Rate the moves of the Draft Weekend

[Canucks LB]

let's be honest. It was a pretty average at best / Bad draft.

Virtanen - Has to turn out well, or we are going to be biting ourselves for not picking Nylander.
Mccann - Could have had Barbeshkov.

Don't really care about the rest of the guy, the russian guy seems interesting.

Overall D or C- would be fair.

 

[Kirk Mclean]

IMO getting Vey out of LA is the only move so far that hasn't pissed me off.

I honestly didn't think it was possible for me to miss Gillis, but I do already.

On the bright side, this team actually has a very good shot at McDavid or Eichel next year. That's how bad this team looks. I mean, I believe this is a bottom 3 roster in the league on paper.

 

[bossram]

Disaster, because we learned that our new management are retrograde. Our competitors are smarter than we are right now, and it's going to be hard to gain ground on them unless we're terrible enough to land very top picks.

Agreed. Atrocious draft weekend. Get ready for the meat and potatoes.

Only decent move was Vey.

 

[Mr Reputable]

I give the moves an A. I love everything Benning did.

Kesler - Tumor removed. Handcuffed Canucks with a grand total of 2 teams in his list. The return is fantastic on the overrated 2014 Kesler. Bonino, a heart and soul guy and McCann who is a very good prospect and we're lucky he fell to us.

Garrison - I'd be happy even if we just got rid of him for nothing. Not suited for the Pacific Division. Ecstatic that we got Vey, who will surprise everyone. and be a top 6 with the Canucks. A slot is now open for Corrado to show what he can do. Like that he opened up cap space.

Dorsett - Great pick-up for a 3rd.

Draft - Great top 3 picks. OK 4-5. 6-7, not expecting anything.

I wanted change, JB showed me he is not afraid to pull the trigger. Traded with teams not named Florida - TB, NYR, Ana, and LA.

I love his interview post-draft discussing each and every draft pick-up.

I hope he does not make any splash on July 2. Save the cap space for next year. I hope we suck for another year and hopefully get the chance to draft Top 1 or 2 next year.

I look forward to JB trading Burrows and other relics of 2011 the next few days or months so we can finally move on.

Great job, Benning!!!

 

[CanaFan]

Trades were tough but some extenuating circumstances with Kesler. Garrison was puzzling, Dorset was whatever.

Grade: C

Draft was a whole other story.

Virtanen - great pick, wanted this kid all along and as people get more familiar with his game I can see the perception of him is going way up. Kid has _massive_ goal scoring upside, something every team in the NHL is searching for.

Grade: A

McCann - good pick, honestly never thought he'd be there at 24 as I saw him going in the 15-20 range. Tough second half of the season but there is lots of potential and he could turn in a big 2014-15 season. Sure there were other good options on the board that would have been good, maybe even better picks, but I see no reason to hate the McCann pick just b/c Benning, like the 10 subsequent GMs, didn't like Barbashev.

Grade: B

Demko - Not a fan of drafting goalies early but he has a good pedigree, is likely the next US goalie for WJCs and has a good chance to develop into a quality starter that nets us a #9 draft pick in 7-8 years time.

Grade: B-

Tryamkin - I know next to nothing about this kid but the optics are pretty good and at the very least he is a huge (literally) boom or bust pick. I approve the strategy.

Grade: C+

Forsling - Another one I haven't seen but Feebster loves him and his skillset and playstyle sound good to me. High upside pick.

Grade: A


Pettit - sounds like junk but getting overly mad about a 6th round pick is like losing your mind because you dropped a nickel and couldn't find it. Does it really matter enough to ruin your whole day?

Grade: D but who cares

Stewart - See above

Grade: D but who cares

 

[RandV]

Overall I see some pro's, con's, and status quo, so he gets C for now.

Biggest factor for me will be how well Bonino and Vey do in our lineup this season. I'm okay with the first 5 picks, I know a lot of people were cheering for Barbashev at #24 and were dreading McCann, but everyone on the TSN panel that the latter was the best pick available and 8 more teams passed on the former.

Time will tell, but it seems like while HF Canucks Board scouts preferred Barbashev professional consensus favoured McCann. Last two picks feels like the old Nonis regime though, if these guys don't make it out of the CHL then we may as well have not even bothered drafting like many Nonis picks that have come before.

While Kesler is what it is the rest really didn't feel like the trades were good asset management. Maybe he'll change our minds, but did we really need Dorsett? And considering his contract did it really need to cost a 3rd? Opposite approach for Garrison. I can understand if you don't want him as your 3rd pairing LD... but what happens if one of our top 4 get injured? That's kind of the point of having a #5 like Garrison, someone's bound to be injured at any point in the season so top 4 minutes go to Garrison, rather than Sbisa/Stanton/Corrado.

So not as good as I like but I can live with it... now the big factor will be free agency. While I've never been onboard with the 'tank for McDavid' group, I'd be honestly impressed if he mostly stands pat. That would tell me Aquilini has given him free reign, and Benning is looking at the long term game plan. On the flip side I'm dreading potential big contracts given to guys like Bolland and Miller, which will just feel like a Nonis thing.

Also something to consider to put everything in contrast, were the rumours that Anaheim's deadline offer was the 10th & Etem? If that were the case, had our owner not meddled and left Gillis in charge, I figure he would have drafted one of the more skilled guys at 6th, then one of the big boys would still be left at 10th. So you're looking at potentially Nylander/Ehlers, Etem, and Ritchie with Gillis vs Virtanen, Bonino, and McCann with Benning.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

B because we didn't get completely bent over on the Kesler trade. Gillis would have..

Gillis was rumored to have Etem + 1st (Ottawa's) + 2nd but the owners nixed it.

Anywho...

Kesler: (C) - If Bonino turns out to be less of a fluke, this may be a decent trade. My immediate qualm is Benning's seeming refusal to be anything but cordial to Kesler's demands in lieu of strong arming him like he did us.

Garrison: (F) - Absolutely idiotic. Now, I have no issue with trading Garrison, but for a late second? At least try to push for Connolly or Gorges/Emelin/Prust. Hell, add to him and push for better. To sell a defenseman like Garrison as essentially a cap dump is woeful misuse of an asset.

3rd (Dorsett) (C) - Pointless trade for a fringe fourth liner who will be a UFA next season. Again, if you were going to trade Garrison for so little. Go get Prust from Montreal. At least he's a good fourth liner (and decent third liner).

2nd (Vey): (C-) - I fail to see how this is not another Schroeder, wherein he either works out in a top six capacity or amounts to nothing. The fact he's done squat does not bode well.

Our drafting was okay. I'm less enamored by the goaltending selection, but I don't follow prospects as readily as some here.

Overall, I feel yesterday was a D (Maybe C- if that were an option)

 

[J Canuck]

C

Nothing thrilling except maybe the freeing of cap space by moving NTCs. I'd like better returns, selfish, I know. Tearing it all down is the easy part, I want to see what they build now.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Trades were tough but some extenuating circumstances with Kesler. Garrison was puzzling, Dorset was whatever.

Grade: C

Draft was a whole other story.

Virtanen - great pick, wanted this kid all along and as people get more familiar with his game I can see the perception of him is going way up. Kid has _massive_ goal scoring upside, something every team in the NHL is searching for.

Grade: A

McCann - good pick, honestly never thought he'd be there at 24 as I saw him going in the 15-20 range. Tough second half of the season but there is lots of potential and he could turn in a big 2014-15 season. Sure there were other good options on the board that would have been good, maybe even better picks, but I see no reason to hate the McCann pick just b/c Benning, like the 10 subsequent GMs, didn't like Barbashev.

Grade: B

Demko - Not a fan of drafting goalies early but he has a good pedigree, is likely the next US goalie for WJCs and has a good chance to develop into a quality starter that nets us a #9 draft pick in 7-8 years time.

Grade: B-

Tryamkin - I know next to nothing about this kid but the optics are pretty good and at the very least he is a huge (literally) boom or bust pick. I approve the strategy.

Grade: C+

Forsling - Another one I haven't seen but Feebster loves him and his skillset and playstyle sound good to me. High upside pick.

Grade: A


Pettit - sounds like junk but getting overly mad about a 6th round pick is like losing your mind because you dropped a nickel and couldn't find it. Does it really matter enough to ruin your whole day?

Grade: D but who cares

Stewart - See above

Grade: D but who cares

Some of us care...

 

[just22]

Gillis was rumored to have Etem + 1st (Ottawa's) + 2nd but the owners nixed it.

Anywho...

2nd (Vey): (C-) - I fail to see how this is not another Schroeder, wherein he either works out in a top six capacity or amounts to nothing. The fact he's done squat does not bode well.

Our drafting was okay. I'm less enamored by the goaltending selection, but I don't follow prospects as readily as some here.

Overall, I feel yesterday was a D (Maybe C- if that were an option)

Was actually Etem and two 2nds. No way the 10th was dangled. And Vey is much better than Schroeder.

 

[Tiranis]

Pettit - sounds like junk but getting overly mad about a 6th round pick is like losing your mind because you dropped a nickel and couldn't find it. Does it really matter enough to ruin your whole day?

Grade: D but who cares

Stewart - See above

Grade: D but who cares

Detroit took Axel Holmstrom. Great production at the U18 and in the Swedish J20. I'm willing to bet that he has a significantly brighter future than the two guys we picked. And it's not as if he was an unknown. Or you could go with Kase, guy who stood out at the U20 and has been playing in the Czech men's league. Again, significantly more upside.

But the real concern is when your GM says something like "we took a project player that we hope to groom into a 4th line role". That stuff has been proven not to work. The smart teams have moved away from that approach long ago. And even if it did, the value just isn't there.

 

[arsmaster*]

I'll give the draft a C+/B- (trying to be positive and stop worrying about our new GM wasting picks on project 4th liners).

I grade the trades near D/D-

I think we managed assets terribly.

 

[DCantheDDad]

I gave the weekend a B. Could have been better, some decisions were questionable, but it sets us up for free agency quite well. I'm happy with the first 5 picks, but it looks like the last two were wasted. It looks to be interesting times ahead in Vancouver.

 

[vannuckles]

I'd love to see the results of this same poll, two years from now.

 

[DL44]

IMO getting Vey out of LA is the only move so far that hasn't pissed me off.

I honestly didn't think it was possible for me to miss Gillis, but I do already.

On the bright side, this team actually has a very good shot at McDavid or Eichel next year. That's how bad this team looks. I mean, I believe this is a bottom 3 roster in the league on paper.

Hmm..

I'm looking at..

Sedin-Sedin-Jensen
Matthias-Vey-Kassian
Higgens-Bonino-Burrows
Dorsett-Richardson-Hansen
Sestito.

Edler-Tanev
Hamhius-Bieksa
Stanton-Sbisa

Lack, Markstrom.

NEW Coach, New Systems that with promote a more entertaining style of play.



Are you predicting the Canucks to be ravaged by injuries.. Or for no one to bounce back from last yr? Or just a doom and gloomer by nature.

even our callup are more intriguing for when some injuries do come
Rookie call ups this yr- Gaunce, Shinkaruk, Fox


Frankly the remaining issues I see remaining is limited skill in our middle 6 which may continue to effect our PP's effectiveness.
Also missing a PP pt man.
And of course goaltending is an obvious issue.

Otherwise I expect our offense to bounce back and return to the middle of the pack this year.
Bottom 3 roster is the same hyperbole I've been reading all weekend...

 

[RandV]

Was actually Etem and two 2nds. No way the 10th was dangled. And Vey is much better than Schroeder.

Bryan Murray is a liar then? Because he said the offer was better at the trade deadline.

Also it wasn't the '10th' back then, it was Ottawa's first and there was still a quarter of a season left to play. Can't remember where they were in the standings, but at the end of the seasons Ottawa was like us in that they fell to the bottom of a very close group. 3 more points and they would have jumped 4 teams. Though then again considering their strong finish they could have been looking to finish off where they did at the deadline. Regardless though, Etem and two 2nds isn't better than the deal we got.

 

[Siludin]

More pissed we gave up a 2015 3rd than anything.

C from me. Not good enough.

Lmfao imagine judging a draft weekend based on losing a 3rd round pick for next year.

 

[Numbers]

Considering Kesler was willing to go to only 2 teams Benning did excellent.

Drafting was solid as well.

Vey trade is very underrated. Vey is basically Rakell, so everyone who wanted him in the Kesler trade take notice.

Freeing up so much cap space give Canucks a ton of flexibility. Might be able to pick off a nice player that cap strapped team can't afford.

A

 

[CanaFan]

Some of us care...

Oh I know people care, though I can't for the life of me understand why they care *so much*.

Am I bugged by it? A bit I guess, more the philosophy than the actual harm it caused. But do a 6th and 7th round pick overshadow what I liked in the much more important 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th rounds? Be pretty irrational if it did.

 

[opendoor]

Hmm..

I'm looking at..

Sedin-Sedin-Jensen
Matthias-Vey-Kassian
Higgens-Bonino-Burrows
Dorsett-Richardson-Hansen
Sestito.

Edler-Tanev
Hamhius-Bieksa
Stanton-Sbisa

Lack, Markstrom.

NEW Coach, New Systems that with promote a more entertaining style of play.



Are you predicting the Canucks to be ravaged by injuries.. Or for no one to bounce back from last yr? Or just a doom and gloomer by nature.

even our callup are more intriguing for when some injuries do come
Rookie call ups this yr- Gaunce, Shinkaruk, Fox


Frankly the remaining issues I see remaining is limited skill in our middle 6 which may continue to effect our PP's effectiveness.
Also missing a PP pt man.
And of course goaltending is an obvious issue.

Otherwise I expect our offense to bounce back and return to the middle of the pack this year.
Bottom 3 roster is the same hyperbole I've been reading all weekend...

If that's the roster they go with I fully expect a similar finish to this year. Your top 6 includes 2 guys who have little to no NHL experience in Jensen and Vey, and a 3rd/4th liner in Matthias. None of those lines look remotely capable of playing tough minutes and the that defense is an injury away from disaster.

 

[Shareefruck]

I'll rate everything instead, since it's still so early

Excellent:
- Getting Forsling in 5th round (Gradin again)
- the approach of trading players for picks and leaving us with what looks to be a worse team next year rather than stubbornly trading away picks to compete. Looks like we may be doing more of a rebuild than Benning/Linden let on, and next year is the excellent time for a poor-standing-results transition year.
- Signing Willie Desjardins

Good:
- Getting McCann at 24
- Getting Demko at 36
- The idea of getting rid of Garrison
- The idea of holding onto Edler for now
- The decisiveness of getting rid of Kesler rather than letting this drag out
- Buying out David Booth
- Not selling the farm for Reinhart considering the price that Florida seemed to want.

Somewhat Satisfied:
- Return from the Kesler trade
- The idea of trading the 2nd for a young almost-ready-to-make-the-team player in an attempt to speed up the rebuild
- Taking a gamble with Tryamkin. It's a little unorthodox and maybe should have tried for it later, but I'm okay with the gamble.

Disappointed:
- Not getting the 10th overall in lieu of Bonino-- Would have much preferred getting Virtanen, Ritchie, and McCann/Barbashev for Kesler over what we got
- Passing on Barbashev which is exactly what we needed
- Passing on McKeowyn-- I would have preferred him over Linden Vey

Bad/Awful:
- The return for Garrison was bad
- Not re-signing Santorelli is a stupid idea
- Trading the third round pick for Derek Dorsett.
- The idea that some of the moves above seem to conflict with the direction they seem to want to go in-- It seems like Benning/Linden wants it both ways-- They want to compete now while doing a full rebuild, which is weird.
- The inclusion of Lucas Sbisa in the Kesler trade. Why?

Mind-bogglingly idiotic
- The approach that management seems to have a "who cares about the late round picks?" mentality. Kyle Pettit and McKenze Stewart scream "who gives a ****" from management. The placement where they were drafted often don't work out, sure, but it feels more like Linden/Benning are flat out throwing in the towel in these rounds when they do stuff like this.

Basically I'm all over the map-- I love the direction/approach but alot of the execution was kind of god-awful.

C+?

Here is what I wish he did/would do if I had a fantasy do-over

- Trade Kesler for 10th overall, 24th overall, give or take something that isn't Sbisa (or not)
- Sign Santorelli for the Bonino role
- Don't trade for Dorsett
- Sign Willie Desjardins
- Try to get better return for Garrison (if impossible, so be it, trade him anyways)

Draft:
1. Virtanen (6th Overall)
2. Ritchie (10th Overall)
3. Barbashev (24th Overall)
4. Demko (2nd round)
5. McKeowyn (2nd round)
6. Anything but Dorsett (3rd round)
7. Tryamkin (3rd round)
7. Forsling (5th round)
8. Not what we got (6th round)
9. Not what we got (7th round)

Transition year roster (not looking to compete with it). Goal is to have just enough insulation that the young players don't get completely burned/mentally destroyed, have a physically competitive atmosphere where it isn't completely hopeless on a game-by-game basis, but still be devoid of talent enough that we'll get high picks.

Sedin - Sedin - Jensen
Higgins - Santorelli - Kassian
Burrows - Horvat - Hansen
Dalpe - Matthias - Richardson
Welsh
Schroeder
Sestito

Hamhuis - Tanev
Edler - Corrado
Stanton - Bieksa
Sbisa?
Weber

Lack
Markstrom

 

[arsmaster*]

I also don't get why Bonino, the NHLer is a 3rd liner and Vey, the AHLer, is a 2nd liner.

I just can't see a rookie getting 2nd line minutes on a team with little to no offensive support on the wings.

I realize we'll sort of be a 3 - 3rd lines kind of team I just don't get vey ahead of bonino at this point.

 

[Tiranis]

I also don't get why Bonino, the NHLer is a 3rd liner and Vey, the AHLer, is a 2nd liner.

I just can't see a rookie getting 2nd line minutes on a team with little to no offensive support on the wings.

I realize we'll sort of be a 3 - 3rd lines kind of team I just don't get vey ahead of bonino at this point.

I'm just trying to figure out who's going to take on the tough match-ups. Neither of these guys is ready. Bonino played easy minutes and did OK, Vey played easier minutes and did poorly (worst possession stats on the Kings). Are Sedins the new shutdown duo?

 

[Ventana*]

Virtanen - B (Would have gone with Ehlers)

McCann - B (Would have gone with Barbashev)

Demko - A (Really like this pick, good value)

Tryamkin - A+ (Known about this guy for a long time and have always wanted the Canucks to pick him up. Waking up to him being drafted was a pleasant surprise to me.)

Forsling - A (I will always trust Gradin picks, so this goes without saying that I'm pretty happy about this pick.)

Pettit - C (Don't know enough about him to make a fair judgement on his ability)

Stewart - F (I know about him and he's a very bad pick. There were better options available than just size. Disappointed and likely a Delorme pick.. sigh.)

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Much much too early to even give a grade.
Took the BPA for the most part in the draft.
But I still remember that board opinion here was that we hit a home run with both the Schroeder and Hodgson picks. So while some didn't like Virtanen and Mcann, so far I like the picks. I like what I hear about Demko a lot.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the work so far. I'll wait to see Bonino and Vey in action too but initial opinion is good.