Is This The Best Defence Ever? In Depth?

[TheGuardian]

What else to think.

While maybe not all the most skilled the are certainly looking like a playoff set.

And depth.

 

I just did a post in the Bear thread and started looking deeply into the Canuck's total defence corps.

 

What a surprise, they are fracken deep now.

Playing Juulsen, McWard, Friedman and some of the other AHL guys could be just getting those players ready if needed.

 

By my estimation the Canucks could have 14 defencemen that can play a role or some time on the big club. And most are NHL average size.

 

Hughes, Hronek, Cole, Myers, Zadorov, Soucy, Brisebois, McWard, Juulsen, Irwin, Wolanin, just those are a formidable group.

 

Wilander and Brzustewicz could or might even be able to make an appearance.

 

That is friggin impressive, i don't think I have ever seen a group that deep on the Canucks..

 

Size, age, experience and now hopefully truculence.

 

Lots of chat over Bear, why? Does the team need him really? What for?

 

Even if the team trades Myers there are many waiting to be the next man up. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Integra250]

Maybe not the best but this defense core helped solidify a  #1 Offense, PP, and PK...

 

Hamhuis

Ehrhoff

Edler

Salo

Bieksa

Tanev

Ballard

Alberts

Rome

 

 

[HKSR]

1 minute ago, Integra250 said:

Maybe not the best but this defense core helped solidify a  #1 Offense, PP, and PK...

 

Hamhuis

Ehrhoff

Edler

Salo

Bieksa

Tanev

Ballard

Alberts

Rome

 

 

That was a much more balanced defence.  Basically 6, maybe even 7 top 4 defencemen on that roster.

 

The one we have now is top heavy.  Hughes and Hronek is the best pairing this franchise has ever seen.  But Cole, Zadorov, Myers, and Soucy are realistically #4D or lower. 

[The Arrogant Worms]

Wilander and Brzustewicz are not close to being NHL players yet.

[RawkDrummer]

Maybe it's time to trade some of the extras to say Toronto?

We can always use a few more picks to use or deal.

[Nucker67]

NHL

Hughes - Hronek

Cole - Myers

Zadorov - Bear*

Soucy

 

AHL

Brisebois - Juulsen

Wolanin - Friedman

Irwin - McWard

Hirose - Woo

Kudryavtsev - Johansson

 

Developing

Pettersson - Willander

Jurmo - Brzustewicz

Celebrini

 

[Coconuts]

The high end, being Hughes and Hronek, are very good, but overall the D on those top end Sedin led teams was better

 

We had championship team caliber depth, we don't have that right now 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Coconuts

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

26 minutes ago, TheGuardian said:

i don't think I have ever seen a group that deep on the Canucks..

 

[canucks curse]

8 minutes ago, RawkDrummer said:

Maybe it's time to trade some of the extras to say Toronto?

We can always use a few more picks to use or deal.

Amen brother, send them Juulsen. Not joking.

[canucks curse]

5 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

The high end, being Hughes and Hronek, are very good, but overall the D on those top end Sedin led teams was better

 

We had championship team caliber depth, we don't have that right now 

agree

 

we had:

edler-Bieksa

Erhoff - Salo

Hamhuis - Tanev

all of those guys are top 3 d men.

 

Ballard was the 7th D and he came from FLA where he was their no.3/4

[IBatch]

31 minutes ago, Integra250 said:

Maybe not the best but this defense core helped solidify a  #1 Offense, PP, and PK...

 

Hamhuis

Ehrhoff

Edler

Salo

Bieksa

Tanev

Ballard

Alberts

Rome

 

 

Lumme Murzyn 

Babych Diduck  

Hedican Brown
Glynn.

 

Plus i think you got your order wrong.   Tanev barely played a game.    And Hamhuis Bieksa was our top pairing. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by IBatch

[Kevin Biestra]

Y'all sleeping on 1982.

 

Doug Halward

Rick Lanz

Kevin McCarthy

Harold Snepsts

Garth Butcher

Lars Lindgren

Colin Campbell

Jiri Bubla

Neil Belland

Anders Eldebrink

[Mando27]

2011 group was deeper.  We have just been subjected to terrible Defence over the years that we forgot what a competent group looks like lol.

[IBatch]

3 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

Y'all sleeping on 1982.

 

Doug Halward

Rick Lanz

Kevin McCarthy

Harold Snepsts

Garth Butcher

Lars Lindgren

Colin Campbell

Jiri Bubla

Neil Belland

Anders Eldebrink

Yep. 

[Coconuts]

1 minute ago, Mando27 said:

2011 group was deeper.  We have just been subjected to terrible Defence over the years that we forgot what a competent group looks like lol.

 

That's basically it 

[Integra250]

4 minutes ago, IBatch said:

Lumme Muzyn

Babych Diduck  

Hedican Brown
Glynn.

 

Plus i think you got your order wrong.   Tanev barely played a game.    And Hamhuis Bieksa was our top pairing. 

Tanev played 29 games that year, and I was just putting their names in random order 

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000392011.html

[IBatch]

2 minutes ago, Mando27 said:

2011 group was deeper.  We have just been subjected to terrible Defence over the years that we forgot what a competent group looks like lol.

We spent almost a decade complaining about Edler/Tanev, so i'm pretty sure we are well aware. 

[MattJVD]

34 minutes ago, Integra250 said:

Maybe not the best but this defense core helped solidify a  #1 Offense, PP, and PK...

 

Hamhuis

Ehrhoff

Edler

Salo

Bieksa

Tanev

Ballard

Alberts

Rome

 

 

Yeah, 6 top 4 D (Hamhuis, Bieksa, Edler, Ehrhoff, Ballard, and Salo), an up and coming Tanev, and Alberts and Rome as solid bottom pair/depth players. The current team would love to add any of those top (6!) 4 guys to play on the 2nd pair.

 

Right now we have a better top pair with Hughes-Hronek, but after that we have a lot of #4/5 guys and no one who can anchor that 2nd pair.

[IBatch]

Shoot out to 2000-2001 wasn't so bad either 

 

Ohlund 

Jovo 

Aucoin 

Lachance

Baron 

Sopel

Strudwick 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by IBatch

[DSVII]

I think 8 years of purgatory has warped our sense of what good defensive depth is.

 

This is serviceable, I feel we still need one more mid pair defenseman. But man, what a change a year makes!

 

Hughes-Schenn

OEL-Myers

Burroughs-Bear

Stillman

 

to

 

Hughes-Hronek

Zadorov-Cole

Soucy-Myers

Friedman

 

 

 

 

[IBatch]

As for this current D.   Seen 3 better ones, maybe four for now anyways.   Let's see how it goes when Soucy gets back.  And have at least an entire season with them first.   On paper it looks amazing at the top end.  Then you'd have to explain how Zadorov, Soucy and Cole are better then, say Murray Baron even, who in my mind, replaced some of what we lost from Garth Butcher.    To me all 3 are good number 5's.  

Edited December 4, 2023 by IBatch

[Optimist Prime]

Hughes, Hronek, Soucy, Cole, Zadorov and Myers for now are a formidable six Dmen when they are all healthy and in the lineup, I would argue Bear for 7th improves us vs Juulsen, Brisebois, Poolman, Irwin, McWard, Hirose, Wolanin, Johansson and Woo (not in any particular order for those AHL kind of guys). I think we don't need Bear but I would like Bear, I guess that is for me the distinction, more than the other AHL guys. Shrug. Happy with what Management has done to reinvent our D rather fast. Bear would be the icing in the middle of the two layered cake though. 

 

I am still hopeful to see Myers gone sooner than later, but worst case scenario, his 6m is on the books till summer. 

[IBatch]

As for the OP, love to see some optimism!   

 

Right now we've got a top pairing league wide at just past the quarter mark.    Watched Aucion once co-own Orr's PP goal record, and that was about all we had to cheer for that year (later think Sheldon Souray bested both of them).  

 

For now it's a marked improvement over anything we've iced since probably 2013.   

 

When Soucy comes back, we will see.   Maybe it's the best yet to come? 

Edited December 4, 2023 by IBatch

[Jess]

2011 was far ahead of our current defense. We didn't have a #1 like Hughes, but we had five #2 defensemen and Keith Ballard, who was probably a 4/5 as our #6.

[KoreanHockeyFan]

Like many others have said, our defence has greatly improved, but it's quite top heavy - not as balanced as the 2011 group.

 

I'd argue that at least a couple of the bottom 4 defencemen are stop gaps for the likes of Willander and Brzustewicz. At least 2 of Cole, Soucey, Myers and Zadorov won't be on the Canucks in 3 years time. 

 

Canucks are ascending as a team, but still in a transitionary period. Thank goodness Allvin and Rutherford recognize this - explains why a bunch of the recent signings have been for 1 or 2 year deals.