Waived: Weber waived; Cleared, off to Utica (Feb 6)

[bossram]

Do you know who his partner is?

Hutton plays with Sbisa and manages decent results independent of that.

And IMO Sbisa is easily the worst defenseman on the team, not even taking contracts into account. I'm not a Biega fan, but on talent I take him over Sbisa. Factor in contracts and...

 

[racerjoe]

Not if they send Weber down. Except for Vey, the Canucks actually "save" a bit of cap room by having Etem instead of Higgins and Biega instead of Weber.



I've been hearing this and I think that's a major exaggeration (to put it kindly). To make that conclusion is to conclude that any Russian player who has played a year in the KHL is a lot closer to the NHL than a 19 or 20 year old in the CHL. That's simply unfounded.

Pedan has actually spent as many seasons playing "pro hockey" as Tryamkin, although Pedan's development has been slowed by injuries. Furthermore, many players require some time adjusting to the North American game. Pedan has been through NHL camps, he's been playing in the NHL, and this season he has played in 3 NHL games and didn't look out of place. If you add in the fact that Pedan is not waiver exempt next season, the logical conclusion should be that Pedan is a lot closer to making the NHL next season than Tryamkin.



You mean, Tryamkin needs a Hutton-type training camp. Conditioning stint is for those whom the team wants and or plans to keep on the NHL roster. A simpler way is to simply send Tryamkin down to the minors to start the year if he needs to "get used to systems."

I completely agree.

The KHL has stars that are better for sure, but the game is different with the bigger ice. It's defended differently. I am excited to see how he does though.

 

[PM]

Remember the beginning of the season when we thought we could get a few mid to late picks for these guys? Funny in a sad way that instead we waited too long and waived them all for nothing. If I remember correctly Higgins was supposed to get a 3rd, Prust a 3rd/4th and Weber a 5th.

 

[CanaFan]

As a 7th Biega is fine but even played much more than that kind of role.





Even if Weber is being outplayed by Biega (IMO he isn't) the body of work shows he is a superior defenseman overall.

I am on the tank train too. Biega helps us get there.

Weber's "body of work" is one decent season mainly as the big shooter on the PP (last year) and a terrible season this year. It's not like his resume is that of a regular top 4 D who's having a tough year (i.e. Hamhuis). You can't just ignore the current year and base this purely on a year ago. Who's to say last year wasn't the outlier (as it seems to be actually)? Fact is Biega is the better option today and defensemen like Weber are and always will be available for peanuts. Makes no sense to keep playing him "just in case" he finds his game in the last 31 games of the season. He's had his chance and has been atrocious. That's 90% of the decision right there.

 

[arttk]

Remember the beginning of the season when we thought we could get a few mid to late picks for these guys? Funny in a sad way that instead we waited too long and waived them all for nothing. If I remember correctly Higgins was supposed to get a 3rd, Prust a 3rd/4th and Weber a 5th.

Having a coach that doesn't line match tends to expose depth players.

I think other than Prust, a lot of the depth players on our team probably wouldn't look as bad if they are deployed normally.

 

[Hammer79]

Remember the beginning of the season when we thought we could get a few mid to late picks for these guys? Funny in a sad way that instead we waited too long and waived them all for nothing. If I remember correctly Higgins was supposed to get a 3rd, Prust a 3rd/4th and Weber a 5th.

When was Higgins ever returning a 3rd? Linden told fans at the summit that they tried to move him last summer with no takers.

Prust probably would return a 4th or 5th had he not had that high ankle sprain. He slowed down after that injury.

Weber is the real surprise, from 11 goals last year to 5 pp assists this year. If he was on a 11 goal pace this year, he'd certainly return more than a 5th.

 

[bossram]

Weber's "body of work" is one decent season mainly as the big shooter on the PP (last year) and a terrible season this year. It's not like his resume is that of a regular top 4 D who's having a tough year (i.e. Hamhuis). You can't just ignore the current year and base this purely on a year ago. Who's to say last year wasn't the outlier (as it seems to be actually)? Fact is Biega is the better option today and defensemen like Weber are and always will be available for peanuts. Makes no sense to keep playing him "just in case" he finds his game in the last 31 games of the season. He's had his chance and has been atrocious. That's 90% of the decision right there.

Fact is guys like Biega are also available at any time.

I think you're the one blowing this out of proportion. I've repeatedly said that I don't think it was a huge mistake. And I don't think Weber is amazing. But I do think he is a better player than Biega. I have never even mentioned his PP utility. At ES he is a better player overall.

And the case in terms of asset management is that our defensive depth is atrocious, so waiving a guy like Cracknell (who also isn't really NHL calibre, is probably more likely to clear and who we have better depth at that position) may have been a better choice.

 

[me2]

When was Higgins ever returning a 3rd? Linden told fans at the summit that they tried to move him last summer with no takers.

Prust probably would return a 4th or 5th had he not had that high ankle sprain. He slowed down after that injury.

Weber is the real surprise, from 11 goals last year to 5 pp assists this year. If he was on a 11 goal pace this year, he'd certainly return more than a 5th.

Higgins would have fetched that during the first off season through to the first deadline.

 

[David71]

what if weber finds his game in the ahl just like vey did. get his confidence back up. bring him up and he scores a bunch on the powerplay and then gets traded at the deadline for a 4th

 

[Hi-wayman]

Not seeing this....Hamhuis has been gawd awful this year....a pale shadow of the d-man he used to be...but one thing's for certain....unless he steps up big time in the next few weeks, Benning will have lots of trouble extracting value for him at the deadline anyway...but still don't see how the Canucks could re-sign him the off-season unless he's prepared to take a massive hometown discount...and why would he do this?...might be the last contract of his career.

I think you under estimate Hamhuis and the Canuck D in general. Look at all the young rookies in our lineup. Generally younger players are better offensively to start and take a couple of years to learn how to play equally well in their own end. It is no wonder the defense has suffered this season as they have been asked to cover for the deminished defensive awareness of the younger forwards. Hamhuis, Edler & Tanev have had to carry the brunt of that load & it has affected their overall game this season for all three.

As the younger forwards slowly learn to play a more rounded game, I think you will see Hamhuis begin to return to his near former self

 

[Hit the post]

Not seeing this....Hamhuis has been gawd awful this year....a pale shadow of the d-man he used to be...

Outside of the OTHER Weber, most D would look like **** if their partner was OUR Weber.

 

[groov2]

So....out of curiosity: Did Weber ever actually get placed on wavers?

 

[EpochLink]

Once Biega made the team, it was done for Lamar Weber.

 

[RandV]

Not seeing this....Hamhuis has been gawd awful this year....a pale shadow of the d-man he used to be...but one thing's for certain....unless he steps up big time in the next few weeks, Benning will have lots of trouble extracting value for him at the deadline anyway...but still don't see how the Canucks could re-sign him the off-season unless he's prepared to take a massive hometown discount...and why would he do this?...might be the last contract of his career.

He's missed half the season, and when he was playing he's had to carry an assortment of depth defensemen. If it comes down to a trade other teams will give him the benefit of the doubt, and I'd imagine he does much better on a competitive team.

 

[racerjoe]

Fact is guys like Biega are also available at any time.

I think you're the one blowing this out of proportion. I've repeatedly said that I don't think it was a huge mistake. And I don't think Weber is amazing. But I do think he is a better player than Biega. I have never even mentioned his PP utility. At ES he is a better player overall.

And the case in terms of asset management is that our defensive depth is atrocious, so waiving a guy like Cracknell (who also isn't really NHL calibre, is probably more likely to clear and who we have better depth at that position) may have been a better choice.

The bolded is so very true... Sadly I still think he is better than a few of our regular defensmen.

 

[Cancuks]

Hope Burrows is next.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Hope Burrows is next.

Gtfo

 

[Tommy]

Everyones getting waived!!!

 

[biturbo19]

Biega doesn't have 'tools'. He isn't big, isn't hugely skilled, doesn't have a huge shot, isn't super fast skating in a straight line.

But he does have skills. His defensive fundamentals and gap control are absolutely spot on - the complete opposite of Sbisa and Bartkowski. He battles in tough areas and takes hits to make plays. He has intelligence and anticipation. He has a good first pass and makes good decisions with the puck. He's a leader on the ice and communicates well with whoever his partner is.

He's been our 3rd or 4th-best defender this year. Guy is a keeper.

I don't think i'd go so far as to say 3rd or 4th best defenceman this year, but Biega has absolutely been NHL calibre. Which is far more than can be said of Weber.

And the bolded is so critical to that. It's where Weber just embarrasses himself every time he steps on the ice. He's the definition of creampuff. Biega battles for every puck and every inch of ice his limited toolset allows him to, and puts him in place to work for.

Mistakes will happen with depth defencemen, that's pretty much a given...but when the mistakes are like Weber, where they're mistakes of unwillingness to battle and compete, it's just unacceptable. The majority of his time here, he's just avoided the "glaring mistake" by bailing out of plays completely and letting somebody else make the mistake. It's terrible.

And Weber isn't some puck-moving defenceman, his transition game is not strong. He racked up a few points in a hot streak with the Twins playing in the offensive zone. And he had a little run with a PP gifted with the Sedins to run the whole thing, until the NHL got wise. That's it. That's what he is...and in large part, he seems to have zero tolerance for the prospect of being checked or ending up in an actual physical battle. It's infuriating to watch. And it's not good hockey. Weber quite clearly got outplayed by...everyone on the roster right now. That's on him.

Insane that some here are still apparently trying to defend him as though he didn't get enough of an opportunity?

GTFO you plug!

Also, this.

 

[denkiteki]

Not surprised since we needed a roster spot for Hamhuis tomorrow. Weber was the logical pick unless we wanted to send Hutton down despite him clearly out playing Weber and other D (only reason being he doesn't need to clear waivers). That could be a stall tactic if we figure we are trading 1 or more Dman before the deadline but Benning doesn't strike me as someone trying to "stall" or make smart asset management decisions (tho realistically i doubt Weber has any value anyways right now).

Realistically anyone we pick up off waivers probably would be better than Weber has been this season. No idea what happened to his game since i actually expected him to improve this year not regress.

 

[Peen]

Gtfo

he's playing close to replacement level

that's why you've seen no dip in overall play of these lines when guys like weber, prust, higgins were waived

i think burrows is still slightly ahead of those guys as being more effective than a call up, but he's likely going to be there next season

 

[Bougieman]

Hope Burrows is next.

 

[Fat Tony]

So....out of curiosity: Did Weber ever actually get placed on wavers?

I looked bit couldn't find anything official. It makes sense for it to happen but this thread jumped the gun based on a tweet.

 

[stuffradio]

Maybe it was a trap by GMJB to see which teams are calling to ask where he is, then he traps them with a trade!

 

[GailWilliams]

I looked bit couldn't find anything official. It makes sense for it to happen but this thread jumped the gun based on a tweet.

The Canucks Facebook page posted this yesterday: Canucks GM Jim Benning confirmed that Yannik Weber has been placed on waivers today.

I think it's legit.