 |
| Raymond being helped off after his injury during the Stanley Cup Finals |
Also, Burrows is out with back spasms, but I can't imagine that being anything more than a couple weeks of slow rehab. So, you have either Booth or Hansen - or anybody for that matter - moving up with the twins. Kesler centering Hodgson and Higgins/Booth, then the third and fourth lines are pretty set. What happens when Burrows and Raymond come back?
Hodgson is a top 6 forward, that's his game. He can't grind like Weise, or skate like Lapierre, but he's got the vision and the hockey-smarts to play in a top 6 role. One option is to have him stay as a wing on the second line, and slowly work Raymond in on the third, but then what happens when Raymond is ready to go? His speed is too much to pass up on.
Another option is to put Hodgson in the centre spot, intermittently, with Malhotra. Manny hasn't been playing like himself ever since coming off the eye surgeries. You have to give Malhotra some slack though because of what he's been through, but how long do you let it go that he has been under-performing? Another idea is to just trade Hodgson. He has had a decent start to the season, I think he has showcased his skill and his potential enough that other GM's out there have an idea of what he can do - 3 G, 4 A in 15 games. He was a top-10 draft pick, and being a centreman, teams are always willing to move somebody on their roster for a quality, young pivot.
If you have any other ideas, please share. If the Canucks are going to be serious contenders again, then every position on every line has to be as strong as you can make it. Who would you choose to have on the second line: Hodgson or Raymond?
It's a tough decision, but I'd stick with Hodgson for a couple reasons. For one, I personally have no faith in Raymond's ability to finish. Sure, his skating gets him into all kinds of good situations, but never seems to hit the net. Additionally, he has little ability to compete physically in battles along the boards. Moreover, he appears to have stabilized in his points production, going from a promising 53-point breakout year to a 39-point, 15-goal season.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Hodgson still has plenty of upside: he's only 21 years old and currently on pace to match Raymond's numbers of last year in his first full NHL season. And though he seems to suffer from a similar inability to hit the net in clutch situations, his playmaking abilities hold a lot of promise on a team where the second line characters are all shoot-first players (ie. Kesler, Booth, Higgins, and Burrows for the PP).
Furthermore, the Canucks don't have a lot of promising youngsters on the depth chart (Hodgson, Tanev and Lack being the exceptions), and if production is equal (possibly with more upside) it certainly doesn't hurt to insure the future of the organization.
That's true, thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteI personally really like Hodgson, but I like the speed that Raymond possesses, which usually forces slower teams to take hooking and holding penalties. More powerplay time for the Canucks is never a bad thing...