Zack Kassian VII - There Is No Need To Be Upset

[sting101]

Good news.
Really hope he can put it together this year. Huge wildcard for us.
I don't want to deal him and if we do it would make huge sense to play him with the twins all year and then move him. Pump and dump per se.
Best case scenario he becomes a core piece and a role model for our young players. Rootin for ya Zack

 

[valkynax]

Good news.
Really hope he can put it together this year. Huge wildcard for us.
I don't want to deal him and if we do it would make huge sense to play him with the twins all year and then move him. Pump and dump per se.
Best case scenario he becomes a core piece and a role model for our young players. Rootin for ya Zack

I have a similar attitude towards Kas. If he can become a 2/3 winger with 30 to 40 pts production and a +3 or so, I'll be happy.

Although at this points it seems quite unlikely.

 

[PM]

Hasn't he already played at a 30 point pace? If the guy is going to play like a typical powerforward, as management wants, then you can't expect him to be healthy throughout every year. Power forwards take a huge beating and most of the prominent powerforwards of the last decade were well over 220 lbs while Kassian is trying to slim down from his current 215 lbs to improve his endurance. Most of them don't hold up al; that well after 28-29 either.

I thought he played fine this last year and his defensive deficiencies were no different than any other typical young player trying to break his way into the league. For this year, put him on the top line with the Sedins all year and let him work his way through the rough spots rather than bench him at the slightest misplay.

 

[Regal]

Hasn't he already played at a 30 point pace? If the guy is going to play like a typical powerforward, as management wants, then you can't expect him to be healthy throughout every year. Power forwards take a huge beating and most of the prominent powerforwards of the last decade were well over 220 lbs while Kassian is trying to slim down from his current 215 lbs to improve his endurance. Most of them don't hold up al; that well after 28-29 either.

I thought he played fine this last year and his defensive deficiencies were no different than any other typical young player trying to break his way into the league. For this year, put him on the top line with the Sedins all year and let him work his way through the rough spots rather than bench him at the slightest misplay.

Yea, he's at a 32 point pace over the last two seasons. Obviously he's been up and down, and some hot streak play into that, but that's the case for most players at that scoring level. He could no doubt put up more than that with more ice time, including PP time, it's just a matter of his conditioning, effort and defensive play allowing it. I think to some degree he should be allowed more time to figure it out, but the win-now mentality of coaches typically makes it unlikely. Hopefully he can make the necessary improvements to stay in the top 6. It was promising before the back injury.

 

[vanuck]

I have a similar attitude towards Kas. If he can become a 2/3 winger with 30 to 40 pts production and a +3 or so, I'll be happy.

Although at this points it seems quite unlikely.

I could see it happening. He's produced at a 31pts/82 pace at ES over the last 2 seasons in largely 3rd line minutes which is really good. Use him on the PP regularly, which his skill + size seem to be a perfect fit for, and he'll probably hit 35 points and maybe 40 if he's on the top unit with the Twins.

 

[Scurr]

I think obviously the bolded is still key. If you're going to move Kassian, it's gotta be for the right price. It's gotta factor in what he could become.

That said...as it pertains to playing with the Twins, i still don't really think that's the best fit. I think anyone can have a stretch of productive play there, but i don't think it really plays to his strengths in what he could be as a player, just being a big net-front lug with the Twins, and i don't think he's really an ideal puck-retriever for them either.

I don't think "all out" Kassian is really the same sort of player that i'd expect say...Virtanen to become either. But there's a big difference between "totally engaged and hustling" Kassian, and "floating and trying to play a pure skill game" Kassian, who just simply doesn't seem skilled enough to get by on that.

Those brief stretches we've seen where he seems to strike a balance on that, those are awfully encouraging...but they're also so few and far between overall. Also the reason i think you might be able to sell him "high" relative to what he's done so far in his career. Though if you can't...obviously there's no point really.

This idea of waiting on him to "break out" for good though, has to have some end to it. At some point, either he becomes a legitimate top-6 scoring forward with size and the whole shebang, or he doesn't...and you've got yourself a defensively weak bottom-6 banger who doesn't often go "all out"...with the odd flashes of scoring touch. Which is an okay play to have i guess...but i think you'd regret not "selling high" on him if that's where it ends up. Especially when you throw in the back issues which are already starting to factor in...it's just one of those conditions that often haunts guys for the rest of their careers. Certainly if that becomes a chronic issue with his back, it's going to be a lot tougher for him to consistently play the way we all want to see him play. The whole point of Kassian really, being that he can be big and physical and "rugged" as a scoring winger...potentially. If the physicality and ruggedness gets removed from the equation...he's not a very "unique" player anymore.

I didn't think it would be a good fit but I think you're selling short what we saw from that line. The twins work best with someone that can get possession for them and keep it when they need to use them. Yes, they need the third wheel to go to the net to create room for them but they're not as effective with a "big net front lug" like Bernier or Pyatt. Kassian's down low puck protection skills and ability to create space work well with what the twins do. I think it forces them to be better defensive players, too, which isn't a bad thing. IMO this team would really benefit from the twins mentoring someone on the ice. Let a young guy be on the receiving end of those passes to build some confidence.

 

[Diamonddog01]

Bold 1, Bold 2: A pre-emptive I-told-you-so. Kassian being benched was a product of his own ****** play and not some kind of Willie Desjardins witch-hunt. Stuff your histrionic, conjectural narratives right where they belong.

Bold 3: ZK is indeed hard at work in the gym. His trainer Dave Orton recently posted a series of videos to his personal YouTube channel, with zero publicity, based on current view count. Maybe they were meant to be private or unlisted videos.

Yup. Kassian's benching was entirely of his own doing. Many of us called it from day one. Just like with Horvat WD should deserve credit if Kassian finally grows into the player we would like to see.

 

[PG Canuck]

Id be for that too if Kass wasn't such a wildcard. I love Kass. I want him to be what we see he can be. But i dont want to bet the farm on him yet. He needs a season where he isn't streakier than Geoff Courtnall, and looks in place for a year. If he pulls that off this season, im fully on the Kass train. Im cautiously optimistic about him.

It's not like we are contending anyways, so it shouldn't be a big deal to trade Vrbata for assets if possible.

 

[biturbo19]

I didn't think it would be a good fit but I think you're selling short what we saw from that line. The twins work best with someone that can get possession for them and keep it when they need to use them. Yes, they need the third wheel to go to the net to create room for them but they're not as effective with a "big net front lug" like Bernier or Pyatt. Kassian's down low puck protection skills and ability to create space work well with what the twins do. I think it forces them to be better defensive players, too, which isn't a bad thing. IMO this team would really benefit from the twins mentoring someone on the ice. Let a young guy be on the receiving end of those passes to build some confidence.

Possibly, i might be selling that combination short. But we've really only seen some pretty brief stints of it, which makes me wary of putting a huge amount of faith in that. It tends to be the way things work with the Sedins...we've seen others have those brief stints of unusual success with them and then fade after not too long. Almost seems to be some kind of "novelty factor" with the Twins when they shake up their game with a "new linemate" a lot of the time. The thing that's made a guy like Burrows so special as a "fit" there, is the sustained success he seems to find there...it grows a bit stale now and then, but on the whole...it's a pretty tried and true thing that just "works".

I think Kassian can probably continue to find decent success there, i just don't think it's really the greatest use of his skillset. If he really does have the ability to be this player we want to keep him around for...i think pigeonholing him as a bit of a "3rd wheel" on that Sedin line is underselling his abilities.

Though to say though if that's the case or not...when really the closest i'd say we've come to seeing Kassian as the real "driving force" on any line at all, was that stint in the Torts year with Richie and Matthias. So maybe i'm actually overselling Kassian here, on the sort of "potential" or "upside", and playing 3rd wheel is actually the way to get him into a "top-6 role".

Just seems to me that since we've got other guys who can play with the Twins well anyway, and with the elements of Kassian's game that don't seem ideally suited to playing with the Twins either...i think the idea of developing Kassian into a player who works best independently of them, not giving him a chance to use the Twins as any kind of a "crutch" is the best route to take, ideally. But then, maybe i'm just overestimating what the "hope" for Kassian as a player is.

 

[tradervik]

Anson Carter scored 33 goals playing with the twins. He left the Canucks and was out of the league within two years. I'm rooting for Zack but I think he's at a critical junction and last year's modest success with the twins is not a good predictor of his future. Anyone remember Jason King and the Matress Line?

 

[JA]

He was 21 when he joined the Canucks.

He is 24 now.

Time goes by quickly.

 

[MS]

Never really got the narrative that he was playing like **** to begin the year. Interesting though that HW is still posting insider stuff anyway.

He 'played bad' because he was hurt 3 times in the first 3 months of the season and - as all players do - struggled in his first few games back from those injuries.

In his only healthy stretch of games before Christmas, he was excellent and consistently one of our most dangerous players, even if the points weren't coming. Go back and read the GDTs from November and it paints a completely different picture than the narrative we see from the team and in the media.

Whatever this regime needs to do to convince themselves that Kassian is now their player, and untradeable, because he is a "new player" transformed by Willie... is fine by me. It's bull****, IMHO, but it's fine.

Just get him off that ****ing available to trade list.

Ha, spot on.

Normally these false narratives drive me nuts more than anything else following the sport ... but in this case, if it keeps the team from making a dumb move, I'll take it.

 

[StIllmatic]

Post about Kassian from HockeyWidow:



That's probably best new I've heard this off-season.

Where can we find the rest of the post?

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

The bouts of partying while on DL, things like that, he had to out grow.

Thats the important bit.

 

[Horse McHindu]

Zack Kassian's recent troubles proves that Benning knows what he was doing:

Zack Kassian's recent troubles proves that Benning knows what he was doing:

Jim Benning was absolutely lambasted on here for pulling the trigger on a Zack Kassian + 5th rounder for Brandon Prust trade. Many posters on here, and Canuck fans in general, lambasted Benning for making the trade, as it seemingly went against the re-tooling process, in the sense that Prust is 7 years older than the 24 year old Kassian. On top of that, we gave up a 5th!

However- given what recently happened to Kassian, I think most Canuck fans owe Benning a sincere apology. Benning absolutely did the right thing in moving out what was CLEARLY a lockerroom cancer and distraction. Contrast that, to a lockerroom leader like Prust. Now having said all that, I do wish Kassian all the very best in getting the help that he clearly needs, but it makes me upset in thinking about what could have happened if Kass was still here.

You're Jake Virtanen. You're Jarred McCann. You've Ben Hutton. You've just made the team, and now a relatively young partier in Zack Kassian wants to "celebrate" with you. See how that could turn out?

Kudos to Benning on what we can now say was a good trade by the Canucks.

 

[ManoWarrior]

Zack Kassian's recent troubles proves that Benning knows what he was doing:

Jim Benning was absolutely lambasted on here for pulling the trigger on a Zack Kassian + 5th rounder for Brandon Prust trade. Many posters on here, and Canuck fans in general, lambasted Benning for making the trade, as it seemingly went against the re-tooling process, in the sense that Prust is 7 years older than the 24 year old Kassian. On top of that, we gave up a 5th!

However- given what recently happened to Kassian, I think most Canuck fans owe Benning a sincere apology. Benning absolutely did the right thing in moving out what was CLEARLY a lockerroom cancer and distraction. Contrast that, to a lockerroom leader like Prust. Now having said all that, I do wish Kassian all the very best in getting the help that he clearly needs, but it makes me upset in thinking about what could have happened if Kass was still here.

You're Jake Virtanen. You're Jarred McCann. You've Ben Hutton. You've just made the team, and now a relatively young partier in Zack Kassian wants to "celebrate" with you. See how that could turn out?

Kudos to Benning on what we can now say was a good trade by the Canucks.

Could have just waived him if that was the case. Prust is really just clogging up the roster. Getting payed too much, keeping Kenins out of the league and Virtanen off the roster.

 

[TheWanderer]

Could have just waived him if that was the case. Prust is really just clogging up the roster. Getting payed too much, keeping Kenins out of the league and Virtanen off the roster.

Yeah, would have traded him if he cleared though.

Funny that he went to Montreal... because the partying isn't bad enough here as it is.

 

[PG Canuck]

I don't owe Benning crap all.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

GJ on the bump, captain hindsight.

Ex-Canucks thread. It's a thing.