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5 minutes ago, eeeeeeeeergh said:

i couldnt hide my anger during the draft

 

ive loved what jr/pa have done but this is the one decision i see as unforgiveable

 

bensons gonna be an elite 1st liner and we'll watch wondering what could have been

Benson is a Smurf who skates slow. Those guys end up being elite AHL first liners. 

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1 minute ago, eeeeeeeeergh said:

i couldnt hide my anger during the draft

 

ive loved what jr/pa have done but this is the one decision i see as unforgiveable

 

bensons gonna be an elite 1st liner and we'll watch wondering what could have been

As fans we can get overly attached to players. I've had 3 draft white whales, players I really really wanted the Canucks to get (within reason everyone wanted Bedard). They were Mortiz Sieder, Dylan Guenther, and Zach Benson. 

 

I made a lucky guess with Moritz based off some video and a hunch, and over the year he kept getting better. I thought it would be a huge reach, but wanted the Bucks to take him. Never even got to us. Guenther is the should have been. I checked out 100% on Benning the day he traded that pick. And the most recent was Benson. We desperately needed D, but how did we pass up on Vancouver's own Zach Benson. Every shit talked his size, but that kid doesn't play small. He works his ass off and has all the talent in the world. 

 

Can't win em all. I also wanted Glass and Dobson (even though he turned out good as well)

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18 minutes ago, stawns said:

Vancouver has no shortage of those

My view is Benson will probably be the better player, and I don’t think it will be close at all. 
 

Even if we have a surplus, benson at what I think he will be would have far more trade value than what I believe would be required to acquire a willander

 

but I guess we will see 

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4 minutes ago, eeeeeeeeergh said:

My view is Benson will probably be the better player, and I don’t think it will be close at all. 
 

Even if we have a surplus, benson at what I think he will be would have far more trade value than what I believe would be required to acquire a willander

 

but I guess we will see 

obviously they think that Willander will be an elite dman, as he was clearly their guy right from the first interview they had with him

1 minute ago, GrammaInTheTub said:

I’m very happy with a Willander… now. Initially, I had a wave of OJ ptsd. I would have been happy with Benson then and still would be now. All world skill packaged with a cotton candy slinging carny from Chilliwack yeoman work ethic. 

hopefully he doesn't have the same injury issues that derailed OJ's career

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24 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Benson is a Smurf who skates slow. Those guys end up being elite AHL first liners. 

skating is the easiest trait to improve, elite skill/iq you either have or dont

 

the fact that he is so small and not fleet of foot yet has shown so well in the NHL already says it all

 

a couple years more of weight along with adding half a step to his game and he'll be a force to be reckoned with

 

like it or not this is now a game for smurfs

 

benson is brayden point imo. 

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32 minutes ago, Gawdzukes said:

 

Willander - 9 letters long

Benson - 6 letters long

 

Willander - 6'2"

Benson - 5'10"

 

Willander - likes dogs

Benson - likes cats

 

Willander - Aquarius

Benson - Taurus

 

Willander - donates time to cancer society

Benson - pushes old ladies out of the way in grocery store line

 

It's pretty clear Willander is the better choice

 

 

This sounds like an add for a federal election. Lol 

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Just now, sashimi said:

 

Elite AHL first liners don't crack a good NHL lineup at 18 years old at put up two points in their first two games.

 

Benson is a stud. Having said that I'm still happy with the Willander pick. It's definitely more of a long play but if he hits to his potential (which I think he will or at least be close) the Canucks will have a good one.

 

Given organizational need and the absolute premium value of right handed defenseman I still think Willander was a great pick. He'll obviously never put up as many points or be as exciting as Benson but he could be just as integral to a championship team.

 

Benson tops at as first line winger with 100 point potential imo.

 

Willander tops out as two-way RHD puck moving beast that can log 25+ minutes a night and contribute in all three zones.

 

These are roughly equally valuable pieces imo.

 

It will be tough watching Benson rip it up for the next two or three years before Willander even steps foot in the league. But in the long run, I believe patience will pay off.

 

Also I really don't want to spend too much time comparing the two. Their both great players. I'm happy the Canucks have Willander. I'm happy to see a local kid (not named Bedard) having success in the NHL at 18. The Lower Mainland is an absolute hotbed these days, my god.

 

B73D83CB-ED6C-4D58-BB83-8BBA1C7947C5.gif

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7 hours ago, aGENT said:

 

Even if WIllander is "only" a 2nd pair, 2 way RD, he'll likely have just as much trade value as a really good 1st line W'er, simply due to supply and demand.

 

I'd have been happy to have either...

 

 

5 hours ago, Huggy Bear said:


The BU coach thought they’d have Willander for 2 seasons.

 

I think @aGENT is right about trade values. Part of it is supply and demand. Another factor is that a good 2nd pair RD typically plays more minutes than a good 1st line winger.

 

The two-year time horizon would be the natural expectation for a #11 pick picked in a good draft year, although it could easily turn out to be just one year or even three years.

 

As for Benson vs. Willander, I personally was surprised that Benson was there at 11 and I would have taken him. But Willander is a very good pick as well and I am happy with the pick and I would guess they have similar value in the trade market right now, although maybe Willander would be slightly favored.  And, with typical "endowment effect" bias, I now like Willander better.

 

I like Willander much better than I liked Juolevi, not just relative to where they were picked, but in absolute terms. One problem with Juolevi that bothered me from the beginning was that he did not have a "separating skill". He was on a great junior team and a great WJC team and that made him look (to Benning) like he was better than he really was. Willander's skating is a separating skill and he is strong in other dimensions as well.

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1 minute ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

Just a friendly reminder that both can be true: Benson and Willander are both good players and hope both have great careers. 

 

Dont need to put down either in order to justify who got picked where.

 

I would have been happy if we picked either. Very glad Willander and Benson are sicceeding, having our own pick start with a bang and a BC boy thriving in the NHL. 

 

I agree.  Regardless of if Benson turns out to be an 80-90 point player, you can still win the draft by selecting the next Cale Makar...

 

I mean, Colorado chose Makar over Petey.  Is either team complaining about that?

Edited by Elias Pettersson
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7 hours ago, eeeeeeeeergh said:

i hope so, being wrong on this would make me incredibly happy

 

ill go ahead and shame myself publicly if we get a #1 D-man out of willander

 

I have a good feeling about Willander.  His skating is elite, like Cale Makar level.  He may never be the point producer like Makar, but he is much bigger than Makar and could be an all around top pairing Dman.  I'll take a top pairing RHDman over pretty much any other player other than maybe a franchise centre.  

 

Benson is a winger.  So, a top pairing RHDman will always trump a top line winger...

Edited by Elias Pettersson
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14 hours ago, MeanSeanBean said:

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=240680

 

I'm fine with him, still wasn't my BPA available though. Would have far rather gone with the offensive dynamo from Vancouver.

 

Top pairing RHDman > top line winger any day of the week and twice on Sundays.  A franchise centre and top pairing RHDman is what you build your team around and need to be drafted as they are never available.  Everyone else can be acquired.  

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