HAPPY BIRTHDAY! The Erik Gudbranson era is over!

[kanuck87]

The team has surrendered only 8 goals in 4 games since Gudbranson got bumped down to the 3rd pairing and playing only ~14 minutes a game. Things are progressing nicely.

 

[strattonius]

Hes completely over paid and has no place in the top 4 on any team. He's a below average button pairing D.

But please, enough of the 'worst defenseman in the league' chatter. I realize what Gudbranson is, but when people say this they immediately lose credibility to me. It sounds so neurotic.

 

[kanuck87]

Hes completely over paid and has no place in the top 4 on any team. He's a below average button pairing D.

But please, enough of the 'worst defenseman in the league' chatter. I realize what Gudbranson is, but when people say this they immediately lose credibility to me. It sounds so neurotic.

There's an argument to be made for it. Tied for 3rd worst +/- in the league among d-men and on a team where all of the other non-Hutton defensemen are in the plus.

 

[RobertKron]

Guys, Don Cherry says he’s really good. I’m not sure if you’ve considered this.

 

[PG Canuck]

Hes completely over paid and has no place in the top 4 on any team. He's a below average button pairing D.

But please, enough of the 'worst defenseman in the league' chatter. I realize what Gudbranson is, but when people say this they immediately lose credibility to me. It sounds so neurotic.

Can someone dig up the advanced stats.

 

[strattonius]

There's an argument to be made for it. Tied for 3rd worst +/- in the league among d-men and on a team where all of the other non-Hutton defensemen are in the plus.

Not a compelling argument to me. It's more likely you have a soured Canuck fan looking to dump on a whipping boy.

 

[Diamonddog01]

Not a compelling argument to me. It's more likely you have a soured Canuck fan looking to dump on a whipping boy.

How about having the worst gf% in the league for the last three years?

He gets scored on twice as much as his teammates score when he’s on the ice.

This isn’t a whipping boy scenario, this is a legitimately awful defensive player and the worst in the NHL in a fairly important metric.

 

[kanuck87]

Not a compelling argument to me. It's more likely you have a soured Canuck fan looking to dump on a whipping boy.

Why is it not a compelling argument? It's one thing to have a terrible +/- when the rest of the d-men do so as well, but they don't. Moreover, he played on the 2nd pairing where he's not going up against opposition's top lines and his pairing still bleeds goals at an alarming rate.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Not a compelling argument to me. It's more likely you have a soured Canuck fan looking to dump on a whipping boy.

You are not good at assessing Dman play.

 

[strattonius]

You are not good at assessing Dman play.

Are you blind? I have stated that Gudbranson sucks on this board more than a handful of times. I just dont agree he is the worst defenseman in the league. I said specifically he is a below average bottom pairing defenseman.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Are you blind? I have stated that Gudbranson sucks on this board more than a handful of times. I just dont agree he is the worst defenseman in the league. I said specifically he is a below average bottom pairing defenseman.

You just called him a "whipping boy." That should be saved for players that are unfairly critisized (imo).

He is easily in the debate for the worst. There are no redeeming qualities to his play.

 

[PG Canuck]

Hes completely over paid and has no place in the top 4 on any team. He's a below average button pairing D.

But please, enough of the 'worst defenseman in the league' chatter. I realize what Gudbranson is, but when people say this they immediately lose credibility to me. It sounds so neurotic.

This happens almost on every GA he is on the ice for. Video evidence and there is a lot more evidence this season.

 

[strattonius]

You just called him a "whipping boy." That should be saved for players that are unfairly critisized (imo).

He is easily in the debate for the worst. There are no redeeming qualities to his play.

You can be a whipping boy and a bad player.

I think Gudbranson is the whipping boy, but I also think hes bad.

Substantiating 'worst player in the league' is a farce. There are so many variables at play. I think every team will have a player to make a case. For example, I think Pouliot is worse than Gudbranson - and many others would agree.

 

[Intangibos]

This happens almost on every GA he is on the ice for. Video evidence and there is a lot more evidence this season.

this video is great, I can't believe I didn't know it existed.

Seriously though is anyone interested in making lowlight reels of guys like Gudbranson to spread among various Canuck platforms? It's another thing that might be more effective than billboards.

 

[timbermen]

This happens almost on every GA he is on the ice for. Video evidence and there is a lot more evidence this season.

More misleading evidence, that was from last year when TSN decided to do that little medley after his contract extension. He was playing injured and was shut down for the season days after that game but hey, carry on. Any more video evidence like the clip of him being horribly rag-dolled by Yamamoto on the last page? Or are you just going to trot out that TSN clip every second week?

 

[PG Canuck]

More misleading evidence, that was from last year when TSN decided to do that little medley after his contract extension. He was playing injured and was shut down for the season days after that game but hey, carry on. Any more video evidence like the clip of him being horribly rag-dolled by Yamamoto on the last page? Or are you just going to trot out that TSN clip every second week?

I am compiling clips as we speak, well, links to clips at the time where Gudbranson shows he's amazing defensive skills.

EDIT: Should also note, I'm only picking out highlights that I'm provided with. There are definitely instances and examples where Gudbranson is beat in front of his net etc, but it's just not in the highlight package.

 

[Bleach Clean]

More misleading evidence, that was from last year when TSN decided to do that little medley after his contract extension. He was playing injured and was shut down for the season days after that game but hey, carry on. Any more video evidence like the clip of him being horribly rag-dolled by Yamamoto on the last page? Or are you just going to trot out that TSN clip every second week?

What type of evidence of his play were you looking for?

 

[PG Canuck]

this video is great, I can't believe I didn't know it existed.

Seriously though is anyone interested in making lowlight reels of guys like Gudbranson to spread among various Canuck platforms? It's another thing that might be more effective than billboards.

I'm going through all highlights and picking out times on the videos - wish I knew how to compile them into one video but this should suffice for now.

EDIT: Should also note, I'm only picking out highlights that I'm provided with. There are definitely instances and examples where Gudbranson is beat in front of his net etc, but it's just not in the highlight package.

 

[PG Canuck]

OCTOBER



1:40 to 2:00 - Why is Gudbranson chasing a player behind the net, and then hugging Pouliot? Pouliot...let's not discuss what he's doing.



1:00 to 1:23 - Gets burnt wide, then proceeds to stand in the crease to disrupt Nilsson, watches the play while the puck bounces out to a wide open TB player, Gudbranson realizes too late because he was standing in the crease watching the play unfold and flails at the puck trying to block it and it ends up in the net.



3:45 to 4:05 - Had one job and that was to take the pass. Not his worst defensive showing, but he wasn't even close to intercepting that pass it was too funny to not highlight.

NHL Highlights | Canucks vs. Jets - Oct. 18, 2018

3:55 to 4:20 - Chases to the corner to make a hit that was incredibly pointless, then gets beat by the player he HIT, to the front of the net, and HIS man ends up scoring.

4:22 to 4:46 - Gudbranson has his man covered in front of the net, but as the play develops, he decides to try and go rush the man with the puck, which leaves Hutton in a terrible spot as Gudbranson already established his man to cover and Hutton is now caught which leads to a tap-in goal. Gudbranson should've just tied his man up in front, as Hutton would've been able to pressure Little. That is a split second decision you can't expect your partner to read, and switch off to take the player in front that YOU had covered.

NHL Highlights | Bruins vs. Canucks - Oct. 20, 2018

3:03 to 3:10 - How is the Bruins forward able to get a shot off when the puck is literally behind Gudbranson? Where is the toughness to take the man and take his stick away? You learn that type of defense in peewee. It's just something so simple like this, that turns into a scoring chance. For a player that is suppose to be a tough to play against, throwback player, he sure let that Bruins forward walk all over him to get a good shot off. Take the stick, take the man...he did neither. Just annoying how a broken play turns into a good shot.

NHL Highlights | Canucks vs. Golden Knights - Oct. 24, 2018

0:01 to 0:10 - Beat to the front of the net

2:05 to 2:16 - Why are the Canucks outnumbered in front of the net on the Pk, you ask? Because Gudbranson is covering the Vegas defensemen, when Motte is literally a blade length away from him. Gudbranson stuck in no mans land, trying to block a shot in an area he has no business being in. His man almost scored on this play off a rebound.

NHL Highlights | Canucks vs. Coyotes - Oct. 25, 2018

1:43 to 1:55 - Outmuscled. Then stands around.

NHL Highlights | Penguins vs. Canucks - Oct. 27, 2018

3:50 to 4:00 - Leaves his man wide open in front...Sprong is literally an arms length away from Gudbranson, but he tries to be the goalie instead, luckily Markstrom saved his ass with a nice save.

4:25 to 4:40 - Gudbranson covering no one, again. Leaves Crosby wide open at the front of the net. Does Gudbranson ever enjoy being right in the Canucks' goalie face and right in his crease. Never has his head on a swivel either...just stands in front.

NHL Highlights | Blackhawks vs. Canucks - Oct. 31, 2018

0:01 to 0:09 - Not one Hawk player was touched by this crease clearing defender.

0:10 to 0:48 - Completely overplays Saad and gets burnt. Saad ends up scoring. What was his line of thinking here? No Hawk player was a threat for him to have to step up at the blueline like that. He created a scoring chance (and later goal) by overplaying his position and not staying on his side of the ice. It was a 3 on 3 situation, and Gudbranson somehow turned it into a goal.




Wish I could clip these instead of having to time stamp them here because I know some people will just skip over this instead of watching the clips. And once again, I'm only able to note what the highlight packages show...otherwise we would have a bigger list here.

 

[WTG]

What you could do is make a video showing all his egregious GA clips and then have a ticker showing percentage of teams goals he's on the ice for. So if he is on so it would be GA/Teams GA. Then just have that update showing for every clip following linearly to the Canucks season, from October to January.

Little off-topic but ever since I read this post it made me realize how much impact a content creater can have. When you create easily accessible tape it can become a quick on the fly evaluation tool for some scouts. Wouldn't surprise me if every team in the league uses Feebsters YouTube when making their draft board in some capacity.

 

[vanuck]

You know you're grasping when you have to quote Don Cherry to defend a player.

 

[vanuck]

In all seriousness though Benning was close to trading Gudbranson at some point for Demers? Did someone kidnap Jimbo?! And who secretly replaced him?!

How on earth did that even come about...

 

[WTG]

So the Canucks have surrendered 100 5on5 goals this season.
Gudbranson has been on the ice for 44 of them, so 44% of the teams 5on5 goals against has had Gudbranson be on the ice.

They've scored 94 5on5 goals for, gudbranson has been on the ice for 24 for them. Meaning he's been on the ice for 25.6% of goals for.

Canucks average about 48:44 minutes of 5on5 time per game, gudbranson plays 16 minutes of 5on5 time per game. So Gudbranson plays 32.8% of the teams total 5 on 5 time.

Just trying to help people contextualize how bad he is.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

You can be a whipping boy and a bad player.

I think Gudbranson is the whipping boy, but I also think hes bad.

Substantiating 'worst player in the league' is a farce. There are so many variables at play. I think every team will have a player to make a case. For example, I think Pouliot is worse than Gudbranson - and many others would agree.

Yes. But Gudbranson is in the debate. That means you dont need to be outraged when people make a case for him being the worst defender in the league.

Pouliot can make a pass.

 

[tantalum]

I'm a GM looking at the scouting report of an unnamed player. I see the guy is a D-man and seems to have a nice solid frame. I dig deeper into the scouting report and notice that~35% of the times he touches the puck in his own zone the opposition regains possession. I drop this report into the round filing cabinet under my desk and move onto the next one.

Benning, however, doesn't. He remains impressed with the guys frame and, oh look there is a picture stapled to the scouting report. The guy is handsome with a manly beard! Benning doesn't move on. Instead he signs the guy to a undeserved contract.