I find this Disney lemming movie quite intriguing. Will there be car chase? Lemmings driving would be funny.
- Marwood

I can see it now (some just can't). All of the Lemming's follow each other off a cliff and land on a valley of pillows. Lefty refuses to conform. He is laughing it up and telling a bunch of squirrels that he was right all along and then is run over by a car.

I find this Disney lemming movie quite intriguing. Will there be car chase? Lemmings driving would be funny.
- Marwood

Yes, anything is possible in the world of lemmings.

But he can slap at over 100mph
- NorthNuck

He is the softest 6'5 220 pound forward in hockey....well, other than Hanzal that is.

Here's the way I see it.

He played 30 games and struggled for us, although was obviously injured, he also was a highly touted 3rd overall pick and by anyone expectations has not lived up to his draft position.

Knowing this and him being a RFA, how could anyone defend signing him to longer term deal?

The only reason to lock him up would be if he had come out and played amazing for us and the team was worried about having to pay more down the road.

Worst case scenario if they sign him to a show me deal is that he turns out to be an amazing player and shows he deserves a big contract.
- belcherbd

The show me deal i like but its frought with danger also.
It could piss him off to the degree of sour grapes & want out.
or motivate him & we have to pay more later.
I'd rather commit to him on the basis he is big & rugged & still young.
That does not mean his less than impressive offense should be ignored but a proper assessment as how he fits the design plan in 2-3yrs from now. He will only be 25-26yrs old then & fully in his prime. 5yrs/4.5m is my valuation but less is better if it it can be done but i doubt it. The contract is about the marketplace rather than what we want to sign him to. D get paid when not enough of em to go around the league. IF other D we have can push him the our depth creates a good future trade chip.

Grenier sucks...big time
- CanuckDon

It does appear he is destined to be a career AHLer

Comets are 7 points out of the playoffs, not really a concern
- NorthNuck

It's a long shot, but they would look really silly if they didn't paper guys and they did make it.....kinda like last year

The Comets could of had Virtanen, McCann, Hutton, Horvat, Granlund for their playoff run had the Canucks chosen to make them available.

I'm not saying all of these guys should of been there, especially Horvat and Granlund but they could of.

If Gudbransun is healthy, I would hope mgmt makes it a priority to play him so they can accurately evaluate him before he goes to RFA. Not only that but he is exactly the type of personality this team will need in the locker room and on the ice as it is going to be a lot of young, fragile kids.
- belcherbd

The show me deal i like but its frought with danger also.
It could piss him off to the degree of sour grapes & want out.
or motivate him & we have to pay more later.
I'd rather commit to him on the basis he is big & rugged & still young.
That does not mean his less than impressive offense should be ignored but a proper assessment as how he fits the design plan in 2-3yrs from now. He will only be 25-26hrs old then & fully in his prime. 5yrs/4.5m is my valuation but less is better if it it can be done but i doubt it. The contract is about the marketplace rather than what we want to sign him to. D get paid when not enough of em to go around the league. IF other D we have can push him the our depth creates a good future trade chip.
- Nighthawk

He's 25 now. As weird as it is to say, most players are largely what they are by that point in their career, especially with 300 games under his belt. He could improve, but the ceiling likely isn't much higher than you've already seen.

The best case scenario would be a 1 year deal makes him go out and prove he's worth term, because right now he hasn't proved it. RFA's have so little leverage. If they had half as much leverage as you think they do then Kucherov would have signed for 6+ and not 4.6.

Without an offersheet or a real track record to go off of, he doesn't have much leverage for a long term deal.

So Gudbranson signs a 1 year contract before getting traded from Florida to Canucks, now we think he is going to sign another 1 year deal.
WOW.

It's a long shot, but they would look really silly if they didn't paper guys and they did make it.....kinda like last year

The Comets could of had Virtanen, McCann, Hutton, Horvat, Granlund for their playoff run had the Canucks chosen to make them available.

I'm not saying all of these guys should of been there, especially Horvat and Granlund but they could of.
- belcherbd

Sure and fill our roster with ECHLers 😂😂

It's a long shot, but they would look really silly if they didn't paper guys and they did make it.....kinda like last year

The Comets could of had Virtanen, McCann, Hutton, Horvat, Granlund for their playoff run had the Canucks chosen to make them available.

I'm not saying all of these guys should of been there, especially Horvat and Granlund but they could of.
- belcherbd

It doesn't appear they care about the Comets this year (rightly or wrongly). Next year will be a different story as they do care about Gaudette, Boeser and Dahlen's development.

So Gudbranson signs a 1 year contract before getting traded from Florida to Canucks, now we think he is going to sign another 1 year deal.
WOW.
- Reubenkincade

What are his other options? Do you think he will be willing to sit out like Trouba did?

All of the cards are in the Canucks hands from what I can tell.

He's 25 now. As weird as it is to say, most players are largely what they are by that point in their career, especially with 300 games under his belt. He could improve, but the ceiling likely isn't much higher than you've already seen.

The best case scenario would be a 1 year deal makes him go out and prove he's worth term, because right now he hasn't proved it. RFA's have so little leverage. If they had half as much leverage as you think they do then Kucherov would have signed for 6+ and not 4.6.

Without an offersheet or a real track record to go off of, he doesn't have much leverage for a long term deal.
- Lindenis#1

Not so much concerned with his ceiling but more inclined that he is healthy & able to play his style. His partner is a key to his pairing dynamics.

I don't remember anyone blaming Benning for getting unlucky in the draft.... The gripe is usually that he has gone after " foundational" players via trades and FA and the team is still poopty.

I can't remember the quote exactly but mgmt made it crystal clear that last season they had tried to do both the development and be competitive thing and it was too difficult so that this season they would be straight ahead with the goal of competing.

It failed and luckily failed spectacularly ( so far) and now it looks like the thought process has evolved again to where they have accepted that they do not have enough talent to be competitive.

Out of curiosity, when was Lefty proposing to trade Edler for Weber?
- belcherbd

Oh hell yeah. Especially when Toronto's drafting of Matthews is involved in discussions. The argument keeps coming up about not trying to be in position to draft at #1.... and I keep pointing out that we were and are going to be positioned well again. That's not good enough though. It has to be a convincing tank. lot's of winking and nudging... Not just losing alone... with the same outcome. I think people have a unrealistic idea of what losing all season is supposed to look and feel like maybe...

Lefty was proposing this trade in 2012, post playoff run. Weber would have ended up resigned for a contract that made the Sedins look like a short term affordable problem... things could be worse if we are selling the future that hard... but it was unrealistic I think anyways. Not going to happen.

It doesn't appear they care about the Comets this year (rightly or wrongly). Next year will be a different story as they do care about Gaudette, Boeser and Dahlen's development.
- CanuckDon

Don't care? How did u arrive at that?

Not so much concerned with his ceiling but more inclined that he is healthy & able to play his style. His partner is a key to his pairing dynamics.
- Nighthawk

The best partner on paper for his is Hutton, and that didn't work out too well. Maybe it improves, but if he's so reliant on who he plays with its just another reason why you shouldn't be giving a big ticket to him.

What are his other options? Do you think he will be willing to sit out like Trouba did?

All of the cards are in the Canucks hands from what I can tell.
- belcherbd

Only this contract but what about in the future?

Don't care? How did u arrive at that?
- Nighthawk

Didn't grab any AHL help, didn't seem to paper many of the eligible guys. With them sitting as far out as they are I can see why it wasn't a huge priority.

Sure and fill our roster with ECHLers 😂😂
- Nighthawk

It doesn't guarantee anything, it just gives you options. It's like someone saying, hey open up this TFSA, You might not have any money to put in it right now but maybe you will later and you will be kicking yourself later if you have to put it off for another year.


For the record I don't know how TFSA's work but I'm hoping I hit on that analogy.

Only this contract but what about in the future?
- Nighthawk

Then you deal with that in the future. There's a real possibility that you wouldn't need him in two years. Rosters turn over fast and prospects develop and can come out of nowhere.

Half the reasons people defended Sbisa's contract was that he would be Hammy's replacement. Then Hutton came out of nowhere and Sbisa is still the same guy he's always been versus taking the steps forward he never really showed.

The best partner on paper for his is Hutton, and that didn't work out too well. Maybe it improves, but if he's so reliant on who he plays with its just another reason why you shouldn't be giving a big ticket to him.
- Lindenis#1

Hockey isn't played on paper lol
He is not reliant on a partner.
All D pairings r reliant on each other.
Now it the FIT that a coach has to find.
EG can handle the big power forwards match ups & in our division thats important.

I can see it now (some just can't). All of the Lemming's follow each other off a cliff and land on a valley of pillows. Lefty refuses to conform. He is laughing it up and telling a bunch of squirrels that he was right all along and then is run over by a car.
- CanuckDon

The squirrels should be zombie squirrels and Lefty should be in drag. Will this be a children's movie?

Yes, anything is possible in the world of lemmings.
- bloatedmosquito

Well, I'm a face-painting Sharks fan, now!

What are his other options? Do you think he will be willing to sit out like Trouba did?

All of the cards are in the Canucks hands from what I can tell.
- belcherbd

Arbitration. Could be a big gamble. This article gives a pretty good briefing on how it works.
http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/538417

The squirrels should be zombie squirrels and Lefty should be in drag. Will this be a children's movie?
- Marwood

Don't forget Nucker in the pvc gimp suit...