Vancouver Canucks Messageboard

Messing up the lines during the longest road trip in history? Third place in the conference and you want to change the lines? Lets wait for desparate times change thing up don't you think.

I believe Kelser will resign, I wouldn't bet the farm on it but I think he likes the city and his team mates.

Where the hell is the "Ryan hates Canada" coming from?? C'mon man..

To be fair, I believe Kesler did make that statement during the Olympics, so while it may be out of context, it still bears some contemplation.

If Kesler holds out for 5.5 I am going to be pissed. The guy was all loudmouth along with Burrows when the Sedins were in their contract negotiation about how to be on a good team one has to be willing to take a pay cut. Burrows stuck behind his words and signed for 4 years at 2 million per. Now Kesler might, in some people's minds, be a slightly better player than Burrows (I don't agree as Burrows has the better of both hands and speed), but there is not a chance in hell that he is worth 3.5 million more than Burrows a year. Again the same person who he agreed with about taking a hometown discount. Also, while I like his grit and determination he is not worth anything close to what the Sedins are. If he won't sign for less than 5, he is not only a chirper, but an absolute hypocrite. And while he is a very good player, I am not sure I want that kind of attitude on the team.

Well, no he didn't. He said he hated team Canada. As any player would hate the team that is above them in stature they are about to play. Pick your rivalry here. Quite different than the conotation implied above.

I'll also agree Ryan is not worth that kind of money? Where the hell does that come from? Those are reaching superstar type numbers; what is it any second liner who pots a small few who shows good hustle every third shift is worth five mil?? The comparison to burrows is quite apt.

yea i dont get it either. The guys never hit 20 goals, he MIGHT this year, he's a shutdown second liner. To me, he's woth about 3 to 3.5 at best.

Robert wrote:Well, no he didn't. He said he hated team Canada. As any player would hate the team that is above them in stature they are about to play. Pick your rivalry here. Quite different than the connotation implied above.

I stand corrected, I looked up the quote. That is what I get for running off with rumors and treating them as fact. My apologies for the misrep. The quote, once read in its entirety, really isn't that bad, Kesler even recants the use of "hate" as an apt descriptor.

But I do know that he did make mention of the import of being willing to take a pay cut to remain on a good/contending team. I also remember that his agent was very quick to try to mitigate those words. We'll see how this plays out at the end of the season, still two 1st's, one 2nd, one 3rd round pick for compensating a 5.5 per year contract ain't all that bad, if someone else decides to throw down an offer sheet. It could cut into our short term contending status, if we were unable to pick up someone like Plekanec off the UFA list, but would definitely boost the prospect pool, assuming that our drafting continues to improve.

DonCherry4PM wrote:

Robert wrote:Well, no he didn't. He said he hated team Canada. As any player would hate the team that is above them in stature they are about to play. Pick your rivalry here. Quite different than the connotation implied above.

I stand corrected, I looked up the quote. That is what I get for running off with rumors and treating them as fact. My apologies for the misrep. The quote, once read in its entirety, really isn't that bad, Kesler even recants the use of "hate" as an apt descriptor.

But I do know that he did make mention of the import of being willing to take a pay cut to remain on a good/contending team. I also remember that his agent was very quick to try to mitigate those words. We'll see how this plays out at the end of the season, still two 1st's, one 2nd, one 3rd round pick for compensating a 5.5 per year contract ain't all that bad, if someone else decides to throw down an offer sheet. It could cut into our short term contending status, if we were unable to pick up someone like Plekanec off the UFA list, but would definitely boost the prospect pool, assuming that our drafting continues to improve.

Maybe Bobby Clarke will become the GM of the Panthers in the off-season and re-offer him a sheet

Kesler is worth his weight in gold when it comes to playoff effort and if he goes back on his word on doing a hometown discount on a contender then I'll get Farhan Muncher to eat his own hat!

I love his trash talking too against ALL opponents.

To all those that are against tinkering with the lines.

Look. I get it. "Farhan - you don't mess with lines that have been working, yada yada yada." "Henrik Sedin is one of the top point producers, yada yada yada." "The Canucks are one of the highest scoring teams in the league, yada yada yada."

I get that. Don't get me wrong!

Consider this however:

-Come playoff time, things DO tighten up.
-Come playoff time, physical play becomes more of a factor.
-Come playoff time, it is a lot tougher to score goals.

If a team DOESN'T have that top-tier shut down line working in their favor, then they are EXTREMELY susceptible to giving up goals at crucial times.....like we did against the Hawks last year for instance.

Am I right?

All I'm saying is this. Yes - our current system is working well.....but why not try and improve said system? Why settle for being a 2nd round calibre team when we might be able to be more than that....WITH our current personnel?

-What if the Sedin twins *are* good enough this year to make a guy like Jannick Hansen a formiddable goal scorer? Yes - in year's past, the Sedin twins could make a 'good' player 'great' but couldn't necessarily make an 'average' player 'good'. We all agree that the twins are BETTER this year than any other year right?...and have taken their game to the proverbial "next level." What if they now had that ability to make a guy like Hansen a consistent goal scorer?...and if that happened..

-Don't you think a line of Raymond-Demitra-Samuelson would be good enough to provide secondary scoring?.....along with

-A formiddable shut down line of Burrows-Kesler-Bernier that could not only do a great job of shutting down opponents, but score goals on turnovers as well.

End result potential:
-3 solid lines
-2 lines that can score on a consistent basis
-1 tremendous shut down line that also has the ability to score key goals.

Would something like this work? Maybe....maybe not. However - why not atleast TEST it out?...and see how the team looks with those lines? If the twins truly are good enough to make Hansen (my 1st choice), Bernier, or Wellwood into a consistent goal scorer, then it could have a massive rippling effect on the other lines.

Sedin-Sedin-Hansen
Burrows-Kesler-Bernier
Raymond-Demitra-Samuelson
Johnson-Wellwood-Rypien

If we sit on our hands I wouldn't doubt someone will sign Kesler to an offer sheet right around $5.0M. Anything over about $5.2M costs the other team 2 firsts a 2nd and a 3rd, but below that it is a 1st, 2nd and a 3rd.

I don't like paying him $5M. He might be worth it but like others have said there is his whole spiel about the home town discount.

I think there's a time for that, but it's not NOW.

People don't realize that this isn't NHL10 and you just change your lines when you have a face off. Lines change on the fly and many instances, coaches makes little changes during the game.

I have absolute confidence in AV that he will change his lines when it's called for, hell, people use to bash him for changing lines so often, now you are saying he needs to change his lines?

If it an't broke, don't fix it.

Did the Penguins have a shut down line? Staal, Cooke and Talbot? Not exactly a shut down line, but they did the job.

Question - Has any offer sheets worked out other than Dustin Penner?

My god, if what you meant to say doesn't fit on the subject line, reword the goddamn thing. How hard is that? I mean, ya spend hours on yr posts, so might as well spend a few extra minutes on their titles.

That way we won't have to be constantly bludgeoned by "Burrows-and-Kesler-and-come" for the next week...

Hey people, lets look at the bright side (and there is a huge one) he has stopped (for now) on urging Mike Gillis to reunite the WCE line.

Robert wrote:Question - Has any offer sheets worked out other than Dustin Penner?

For at least the first year after he joined the Oilers, there was a deadly panic that Penner wouldn't work out either. I recall accusations of floaterism going around. Nice to see he's doing better for now.

Sorry I worded that wrong, I meant an offer in which the team didn't match and the player actually moved. It sure seems that teams always feel the pressure to match.

But yet the first year or more it looked like a bad deal for the Oilers.