Canuck's Fan take on Kassian + MAG and questions about them.
I'll be honest when I was fervently refreshing my twitter account on trade deadline and heard Bob MacKenzie say "Zack Kassian is now a Vancouver Canuck" I put two and two together and understand why the Canucks got ANOTHER center (to total 7: Sedin, Kesler, CoHo, Lappy, Manny, Pahlsson, and Reinpretch) I knew Hodgson was the odd man out.
I immediately ran to Wikipedia and typed in Zack Kassian, and underwhelming amount of information came up other than his stature and his physical charge against him. So I like any Canuck fan figured, "What the F%#?!!"
Well skip ahead to today and my view has changed drastically about this deal going from "Canucks got sleeved" to "It could very well work for both teams".
Zack Kassian has been a huge boost in what the Canucks were lacking. Puck Control, Size, Hitting (We hit a lot but when you have Jannik Hansen charging at you with all 170 lbs of his might, it tends to be brushed off easily), I mean Zack looked like playing with toddlers shielding the puck with one hand, and holding back players with his other. No point going on about his upside, what I want to know is this:
When he plays like this, it's obviously a huge asset for the Canucks team. However leading me to be concerned with consistency. What signs does Zack give when he isn't using his strengths? Floats? Was it during insignificant games? Was it the system? or his Role? Right now he's 4th line getting about 10 minutes a game and looks absolutely jacked, and how could you not be? Do you think he'll become complacent?
MAG is as advertised; in fact on his 2nd or 3rd shift, he coughed the puck up in his own zone. And I was thinking "well, there he goes to be benched for the rest of the game" but he wasnt. He was given 15.5 minutes of ice time after that fact.
He calmed down, and started playing defensively sound. Really impressed because of what was talked about him on these boards and his interviews so far; it sounds like really was not liked in Buffalo and the feeling was mutual on his end.
Could a simple change of scenery be what it takes to get this guy back on track or is he the up and down type of player as well where he'll produce and play well, then go MIA.
All in all, I really hope you guys are happy with Cody Hodgson because he'll be a star 2nd line player one day if he continues on this path. How has he played in the past two games?
Looking forward to tomorrow's game, hopefully it'll be a high scoring one (either way) because Canucks last few games have been extremely dull.
ps. If we boo, it's at Ehrhoff, not Hodgson. I still can't believe what Ehrhoff did so there may be resentment there.
Kassian strikes me at this time to be a guy who needs external stimulus. As long as the Canucks can keep him motivated and wanting to impress and put in full effort, he'll be a beast. I'm thinking that with the Canucks being a playoff favorite he'll have all of the stimulus he needs to play well this season.
Hopefully he'll mature upstairs some more to the point where that won't be as necessary.
Gragnani is not an all around defenseman right now. He needs to be used carefully and in the right spots.
Hodgson has looked excellent for us. His line has been the best one the past two games.
We might get a chance to see Sulzer in action on Saturday as Regehr was injured against the Sharks. As for now, no constructive comment.
Kassian is a rookie. He will absolutely have games and stretches of games where he flat out is invisible. He will also have games where he is a great asset. The more experience and opportunity he has to succeed, the better he'll get. The question Canucks fans have to ask themselves is .... Can you collectively be patient and not destroy a rookies confidence?
MAG is not a rookie. Overall he will be a serviceable 7th defenseman. He will look real good some games. But average to below average most games. A small sample size (rest of season) will not change this fact.
Kassian has the potential to be a monster. He's played well for the Nucks so far, but no one has ever questioned the fact that he could play. The only question is his work ethic. After a few good games in a row for Buffalo, he would float all game - giveaway, bad defense, no drive, no hitting.... It was very depressing knowing what he could do if he was playing hard.
As for MAG, don't get your hopes up He looked good in the playoffs last season, but he's a trainwreck, to be honest. He could put up some points, and that would balance out his God awful defense, but I wouldn't count on it. He's a #7 defenseman, and can step into the lineup when you need him to. Nothing more.
What I noticed most when Kassian's game dropped off was that he wasn't going hard to the net any more. He'd take the puck down low, a defenseman would challenge, and instead of shooting or powering his way to the net, he'd cut to the corner and just dump the puck off usually resulting in a turnover. He plays great when he's really pumped up, unfortunately the hockey smarts aren't there yet to know what to do once the adrenaline wears off.
Gragnani will play fine most of the time but he does make mistakes and the biggest problem is he won't handle criticism well. When he makes a mistake he gets defensive and that results in the mistakes piling up quickly. He has the skill to be a good offensive player if he starts accepting the coaching better, I think.
I don't understand the Ehrhoff hate, it sounds like your organization gave him the same treatment the Sabres gave Briere. At least you got a pick for his rights rather than letting him walk for nothing.
What I noticed most when Kassian's game dropped off was that he wasn't going hard to the net any more. He'd take the puck down low, a defenseman would challenge, and instead of shooting or powering his way to the net, he'd cut to the corner and just dump the puck off usually resulting in a turnover. He plays great when he's really pumped up, unfortunately the hockey smarts aren't there yet to know what to do once the adrenaline wears off.
Gragnani will play fine most of the time but he does make mistakes and the biggest problem is he won't handle criticism well. When he makes a mistake he gets defensive and that results in the mistakes piling up quickly. He has the skill to be a good offensive player if he starts accepting the coaching better, I think.
I don't understand the Ehrhoff hate, it sounds like your organization gave him the same treatment the Sabres gave Briere. At least you got a pick for his rights rather than letting him walk for nothing.
Very good to know about that. Our coaching system tends to tick a bit different than let's say Tampa or Colorado would. Since Canucks have some depth, we could easily win without MAG as with him. So hopefully he'll start accepting the criticism and build on it. Thanks for the info.
As for Ehrhoff; Mike Gillis offers our top defenseman a pretty fair, but bland type of contract. Typically 4-5 years, at 4-4.5 million dollars with a NMC. Ehrhoff was definitely offered this, but felt he deserved a big pay out so opted to go with a team willing to do "ye ol' cap circumvention" like we did with Luongo. High front paid, low back pack. I hate it personally.
The problem was Ehrhoff was PERFECT for the Canucks. Beast on the PowerPlay, got along with everyone, literally came within one game of winning the Cup and in the end it was the money (up front) that had his interest the most.
Kassian will be fine because you're surrounding him with veteran players.
Playing on your fourth line is much better than playing on our fourth line and it will allow him to develop much better than he would have if he was in the AHL (I am not a fan of the development environment that is Rochester, so please do not put him in the toxic environment/organization that is the Chicago Wolves).
In junior, Kassian's issues were consistency and maturity.
He started floating hard last year down the stretch for the Spits and it led to a lot of controversy.
As a pro though, I was happy with his development.
He stayed out of trouble and started to show consistency, notably in the offensive category.
Many people like to complain about his lack of physical play, but they are shortsighted and do not know how to properly evaluate players.
Gragnani is a depth player that needs to be sheltered if you even want him to have a neutral impact.
He is not an impact player now at the NHL level and likely never will be.
His game is simply too flawed and he is better off in a lesser league.
I think he was fairly well liked within the organization but he just never progressed into a legitimate option.
They gave him a shake this year and he wasn't working out, so they cut ties.
On the other hand though, I always got the vibe that he wasn't happy with the organization.
There were various rumors that he wanted out and he always seemed to imply that he wasn't being given enough of a chance.
His loser siblings on Twitter didn't seem to think so either.
Why would you boo Ehrhoff?
From most accounts, your organization wasn't willing to give him the money and term that he wanted.
Like it or not, this is a business and money talks.
As for Ehrhoff; Mike Gillis offers our top defenseman a pretty fair, but bland type of contract. Typically 4-5 years, at 4-4.5 million dollars with a NMC. Ehrhoff was definitely offered this, but felt he deserved a big pay out so opted to go with a team willing to do "ye ol' cap circumvention" like we did with Luongo. High front paid, low back pack. I hate it personally.
The problem was Ehrhoff was PERFECT for the Canucks. Beast on the PowerPlay, got along with everyone, literally came within one game of winning the Cup and in the end it was the money (up front) that had his interest the most.
Kassian has the potential to be a monster. He's played well for the Nucks so far, but no one has ever questioned the fact that he could play. The only question is his work ethic. After a few good games in a row for Buffalo, he would float all game - giveaway, bad defense, no drive, no hitting.... It was very depressing knowing what he could do if he was playing hard.
As for MAG, don't get your hopes up He looked good in the playoffs last season, but he's a trainwreck, to be honest. He could put up some points, and that would balance out his God awful defense, but I wouldn't count on it. He's a #7 defenseman, and can step into the lineup when you need him to. Nothing more.
One of the things the Canucks are trying to do is play him with two engines in Lapierre/Malhotra. Manny is probably one of the harder working guys on the team and comes to the rink with his work-boots on every day; really great mentor for younger players. Lapierre is an emotional guy who plays bigger when he has protection like Kassian out there to back him up if things get hairy. Hopefully they can feed off each other for motivation.
As far as Gragnani goes, wow is the guy a free-wheeling type defenseman. During his first game with Vancouver he was already making some pretty daring pinches and rushing up ice. Can see the passiveness mentioned in his defensive game though, and he's not at all physical. Nice offensive tool-box though, really noticed his shot.
Hope Cody works out for you guys, always liked him, but it was obviously not destined to work in Vancouver. I like the return we got for him though, and think it could work out for both sides.
Hilarious side-note: The Leafs probably would have been over the moon to get Hodgson OR Kassian, and we just swapped them instead.
As has been mention 1000x already. This should work out as a win/win type of trade. Each player is in a better place for their respective developments.
Kassian just needs time. Most powerforwards usually take awhile to figure out how to balance their game between their skill side and their physical side.
As has been mention 1000x already. This should work out as a win/win type of trade. Each player is in a better place for their respective developments.
Kassian just needs time. Most powerforwards usually take awhile to figure out how to balance their game between their skill side and their physical side.
If I bought my kid a bike for Christmas, and he was so ecstatic about getting; every morning waking up and thanking he got it I wouldn't tell him "as you mentioned 1000x already."
I mean Zack looked like playing with toddlers shielding the puck with one hand, and holding back players with his other.
That he does very well and consistently. Everything else is very sporadic and only in brief glimpses (Hitting, Offense, Hands, Vision, Edge/Nastiness, etc, etc)
If he achieves even 75% percent of his potential and uses his body regularly, he will be incredible for you. He needs to mature a bit and bring that work ethic every night, but he has the tools to be a very effective NHL power forward. At first we tried him out on the 2nd or 3rd line, I can't remember, but I was amazed. So strong on the puck, he knocked defenders off with ease, scored some nice goals, made some nice plays, then I don't know what happened he just tapered off. Perhaps we wasn't ready for the rigors of the NHL grind, or he just got lazy. He got demoted onto the 4th line and then we sent him down to the A. After he got sent to the A, he started pouting, showing no effort in the games and got called out by several players on the AHL team.
I hope he pans out for you guys, trading him to you guys was the best possible thing since we don't play you guys very often and that way he can't kill our tiny players.
I've said this already but with MAG it's better to not hold out much hope and if he works out then that's great. He has the ability to contribute when he settles down and plays smart. He is not physical in his own end but he's capable of being fine defensively beyond that, due to positioning. His skating is actually not anything to write home about for an offensive defensemen but it gets the job done. He has no shot, but is a gifted passer when he's passing it to the right team.
Kassian on the other hand is certainly someone to get your hopes up for. At worst he's is going to end up a solid NHL player (e.g. third liner who chips in) in my opinion, but he has the potential to be a strong #2 line power forward. I'm glad he's playing well so far. I'd note that in his first Buffalo call-up he was playing hard and very effectively but was not as good in subsequent call-ups and during stretches in the AHL. This is only his first year as a pro player though so there's no sense in crucifying him for inconsistencies -- even in effort, though you hate to see it.
I do think this trade will satisfy both teams to the point where we can be glad to see the other player succeed.
Matthew Sekeres @mattsekeres
Got that imp too @TEAM1040 Did u get along with Lindy Ruff? MAG "uh I don't know how to answer that" ... That means not at all.
Probably was frustrated with the criticism as previously mentioned.
Matthew Sekeres @mattsekeres
Got that imp too @TEAM1040 Did u get along with Lindy Ruff? MAG "uh I don't know how to answer that" ... That means not at all.
Probably was frustrated with his ability to accept criticism as previously mentioned.
MAG should be enamored with Lindy based on how much playing time he got early in the season.
I've said this already but with MAG it's better to not hold out much hope and if he works out then that's great. He has the ability to contribute when he settles down and plays smart. He is not physical in his own end but he's capable of being fine defensively beyond that, due to positioning. His skating is actually not anything to write home about for an offensive defensemen but it gets the job done. He has no shot, but is a gifted passer when he's passing it to the right team.
He looked good in the playoffs last season, but he's a trainwreck, to be honest. He could put up some points, and that would balance out his God awful defense, but I wouldn't count on it. He's a #7 defenseman, and can step into the lineup when you need him to. Nothing more.
