Roster & Fantasy GM Thread | 11

[biturbo19]

RE: Matthias and Richardson substitutes

The reason why Matthias and Richardson worked in the 14-15 team structure was because we had an effective Vrbata in the top 6.

Acquiring a Matthias and Richardson replacement right now means more bottom 6 players. Don't you think we already have enough bottom 6 players?

A very good point that i think gets kind of lost in lamenting the loss of these guys (and others like them).

If your top-6 is solid, your depth guys are going to slot in properly and look better as a result. What we have right now is more like the pieces of a quality bottom-6, but we're missing at least 1 bonafide Top-6 winger, and need Horvat to really take a step forward in his consistency).

We need Top-6 help though, not more bottom-6 like Hollywood and Matthias added to the collection.

There is not a team in the league that can survive with one line. That is why it is better to have more depth. There is few players that can make up this difference. With Eriksson we are a one line team with 3 ok lines after. its a big step up to have a very good third line and fourth line, plus a first line that can at worst saw off with Hansen.

Inevitably, Eriksson is going to end up playing quite a bit with the Sedins...based on the way he arrived here and all the fanfare about their "chemistry" and whatnot.

But this is precisely why to me, Hansen staying with the Sedins actually makes a lot of sense given the holes we have to plug in the Top-6 as things stand right now. I think you get more out of Eriksson in a roster balance sense if you swing him onto a "2nd line".

Whether that means Eriksson actually working with Sutter, or more likely imo, Eriksson flanking the vaunted Bae-Bo duo...i think you get more bang for your buck that way in making the team better, even if you might get more points out of Eriksson individually by playing him with the Twins all year.

Having our 2 best forwards as guys who don't make any sense to split up has long been a kind of unique problem for the Canucks. No need to escalate that by stapling our now 3rd best forward to that same line as well.

It would also help keep Hansen's "value" up, should we eventually be looking to deal him for futures if the season isn't going well.


The most ideal probably would've been to find another UFA to play with the Sedins, in addition to the Eriksson signing. I think you can probably find forward who can play in the Top-6 alongside the Twins successfully, for quite a bit cheaper than you can find a bonafide Top-6 forward to play on another line. As with Hansen, the Twins can make the right type of Top-9 winger produce like a real Top-6 forward.

Guys like McGinn, Vanek, Purcell, maybe even Perron for example all on cheaper deals that would've fit here and might have worked as options with the Twins. Unfortunately we didn't land any of those guys...who knows if they were ever even in on them. But it would've allowed us to not only split Eriksson onto a 2nd line, but push Hansen down to a terrific 3rd line as well - and basically run a 3-piece rotation in that Sedin line spot.


Still, even without that...makes a lot of sense to me to split Eriksson away from the Sedins quite a bit at 5v5 at least.

 

[mathonwy]

A very good point that i think gets kind of lost in lamenting the loss of these guys (and others like them).

Here's the thing. Jimbo ****ed up something fierce with the Sbisa and Dorsett raises and all the moves that happened after the first round playoff loss.

If Jimbo had NOT given these two scrubs raises and had kept the top 9 basically the same, Vrbata would have been an effective top 3/6 winger for the 15-16 season as he would have had a choice of either Hank or Bonino feeding him.

And with Matthias and Richardson still on the team, Bo would have been playing sheltered bottom 6 minutes AS WELL AS HAVING FOUR DIFFERENT VETERAN CENTERS TO LEARN FROM. And this would STILL be the case even if one of the centers were injured.

And both Virtanen and McCann could be bouncing between the Utica and Vancouver competing for 4th line minutes.

You transitioning from people lamenting the loss of Richardson and Matthias to justification of the Eriksson acquisition is flawed. Jimbo absolutely destroyed this team in the summer of 2015 and we paid for it dearly in the 15-16 season.

If your top-6 is solid, your depth guys are going to slot in properly and look better as a result. What we have right now is more like the pieces of a quality bottom-6, but we're missing at least 1 bonafide Top-6 winger, and need Horvat to really take a step forward in his consistency).

We need Top-6 help though, not more bottom-6 like Hollywood and Matthias added to the collection.



Inevitably, Eriksson is going to end up playing quite a bit with the Sedins...based on the way he arrived here and all the fanfare about their "chemistry" and whatnot.

But this is precisely why to me, Hansen staying with the Sedins actually makes a lot of sense given the holes we have to plug in the Top-6 as things stand right now. I think you get more out of Eriksson in a roster balance sense if you swing him onto a "2nd line".

Whether that means Eriksson actually working with Sutter, or more likely imo, Eriksson flanking the vaunted Bae-Bo duo...i think you get more bang for your buck that way in making the team better, even if you might get more points out of Eriksson individually by playing him with the Twins all year.

Having our 2 best forwards as guys who don't make any sense to split up has long been a kind of unique problem for the Canucks. No need to escalate that by stapling our now 3rd best forward to that same line as well.

It would also help keep Hansen's "value" up, should we eventually be looking to deal him for futures if the season isn't going well.


The most ideal probably would've been to find another UFA to play with the Sedins, in addition to the Eriksson signing. I think you can probably find forward who can play in the Top-6 alongside the Twins successfully, for quite a bit cheaper than you can find a bonafide Top-6 forward to play on another line. As with Hansen, the Twins can make the right type of Top-9 winger produce like a real Top-6 forward.

Guys like McGinn, Vanek, Purcell, maybe even Perron for example all on cheaper deals that would've fit here and might have worked as options with the Twins. Unfortunately we didn't land any of those guys...who knows if they were ever even in on them. But it would've allowed us to not only split Eriksson onto a 2nd line, but push Hansen down to a terrific 3rd line as well - and basically run a 3-piece rotation in that Sedin line spot.


Still, even without that...makes a lot of sense to me to split Eriksson away from the Sedins quite a bit at 5v5 at least.

I think Eriksson is a step in the right direction of building a real mentorpede as his versatile playstyle allows him to play up and down the line up. What I'm REALLY hoping is that Eriksson can make up for Sutter's playmaking deficiencies. If he can than we could have a legit 2nd line.

I agree with the names that you've put out. Having a good balance of good veteran players and young players is important to ensure the team is competitive and to ensure good organic player development.