Jeremy Hronek

3 minutes ago, BC_Hawk said:

 

 

As such, Tocchet is the perfect coach for 99% of the players, but terrible for the 1% which happens to be Kuzmenko.

In that case, I agree with the premise of Patrick Johnson's article (ignoring his retarded take on Phil Kessel obviously).

We need to move Kuzmenko before this shit becomes a distraction.  Right now, this whole issue has been swept under a rug since we've had a great season so far.

But now?  We've got a tough 7 game road trip and we've already started 0-1 (and didn't particularly look good.....especially our top line).  If this road trip goes awry and we see more Kuzmenko benchings, this issue could snowball.

Just now, PhillipBlunt said:

Now Friedman is entering the discussion. 

 

Canucks’ Coach at Breaking Point with Kuzmenko Amid Trade Talk (msn.com)

 

Breaking point? Really Elliotte? 

Friedman always acts like a 14 year old Californian blonde girl whenever there is a hint of adversity surrounding the Canucks.  

He feigns objectivity but the guy is a Maple Leaf ball-licker through and through.  

10 minutes ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

 

So, I went back to the pre-game video for the Sharks game before Christmas. The game where Kuzmenko was put back in the lineup.

 

Tocchet said that when Kuz was scratched in Dallas, they worked with him on specific things in his game. So it's not a situation where Kuz is sitting on his hands being punished. They're actively working with him.

 

Tocchet specifically mentioned they want him to shoot more and to attack more - attack the play, attack the net, attack the forecheck. If he's the first guy there on the forecheck, to really get in there. 

 

So, that's a specific elaboration on what they're working on with him as part of the plan.

 

The Kuz bit starts at :40 ...

 

 

I mean, that's all well and good, but the coaches are making it look like Kuzmenko is a 19 year old kid that is just learning the big leagues.  

In actuality, the guy scored 39 goals last year and clearly has an elite skill set........that can help this team. You know, with our top line currently struggling with offence.  

I mean seriously - if 1994 Pavel Bure was inserted into this line-up, would it make sense to let Pavel "work his magic" so to speak or would it be better if he was forced to play "Tocchy hockey" like a fucking retard?   Elite coaches tailor systems to maximize player strengths.  I like Tocchet but this is one area where I believe he's lacking in.  

20 minutes ago, OldFaithfulcap said:

 

 

https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/canucks-coffee-the-kuzmenko-story-needs-a-conclusion

Good article by Patrick Johnson..........until he mentioned Phil Kessel.

Seriously - what's with fans' and media's obsession with this guy?  

It's not 2012 anymore.  There's a reason why Kessel barely played in last year's playoffs.  

I say this semi seriously and semi jokingly, but we'd be better off coaxing Daniel Sedin out of retirement rather than signing Kessel.  

Daniel Sedin is still in elite shape. Phil Kessel on the other hand, has breasts the size of Pamela Anderson.   

1 minute ago, BC_Hawk said:

Phil Kessel is a great analogy of Kuzmenko. Work with Kuz to remove the poor decision making from his game (give always at centre ice and above the hashmarks), but accept he will never be a true 200' player. If that is unacceptable, trade him for an asset that would be worth the 5.5m on a cap strapped team.

Maybe to the Habs for Josh Anderson. Similar cap hit + Anderson’s lower point total is offset by his heavier style of play.

4 minutes ago, Devron said:

Problem with that is teams just need to focus on shutting down the top line. Solution. Play Kuzy. I’m getting frustrated as well. 

With the way Joshua-Bluegar-Garland have been playing however, that might not be the case.

8 minutes ago, Hammertime said:

Just needs more produce to produce. 

 

 

What the fuck did I just watch?  

5 minutes ago, nux_win said:

Canucks "fans" treatment of Tocchet is starting to get upsetting.  We finally have a winning team and certain people can only focus on a certain player not getting enough ice time to suit their needs.  And we don't even know if the player in question is upset about it himself.  It sure seems like he isn't, just the so-called fans who think they know how to manage an NHL team better than the experts.  Chill out people.  Enjoy the wins.  Or would you rather have more to complain about?  Go Canucks Go!

Kuzmenko looked like he almost teared up after being interviewed that one night when he was named first star.  Of course he's upset over what's going on.

I also prefaced my original by stating that I'm a huge fan of Tocchet's work.    

So, what are we arguing about?  

1 minute ago, Nucker67 said:

I think some people here are a lot more upset than Kuzmenko. He's just happy to be in the NHL, Millstein says they have a plan, his agent isn't even concerned.  

 

But sure, let's start a Tocchet witch hunt if that makes you feel better.

 

Keep in mind, without Tocchet, this team would be bottom feeders again. 

Don't get me wrong bro, I'm a huge fan of Tocchet.  

I'm just upset with the way Kuz is being dicked around like a kid at Neverland Ranch.  

However - if the rumours are true that Kuzmenko's fitness wasn't up to par when the season began (and unlike Joshua, never got his way back into shape), then I take back everything I said.  

1 minute ago, theochar said:

Players turn into to coaches that want players like they used to be, this happens in any sport the examples are endless.

 

Tocchet was a essentially a thug that happened to have really good hands and scored a lot of goals. He told a story when he was traded to Pittsburgh that he kept dumping the puck in and chasing it, Mario told him to cut that shit out we wasn't in Philly anymore. 

 

Rick likes grinders with good hands but this is not east to find so he is trying to instill some "grind" into the skilled players. It seems like a good plan skill guys are smart and talented so you just need an uptick in effort. Genius players like Gretzky and Maradona were shit coaches because no player could match what they were as players. Johan Cruyff was the exception but he flourished as team president and established a whole culture at Barcelona. Mourihno was a crappy defender and based his philosophy on parking the bus and winning but didn't win many fans etc etc.

 

So we get to a guy like Kuzmenko who's not really getting what Tocchet is trying to do. He is seeing Lafferty and Suter on Petey's line going WTF, I'm with Kuzzy on this one. Tocchet needs to move to the next level of asset management, Lafferty and Suter are disposable assets Kuzzy is not its really that simple. Its not like Kuzmenko is a diva hes got a great attitude and a joy for the game. He needs an arm around the shoulder instead of a kick up the arse its so obvious. Tocchet can afford to cut him some slack without "losing the room", plugs and grinders know they are plugs and grinders so wont get arsey if a skill guy gets a softer ride, its reflected in the salary. Sort it out!!!!!

 

Playing guys like Lafferty and Suter on Petey's wing is the dumbest shit ever and I have no idea why Tocchet is doing this.  

If coaching wants Kuzmenko to have less minutes while he gets his conditioning up to snuff, that's fine, but why make Petey suffer for it?

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser (welcome back Lotto line)

Joshua-Bluegar-Garland

Mikheyev-Suter-Hoglander

Kuzmenko-Lafferty-PDG

Or something like that.  So - if it truly is an issue of getting Kuzmenko's fitness back, then fine, but atleast give Petey some good line mates. 

3 minutes ago, kettlevalley said:

I believe the plan has to do with fitness.  And he is being scratched because he has certain fitness goals to hit to be able to skate harder and play both directions.  

 

I agree we need his scoring and having Karlsson come from the farm and start over him is concerning.  

But Kuz's fitness wasn't an issue last season was it?  Or did Kuz celebrate a little too much this past off-season?   

I wouldn't mind seeing your Podkolzin idea come to fruition if he's truly ready.  

16 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

So a couple of weeks ago Kuzy's agent says everyone is on the same page and there's a plan. 

 

No one has revealed that plan, and we've only had a handful of games since the comment.

 

Maybe someone can elaborate on what they think the "plan" is and how its not working, before we get upset?

 

Fair enough point but I can't stop thinking about that game awhile back where Kuzmenko was the #1 star and was interviewed. You could tell that Kuzmenko was getting emotional during the speech, and that all of those healthy scratches/4th line stints had gotten to him.  

The Canucks and the coaching staff need to figure this Kuzmenko stuff out.  

If there is a plan in place, it looks like Rosie O'Donnell's shit to me.  

I think Hughes and Pettersson makes it but Miller and Demko get snubbed.

Meanwhile, a bunch of undeserving  thespians from the Maple Leafs make the team.  

8 minutes ago, Sativika said:

 

Cool. Looks like a jersey you'd see in the Peloton in Tour de France! Anywho........................................

 

............Guentzel would be a good get for sure. However I think we should wait and see where we're at come deadline. To me it's too early to go after someone of his ilk. As mentioned in here; there's a monumental cost to get him and though we'd like him, a rental player is not what we need at this point, or at all this season!

 

I don't know what PA has up his sleeve; I think it better to give up a mid to late draft pick for someone cheaper. Kinda' like the Lafferty one. That is, if there's anyone available as such.

 

 

All good points.  If we're eyeing JG, it would likely be a trade deadline acquisition since both Vancouver and Pittsburgh would need to see where they stand at the deadline. For all we know, Pittsburgh finds its groove and becomes a playoff calibre team. We've seen Edmonton do a 180 as of late and Pittsburgh definitely has the talent to do the same. 

My other thought is this.  Is it really another scoring forward that we need or would the Canucks be better off getting a #2A/#3 calibre defenseman?   I feel like we are still missing that calibre defenseman. Allow me to explain:

#1: Hughes

#2: Hronek

#3: ???

#4: Zadorov

#5 Cole/Soucy

#5A/6 Myers

#6A/7 Juulsen

In other words, I still think there is a significant drop off between Hronek and our 3rd best defenseman.........which could ultimately spell trouble if one of Hughes or Hronek goes down with injury.   Perhaps it would be better to take a calculated gamble on Kuzmenko getting out of his slump, while moving Myers and a draft pick for that #3 calibre guy.

59 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

Guentzel would complete the top 6 and put us over the top.  If you add another 40-goal scorer at the deadline to this team it would become the Stanley Cup favourites.

 

Add a bottom 6 forward to the group who can play tough playoff hockey like a Yakov Trenin or Sammy Blais and we are pretty much done.

 

The question becomes what is the cost to acquire Guentzel if he becomes available?  I'm guessing it would be our 2025 1st plus Hoglander at minimum...

Assuming that would be true:

Mikheyev-Pettersson-Kuzmenko

Guentzel-Miller-Boeser

Joshua-Bluegar-Garland

PDG-Suter-Lafferty

Hughes-Hronek

Zadorov-Myers

Cole-Soucy

Demko

DeSmith

#VancouverPenguins #RussSwedUSACanucks

In all seriousness, Guentzel would be a fantastic addition.  

9 minutes ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

Problem is none of these guys play hockey or kill penalties as well as our bottom-6. I'd rather our guys. We've got guys like Kuzmenko, Hoglander and Lafferty as healthy scratches some games - there's no way those plugs take a roster spot from those guys.

 

We don't have a goon or enforcer and we're at the top of the league right now and our bottom-6 is one of the best in the league. We have a small, not-physical Suter at 3C who's scoring at a 28 goal pace and kills penalties better than most 3Cs.

 

The age of the enforcer is long gone.

All good points and when creating this post, I had completely forgotten about the fact that we have Zadorov now.  

While you are correct that the age of the enforcer is long gone, I still think you need that one guy that can beat up all/most players in the league if it came down to it.  

Is fighting being phased out of the game?  Absolutely.  Will opposing players still take liberties with your star players if they know that they won't pay the price for it? (i.e. 2011 Bruins, 2015 Michael Ferland, 2020 Ryan Reaves).  My line of thinking is that you could have someone like Johnston as your 13th forward and then dress him if things are getting out of line.  Bruins in 2011 had Shawn Thornton as their 13th forward and then dressed him from Game 3 onwards. In 1994, although we had guys like Sergio Momesso and Tim Hunter, we had Odjick waiting in the wings.  

58 minutes ago, Kevlar said:

I wonder what it would take to get Lawson Crouse (RW/LW 4.3M x 4 years) and Sean Durzi (RHD 1.7M x 1year RFA) from Arizona? 

 

A package of Kuzmenko (5.5M x 2 years) and Mark Friedman (775k x 1 year) and a second? Would that get it done?

 

Crouse has 24 points (five on the power play, one shorthanded) with 79 shots on net, 63 hits and a plus-6 rating through 35 contests this season. The winger continues to play a strong physical and two-way game in a second-line role.

 

Durzi is just a steady defenceman, He is calm with the puck on his stick, is an excellent skater which allows him to contribute offensively while he tends to make very few mistakes.

I’d love to have Crouse but I doubt Kuzmenko and a pick gets errr done.  Arizona is also in playoff contention right now and so won’t be looking to sell (although I suspect that they will drop in the standings in this coming half).  

1 hour ago, -AJ- said:

We have more than enough size.

 

Forwards: Joshua (6'3", 208lbs), Miller (6'1", 218lbs)

Defense: Myers (6'8", 229lbs), Zadorov (6'5", 248lbs), Soucy (6'5", 208lbs), Ian Cole (6'1", 225lbs), Noah Juulsen (6'0", 201lbs)

 

I'd say we're already more physically capable than most NHL teams, especially on the blue line.

 

I completely forgot about the fact that we have Zadorov.  

Any appetite for Anaheim’s Ross Johnston or Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj?

7 minutes ago, qwijjibo said:

No sir. He's dressed 36/37 games. 

Welp - back to the drawing board for me I guess eh?