Quote (Hizkuntza @ Oct 10 2020 07:22pm)

Right now the blue line is hilariously bad. We literally have no RHD who can play either tough minutes or log a lot of ice time without fucking up. Myers is what he is, he's worth half his cap hit and will never be a legit workhorse. We have a lot of tape on Chatfield and Rathbone and these guys simply can't fill the gaping void left even if they take major steps forward. Maybe Juolevi can do his part, but even thats a long shot. Oh, and Edler is old and his wheels can fall off any time. If Benning makes no moves we will, disgustingly, have the worst blueline in the league despite having the best young defenseman.

And I don't buy that we're going to necessarily be better in the long run even if we semi tank the next two seasons. While ofc Petey and Hughes are young, Horvat, Boeser and Miller are all in their prime right now and are light on the cap relative to their contributions. We will probably be squeezed out from 1-2 of them soon after Hughes and Petey reup and that's where we pray to the almighty that Podz and Hoglander can contribute while they're on their ELCs. And we have absolutely no one who projects as Top 4 Dmen, specially on the right. Juolevi can maybe redeem himself and Rafferty pans out, but they're long shots. Either we get lottery picks to solve that issue or we're fucked.

I would've preferred to keep Marky and trade Demko, but Benning at least handled the goalie situation in an acceptable way. Maybe you can argue that we couldn't afford to keep Tanev. And there are no excuses for hardballing Stecher out of town. Either way, these decisions were forced because Benning gave way too much money to veterans looking for retirement contracts. As a result, we lost loyal players who just wanted to be paid their worth and stay in town. Not only our defense looks fucked right now, but the situation in the locker room - watching character guys get penny pinched while underperforming veterans stack cash - is probably worse right now.

Yeah I know I'm a negative Nancy, but this was miles and miles coming. Benning is a fucking idiot who doesn't know he's a fucking idiot and that has never changed.

Quote (LuLer @ Oct 10 2020 11:10pm)

It's not negative, it's spot on.

Because of the bad contracts we've talked about a million times, the timeline is being pushed back a 1 year to 2.

We no longer can hope to capitalize on the EP and Hughes ELC instead the Hog and Pod ELCs, if they even pan out.

And yeah, unless one of our average D prospects surprisingly breaks out, we're fucked when it comes to legit top-4 D. Who knows what Edler looks likes in 2 years and I don't know if Myers is a top-4 D-man unless the 3 guys in front of him are REALLY good.

All we can hope is some good D-men fall into our laps in one of the next two UFA summers, maybe like the Orpik/Niskanen thing for the Caps (moreso Niskaken, but still).

Quote (696969696969696969696969696969 @ 10 Oct 2020 21:59)

As of now the blues have oodles of nhl caliber dmen. I could see dunn being available for the right price, and if you're looking cheaper, gunnarson.

Quote (Secksii @ Oct 12 2020 06:44pm)

I disagree, we got a solid top 4 dman for only a 3rd. It was no surprise the Canucks needed their backend revamped and this is a step in the right direction. He's not a place holder, will be a core easily with the shitty Canucks d. Now there's 2 pairs that can bring out the puck out of their zone, Hughes-myers and edler-Schmidt. Although Schmidt seems much better on his original lhd position. Another ofd, except actually reliable defensively is a huge upgrade from tanev.

Edlers contract will be up after this season, and I can see him sign cheap 1 year deals or short term cap friendly deals. Schmidt doesn't have nmc, he has mNTC. I don't think that matters, 6m friendly cap for a dman of his calibre. Looks like green has no option but to play Schmidt and/or Benn on their offhand due to lack of depth on the rightside.

I personally think it's a huge upgrade over toffoli+stecher.
The Canucks struggled immensely in the backend when Hughes was not on the ice, by having another player able to bring the puck out when Hughes isn't on the ice changes things. Its definitely a huge blow to lose toffoli, but the Canucks still managed to hold on when he was out with an injury. Although there's no question how much effective the Canucks pp1 became with him on the ice over boeser. Losing 3rd pair in stecher sucks too, but at least it gives a chance for a prospect to see some NHL ice time. If he wasn't a local boy, playing hard, I don't think I'd give much fucks tho. Even fatenberg can help the loss of stecher, if the Canucks could bring him back, but they will regress anyway, so I prefer we see what chatfield or Rafferty has. If they suck, next season priority after locking up Demko, Hughes, Petey would be finding depth pair for Benn and another 3rd pair.

Quote (Killingyouall @ 12 Oct 2020 19:01)

Would be curious to see advanced analytics on Schmidt.

From what I saw during the playoffs he was pretty solid.

He can play big minutes.

The question is does he fit into the core?

Well I think he is considerably better than Myers with the same salary. A year younger, but one year longer term.

Contract checks out if that is what the bar is.

Furthermore I think getting Schmidt alone significantly improves our trash tier defense. Realistically I think he brings 3-5 wins alone just based on how desperately we needed to improve the defense.


I will agree partially though..... This move will probably force the Canucks to move at least one bad contract which will cost additional picks or prospects.

So on the surface getting a top 4D with a reasonable contract for a 3rd looks good, the actual price will be higher in the end.


Overall my thoughts are mixed on this acquisition. Time will tell.