Player Discussion What do we have in Josh Leivo

[Fire Benning]

Well he can shoot. With how desperately this needs some sort of offense, I’ll take him any day over most of the other bums we’ve been trotting out this season.

We’ll see how it goes for the rest of the season, Benning’s reclaimation projects seem to have a history of starting out strong only to become irrelevant a year later.

Given his age I doubt he’s a Canuck long term unless he monumentally breaks out. Give him the opportunity to produce for ~20 games, see what you have and go from there.

 

[Get North]

He's already a much better player than Granlund, Schaller or Motte. I don't want to build a team based on other team's scraps (Baertschi, Granlund, Leivo, Goldobin). But, I think Leivo has some legitimate potential here compared to the rest, he's a different type of player. He's bigger, more aggressive, has a better shot, and 2nd best skater out of the 5. I do see a chance for him to be a complimentary piece for either Horvat or Pettersson but I need to see more offensive skill.

 

[stampedingviking]

Not a bad start.

But Granlund all over again. Marginal player about to be lost on waivers by another team scooped up by Benning who gave up a good AHLer to get him. Now he'll get tons of icetime on the top line and PP, eke out a few points, and the coach will be married to him forever after.

Watch.


We have to find a way to get Juolevi over there to sabotage them from within. Maybe he'll balance out Gagner and Carcone.

If it's Granlund all over again, then it's a big win for Canucks.

By good AHLer, do you mean will never play in the NHL (a la Shink)? If that's the case, do it again.

 

[Pip]

If it's Granlund all over again, then it's a big win for Canucks.

By good AHLer, do you mean will never play in the NHL (a la Shink)? If that's the case, do it again.

Granlund is trash lmao. Why do people think that fringe NHLers have any value to a team, especially one that’s rebuilding.

 

[Blueangel1891]

He's exactly what Pettersson needs

Untill we aquire a better version of him

 

[Ryp37]

If it's Granlund all over again, then it's a big win for Canucks.

By good AHLer, do you mean will never play in the NHL (a la Shink)? If that's the case, do it again.

Imagine thinking Granlund is a big win

 

[ErrantShepherd]

He's exactly what Pettersson needs

Untill we aquire a better version of him

I've seen a number of decent arguments for him with Horvat too.

Either way, if he can consistently be a shooting threat he has a fit in our current top six. Then we could actually have two top six lines. Not just half of one, and Horvat with scrubs.

 

[PM]

It shows how far behind this team is when a player who couldn’t crack the Leafs fourth line is immediately playing on our first line.

I don’t think he’s a terrible player at all and it was a good first game for him. What I suspect happens is he ends up scoring around a 30-40 point pace for the year, gets a contract he absolutely doesn’t deserve, and in 1-2 years is another name we add to the overpaid underperforming list of players that characterizes Benning’s tenure.

 

[valkynax]

It shows how far behind this team is when a player who couldn’t crack the Leafs fourth line is immediately playing on our first line.

I don’t think he’s a terrible player at all and it was a good first game for him. What I suspect happens is he ends up scoring around a 30-40 point pace for the year, gets a contract he absolutely doesn’t deserve, and in 1-2 years is another name we add to the overpaid underperforming list of players that characterizes Benning’s tenure.

if he can be consistent, all the powers to him.

remember when Michael "my name is a noise" Chaput and Jayson "i work 2 hard" Megna used to be on the top line?

ahhhh, good times.

 

[Soups On]

If it's Granlund all over again, then it's a big win for Canucks.

By good AHLer, do you mean will never play in the NHL (a la Shink)? If that's the case, do it again.

Granlund is a soft, lazy, and a complete liability 5v5 and PK. He gets spoon-fed ample ice time and does nothing with it. He's abysmal as a center and his shit habits havent changed. Just watch him on defense and the PK. Watch him float and cost this team games.

I wanted him to be good and he did show some promise on the wing on occasion, but he continues to float and be a liability without providing any relative offense to compensate.


In regards to Leivo, yeah if he can put the puck in the net and win board battles, put him with Pettersson or Horvat so we never have to see Eriksson, Granlund, or Tim f***ing Schaller in the top 6.

 

[tantalum]

If he's Granlund all over again then it's a deal that means precisely NOTHING in terms of actually moving the organization forward and there was, therefore, absolutely no point in making it...

 

[Bitz and Bites]

We badly need another shooter to play on Pettersson’s wing so this could work out well especially when he can work the boards and win battles as well.Still really early but Leivo could be a good long term addition to the team,especially now that our current wave of wing prospects are struggling to get traction in the pros.

 

[PetterssonSimp]

He's exactly what Pettersson needs

Untill we aquire a better version of him

The Canucks already do, he has a higher ceiling and is a better skater. His name is Jake Virtanen.

Leivo is a depth RW with a decent release when he has time and space. So basically he’s ever other 3/4 liner the Canucks have ever tried the reclamation project on. He’s at least good on the boards which is needed, but people expecting him to be a Top6 winger are gonna be highly disappointed.

Even when he scored, all I seen were tweets that “omg what a shot” and I was the only person to point out that Dubnyk had cheated so far across the net that almost anyone could have buried that. Like really, Dubs has already on the glove side of his net when Leivo shot leaving 50% of the cage

 

[Fire Benning]

If he can produce in the top 6 and on the PP he could have a good enough stat line to be flipped again at the deadline.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

I agree but what who else is there to put with him? Virtanen at least adds some speed and hopefully creates some space by being physical. We really just don't have anyone else. We could put Boeser with EP sure but then we need to move Leivo off his wing as both wingers would be slow.

JVs problem is he puts a 5-7 sek clock on any posession in the offensive zone. He does not have the IQ or vision to cycle and maintain pressure with EP.

 

[Egghead1999]

If he can produce in the top 6 and on the PP he could have a good enough stat line to be flipped again at the deadline.

ya, may be trade he to a cup contender (aka leafs) for a prospect (aka Michael Carcone)

 

[VanJack]

It shows how far behind this team is when a player who couldn’t crack the Leafs fourth line is immediately playing on our first line.

I don’t think he’s a terrible player at all and it was a good first game for him. What I suspect happens is he ends up scoring around a 30-40 point pace for the year, gets a contract he absolutely doesn’t deserve, and in 1-2 years is another name we add to the overpaid underperforming list of players that characterizes Benning’s tenure.

My sentiments exactly. When you're picking up table scraps from the Leafs it really speaks volumes about where you are in terms of depth. I think Leivo could be a useful player, but not really first or second line potential imo. But given the Canucks awful depth at left wing with Baertschi out, he's a worthwhile experiment.

 

[Randy Randerson]

Leaf fan coming in peace, just wondering what you guys think of him after 50 games? I was firmly on the wagon that we should have made space for him and purged someone else, and it looks like he was similar for you guys as he always was for us - possession monster, always seems like he's got the talent to put up decent production (even if it looks like he fell short on putting up a lot of point). He's always seemed like an ideal inexpensive guy to ride shotgun with a couple of really good linemates who get offensive usage, just getting the puck back for them and not messing up the opportunities they create for him

 

[Krnuckfan]

Leaf fan coming in peace, just wondering what you guys think of him after 50 games? I was firmly on the wagon that we should have made space for him and purged someone else, and it looks like he was similar for you guys as he always was for us - possession monster, always seems like he's got the talent to put up decent production (even if it looks like he fell short on putting up a lot of point). He's always seemed like an ideal inexpensive guy to ride shotgun with a couple of really good linemates who get offensive usage, just getting the puck back for them and not messing up the opportunities they create for him

After a decent start he tapered off a lot. Just 6 points in his last 25 games to close out the season. And that's while he was playing on the top line alongside Pettersson and was being used on the top PP unit as well.

I noticed him killing plays a lot actually and he's not a fit in the top 6. I see him as a bottom 6 player moving forward.

 

[vanuck]

Leaf fan coming in peace, just wondering what you guys think of him after 50 games? I was firmly on the wagon that we should have made space for him and purged someone else, and it looks like he was similar for you guys as he always was for us - possession monster, always seems like he's got the talent to put up decent production (even if it looks like he fell short on putting up a lot of point). He's always seemed like an ideal inexpensive guy to ride shotgun with a couple of really good linemates who get offensive usage, just getting the puck back for them and not messing up the opportunities they create for him

I don't really see him as anything more than an average 3rd line winger offensively - guy was given top minutes and 1st PP unit time while stapled next to Petterson and produced at a 30-point pace over 82 games which is just a smidge higher than his career average, funnily enough.

Given that he's turning 26 in May, he most likely isn't going to be anything more than what he is at this point. However I think he could be useful at helping to push play in the right direction from the 3rd or 4th line. I don't doubt he'd show some flashes if you bumped him up to the 1st or 2nd line once in a while but he's probably not someone you should keep there long-term.

His work along the boards seems fairly solid and I think he's competent enough defensively that he would be best served in the bottom 6. He's got a decent amount of skill but not so much so that you think that he's just scratching the surface of some great potential just waiting to be tapped.

IMO in an ideal world he'd be on a possession-driving 4th line playing a shutdown role while lining up against tough competition with lots of defensive zone starts next to someone like Gaunce who has also demonstrated he can do that.

 

[Randy Randerson]

I don't really see him as anything more than an average 3rd line winger offensively - guy was given top minutes and 1st PP unit time while stapled next to Petterson and produced at a 30-point pace over 82 games which is just a smidge higher than his career average, funnily enough.

Given that he's turning 26 in May, he most likely isn't going to be anything more than what he is at this point. However I think he could be useful at helping to push play in the right direction from the 3rd or 4th line. I don't doubt he'd show some flashes if you bumped him up to the 1st or 2nd line once in a while but he's probably not someone you should keep there long-term.

His work along the boards seems fairly solid and I think he's competent enough defensively that he would be best served in the bottom 6. He's got a decent amount of skill but not so much so that you think that he's just scratching the surface of some great potential just waiting to be tapped.

IMO in an ideal world he'd be on a possession-driving 4th line playing a shutdown role while lining up against tough competition with lots of defensive zone starts next to someone like Gaunce who has also demonstrated he can do that.

Josh Anderson is the mold of what we thought his upside might be - not a surefire top 6 talent in a vacuum but a guy who doesn't hurt you there if he has good linemates and will just keep getting the puck back. I am surprised that he didn't produce more with the opportunity he got with you guys though, he was always really good for us in that kind of usage in really short windows, then Babcock would just put him back in the press box

the heavy defensive usage is what he got in Toronto and that's where he was his weakest for us, not that he was bad, just that he's slow to get up to speed so the constant direction changing that comes with defensive zone play without possession left him out of position at times. He was terrific for us at getting the puck back when he could point in one direction - namely offensive zone when the puck was being put to the corners

 

[Snatcher Demko]

He's a competent bottom 6 winger but he's a placeholder on that 1st line. I wouldn't hesitate packaging him up with Tanev or Hutton to get a good young LW.

 

[Fire Benning]

Seems to be a recurring thing with the Canucks where the guy they bring in gets bigger minutes than he was getting previously (because they have no one else to play in those minutes) and they start off strong only to fade as the season moves along.

 

[Phenomenon13]

Leivo is 3rd liner who can play both sides.

 

[krutovsdonut]

he's a solid third line guy with above average offensive skills. the kind of guy who can chip in a timely goal and even make something out of nothing, but not a go to guy.