Player Discussion Micheal Ferland

MS

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Mar 18, 2002
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You nailed it. As a scorer Ferland basically fell off a cliff last year on a Canes team that's a lot stronger than the Canucks. I'm not getting great vibes about this signing. What were Jimbo and Canucks actually paying for? The guy who lit it up early in the schedule or the guy who's offense basically dried up when the games mattered the most?

Mercifully he's only signed for three years at a respectable cap hit of $3.5m. So if he underachieves it won't be a disastrous blow to the salary cap. But my betting is he lands on their-fourth lines and basically stays there.

It's 4 years, unfortunately.

The cap hit is fine and isn't a killer even if he's a 3rd line guy, but the term is really crap considering the guy's body was starting to break down in Carolina last year.
 

tantalum

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I think I had little issue with the Ferland deal I can't remember but he needs to be played in the proper spot. And that's on the third line. Using him in the top 6 will result in those line under producing.

I prefer a guy like Ferland in the bottom 6 over any of the other choices this organization has to be perfectly blunt. How the season should have started was Baertschi in the top 6 and Ferland on the third line. Not a fan of Baertschi but that would have actually allowed them to push a decent player into the bottom 6. Instead you have a management team that thinks they got a massive deal on a 20+ scoring top 6 winger. He's not that.
 

MikeK

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Nov 10, 2008
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He only has 3 years left after this one. I say only because it's really not a bad term contract. The way 2/3rd liners are paid in today's NHL I'd even say it's a decent contract. Still though, he's young enough to where I don't think his contract is going to hurt us.

It's been 2 games and I don't think he's been the weakest link on that line. I do think if he were playing down the lineup he'd look better. He isn't a 1st liner. I look at him as a 3rd liner who can jump up to the 2nd if need be. Playing on the 1st line I don't think does him any favors.
 

calnuck

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Nov 26, 2010
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I'm willing to give him a little bit of time to adjust to a new team. Have to think that when Roussel returns, having them on a line would be hell for the opposing team if Green can piece that together.
 

Bertuzzzi44

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Jun 26, 2018
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He’s a solid player but definitely isn’t a fit with Pettersson and Boeser, it’s a lack of chemistry because of contrasting styles. Ferland plays a hard fast north south game and crashes the net effectively, much different style than Petey and Boeser who play a controlled possession game, make many passes and find the open man in the slot. A couple of times Ferland went hard to the front of the net (Pettersson and Boeser aren’t going to go and win board battles for you) and the defending team retrieved the puck and went the other way. Ferland would work well on the 2nd or 3rd line imo.
 

Orr4Norris

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Mar 2, 2018
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He has had a rough go so far. Joined a new team, missed most of training camp with an illness, lost a lot of weight, and never got time with his line mates. At this point, putting him on a third line where he can focus on being physical is probably best. Plus, I’m intrigued to see if him and Gaudette can develop some chemistry. They could potentially wreak havoc forechecking. And he can always go back to the first line when he gets going.
 

PuckMunchkin

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Dec 13, 2006
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I wasnt expecting him to keep up pace with his previous seasons. He is not exposed to point per game players like he was in Calgary and Carolina.

But we've not seen what he can do with us yet.

Tiny sample size.
New team.
The flu.

They are not excuses, they are factors that you have to consider.
 

vanarchy

May 3, 2013
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He needs to be given a real chance and sample size before we turn on him. I feel bad for the dude to be honest. This city is not going to attract free agents if we’re sharpening the pitchforks after 2 games.
 

82Ninety42011

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Jul 2, 2011
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If he doesn't work on the top 6 after 20 games I would love a line of Roussel Gaudette Ferland playing together on 3rd line. That would be a fun line with some speed and definitely hard to play against with those two wingers. Give Ferland 20 first though let's see if he develops some chemistry and gets it going with either Pettersson or Horvat first.
 
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RandV

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Jul 29, 2003
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He needs to be given a real chance and sample size before we turn on him. I feel bad for the dude to be honest. This city is not going to attract free agents if we’re sharpening the pitchforks after 2 games.

I'm not sure if it should be as much turning on Ferland as it is turning on Benning or Green if they keep thinking he's a good fit on the top line if he's actually just dragging it down. For the contract we got him at there's nothing wrong with him just being a good 3rd liner.
 
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Bougieman

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Nov 12, 2008
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Realistically, Ferland's played on two of the top lines in the NHL and hit 20 goals exactly once. What were people expecting?

Pretty sure no one was expecting the second coming of Forsberg or 40 goals or something. We're expecting crash and bang, high energy, meat'n'potatoes, open up space for skill players, make the other team tentative, and dominate the tone of the game -- all while having skilled enough mittens to pot a handful in front if he gets the opportunity. You know, like every one of us clearly saw him doing in the playoffs against the Canucks.
 

CherryToke

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Oct 18, 2008
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Realistically, Ferland's played on two of the top lines in the NHL and hit 20 goals exactly once. What were people expecting?

Bertuzzi by the looks of it. Everyone was going on about what a steal his contract is but he's not that good even when healthy and he has injury problems.. so he's not all that tough anymore either.
 
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F A N

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Aug 12, 2005
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I think I had little issue with the Ferland deal I can't remember but he needs to be played in the proper spot. And that's on the third line. Using him in the top 6 will result in those line under producing.

Except that in the last two seasons his teams have been better with him on the top line and he had his two best seasons in his career.
 

PuckMunchkin

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Except that in the last two seasons his teams have been better with him on the top line and he had his two best seasons in his career.

I think Carolina was much better with Niederreiter+ Aho than Ferland + Aho.

Ferland on the other hand dried offensively once removed from the top line.
 

CanucksMJL

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The idea that Pettersson and Boeser have "chemistry" seems a bit silly to me. IMO you could play practically anyone with Pettersson and they'd have some sort of chemistry. Put Quinn on his wing and I'd bet we'd see Magic. (Media talked about how Goldy had chem with Elias when they were together too. NO SHIT.) Play with Mario and you look great right? Ask Kevin Stevens.

Brock is a fine player in his own right, but I don't see any kind of "the sum is greater than the parts" kind of synergy with him and Petey.

I haven't seen much of Ferland yet due to his illness and my own viewing limitations so I see him as someone who, in a scoring role, would do well off the rush and punishing D-men on the forecheck thereby creating chaotic opportunities for his linemates.

I'd personally love to see our resident Frenchman with Petey when he's back. I believe he has enough skill and the right kind of jam to be a dynamite compliment to our beloved Alien.
 

PuckMunchkin

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The idea that Pettersson and Boeser have "chemistry" seems a bit silly to me. IMO you could play practically anyone with Pettersson and they'd have some sort of chemistry. Put Quinn on his wing and I'd bet we'd see Magic. (Media talked about how Goldy had chem with Elias when they were together too. NO ****.) Play with Mario and you look great right? Ask Kevin Stevens.

Brock is a fine player in his own right, but I don't see any kind of "the sum is greater than the parts" kind of synergy with him and Petey.

I haven't seen much of Ferland yet due to his illness and my own viewing limitations so I see him as someone who, in a scoring role, would do well off the rush and punishing D-men on the forecheck thereby creating chaotic opportunities for his linemates.

I'd personally love to see our resident Frenchman with Petey when he's back. I believe he has enough skill and the right kind of jam to be a dynamite compliment to our beloved Alien.

It takes smarts to anticipate the plays Petey chooses to make.

Most players on our team would not expect the passes or find him open for a pass. Its not a one way street.
 

CanucksMJL

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It takes smarts to anticipate the plays Petey chooses to make.

Most players on our team would not expect the passes or find him open for a pass. Its not a one way street.
This kinda sounds like we agree. I mentioned that Hughes with Petey sounds like a match made in heaven. They are high-level thinkers.

I'm saying that there is a baseline of performance that any offensively-oriented legit NHLer could fill playing with Petey. We need to be looking for linemates that are synergistic with Petey and I don't think they necessarily need to be All-Star calibre players. They just need to fit the right profile.
 

PuckMunchkin

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This kinda sounds like we agree. I mentioned that Hughes with Petey sounds like a match made in heaven. They are high-level thinkers.

I'm saying that there is a baseline of performance that any offensively-oriented legit NHLer could fill playing with Petey. We need to be looking for linemates that are synergistic with Petey and I don't think they necessarily need to be All-Star calibre players. They just need to fit the right profile.

I think we disagree on Goldobin tho.

He is one of the better options we currently have to be the 3rd wheel on that line. Maybe let him play there to boost his profile and trade him, because it seems like he has no future with the Canucks, long term.

I think Ferland, once he recovers from his illness, deserves a second chance there too.
 

CanucksMJL

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I think we disagree on Goldobin tho.

He is one of the better options we currently have to be the 3rd wheel on that line. Maybe let him play there to boost his profile and trade him, because it seems like he has no future with the Canucks, long term.

I think Ferland, once he recovers from his illness, deserves a second chance there too.
Ferland is supposed to be the puck retrieval master on that line. That is the missing link for those 2, IMO. I think he'll get another shot, but I'm excited to see Miller there tomorrow.

I could only see Goldy there with Petey if he was there instead of Brock. Petey + east/west skill guy + north/south puck retrieval guy.
 

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