Player Discussion The Big Fella: Zack MacEwen (MAY 7 - Suspended 1 game)

iceburg

Don't ask why
Aug 31, 2003
7,602
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Was at the game last night and spent some time focused on MacEwen (it was a good distraction from the debacle that was the game). He was strong in a lot of areas. Good hands, speed, size, and shot. Aggressive on the forecheck and along the boards. He lost a few of those battles but that will come with time. He has a lot of tools that work in the NHL. I was mainly concerned about whether his speed would be a challenge at his size. But no, his skating is fine at the NHL level.
 

Balls Mahoney

2015-2016 HF Premier League World Champion
Aug 14, 2008
20,402
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Legend
MacEwen was noticeably good last night. Was pretty impressed with him. Definitely looks like a gem. I was skeptical from all the hype you guys were laying down about him. But he looks to have all the qualities of a good NHLer. Impressed with his size and speed. Like that he was getting involved every play and seems to have that special higher-end vision, smarts to be in the right places. Obviously, first game and everything but definitely think he has what it takes be a middle six'er in the NHL.

Kind of reminds me of Scott Hartnell or Alex Tuch? Maybe someone like that? Kind of a big bodied power forward-ish hard working player.

Very nice player to organically pop up in the organization as the Canucks are desperately lacking this sort of player and one of my biggest complaints is how small this team is. Definitely could see MacEwen working into the second/third line for the rest of the year.
 

VanJack

Registered User
Jul 11, 2014
21,043
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MacEwen is like 'found money'. Un-drafted out of the Q and now in the NHL at least temporarily. Gives you some hope that maybe some of their other junior FA signings like Chatfield or Eliot might work out. And even Michael Carcone netted them Josh Leivo, so he has to be a considered a success as well.
 

Bankerguy

Registered User
Apr 28, 2013
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I think the Canucks should be grooming Mackewen to step in as 4C for when Beagle is done, AND Gaudette as 3C for when Sutter is done.
 

Guardian452

Registered User
Jun 10, 2011
1,296
324
I think the Canucks should be grooming Mackewen to step in as 4C for when Beagle is done, AND Gaudette as 3C for when Sutter is done.

Zack hasn’t played a regular shift at center since junior hockey. Utica posters have commented that Zack is not even a good option as a C at the AHL level.
 
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Megaterio Llamas

el rey del mambo
Oct 29, 2011
11,219
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North Shore
He's still trying to beat D one on one and getting knocked on his ass every time. Been trying to do it for three years now in Utica and he's trying it now in the NHL Jeezus, stop it Zack...
 
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vanuck

Now with 100% less Benning!
Dec 28, 2009
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I wish this organization hadn't jammed up its bottom 6 with all these big contracts so we could actually insert some cheap young depth that can play hockey. Here's hoping MacEwen doesn't get buried on the depth chart because of this and can rise above it all to stick with the big club.
 
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F A N

Registered User
Aug 12, 2005
18,626
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I wish this organization hadn't jammed up its bottom 6 with all these big contracts so we could actually insert some cheap young depth that can play hockey. Here's hoping MacEwen doesn't get buried on the depth chart because of this and can rise above it all to stick with the big club.

Who are these cheap young depth that can play hockey you speak of though. Motte? Leivo? Gaudette? Virtanen? Leipsic?

One thing the Canucks have lacked legitimate NHL prospects projected to play in the bottom 6 (as in guys you didn't think would ever play on your 2nd line). We used to draft and develop those type of players regularly. For a few years we just had Cassels (who was a bust) and Lockwood. Schaller, Motte, and Leipsic types really didn't take roster spots away from a young player who should be up in the NHL and let me know whose roster spot Beagle is taking up as the team's 4th line C.

Players like MacEwen should be pushing for a spot and when given the opportunity show enough that the team would be comfortable penciling him into the lineup the next season. From a fan perspective it can be a bit of a catch 22 situation.On the one hand you want these young players to provide cheap young depth on the NHL roster. On the other hand, you also want these young players to be knocking on the door at the AHL level so you have depth on the farm. It's more exciting from a fan perspective to see a young prospect who is knocking on the door being recalled rather than an older player with little upside at this point.
 

Cupless44

Registered User
Jun 25, 2014
7,154
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Who are these cheap young depth that can play hockey you speak of though. Motte? Leivo? Gaudette? Virtanen? Leipsic?

One thing the Canucks have lacked legitimate NHL prospects projected to play in the bottom 6 (as in guys you didn't think would ever play on your 2nd line). We used to draft and develop those type of players regularly. For a few years we just had Cassels (who was a bust) and Lockwood. Schaller, Motte, and Leipsic types really didn't take roster spots away from a young player who should be up in the NHL and let me know whose roster spot Beagle is taking up as the team's 4th line C.

Players like MacEwen should be pushing for a spot and when given the opportunity show enough that the team would be comfortable penciling him into the lineup the next season. From a fan perspective it can be a bit of a catch 22 situation.On the one hand you want these young players to provide cheap young depth on the NHL roster. On the other hand, you also want these young players to be knocking on the door at the AHL level so you have depth on the farm. It's more exciting from a fan perspective to see a young prospect who is knocking on the door being recalled rather than an older player with little upside at this point.

I liked MacEwen's game last time out. I see improvement and given time I think i would rather see him on the 4th line than Eriksson or Schaller and the combined 8 million they cost. Better size, toughness and scoring upside.
 

iceburg

Don't ask why
Aug 31, 2003
7,602
3,959
The knock on MacEwen that you always hear is that his skating isn't up tp par. Honestly, I don't see why this is the criticism. I saw him play live last year, specifically kept an eye on him every time he was out. His skating looked fine.
He gets in on the forecheck and is very strong in the corners.
He could develop into a great bottom six guy.
 

VanJack

Registered User
Jul 11, 2014
21,043
14,073
I wish this organization hadn't jammed up its bottom 6 with all these big contracts so we could actually insert some cheap young depth that can play hockey. Here's hoping MacEwen doesn't get buried on the depth chart because of this and can rise above it all to stick with the big club.
Couldn't agree more with this.....Canucks have the worst set of contracts for bottom-six forwards in the entire league. At this point, Beagle, Eriksson, Schaller and even Sutter are just getting in the way of players like MacEwen, Graovac and Gaudette who could be a very effective depth players earning little more than the league minimum.

Then they could use that cap space to go out and shore up their areas of the roster that really need help--such as the blueline. But when you have so much money tied up in players who'll be lucky to score five goals for you, it's just backbreaking in terms of the cap.
 

Bertuzzzi44

Registered User
Jun 26, 2018
3,399
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Surefire 4th line NHL winger. Needs to polish his defensive game a bit and learn to be a decent penalty killer which will come with time.
 

vanuck

Now with 100% less Benning!
Dec 28, 2009
16,797
4,012
Who are these cheap young depth that can play hockey you speak of though. Motte? Leivo? Gaudette? Virtanen? Leipsic?

One thing the Canucks have lacked legitimate NHL prospects projected to play in the bottom 6 (as in guys you didn't think would ever play on your 2nd line). We used to draft and develop those type of players regularly. For a few years we just had Cassels (who was a bust) and Lockwood. Schaller, Motte, and Leipsic types really didn't take roster spots away from a young player who should be up in the NHL and let me know whose roster spot Beagle is taking up as the team's 4th line C.

Players like MacEwen should be pushing for a spot and when given the opportunity show enough that the team would be comfortable penciling him into the lineup the next season. From a fan perspective it can be a bit of a catch 22 situation.On the one hand you want these young players to provide cheap young depth on the NHL roster. On the other hand, you also want these young players to be knocking on the door at the AHL level so you have depth on the farm. It's more exciting from a fan perspective to see a young prospect who is knocking on the door being recalled rather than an older player with little upside at this point.

To me it's guys like Archibald, Gaunce and MacEwen that should be on our 4th line right now. They're all examples of homegrown guys who developed in our system and it would've been nice to see them given the opportunity to carve out bottom 6 roles on this team instead of going out in UFA to overpay for role players. Motte is whatever as he's cheap too - I'd prefer him in the 13th forward spot rotating in and out as needed.

I'd easily take Gaunce over Beagle right now in fact. On a team that already has Sutter and Horvat, he's redundant and overpaid.
 

F A N

Registered User
Aug 12, 2005
18,626
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To me it's guys like Archibald, Gaunce and MacEwen that should be on our 4th line right now. They're all examples of homegrown guys who developed in our system and it would've been nice to see them given the opportunity to carve out bottom 6 roles on this team instead of going out in UFA to overpay for role players. Motte is whatever as he's cheap too - I'd prefer him in the 13th forward spot rotating in and out as needed.

I'd easily take Gaunce over Beagle right now in fact. On a team that already has Sutter and Horvat, he's redundant and overpaid.

Well Archibald is hardly young anymore but I get your point. It's not a bad strategy to give home grown guys a chance and swap them out as they get more expensive. With that said, a part of it is on the coach as well. It's quite common for NHL head coaches promoted from the club's AHL team to bring along some of the players they trusted at the AHL level. Green never did that. He seemingly preferred his former Portland Winterhawk guys over the guys he coached in the AHL. Gaunce in particular is a good example. Green was Gaunce's first professional head coach and Gaunce did spend the majority of the year with the Canucks in Green's first season. Clearly, Green did not see Gaunce as a C otherwise he would have played him there. He also didn't really trust him, otherwise he would have played him more. The Beagle signing was very much a byproduct of what Green wanted. We see this whenever Beagle and or Sutter goes down. All the defensive minutes went to Horvat.
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
53,362
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Vancouver, BC
Well Archibald is hardly young anymore but I get your point. It's not a bad strategy to give home grown guys a chance and swap them out as they get more expensive. With that said, a part of it is on the coach as well. It's quite common for NHL head coaches promoted from the club's AHL team to bring along some of the players they trusted at the AHL level. Green never did that. He seemingly preferred his former Portland Winterhawk guys over the guys he coached in the AHL. Gaunce in particular is a good example. Green was Gaunce's first professional head coach and Gaunce did spend the majority of the year with the Canucks in Green's first season. Clearly, Green did not see Gaunce as a C otherwise he would have played him there. He also didn't really trust him, otherwise he would have played him more. The Beagle signing was very much a byproduct of what Green wanted. We see this whenever Beagle and or Sutter goes down. All the defensive minutes went to Horvat.

This is why coaches need to coach the players they're given and managers need to build rosters responsibly and intelligently under the salary cap.

As soon as you have a coach angling for $3 million 4th liners and a management group willing to let him have his way, the whole model gets blown up.

4th liners are fungible fringe players who don't move the needle. You let your coach have his pick of $800k guys to fill those roles. If he doesn't like it, that's tough. You spend your cap space bringing in guys who make actual impact. As I've noted a few times here, San Jose was able to have *7* top-6 forwards on their roster last year because their bottom-5 guys made a combined $6 million. That's how you build successful hockey teams.
 

VanJack

Registered User
Jul 11, 2014
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At this point in their careers, MacEwen brings as much or more to the table than Ferland and is earning barely above the league minimum....and of course Ferland is signed for three more seasons after this one, at $3.5m per.

What's baffling about all this, is that this fact was common knowledge to just about anybody on these boards and around hockey. Somebody should wrestle Jimbo's phone away from him on July 1st. I mean surely the owner or someone has to step in and stop him from offering obscene contracts with debilitating term to bottom-of the lineup players--when he has guys in the system who'd be just as good at a fraction of the price.

I mean, at what point does the owner start getting involved?
 
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Timmer44

Registered User
Mar 3, 2006
3,558
155
Van City
At this point in their careers, MacEwen brings as much or more to the table than Ferland and is earning barely above the league minimum....and of course Ferland is signed for three more seasons after this one, at $3.5m per.

What's baffling about all this, is that this fact was common knowledge to just about anybody on these boards and around hockey. Somebody should wrestle Jimbo's phone away from him on July 1st. I mean surely the owner or someone has to step in and stop him from offering obscene contracts with debilitating term to bottom-of the lineup players--when he has guys in the system who'd be just as good at a fraction of the price.

I mean, at what point does the owner start getting involved?

I'm guessing he's the one dialing the phone.
 
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