2016 Free Agency Frenzy

[Meds]

We just drafted 5th OA and signed the second most desirable FA on free agent frenzy day.

Our future franchise centre is entering his third season and our goalie of the future is turning pro.

I've been hard on Jim, but it's July 3rd and our prospect pool is deeper, order forwards are deeper and our defence is deeper. We should be better next year. Credit where credit is due.

Do you really think that Bo is going to be a franchise centre?

I see him being a slightly less productive version of Patrice Bergeron.....

[herb]

I don't see why not. Let's put it this way, I see no reason to write him off and say his ceiling is XX.

Slightly less productive than Bergeron would be outstanding.

[Jovocop]

Do you really think that Bo is going to be a franchise centre?

Bo was not PROJECTED to be a franchise centre does not mean that he can't be a franchise centre. Kesler was projected to be a third line center at best and Daigle was projected to be a franchise player. Projection isn't always right.

[2Fingers]

If we want Bo to be a #1 centre then I should say he sucks, I said this about the Sedins and Kesler and look how they turned out.

So - Bo knows nothing, let him walk, he is a bum.

Get any pick for him ........

[DonCherry4PM]

To be fair, Boeser was picked 23rd. We finished second in the division that year. You can select prospects with first line potential while making the playoffs.

We acquired Bo with a pick we traded for in a year we won the division.

Hutton was a late round pick.

Demko was a second rounder.

There are many ways to skin this cat.

Herb, I agree that you can get good picks lower in the draft (can't argue that point when guys like Lidstrom exist). The thing is the higher you pick in the draft the more probable that the player you pick is going to be better and going to have a career in the NHL. Outliers and anomalies definitely are possible but the closer to #1 you pick the better your chances of getting a high impact player.

You can argue that a 1st overall pick wouldn't save the franchise but one can also argue the more upper level picks you have when combined with JB's skill at drafting talent the better our chances of improving faster (which I think is what everyone wants).

Our problem has been too many flops like Nicklas Jensen and not enough wins like second round pick Brandon Saad. We basically struck out from 2006 to 2012. There's like an 0 for 31 streak in there that has just killed us. Forget high end talent, we couldn't even draft a fourth line energy guy or a backup goalie.

Prior to Hutton, our last pick to have a NHL career was Grabner, who we grabbed in 2006. Yikes.

That's our problem. One first overall pick isn't going to save the franchise. Anyway, with Canuck luck, we'd manage to grab the first overall pick in a year when Alexandre Daigle II is the consensus #1 overall guy.

One pick might not save the franchise, but the Sedin's provide pretty good debate material that having high overall picks (a 2nd and 3rd in our case) can have a pretty substantial positive impact on an organization (as can TB, Pens, Chi, etc.). I hope that with JB's drafting prowess, we are going to see more lower level picks that turn into serviceable NHL players, but my argument remains that, given JB's drafting prowess, the more upper level picks we have the more opportunity he will have to get the cream of the crop and the better off we will be. Like you say above, there is more than one way to skin a cat - I just think that allowing JB to play to his strengths might be the fastest way of skinning that cat.

[Meds]

I don't see why not. Let's put it this way, I see no reason to write him off and say his ceiling is XX.

Slightly less productive than Bergeron would be outstanding.

Yeah, didn't mean to sound like I was writing him off.

Slightly less than Bergeron would still be an amazing 2nd line centre. 60 points AND the two way game Bo has.....keeper.

When I hear franchise centre I think of guys like Crosby, Gretzky, Lemieux, Kopitar, Getzlaf, Giroux, Stamkos......guys that can score at around an 80 (or better) point clip on a consistent basis.

[herb]

Bergeron is a franchise center.

Continuing to play devil's advocate here, but Getzlaf, Giroux and Kopitar weren't picked all that high.

There's no debating that, all things being equal, the higher you pick the higher quality prospect you are going to get.

I've noticed in Canuck-land a bit of a pro tank echo chamber developing. I'm just saying that approach is fallible.

Although, I will note that since Ovechkin was drafted, a lot of super stars or projected super stars have been drafted first overall. I will also note, that if you go through the list of the NHLs top scorers last year, there are a lot of guys who weren't drafted in the top 10.

For argument's sake, we may have our Kopitar (Horvat), our Quick (Demko) and we may have just drafted our Doughty (Juolevi).

Anyway, I don't think Benning is past the days of drafting high by a long shot. I am glad that we have a GM who takes a more proactive approach to building his team than sitting around waiting for next year's draft and praying in the mean time.

[Ronning's Ghost]

I've noticed in Canuck-land a bit of a pro tank echo chamber developing. I'm just saying that approach is fallible.

I don't know about the rest of Canuck-land, but I would say that this board is generally quite anti-tank.

In any case, it doesn't matter too much what the fans want, as it has become increasingly clear that the people writing the cheques are also strenuously anti-tank.

[Strangelove]

I've noticed in Canuck-land a bit of a pro tank echo chamber developing. I'm just saying that approach is fallible.

I don't know about the rest of Canuck-land, but I would say that this board is generally quite anti-tank.

In any case, it doesn't matter too much what the fans want, as it has become increasingly clear that the people writing the cheques are also strenuously anti-tank.

Yeah, this is a site for realists.

[Madcombinepilot]

I've noticed in Canuck-land a bit of a pro tank echo chamber developing. I'm just saying that approach is fallible.

I don't know about the rest of Canuck-land, but I would say that this board is generally quite anti-tank.

In any case, it doesn't matter too much what the fans want, as it has become increasingly clear that the people writing the cheques are also strenuously anti-tank.

Yeah, this is a site for realists.

Lol--- I just about spewed beer on my iPad with that!!!

[Ronning's Ghost]

Yeah, this is a site for realists.

Good one !

[Chef Boi RD]

I've noticed in Canuck-land a bit of a pro tank echo chamber developing. I'm just saying that approach is fallible.

I don't know about the rest of Canuck-land, but I would say that this board is generally quite anti-tank.

In any case, it doesn't matter too much what the fans want, as it has become increasingly clear that the people writing the cheques are also strenuously anti-tank.

Yeah, this is a site for realists.

And the Confused.

[Mickey107]

I've noticed in Canuck-land a bit of a pro tank echo chamber developing. I'm just saying that approach is fallible.

I don't know about the rest of Canuck-land, but I would say that this board is generally quite anti-tank.

In any case, it doesn't matter too much what the fans want, as it has become increasingly clear that the people writing the cheques are also strenuously anti-tank.

Yeah, this is a site for realists.

And the Confused.

No confusion !

Just cheat and pay all the players you desire 80% of their salary under the table, report the other 20 to the league and win the cup the next 9 out of 10 years, lose one to make it look good.
I wouldn't feel dirty or sullied at all !

[damonberryman]

We just added some real improvement to our team. Getting Gabriel from the Avs would be wonderful. I always liked this kid and he would be a major addition. i am figuring two outcomes to next year. IF we stay reasonably healthy we will make the playoffs. Too many on this board are not seeing the pieces to win coming together. How many character players have we added since Elmer took over? Boeser is dripping with leadership. Gudbranson was seen by his team as captain quality. Bo is Bo. Bit by bit it is coming together for another run. We need a couple more big pieces on second line duty but I am willing to bet Jake is going to be good this year.

With the D set, barring a trade for Barrie, which would be an error, someone like Kane, Duschene, or Landskog would make us competitive. Despite appearances, we are going in the right direction.

[Meds]

What are we giving up for Landeskog (or Kane)?

I mean, what do we have that those teams want?

I have to think that Horvat, Virtanen, Boeser, Hutton, Juolevi, Brisebois, Tryamkin, and Demko, are all on the untouchable list.

Would one of those teams take Sutter plus a lesser prospect?

I would love it if Botchford's speculation of Sbisa being in play was on the level.