The NTC of the Vancouver Canucks! Is less actually more??
Posted 6:44 PM ET | Comments 1
I know that many Canuck fans are hoping for a big trade but from a realistic point of view what can we expect? It is clearly not so easy to make a trade these days in the NHL, with the salary cap and all, and as we get closer and closer to the trade deadline players are only going to get more and more expensive. So, the question becomes, what can the canucks realistically afford to pay and what would be the return.
First off all, with a good draft coming up next year we do not want to trade away our draft picks, certainly no 1st or 2nd round picks. Then, we do not want to trade our youth which mainly includes our two young defence-men Alexander Edler and Luc Bourdon. Both are going to be outstanding on the Vancouver blue-line for years to come. Beyond this, on the defence we have the big three, Salo, Mitchell and Ohlund, all with a NTC. Then, we also have Bieksa and Krajicek with Bieksa being injured and not expected to be back and recovered until after the trade deadline, so forget about him. That leaves Krajicek as the only real option with his 1.1M dollar salary unless Nonis decides to keep Krajicek over Edler or Bourdon, which I hope he does not.
Then, when it comes to the forwards, the Sedins are not going to be traded, Naslund has a NTC and Morrison is now injured and expected to be out for the next 12 weeks. Then, Philly is dying to get Kesler but would any Canuck fan trade him, and more importantly, would Nonis?? None of our other forwards, with the exception of say Pyatt, have a large enough salary to really clear any cap room for a player coming back, so our options are rather limited.
Personally, I am hoping that Nonis comes to his senses and does something small rather than trying make the big trade which may not be realistic. Picking up a player like a Mark Recchi or signing Anson Carter, who likely has an escape clause in his current contract, may be more realistic than any big trade.
As a Canucks fan I realize that, with Luongo in net, the future is now. However, next year may be now just as much as this year, and at this point I have the feeling that less is definitely more in Vancouver.
First off all, with a good draft coming up next year we do not want to trade away our draft picks, certainly no 1st or 2nd round picks. Then, we do not want to trade our youth which mainly includes our two young defence-men Alexander Edler and Luc Bourdon. Both are going to be outstanding on the Vancouver blue-line for years to come. Beyond this, on the defence we have the big three, Salo, Mitchell and Ohlund, all with a NTC. Then, we also have Bieksa and Krajicek with Bieksa being injured and not expected to be back and recovered until after the trade deadline, so forget about him. That leaves Krajicek as the only real option with his 1.1M dollar salary unless Nonis decides to keep Krajicek over Edler or Bourdon, which I hope he does not.
Then, when it comes to the forwards, the Sedins are not going to be traded, Naslund has a NTC and Morrison is now injured and expected to be out for the next 12 weeks. Then, Philly is dying to get Kesler but would any Canuck fan trade him, and more importantly, would Nonis?? None of our other forwards, with the exception of say Pyatt, have a large enough salary to really clear any cap room for a player coming back, so our options are rather limited.
Personally, I am hoping that Nonis comes to his senses and does something small rather than trying make the big trade which may not be realistic. Picking up a player like a Mark Recchi or signing Anson Carter, who likely has an escape clause in his current contract, may be more realistic than any big trade.
As a Canucks fan I realize that, with Luongo in net, the future is now. However, next year may be now just as much as this year, and at this point I have the feeling that less is definitely more in Vancouver.
I don't think getting a high-flying skill player would help the Canucks. I think that AV's defence-first system would just negate anything they would bring to the table (see Naslund, M for more information). Probably what would work best is another Kesler-style player. For better or worse this the type of team we have now...