hamhuis, nothing.
Stetcher, nothing.
Edler, nothing.

Hutton, 2019. signed next season with LA for $1.5 mill, then ANA for $.95 mill, and is now a UFA again
Tanev, 2020. joined team and left as a free agent
Hamhuis, 2016. joined team and left as a free agent, and there was an attempt to trade him to Dallas
Stetcher,2020. joined team and left as a free agent
Edler, 2021. would not waive for a trade and left team as a 35 year old free agent

Your post is accurate but those defensemen left in 4 different years. That is like 1.25 d-men per year, which is not high. I understand that you are big on asset management but some assets have no value, some can't be moved unless they agree to it and some are needed to fulfill a short term goal.

Have you seen a trend where teams trade a lot of unwanted assets at the deadline or before the UFA window opens?

 

[arttk]

I would argue that there is a lot more potential for success than last year's team.

But this is very much the Goldilocks Canucks. Everything has to be 'just right' for it to all work, particularly on the back end.

I think in order for things to be good, we will need:
Hughes improving his D
OEL dialing back time by like 5 years
Ratbone proving he can be a top4 guy
Hamonic dialing back time
Myers to be sheltered
Poolman figuring out how to handle tough minutes
Green changing his system to something that is not “let Demko save you”