Speculation: The Hamhuis injury effect & solution

[Hi-wayman]

Should the injury to Hamhuis turn out to be long term, this is not a time to panic or run around like chicken Little. Yes, Hamhuis is one of, if not our best defensemen and he will be missed. Now is a time to let our remaining roster defensemen and our defense prospects time to prove, given this opportunity, that they can take on the challenge of not only filling in for Hamhuis, but actually improving our team defense. Too many Canuck fans give up on our players even before the puck is dropped.

That said, it is always good to explore opportunities that improve the team no matter what needs the team needs short or long term. Currently our team weakness is lack of top four defensive pairing depth to cover times of injury exactly like what has just happened. Without any injuries our defense hasn't been top 5, but it has been acceptable. Our team's strengths are first our depth in goal, second the quality and depth of our bottom six forwards and third the high quality of our prospects even though the depth of our prospects, especially defense prospects, is still only fair.

Too bad Subban had to be sent back to junior and so can't be recalled as I think the injury to Hamhuis would have been a perfect time to showcase his skills on the third pairing. I see our new pairings as:
Edler - Tanev
Sbisa - Bieksa
Stanton - Weber

Though every team & their fans are always wanting to acquire top six forwards and top four pairings, there are teams that are currently struggling that could also use some help in goal or on their bottom six. I'm thinking eastern teams like Ottawa or Toronto. Teams that have defensemen we could use in a bottom pairing role for now, but players who have the potential to grow with the Canucks.

How interested do you think the Canucks would be to acquire Patrick Wiercioch, Jared Cowen or Jake Gardiner? Realistically, what do you think the Canucks would be willing to give up and that the other team would accept? I don't see Vancouver trading any of their top prospects, top six forwards or draft picks just to build up the team's defensemen depth, but I could see a goalie, some of our non-blue chip prospects or players like Richardson, Matthias or even Hansen being offered.

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[Zaddy91]

I find it funny Hamhuis was injured like minutes into the game.

And with 5 dmen we still take Anaheim to OT.

Fans servery underrate Sbisa and Weber, we have a championship mentality so anyone who isn't Erfhoff is a pending improvement waiting to happen.

Corrado had like 3 goals last year, more than Hamhuis probably did, and has looked good leading Utica to 1st.

No trades, just let's see if Corrado, Stanton, Sbisa/Weber can handle the pressure they've already handled for 15+ games now

 

[vancityluongo]

Edler-Tanev
Stanton-Bieksa
Sbisa-Weber
Corrado

Ryan Stanton is capable of taking some top-4 minutes, but the main issue is if Edler can keep playing well with an extra work load. Bieksa needs to also have a solid stretch of hockey or the Canucks are screwed.

If Tanev is out for a single game though, that's an Oilers level defense. Okay, maybe not, but it's not looking great. Need to get some better depth level guys.

 

[PokerPig]

uhh nope, now is the perfect time to panic actually.

Alexander Edler
Kevin Bieksa
Chris Tanev
Luca Sbisa
Yannick Weber
Ryan Stanton
Frank Corrado
Bobby Sanguinetti


That is the worst defense we've had in a long time. And we're only missing Hamhuis.

Every one of those players is playing two-three notches above themselves.

 

[SighReally]

Getting NHL defensemen is getting more and more difficult. Still surprised how Montreal managed to dump Bourque for Allen who is relatively more useful (that's not saying much though). Regardless, our only hope other than cross our fingers with Sbisa, Stanton and Weber is to hope for another team's winger being injured, allowing us to do a winger - defenceman swap with them. Outside of selling draft picks or prospects (god no) we're not going to be able to get depth defensemen.

 

[Virtanen2Horvat]

Edler - Tanev
Stanton - Bieksa
Weber - Corrado
Sbisa

Weber and Sbisa will probably alternate or Corrado will alternate if he has problems playing.

 

[Get North]

uhh nope, now is the perfect time to panic actually.

Alexander Edler
Kevin Bieksa
Chris Tanev
Luca Sbisa
Yannick Weber
Ryan Stanton
Frank Corrado
Bobby Sanguinetti


That is the worst defense we've had in a long time. And we're only missing Hamhuis.

Every one of those players is playing two-three notches above themselves.

It looks bad but our defence looked pretty bad with Hamhuis, some were saying Sbisa is a liability, Edler was terrible last season, Bieksa like Edler wasn't that great last season.

It looked bad but we've had a great season so far. I like the way we play, our defence doesn't have to be that great because we're always playing quick and usually in the offensive zone. Someone might just step their game up a notch, so we have to wait to see because it didn't look that great in the off-season either.

 

[Aphid Attraction]

Edler - Tanev
Stanton - Bieksa
Weber - Corrado
Sbisa

Weber and Sbisa will probably alternate or Corrado will alternate if he has problems playing.

Why have you got weber on his off side? He isn't ahead of Sbisa on the depth chart on the left

 

[kanucks25]

Yeah I doubt Corrado gets in unless Weber really craps the bed.

I imagine Edler and Tanev will both play even more minutes from now on lol (Tanev is only around ~20 anyway).

 

[biturbo19]

The solution, is Sbisa taking that next step that people have always been waiting for him to take.

This is his moment.

Right now Luca's Pizza is all:

 

[discordant concord]

Do the Canucks now have the worst active 1-6 defence in the league?

 

[Shorthander]

There is definitely cause for concern here. Our depth on the left side is not good and Stanton has not played well thus far this season like he did last year. And when (not if) another d-man goes down we will be in some pretty serious trouble.

We have a serious gap in prospects between the junior and NHL level. We have/had a similar problem with forwards but its much worse at the D position and we may need to make another Vey-esque trade for a d-man in the AHL who's on the cusp of making the next step.

 

[Intangibos]

I find it funny Hamhuis was injured like minutes into the game.

And with 5 dmen we still take Anaheim to OT.

Fans servery underrate Sbisa and Weber, we have a championship mentality so anyone who isn't Erfhoff is a pending improvement waiting to happen.

Corrado had like 3 goals last year, more than Hamhuis probably did, and has looked good leading Utica to 1st.

No trades, just let's see if Corrado, Stanton, Sbisa/Weber can handle the pressure they've already handled for 15+ games now

Uhh, Edler played 32+ mins in that game, something he has shown multiple times in the past he can't do on a regular basis.

 

[biturbo19]

Do the Canucks now have the worst active 1-6 defence in the league?

No. Not even close. Have you even looked around the league at all? There are some hilariously bad defence corps.

There is definitely cause for concern here. Our depth on the left side is not good and Stanton has not played well thus far this season like he did last year. And when (not if) another d-man goes down we will be in some pretty serious trouble.

We have a serious gap in prospects between the junior and NHL level. We have/had a similar problem with forwards but its much worse at the D position and we may need to make another Vey-esque trade for a d-man in the AHL who's on the cusp of making the next step.

It sure is funny how quick Stanton went from "top-4 defenceman in waiting" to, "not good".

In any event...we need someone to step up. Sbisa or Stanton...someone's gotta do it. Patching injury holes via trade with valuable assets is a business for contenders and teams on the cusp. We're in the middle of a retool...let's see what we've really got.

 

[kanucks25]

Do the Canucks now have the worst active 1-6 defence in the league?

Boston
Buffalo
Carolina
Colorado
Columbus
Dallas

are all pretty bad right now.

 

[Shorthander]

I still think Stanton will become a good player again, but he's struggling this season. I'm just saying it might be worth upgrading our D depth (with a young player, not a rental) because it's subpar.

 

[discordant concord]

In order for us to make the playoffs the following must happen in my humble opinion:
Sedins stay healthy and miss no more than 10 games combined. Both score at or close to a PPG pace.
Bieksa, Edler, and Tanev miss no more than 30 games combined.
Miller improves save % to > .915

 

[McHortton]

In order for us to make the playoffs the following must happen in my humble opinion:
Sedins stay healthy and miss no more than 10 games combined. Both score at or close to a PPG pace.
Bieksa, Edler, and Tanev miss no more than 30 games combined.
Miller improves save % to > .915

All very likely.

 

[TheWanderer]

In reality, Hamhuis hasn't had the greatest start to the season. Now is the time where Bieksa needs to step it up and play like he can. If he does that, and one of Stanton/Sbisa/Corrado give us some decent play, we should be fine. In all honesty, that's not asking for that much, all things considered.

I don't think there is any point in spending assets on players who are marginally (if at all) better than Sbisa/Stanton/Weber/Corrado to begin with.

I say we ride things out for a little bit.

 

[Edo]

Missing Hamhuis isn't too big of a deal. Losing Edler and his versatility would've hurt more. As long as there aren't any other significant injuries on the back-end, Vancouver shouldn't lose too many points because of his absence. Hamhuis has been one of the more overrated players in the media and fan base around here.

I wonder what Sami Salo is doing.

You really run into problems with injuries to defensemen when you have multiple guys out. If Edler, or Tanev go down along with the Hamhuis injury, then it's not too late to start including us in the Eichel/McDavid sweepstakes.

If Vancouver do well without Hamhuis, the team should seriously consider trading him with his good reputation across the league and the return we could get. Really feel like Vancouver would be in a better position if they could add another centre and can't imagine how hard it'll be going against Henrik-Bonino-impact centre acquired via Hamhuis-Richardson-Horvat.

 

[biturbo19]

The thing i don't get...is that it was Frankie they recalled for this. You have to think if they're recalling Corrado for a "long-term" Hamhuis injury, you've gotta get the kid in there, into games, playing, developing, etc. I mean, they didn't bring up Sanguinetti...we're talking about a still very much developing young player. He needs to play.

So in that sense...places a lot of pressure on Corrado's shoulders to peform and get back to the player/prospect he seemed to be when he slotted in for the playoffs vs Kings and actually looked like he might have earned that opportunity fairly based on what he'd done as a player.

 

[TheWanderer]

The thing i don't get...is that it was Frankie they recalled for this. You have to think if they're recalling Corrado for a "long-term" Hamhuis injury, you've gotta get the kid in there, into games, playing, developing, etc. I mean, they didn't bring up Sanguinetti...we're talking about a still very much developing young player. He needs to play.

So in that sense...places a lot of pressure on Corrado's shoulders to peform and get back to the player/prospect he seemed to be when he slotted in for the playoffs vs Kings and actually looked like he might have earned that opportunity fairly based on what he'd done as a player.

Who said he wont play?

 

[biturbo19]

Who said he wont play?

Nobody.

But you've gotta assume if the Hamhuis injury is indeed, "months"...Corrado is gonna have to play at some point, and play a lot. Otherwise, calling him up was incredibly stupid.

 

[TheWanderer]

Nobody.

But you've gotta assume if the Hamhuis injury is indeed, "months"...Corrado is gonna have to play at some point, and play a lot. Otherwise, calling him up was incredibly stupid.

Sorry, I must be missing the context of your point somewhere along the lines. Of course the assumption is that Corrado is going to play some games - probably not all of them, sure.

 

[biturbo19]

Sorry, I must be missing the context of your point somewhere along the lines. Of course the assumption is that Corrado is going to play some games - probably not all of them, sure.

The point is...


If you're going to have Corrado up with the big club for the "months" Hamhuis is potentially going to be out...he'd better be in the lineup more nights than not. Realistically...than means ahead of someone like Weber as the 3rd RHD. Unless we've got another injury we don't know about.