GDT: YoungStars GM 2: Canucks vs. Jets - 2:00PM PST - Stream - Canucks.Com

[Pip]

I thought the play died whenever it hit Stewart's stick. He had just enough speed to lay some hits on the forecheck but his puck skills were easily the worst on our team.

 

[VanillaCoke]

I thought the play died whenever it hit Stewart's stick. He had just enough speed to lay some hits on the forecheck but his puck skills were easily the worst on our team.

I'd agree with this.
He may be able to become a 4th liner, but his basic skills aren't up to par.

 

[VanillaCoke]

I think Nylander may be the bigger miss at this point. Has looked very good in two men's leagues now (SEL + AHL), not just junior. Just oozing skill.

He's got a all the skills, but I'm still not sure he's going to be able to continue to use them against the speed and size of the NHL.
I haven't watched him at the AHL level yet though.

 

[dwarf]

I enjoyed this game. The Canucks are dangerous on the rush.


Really wish we had a player, who was intelligent enough to make some time and space on the power play and or cycle with someone. Our PP was atrocious.

The PK was pretty solid though, Hutton really looked good.

Subban impressed me, he has elite vision. I felt he was the best player on the ice.

Whistle played well. He did stop a couple of very good chances.

McCann has his good shot, but sadly Virtanen was invisible this game.

Just a few observations.

 

[Josepho]

I thought the play died whenever it hit Stewart's stick. He had just enough speed to lay some hits on the forecheck but his puck skills were easily the worst on our team.

I think Sautner was slightly worse.

 

[Intangibos]

Do you think if Subban is too small to cut it as an NHL D, he could be someone who could be moved to forward as an experiment?

 

[thefeebster]

Feebster can re-post my long post history as a Mooseheads fan and season ticket holder again as my opinion of him as a player.

I liked having him on my junior team in the Q. While not my ideal player, he was very good for us and played well in his role. Then suddenly I start hearing people say excellent penalty killer and all these things that really aren't true that maybe you can gauge by his ice time and some stats. The reality is in the Q good talents play in all situations on their teams a lot because they are better to stick there for some minutes than the alternative who can't skate nearly as well. He is very soft and will not be well suited for pro play IMO. That is not to say that I think he will bust, but I don't like what his potential upside is if he is not a top level talent, which I don't think he is.

Why was I dragged into this?

Let's give our previous discussion some context. I was not advocating for Ehlers or another, but was only clarifying your claims that you were painted as an Ehlers hater and that you were consistent with your opinions of Ehlers. Pre-draft, you presented an opinion where you said he would not live up to Brandon Reid's Moosehead career and you had no idea what posters were excited for. Then in December, you said you "really like Ehlers" but he was just not the right fit here. There is certainly a disconnect and some stark contrast here.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

Ehlers , lol - the new Nikushkin

 

[me2]

He's got a all the skills, but I'm still not sure he's going to be able to continue to use them against the speed and size of the NHL.
I haven't watched him at the AHL level yet though.

He should be able to, plenty of players his size handle it without too many problems. He's got the skating and vision to go with the hands, he should be elusive to make use of those skills.

 

[Peen]

He's got a all the skills, but I'm still not sure he's going to be able to continue to use them against the speed and size of the NHL.
I haven't watched him at the AHL level yet though.

first they said it about him in the AHL, then he put up a 71 point pace. give him the time to mature, he is too smart and too poised with the puck to not make it in the NHL.

virtanen, meanwhile, is stuck in a place where him doing cartwheels with the puck and throwing two big hits is useless to his development for us in the WHL, and won't get him a job in the NHL. if virtanen's mental part of his game was even half of his physical ability, i'd be sitting here praising the pick and thinking he's going to be a top line PWF.

but his lack of poise and offensive instinct hasn't improved much if anything in the past two years. it's definitely not going to change playing another year in the AHL. people can point to his assists all they want, but at what cost is he getting these assists? i just don't see a high likelihood of him reaching his high ceiling.

 

[VanillaCoke]

He should be able to, plenty of players his size handle it without too many problems. He's got the skating and vision to go with the hands, he should be elusive to make use of those skills.

We'll see pretty soon. At least I can understand why virtanen would be more appealing to a guy like Benning.

The bigger miss for me (in retrospect) is not taking Theodore.
We could really use a defenseman prospect of his caliber in the system.

 

[Pavel96]

Guillaume brisebois was getting some love from Travis green after the game - saying he was going to be a really good player and he likes him a lot!

 

[me2]

We'll see pretty soon. At least I can understand why virtanen would be more appealing to a guy like Benning.

Virts got the highest downside, at a minimum you get a guy that has Matthias style offense with Torres style hitting. He's still going to be a good role player if it all goes wrong.

 

[Win One Before I Die]

Virts got the highest downside, at a minimum you get a guy that has Matthias style offense with Torres style hitting. He's still going to be a good role player if it all goes wrong.

Virtanen is going to be a star. The guy is already on par with the above mentioned players.

JV will probably be on the Canucks this year. He is turning heads more than Horvat did in this tournament.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

Virtanen is going to be a star. The guy is already on par with the above mentioned players.

That's a pretty bold statement after two prospect games.

 

[Bad Goalie]

He's got a all the skills, but I'm still not sure he's going to be able to continue to use them against the speed and size of the NHL.
I haven't watched him at the AHL level yet though.

With the Marlies last season he was dynamite on ice. The Marlies are loaded this season and he will light it up amongst the league's top scorers. Like the guy said he "oozes skills" and I'll add a large tool box including hands, speed, and elusiveness.

 

[Peen]

Virts got the highest downside, at a minimum you get a guy that has Matthias style offense with Torres style hitting. He's still going to be a good role player if it all goes wrong.

matthias is literally worse than raymond

raffi torres was fun, good bottom six energy guy

but at #6 I want a top six fw or top four D.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

That's a pretty bold statement after two prospect games.

Most of the bold statements have come from people hating on Virtanen and heaping praise on Ehlers.

 

[Peen]

Most of the bold statements have come from people hating on Virtanen and heaping praise on Ehlers.

no one here has heaped praise on ehlers, most of us have criticized ehlers for playing small.

he wasn't any more noticeable than virtanen today for me.

 

[Pip]

I think Sautner was slightly worse.

Hard to say. Sautner has to touch the puck a lot more as a defenseman and when he mishandles the puck there are much bigger every consequences. If a winger like Stewart bobbles the puck it's not a big deal usually since there are guys to cover him.

Do you think if Subban is too small to cut it as an NHL D, he could be someone who could be moved to forward as an experiment?

No I don't think he would make a good forward and I would be strongly against a move to forward. Subban has a skillset that's best suited for the backend. His puck rushing and puck moving ability along with his poise makes him a threat from the backend and those skills won't necessarily translate to wing. His size may even be more of a disadvantage in the corners in the cycle game. I'll never understand the desire to move small defenseman to forward and I don't really see it successfully happening with other players.

 

[Peen]

Hard to say. Sautner has to touch the puck a lot more as a defenseman and when he mishandles the puck there are much bigger every consequences. If a winger like Stewart bobbles the puck it's not a big deal usually since there are guys to cover him.

At least there was some things to like about Stewart's game that were positive.

There wasn't one thing I liked of Sautner's game.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

no one here has heaped praise on ehlers, most of us have criticized ehlers for playing small.

he wasn't any more noticeable than virtanen today for me.

I just meant that since drafted, most of the "bold statements" have been about Ehlers and not Virtanen.

 

[Pip]

At least there was some things to like about Stewart's game that were positive.

There wasn't one thing I liked of Sautner's game.

I thought Sautner was hot garbage and the worst player out there, but on the basis of puck skills I would give him the edge. It was unbelievable how the play would die on Stewart's stick. Stewart has a very simple job and it was to go out and lay some hits and dump the puck in whenever he got it and he didn't stray from that game. He did that job adequately I suppose but Sautner had a much tougher task and while he failed miserably at it, I still believe he's a stronger puck handler. You invite half of the big, undrafted grinders in the CHL and they can perform at least as well as Stewart did.

 

[thefeebster]

There wasn't one thing I liked of Sautner's game.

What an anchor on the ice. Brisebois actually looked fairly solid when he was paired with Subban, then they switched mid way into the 1st and that pairing of Sautner-Brisebois again looked awful. Sautner makes whoever he plays with worse, but continued to be fed minutes (sounds familiar... if only i could think of an NHL comparable). I can't believe we are stuck with him for 3 years.

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

How was Abols today? Only saw the 3rd period. Thought he showed some real good signs in the first game.

Glad the defence was able to get their stuff together. Subban and Hutton both showing well.