Last year the Vancouver Canucks were a trendy pick to be the team that could knock off the Red Wings and even win the Stanley Cup. Four straight wins against the St. Louis Blues and the Canucks looked like they had what it took to make serious noise in the playoffs. But after a 6 game series against the Chicago, the Blackhawks proved that they were stiffer competition than the Blues. When the going got tough, the Canucks got going. Literally—they left.
Last year’s team played evenly with the Blackhawks through the first 4 games of their series. The Blackhawks got better over the offseason; but did the Canucks? In the highly competitive Western Conference, standing still is not an option if you want to compete among the league’s elite. Those same Blackhawks picked up Marian Hossa and John Madden in free agency, so you KNOW they’re making a run this year. In their own division, the Flames picked up Jay Bouwmeester, so you know they’re gearing up for a run as well. Even though they lost their fair share of players, the Red Wings are still the Red Wings. So what have the Canucks done to improve their team? (Let’s face it; if they weren’t good enough last year, they need to be better this season if they want to make waves.)
Let's be honest: all hopes for success in Vancouver rest on this man's shoulders...
The most important order of business this offseason was resigning Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Some people may be upset with the amount of money they make or that they insisted on playing together—but the Sedin’s weren’t something the Canucks wanted. They were the two players that they NEEDED. Without the alien twins, the Canucks would have had to replace 66% of their top line! So before the organization could think about taking a step forward, they needed to make sure they didn’t take a step backwards. Their identical 5 year contracts will give everyone a combined 61 million reasons to expect greatness.
Next up on the list of priorities is extending goaltender/captain Roberto Luongo for as long as they can. In the days leading up to the free agency period, it was reported that there was a deal in place that would be announced on July 1st. A month and a half later, we see that there wasn’t a deal in place. Still, Mike Gillis insists that they’ll be able to get an extension done without any problems. As training camp creeps closer, there’s starting to be a bit of pressure that the deal isn’t as easy as we may have once thought. Regardless, Luongo is still under contract for the 2009-10 season. The goaltending situation might be something for “Future Canuck Fan” to deal with.
The free agency period is where Vancouver was going to be active this offseason. Just as quickly as the Sedin’s signed up for 5 more years of services in Van City, Mattias Ohlund said good bye to the only NHL home that he’d ever known. His departure wasn’t terribly shocking—and when we saw the contract that the Tampa Bay Lightning threw his way, there was no way the Canucks were going to keep him around for the terms of that contract.
A couple of their other moves effected Vancouver’s back-up goaltender position behind Luongo. The Canucks swapped out glorified AHL goaltender Jason LaBarbara for back-up Andrew Raycroft. Let’s be honest: if Raycroft is playing a lot in the regular season or AT ALL in the playoffs, something has gone tragically wrong. But still, it was a position that they would have liked to upgrade; and they did just that.
Another question going into the offseason was: “Who will play with the twins if they’re resigned?” Enter Mikael Samuelsson, the brand new Swedish winger that could play with the Swedish twins. With his offensive ability, he looks like he could be tailor made to play off of the cycling Sedins. Time will only tell if he can make the adjustment from a role player in Detroit to a 1st liner in Vancouver. Otherwise, the Canucks will have to hope that Alex Burrows can continue to produce on the top line. In fact, they might even want more. That’s a lot to ask for from a guy that made a pretty sizable leap forward last season.
Kyle Wellwood ate his way to another year at $1.2 million. He had his good moments and bad moments last season, but I love how a guy that was given his OUTRIGHT RELEASE from one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference was taking his NEW team to arbitration because he wanted more money. It’s his right to negotiate more money and I may have done the same thing—but as an outsider I just find it mildly amusing. If you ask Maple Leaf fans, they’ll just say that he needed more money for Twinkies. That’s just mean—I’d never say something like that. Ever.
The reason that the Wellwood signing is important is because Mats Sundin doesn’t look like he’s going to make his decision to play anytime soon. Could he come back to Vancouver? Sure. Could he come back to the NHL and play for another team? Just as likely. Could he choose to stay in Sweden and end his NHL career? Yeah, that’s also a possibility. The point is that NO ONE knows what Sundin is going to do. I’m not even sure Mats has a clue what he’s going to do—so the Canucks better address some of their depth players at Center.
I hear blue is slimming... but doesn't he look like he's ready to eat in this picture?
Another player who looks like he could help with the hole at Center is rookie Cody Hodgson. Hodgson played as well as he could have last year for the Brampton Battalion. The kid racked up 92 points in the regular season and another 31 points in the OHL playoffs. He was one of the best players for Canada in the World Junior Championships as well. But points don’t even begin to tell the story of why scouts and fans alike are excited about Hodgson. In addition to his ability to put the puck in the net and see the ice with exceptional vision, he’s a great leader who could be a future captain. If there was a player poised to make the jump to the NHL, this is it. He’ll have every opportunity to make the NHL club in training camp.
The offseason for the defense corps obviously revolves around Mattias Ohlund and his exodus to Tampa. Up until recently, there really was no movement to address the hole the Canucks had on their backend. But recent reports have Mathieu Schneider interested in a 1 year, $1.5 million contract to fill the void left by Ohlund. He could be a very good, relatively cheap fit for a team that doesn’t have a ton of options at this point in the offseason. He has a huge shot and is still a valuable guy on the power play. He showed last season that he’s a good mentor to young players (just as Zach Bogosian). Pairing Schneider with Shane O’Brien would be a nice bottom pairing for a team that wants to make a push deep into the playoffs.
When you look at the defense, the best moves they made were the moves that they DIDN’T make. The media had the Canucks linked to every superstar out there: from Dany Heatley to Jay Bouwmeester. Any trade for a high-end talent would have required the Canucks to part ways with either Alexander Edler or Kevin Bieksa. Both players are coming into their own and look to play an even more important role with this season’s team. Trading away the young defensemen would have only created yet another hole that Gillis would have been forced to fill.
When I look at the moves that the Canucks made this offseason, I like what they were able to do. If they are able to sign Schneider for a season, that will provide a temporary band-aid to offset the loss of Mattias Ohlund. Samuelsson should show that he was a great addition when he starts receiving passes from Daniel and Henrik. And they got rid of Jason LaBarbara. That’s always a plus.
But was it enough? Will guys like Samuelsson, Schneider and Raycroft be any improvement from a team that had Mattias Ohlund and Mats Sundin last season? Will Cody Hodgson compete for the Calder or struggle with the growing pains of the NHL?
Taking a step back, they made some nice moves this offseason. Unfortunately, they needed those moves just to maintain the level of play they had last season. Of course they’re a good team—they were the #3 seed in the Western Conference last season. But will these moves help them take the next step towards the league’s elite? I doubt it.
If anything, it just feels like they’re running in place.
Matt Reitz is the Editor-In-Chief here at ViewFromMySeats.com and former NHL Writer for ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports. When he’s not shoving a mic in the face of NHLers or explaining why home teams should wear white, he’s usually trying to figure out what song to play next on his iPod. It’s a never-ending job.
