Quoting: CMcAvoy73
Well, that’s what they were. Once both were put in the top six, here’s what they produced at 5 on 5:
Haula - 48 games, 32 EV points, 16 EV goals.
Debrusk - 31 EV points, 20 EV goals.
For reference, the only guy that exceeded that on the canucks was Miller.
Yeah, and miller had 50 even strength points. So he is clearly several tiers above haula who is a middle 6 forward.
Also, Garland had 48 EV points, so miller is not the only one who outperformed them. Pettersson had 31 as well, which is his worst even strength point production of his career. So Pettersson at his worst is comparable to debrusk at his best. Ditto haula.
You really have to massage the numbers to convince me debrusk or haula would be top 3 forwards in the Canucks.
Debrusk I would say is better than haula, and even though he obviously struggles with consistency issues. Some times it looks like debrusk is a top line player who can score 30 goals, sometimes he plays like a 3rd liner. It’s very possible, if not likely, that he plays at a 3rd/2nd line level in Vancouver if Van were to trade for him.
End of the day, neither are high end. Neither of them finished in the top 100 for 5v5 scoring. Neither of them are useful power play pieces. Neither of them were consistently used as 1st line players.
It does not make sense for vancouver to move on from miller for a collection of middle of the line up players. It’s a great way for vancouver to find themselves to be a repeat bubble team every year and never take a full step.