Canucks announce training camp and rosters

[Cornuck]

LINK

[Badfish]

Who's this Joe Rullier? Biggest guy on the vetrans roster at 6'3 230 and a Dman. Where's he on the radar?

And our second largest body according to the vetran roster?
Trevor Linden at 6'4 230. ...that can't be right.... can it?

Also was it expected Grabner would be at camp? I had thought he was going to stay in Europe for a some time. Is this just a formality that he's here?

[DavidPratt_]

Who's this Joe Rullier? Biggest guy on the vetrans roster at 6'3 230 and a Dman. Where's he on the radar?

And our second largest body according to the vetran roster?
Trevor Linden at 6'4 230. ...that can't be right.... can it?

Also was it expected Grabner would be at camp? I had thought he was going to stay in Europe for a some time. Is this just a formality that he's here?

I looked through the list and was suprised Kiril Koltsov wasn't here. Actually, I'm not surprised but feel it's good bad that he isn't coming to camp.

dp

[Brian CC]

Who's this Joe Rullier? Biggest guy on the vetrans roster at 6'3 230 and a Dman. Where's he on the radar?

And our second largest body according to the vetran roster?
Trevor Linden at 6'4 230. ...that can't be right.... can it?

Also was it expected Grabner would be at camp? I had thought he was going to stay in Europe for a some time. Is this just a formality that he's here?

I looked through the list and was suprised Kiril Koltsov wasn't here. Actually, I'm not surprised but feel it's good bad that he isn't coming to camp.

dp

I heard Nonis ealrier this summer refer to Koltsov and he basically said he's going to have to get his head screwed on straight if he's going to play here. I wouldn;t be surprised to see him used as trade bait in the future.

The book on him at his draft was that he was a loose cannon, and apparently that has proven to be true. More than likely another wasted draft pick.

[gobi]

Who do you think will be this year's training camp dark horse?

[ClamRussel]

Also was it expected Grabner would be at camp? I had thought he was going to stay in Europe for a some time. Is this just a formality that he's here?

Stay in Europe? Grabner plays for Spokane in the Dub.

[ClamRussel]

Steve Gainey? Since when did he get invited? The rumour I had heard was Val Bure was coming....guess not.

[stevethiessen]

kinda disappointed about the no Bure thing...

[tantalum]

I heard Nonis ealrier this summer refer to Koltsov and he basically said he's going to have to get his head screwed on straight if he's going to play here. I wouldn;t be surprised to see him used as trade bait in the future.

The book on him at his draft was that he was a loose cannon, and apparently that has proven to be true. More than likely another wasted draft pick.

Sort of. What I heard was simply the he expected Koltsov to come over next year for sure if a deal could be worked out and had thought he would be back this year. If I recall the reason he went back to Russia in the first place was ot be near his terminally ill mother. I think the kid had a hard time dealing with things. I'd rather have him attempt to sort out his demons overseas than in the canuck dressing room. Not sure it's loose cannon or just young guy trying to deal with things. He certainly doesn't seem to be much of a loose cannon teammate wise.

The problem is that while back in Russia he has developed into a very good D-man in the RSL...one of the top guys in the league I believe. So he has progressed to the point that the Moose is no longer an option for him...either he gets a very attractive one-way deal in the NHL or he stays in Russia and makes just as good or better coin being one of the best D-men in the RSL.

[nuckfan in TO]

Koltsov did an interview for Soviet Sport back in April... I read it then (through a web translater), but the link is no longer active.

Basically what he said was this:

- Nonis offered him a good 1-way deal to play for the canucks this year, but he had already decided to return to the RSL for one more season, and had promised his coach that... he is very excited about next year with his team in the RSL.

- he went on to say that playing in the NHL has been a childhood dream for him, and he will definitely come over, and plans to do so next season.

Basically, he pretty much said that he has every plan to play in the NHL (and the canucks hold his rights for a few more years), and that Nonis did offer him a 1-yr contract that in his words was a "good" deal.

For the canucks, this probably works out better... this season we already have Bourdon jumping in, along with Krajicek, who's only played in 90 NHL games, and Bieksa coming off an abbreviated rookie season.... Koltsov could be a lot more valuable to this team next season, replacing Salo, while the young 3 we have this year get more experience.

although IMO Koltsov is more NHL ready right now than Bourdon is.

I still believe he'll be a canuck in a year... and I think he could be a big part of our longterm plans on defense.

[MarkMM]

Koltsov did an interview for Soviet Sport back in April... I read it then (through a web translater), but the link is no longer active.

Basically what he said was this:

- Nonis offered him a good 1-way deal to play for the canucks this year, but he had already decided to return to the RSL for one more season, and had promised his coach that... he is very excited about next year with his team in the RSL.

- he went on to say that playing in the NHL has been a childhood dream for him, and he will definitely come over, and plans to do so next season.

Basically, he pretty much said that he has every plan to play in the NHL (and the canucks hold his rights for a few more years), and that Nonis did offer him a 1-yr contract that in his words was a "good" deal.

For the canucks, this probably works out better... this season we already have Bourdon jumping in, along with Krajicek, who's only played in 90 NHL games, and Bieksa coming off an abbreviated rookie season.... Koltsov could be a lot more valuable to this team next season, replacing Salo, while the young 3 we have this year get more experience.

although IMO Koltsov is more NHL ready right now than Bourdon is.

I still believe he'll be a canuck in a year... and I think he could be a big part of our longterm plans on defense.

I recall Nonis saying something similar, that he had high hopes for Koltsov next season but that Kirill was committed to Russia this season, it seemed he was going out of his way to leave the door open, and that he was confident that Koltsov was still in the team's plans. If Krajicek does well this season and Bourdon shows he can play at this level, along with Bieksa, bringing in Koltsov next year would make it possible to let go of Salo, Koltsov's offense should make up for what w lose with Sami and if we bring Allen in with Salo's money, then we'll be sitting pretty.

[gobi]

Salo is the complete package. He has size, decent skating, defensive awareness and a booming shot. Koltsov is known more for his offensive abilities and it is only recently that I heard his defensive play is improving. As DN himself once said, Koltsov can create plenty of chances...you just don't know for which team. And Koltsov is not that big. So I wouldn't be so quick to trade Salo. I hope DN will do his best to re-sign Salo next year. In fact, if Allen comes back next year as a FA, I would say Koltsov or Krajicek would be the expendable ones.

[JamesOwnzSam11]

It isn't the same without Federov.....

[MarkMM]

Salo is the complete package. He has size, decent skating, defensive awareness and a booming shot. Koltsov is known more for his offensive abilities and it is only recently that I heard his defensive play is improving. As DN himself once said, Koltsov can create plenty of chances...you just don't know for which team. And Koltsov is not that big. So I wouldn't be so quick to trade Salo. I hope DN will do his best to re-sign Salo next year. In fact, if Allen comes back next year as a FA, I would say Koltsov or Krajicek would be the expendable ones.

I have nothing but respect for Salo and think he was a steal for Schaeffer, and a steal at $1.5 mil for a mult-year deal. That said, it's my respect for Salo that leads me to think he'll be hard to bring back next year at an affordable rate. Krajicek and Koltsov are young and occupy two spots on the team for relatively cheap prices, even with a raise for Krajicek, even if we dumped both to make room for Salo's raise, we'd still need to bring in another defenseman to fill the extra spot which will cost us money, and given how little we're paying Krajicek and how (relatively) little it'll cost to sign Koltsov (I'm doubting over a million, he'll be under an entry-level contract if I'm not mistaken), it doesn't add up to what Salo MIGHT command on the free agency market.

If affordable, sure, but if not, my point is that Koltsov can make up for the offensive contributions of Salo, while bringing in Allen (who should be affordable at Salo's current $1.5 mil) could make up for his defensive contributions.

[MarkMM]

Ohlund - Allen
Mitchell - Krajicek
Bourdon - Koltsov
Bieksa

This line-up shouldn't come in at more than what raise Krajicek's raise will be, Bieksa makes just barely above the minimum so in effect replaces Fitzpatrick/Tremblay as the depth guy. I'm very leery to give up both Koltsov and Krajicek, they're both young with great upsides.