Burning it to the Ground: Reliving the post-2011 Cup loss Canucks

[beepollen]

Dropping in drunk to say I appreciate what you're doing.

Your undertaking, my interest in it is sentimental as I happened to be in Vancouver for a post-graduation vacation in... 1994. Three days after my 23rd birthday, I and my brother found ourselves in Geoff Courtnall's sports bar, Double Overtime. They won that afternoon, and since then I've held the Canucks close to my heart.

[CanuckJohnny]

sounds like a good memory

[CanuckJohnny]

FREE AGENT CLASS
Not much of a free agent class this year. Headliners are Alexander Steen (imo the only 'marquee' talent worth going for), Sergei Gonchar, Michael Ryder, Ville Leino, and Patrick Dwyer
Don't see over spending on mediocre veteran players as a productive endeavour. We may target some depth guys if the price is right. Brandon Yip, Jori Lehtera, Riku Helenius, and Sami Lepisto possibly.

SIGNIFICANT COACH MOVEMENTS:
Boston
OUT Claude Julien
IN Ed Olczyk

NY Islanders
OUT Jack Capuano
IN Alain Vigneault - finds himself a new job, good luck to him

Edmonton
OUT Tom Renney
IN Gerard Gallant

Nashville
OUT Barry Trotz
IN Don Granato

Anaheim
GM OUT Bob Murray
GM IN Brett Hull


SYSTEM SIGNINGS
G Eddie Lack - high hopes for him to develop in the AHL and then take over the back up role the year after... at which point we can make a decision between Marky and Schneids and move one of them for more assets
G Joe Cannata - AHL/ECHL depth guy in case of injuries or trade
D Henrik Tommernes - has a shot to become an NHL regular, although probably on a bottom pair, for now he can develop in the minors or be a mediocre trade asset
C Alex Friesen - probably a career minor leaguer... but I liked him coming IRL and saw him as a potential future Alex Burrows kind of underdog, hard working character guy, so maybe this is an emotional signing, but he's fine either way as a depth piece in the A
RW Anton Rodin - maybe one day he'll make the lineup, or maybe he'll be a career minor leaguer and go back to Europe like IRL, but we'll give him his shot... I remember him being a guy they were high on for a bit


NOTABLE RETIREMENTS
OTT Daniel Alfredsson
NJ Martin Brodeur
OTT Sergei Gonchar
COL Milan Hejduk
ANA Saku Koivu
DET Nicklas Lidstrom
CGY Brendan Morrison
FLA Sami Salo
ANA Teemu Selanne
PHO Ray Whitney
STL Jamie Langenbrunner
TAM Pavel Kubina
WSH Jason Arnott
MIN Andrew Brunette
WSH Tomas Vokoun

*maybe try to get a draft preview up today

[CanuckJohnny]

Trevor Linden spoke to the media about his first year at the helm, the offseason so far and his vision for the future and draft strategy.

Press: "Trevor, we know you've already spoken to the team's performance this season, but how do you feel you have grown as a coach and general manager in your rookie season?"

Trevor: "I believe I've gained some solid experience on the managerial side of negotiating and learning to talk trades with the other GMs and contracts with the agents who represent our players. I've really focused on improving my training strategies on both offensive and defensive skills, and I've been learning especially how to better work with the defensemen and see them maximizing their potential. Tactically I've made some adjustments and improvements."

Press: "How do you envision this team's future, what are you trying to build going forward?"

Trevor: "We want to continue building around the Sedins, and Kesler and Burrows up front. We believe we can win with speed and skill, and lots of good checking, defensive attention to detail, and hard work. We also want to build a consistent future, so we are working to draft and trade well to accumulate a deep prospect pool because Hank and Danny won't be here forever and we need to prepare for sustainable success after they retire."

Press: "From a front office standpoint, what are you doing to improve the franchise?"

Trevor: "We have invested heavily into player development, with the goal of a strong and consistent development program that maximizes our young players' potential. We have incredible attendance and fan support, and so to keep up we have also raised ticket prices a small amount, while also maintaining our arena to a high standard and continuing to have a normal investment in marketing our brand."

Press: "What's your strategy going into the entry draft?"

Trevor: "Well, we are open to moving down to acquire more picks and replenish our talent pool, but quality is still more important than quantity, so if there's a guy we like ahead of others we'll be quick to take him."

Press: "Are you a best player available kind of drafter?"

Trevor: "Mostly we believe that's the best strategy - after all we want to maximize asset value and most of these draft picks are years away still. Playing style fit is a huge criterion as well. We may lean towards blue chip blueline prospects because building a strong defense corp is paramount to having a sustained championship team. In light of our injuries this year, we really want to focus on players who will be durable."

Trevor: "There's a lot of work to do, thank you all for your time, we'll see you at the draft."

[CanuckJohnny]

ENTRY DRAFT PREVIEW:

Canucks have a 1st - 24th overall, 2nd, 3rd, 5th (FLA), 6th (ANA), and 7th round pick this year.

Canucks top scout Tomas Gradin has ranked his favourite prospects in this year's draft:

Jacob Trouba
Hampus Lindholm
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Ryan Murray
Filip Forsberg
Matt Dumba
Morgan Rielly
Connor Hellebyuck
Evgeny Kuznetzov
Teuvo Teravainen
Cody Ceci
Olli Maatta
Alex Galchenyuk
Tomas Hertl
Artemi Panarin
Matt Murray
Derrick Pouliot
Damon Severson
Jaccob Slavin
Griffin Reinhart
Chris Tierney
Tanner Pearson
Mike Matheson
Tom Wilson
Radek Faksa
Nail Yakupov

commentary: A lot of top European prospects have shot up the board this year. There are some amazing potential goalies, but we don't need another high end goalie, so we probably don't go that route, maybe take a flyer on a mediocre guy later in the draft for depth. Generally I'm a believer in drafting a goalie in most drafts, just to keep the pipeline full and you never know how they may turn out. I'm also NOT a fan of ever taking a goalie in the first round.

MOCK DRAFT:
ANA Vasilevskiy
EDM Trouba
CGY Lindholm
WPG R.Murray
TBL Dumba
MIN Forsberg
TOR Hellebyuck
MTL Ceci
NYI Rielly
NJD Kuznetsov
DAL M.Murray
OTT T.Teravainen
CAR Maatta
WAS Galchenyuk
BUF Hertl
FLA Pouliot
LAK Panarin
COL Severson
PHI Reinhart
CBJ Slavin
STL Pearson
NYR Tierney
NAS Yakupov
VAN Wilson - don't think so. one thing we'll be doing differently than the IRL Canucks is we are going to try to stick with building a skill, speed team rather than go chasing a 'Bruins model' - we want grit and physicality to an extent, but on the bottom end of the roster moreso
BOS Matheson
SJS M.Subban
PHX J.Gillies
CHI Merzlikins
DET Faksa
PIT Jankowski



TARGETS:
(@ 24) (overlooking some decent talent if it comes in a less than durable package) (may try to trade down since nobody jumps out and the defensemen available that would interest us more are a bit injury prone or come with other flaws... nobody really high end that excites around 24)
Tierney - Two Way Center, decent offensive upside, solid skater, good checker. Maybe third line replacement for Malhorta down the line?
Pearson - Gradin is high on him, he is a very balanced offensive forward who seems to have a likeable and easygoing personality. Strong long term complementary piece at worse, consistent top six producer if he pans out well.
Montour - Good offensive ratings, decent skater.
J.McCabe - Good defensive defenseman, good hitter
Kerfoot - Very good passing skills already... mediocre upside according to our scouts, and ranked down around fifty... but that passing is NHL level

(@54)
D.Toews - Offensive skilll set looks promising, skating could be good, but wish it looked better, defensively looks weak, although his Def Read is good
Zaitsev - Good offensive ability, good defensive read and shot blocking, average skating at best though, and he has a knack for not showing up in big games
Koekkoek - Pretty good skater, decent defensively, not very high end potential though
V.Arvidsson - Good skater, excellent puck handler, good all around hockey IQ, decent potential, could be a good top 9 forward, penchant for stepping up in big games
Colin Miller - Potenttial to become an NHL regular, good offensive ability, solid skater, good stamina and a future leader and character guy
Paquette - good defensive, agitating forward, good at screening, decent skater

[CanuckJohnny]

Teams shuffle players pre-draft, Trouba goes #1

The were some trades made prior to the draft:

ANA acquires:
Brooks Laich

WSH acquires:
Cam Fowler
-wow steal here long term for Washington. Maybe Anaheim is in win now mode and prefers an experienced immediate contributor and leader in Laich to waiting on their young defenseman to develop.

.....

SJS acquires:
Patric Hornqvist
5th round pick

NSH acquires:
Ryane Clowe
Kyle Wilson
-interesting move, San Jose gets younger, swapping out an older, more established power forward and a veteran fringe forward to get the younger Hornqvist and a late pick. I think San Jose wins this one.

.....

FLA acquires:
Craig Adams

PIT acquires:
David Booth
-The reigning champs ship out the 35 year old Adams for a vastly underachieving Booth, who, one year removed from a 23 goal season, netted only nine and missed 21 games to injury last season. IF Florida can get a long playoff run out of Adams they win this one.

At the 2012 NHL Entry Draft:

-Anaheim took Defenseman Jacob Trouba first overall

-Edmonton took Russian star Artemi Panarin second

-Hellebyuck and Vasilevski went back to back at 6 and 7, with Connor going to the Wild and Andrei joining the Maple Leafs, the future is bright between the pipes for both teams for a long time now

First 24 picks are below, as well as the Draft Review. Canucks Draft Review is up next.

[CanuckJohnny]

Vancouver moves down in big trade, picks up additional picks in minor deals, and selects ten in busy draft

Vancouver moved out injury prone Stephen Weiss along with their first round pick to move down into the second round, adding a third this year (turned into Cedric Paquette) and a second next year in the process. Aaron Volpatti and minor leaguer Darren Archibald were also moved out in trades for further draft picks.

The Canucks' first selection, at 47th, was right side defenseman Colin Miller. They love his leadership and his offensive acumen, and are hoping he develops into a consistent top four blueliner. Just seven picks later, with their own second rounder, they chose versatile forward Victor Arvidsson - a good skating winger they hope to see in their top nine for many years, and a player with a reputation for shining in the biggest games.

The Trades:

VAN acquires:
2nd round pick (47th)
3rd round pick (77th)
2nd round pick 2013

LAK acquires:
1st round pick (24th)
Stephen Weiss

......

VAN acquires:
5th round pick
6th round pick

ANA acquires:
Aaron Volpatti

...

VAN acquires:
3rd round pick

PHX acquires:
4th round pick
Darren Archibald


The Picks:

[CanuckJohnny]

Offseason Wrap Up

Steen signs three year deal to play in Winnipeg, Sharks gamble on Joel Ward getting healthy and staying that way, and Michael Ryder moves to the desert.

Significant Free Agent Signings:
Steen - WPG - 5.45M/3yrs
Radulov - NSH - 2.55M/3yrs
J.Ward - SJS - 4.62M/2yrs
Montador - LAK - 2.9M/3yrs
Ryder - PHX - 5.12M/3yrs
B.Bickell - CHI - 2.36M/3yrs
Dwyer - BOS - 3.54M/3yrs
Emery - CHI - 1.63M/3yrs
Leino - ANA - 1.58M/3yrs
Yip - VAN - 1.06M/2yrs
Scuderi - DET - 1.34M/2yrs
Lovejoy - EDM - 1.82M/2yrs
Lepisto - SJS - 2M/2yrs - dang we were in on him but for a guy who we would have slotted in at 6/7 D he got expensive... the bidding war went from around a mil to two per and we were out
Z.Michalek - WPG - 1.48M/2yrs

Also the rest of the Canuck signings: (happy with the Marchessault pick up, he could definitely be a gem for us, maybe even sooner than he turned out to be IRL)

[CanuckJohnny]

So cool. What a stand up guy. And what a cool game - this adds to the character and personality and immersion.

[CanuckJohnny]

Trevor Linden pulls off the blockbuster deal of the summer, then makes two more depth trades in busy offseason

[CanuckJohnny]

In the War Room with Trevor

Trade Analysis:

PK Subban deal - this was a major swing for us, it's always going to be expensive to acquire a high end offensive defenseman of PK's calibre, but this was a great long term choice. We love his exuberant personality, and we were looking for a young first pairing offensive blueliner to pair with the steady veteran presence of Dan Hamhuis. We were looking to get younger and move on from some of our more injury prone pieces - both Edler and Campbell are quality top four defensemen in this league, and it's hard to part with them, but we are working hard to become more durable on the back end after an injury riddled year left the blueline unpredictable most nights. We really hate to part with high draft picks as an organizational philosophy, but this was that one deal where it made sense and brought back talented young player who has some room to grow but is also ready to make an impact immediately. There aren't many players out there like that, so we had to pay for him.

Evgeny Grachyov - we'll see how he does for our minor league affiliate, this wasn't necessarily about grabbing a great prospect, although we'll be ecstatic if he works hard and exceeds expectations, it was mostly moving out an ageing vet with a big contract who was no longer part of the plans. We appreciate everything Mikael contributed to the organization.

Josh Manson - we're pretty happy with this one, we've been trying to move on from Andrew Alberts as part of our culture shift/refresh, and at the draft we had no takers, so when Anaheim contacted us to work out a deal we jumped on it. Our scouts are happy with Manson and see him as a potential solid bottom pairing defenseman in a couple years, definitely think we won this deal.

[CanuckJohnny]

Training Camp Outlook:

In Net, Markstrom and Schneider are pretty set, but preseason will give us a good look at future 1B goalie Eddie Lack. Hammond will back up Lack in Abbotsford this year, and Joe Cannata will probably go to the ECHL and be a depth guy for us.

Our blueline is much deeper and younger now, although we are still looking for probSedinably one or two more impact players in our age range. The expectation is that Hammer and Subban will be our top pair, while Ellis and Bieksa fill out the top four and Cumiskey and Tanev play the bottom pairing to start the year. Rundblad or Rome will probably be the seventh D. We're alo excited to get an early look at draft pick Colin Miller.

Up front we have the Sedins and Burrows, Kes has Grabs and new kid Jonny Marchessault penciled in alongside him for now, then the rest is up in the air. The current plan is to have a checking third line of Neil, Lehtera, and Malhotra. Probably we will have a more offensive, young fourth line with Shirokov, Schremp, and Lisin. Yip will possibly be the thirteenth forward, Thoresen might make the last roster spot, or PTO Joey Tenute if he impresses. Looking forward to getting a first look and new draft pick Viktor Arvidsson.

[CanuckJohnny]

Pre-season wrap up:

quick notes:

Bieksa and Henrik are down to start the season, not a good beginning.
Patrick Thoresen and Brandon Yip both made the lineup.
Rundblad beats out Aaron Rome for 7th D and due the injury to Juice he slots in for opening day.
Joey Tenute shows very well in camp, makes the team, gets a two year deal, and slots in on the fourth line between Shirokov and Lisin who both looked good in preseason.
Rob Schremp in the first year of his extension misses the team and is claimed off waivers on his way down to the minors by the Canadiens.
Jori Lehtera would've started the year as the 13th forward but with Hank out he'll step in on the fourth line while Joey Tenute gets thrown in at first line center.
Chris Neil starts the year as a healthy scratch in a surprising move, but the young guys seemed hungrier in preseason and they earned it.

[CanuckJohnny]

Season Preview - CANUCKS

How was Trevor Linden's first full offseason? We may have to wait and see on that, as he is on the record as pursuing a long term vision, and many moves were made with a bigger picture in mind than this very next year. However, neither ownership nor the fanbase will be satisfied with another drop off from a team that is only one year removed from a seven game finals appearance. The question for today is can this team be as competitive as it was last year? The answer, unfortunately for Canucks faithful, is probably not. Big moves were made, exciting ones, headline grabbers, but for all that this team looks to be stuck in neutral at best.

Who's IN:
D PK Subban
W Brandon Yip
W Jon Marchessault
C Joey Tenute
W Sergei Shirokov
W Enver Lisin
W Patrick Thoresen
C Jori Lehtera

Who's OUT:
D Alex Edler
D Brian Campbell
D Andrew Alberts
C Stephen Weiss
W Aaron Volpatti
W Joel Ward
Rob Schremp

The biggest addition, and long term wild card, is the exuberant, electrifying, and occasionally infuriating elite young blueliner Linden and co brought in with the blockbuster deal of the offseason. PK can be a building block for the blueline for a long time, an impact player, but there are also questions about his consistency and defense - can he grow into a legitimate, long term #1 blueliner? He could become the best defenseman in Canucks history, or just another overreach by a desperate club. Undrafted free agent Jon Marchessault impressed enough to earn a spot in the top six... or was the top six just that weak that an otherwise fringe player found his way in there? He looks like if he grows as a player he will be a shrewd pickup in few years, but right now he doesn't move the needle. Numerous depth additions show a transition to younger, faster, offensively gifted players for the bottom end of the roster, and Sergei Shirokov did look great in preseason, but is he ready to play a regular shift and hold his own at both ends of the ice? Joey Tenute was a training camp surprise, earning a contract and a spot in the opening lineup, but how will the career journeyman minor leaguer fare in the regular season? More questions than answers here.

Meanwhile, the departure of both Brian Campbell and Stephen Weiss, both plagued by injuries in their one year with the club, is mostly an admission that the return for superstar Roberto Luongo was lacklustre. Those two players still represent a significant amount of skill leaving the team though. Alex Edler is a top young defenseman in his prime, and moving him for Subban was a high risk/high reward decision. Edler's steady calming presence has been a mainstay since his arrival with the team, and he may be greatly missed. It remains to be seen how much of an upgrade the more noticeable Subban will be. Joel Ward was a foregone conclusion that he would be moving on, and consensus is that he was overpaid in free agency, although if he manages to get and stay healthy all year the Canucks may regret not overpaying for him themselves. Rob Schremp looks like another management misstep, looking decent in flashes last season and earning an extension, only to be lost on waivers in the numbers game. Are Patrick Thoresen, Jori Lehtera, etc, all unproven at the NHL level, really an upgrade over him?

Can this team still exceed expectations? If Schneider and Markstrom provide lights out goaltending, the ageing core pieces stay healthy and find their 2011 mojo, and the youthful additions overachieve, absolutely. But the odds are it will be a season of mediocrity for the club, maybe scratching out a playoff spot for an early exit, maybe continuing their descent from dominance at an accelerated pace. Henrik and Daniel Sedin are confident despite off years last season, and they will look to prove their doubters wrong yet again.

[CanuckJohnny]

Canucks make a minor move, getting rid of Aaron Rome for minor league winger Matt Kassian.

Capitals pick up veteran Vinny Prospal and speedster Carl Hagelin.

[CanuckJohnny]

game 1

[CanuckJohnny]

game 2

[CanuckJohnny]

Captain Henrik and Kevin Bieksa return to lineup after missing first two games due to injury.

New lineup:

[CanuckJohnny]

game 3

[CanuckJohnny]

game 4