Elias Peterrsson. Olli Juolevi.
Case A and Case B.
In this era of cap - you need these players in the NHL making a contribution before that age of 26.
You can't afford to sit and wait for someone to get bigger and stronger and faster.
Nope. You can't do it.
You have to draft the athlete.
In this case - there's one athlete slated for the 1st round on the blueline besides Rasmus Dahlin - and that's Mattias Samuelsson.
Some have placed the 6'4" and 220 pound left shooting D man at the 15th spot in the 1st Round. The Canucks can go ahead and draft him at 7.
Look - before you go "Dobson and Hughes" spasm - know that neither of those players is slated to be more than a Number 3 D man.
The Canucks need another petite Number 3 D man like they need a hole in the head.
Dobson's 17 goals in the QMJHL translates to about 1 goal in the NHL.
Jim Benning popped 28 goals and 139 points in his draft year.
If you draft Dobson here's what you get - 3 more years of QMJHL. Three years of AHL. By the time he gets to the NHL he'll have grand children. Forget about it.
Whether you like Alex Edler or not - the reality is he's Vancouver's best D man - and he's getting up there in years - and they're going to need to replace his beef.
Samuelsson has a STRONG 200 foot game. And that's what they need. His specialty is breaking up plays in the neutral zone and turning the puck over - putting his team back on the attack. It's what he does. That's an offensive generator. He's a smart player.
First and foremost - they need someone back in their own zone who can bang bodies. And he does that too. He's physical in his own zone. Not dirty - but he uses his 220 pounds to let opposing forwards know - it's not a free run at the goalie.
And yes - this Samuelsson is related to Kjell Samuelsson - the backbone of a Pittsburgh Penguins D corp that won Stanley Cups.
He's got a backbone. He is a REALLY GOOD DEFENDER.
The reality is the Canucks got screwed in the NHL draft - again.
And you have to live with that.
You have to accept reality.
You can't throw a pick away on 160 or 170 pound D men that might develop or a 195 pound guy with "skating issues".
Guys that are projected to be - at best - a Number 3 D man.
None of the guys with talent will be available at the Number 7 slot.
The reality is the guy at 7 has as much chance of making an impact as the guy chosen at 52 in this year's draft.
There were 4 guys. That's it.
1 really good guy.
3 terrific hockey players.
A franchise player and 3 really good offensive helpers.
And then after that - it's a dog's breakfast. Every single player from 5 on has a flaw. It's just - pick the flaw you think is least likely to derail their careers. Whether it's tiny size, or skating issues, or ability to compete -
THOSE ARE ALL RED FLAG ALERTS
You don't go there. The Canucks have to stop going there - especially on the blueline.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
They can't afford to take a flyer on a player and cross their fingers it works out.
So what the Canucks can't do is afford to miss on this pick.
You take the pedigree. You take the size.
You take the solid Number 2 guy who can be a steady defensive influence and who can chip in offensively, and a guy who will be in the lineup in 2 years.
You won't need to wait for "conditioning" or "weight to come on" while his valuable cheap contract years are pissed away into the toilet of mediocrity.
Pick a player.
Get a player.
Not flashy. Just get a F__king player.
Samuelsson is the Kevin Lowe of this draft.
The Charlie Huddy of this draft.
Good enough.
You got what you got. Live with it.
I know you wanted the guy who could run a power play.
IT'S NOT THERE AT THE NUMBER 7 PICK.
Get it through your damned head. It's not there.
It was there at Number 1. It was there at Number 4. It's not there at Number 7.
If the guy projected at Number 7 could run a power play - he would be projected to go Number 1.
It's not there.
Move on.
Ifs and buts were candy and nuts
Let it go.
This is the year they pick a stable blueliner. And my God - wouldn't that be something? Someone to put out with 1 minute to go who didn't put the puck in their own net?
Want more common sense hockey talk?
http://www.michaelmunro.ca/Hockey_Sucks.html
No comments:
Post a Comment