Canucks News and Notes

Welcome to the main forum of our site. Anything and everything to do with the Vancouver Canucks is dicussed and debated here.

Moderator: Referees

Locked
User avatar
herb
CC Legend
Posts: 3020
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:17 pm
Location: Mars

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by herb »

Don’t forget about Santorelli Slacker!!

Say what you will about Alberts, but $600k for what should be our 6th or 7th defenseman is good value, especially considering the improvements we saw in his game last year.

I can’t say I’m surprised or disappointed that we aren’t seeing much in the way of change on the roster. The big change was Tortorella. Most of our guys are in the midst of big money long term contracts which weren’t likely to have been moved. The FA market sucked and we are hamstrung by the lowering cap. I would have liked to see Burrows move in a “sell high” deal in an effort to get younger and grittier.

One thing’s for sure, Gillis and Tortorella are serious about getting some young guys into the lineup or at least leaving the door open for 3 or 4 roster spots in training camp. I still expect we’ll see a veteran backup type and a centre invited to camp that the rookies will have to compete against.
User avatar
$lacker
CC 2nd Team All-Star
Posts: 262
Joined: Mon May 07, 2012 5:33 pm

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by $lacker »

herb wrote:Don’t forget about Santorelli Slacker!!

Say what you will about Alberts, but $600k for what should be our 6th or 7th defenseman is good value, especially considering the improvements we saw in his game last year.

I can’t say I’m surprised or disappointed that we aren’t seeing much in the way of change on the roster. The big change was Tortorella. Most of our guys are in the midst of big money long term contracts which weren’t likely to have been moved. The FA market sucked and we are hamstrung by the lowering cap. I would have liked to see Burrows move in a “sell high” deal in an effort to get younger and grittier.

One thing’s for sure, Gillis and Tortorella are serious about getting some young guys into the lineup or at least leaving the door open for 3 or 4 roster spots in training camp. I still expect we’ll see a veteran backup type and a centre invited to camp that the rookies will have to compete against.
Herb,

I think you are right, and the salary cap constraints definitely paint a picture similar to that. It's a gamble on Gillis' behalf because this lineup hasn't shown they can win when it matters for two years now. If the Torts experiment doesn't pan out then some of their assets will be worth even less next season. I suppose I was hoping that a core piece or two would be moved out this off season but as always its not often you see good "hockey" trades these days.
User avatar
herb
CC Legend
Posts: 3020
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:17 pm
Location: Mars

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by herb »

Read a good article on Tortorella this morning from one of the local scribes (rare, I know).

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/hock ... story.html
...we want to be offensive — I want to make sure you understand that — we also have to be fighting for the puck on a more consistent level. And in the six, seven, eight games that I watched I don’t see it. That is a mindset, I don’t think it is about bringing in a bunch of guys that are going to fight. It’s more about an overall attitude about how we play. The team looked like it was pretty easy to play against at times in the tapes I watched.
Betting on largely the same group certainly is a gamble, but it may just be the best bet at this point in time. Like I said earlier, I’m not entirely happy with the lack of change, but we haven’t seen much movement at all throughout the league aside from a few UFAs changing homes.

This very well may be a bridge year for the Canucks, but the present and future are a bit uncertain that is for sure. Coaching changes often times reap big gains, so it would not be unprecedented for this group to look revived and rejuvenated with a new voice behind the bench. How could you not like the idea of this group becoming hard to play against?

Pretty obvious there is considerable hope from management that Schroeder, Gaunce, Horvat, Shinkaruk and Corrado can step up big time within the next 2-3 years. While not likely, it is within the realm of possibility that this can happen.

To me, the big question marks are Kesler, Kassian and Booth. I’m confident the Sedins, Luongo and most of the defense will be fine, but these three guys need to have big years, which is very far from a sure thing.
User avatar
Chef Boi RD
MVP
MVP
Posts: 28881
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:36 pm
Location: Vancouver

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Benjo wrote:Booth is skating again finally and is in great shape.
I expect miracles from this guy. A completely different player than the passionless dumb ass we are used to seeing - :rofl:
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
User avatar
BladesofSteel
CC Hall of Fan Member
Posts: 1852
Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:29 pm

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by BladesofSteel »

While I'm sure Gillis will give out a few invites to those vets still blowing in the wind, I don't expect another veteran signing up front. The vets who the kids will be competing against are Richardson, Santorelli and Schroeder.

JS is no longer waiver exempt, but it'll be entirely up to him how his future as a Canuck unfolds. Richardson was brought in for his versatility and experience, he could prove to be invaluable once injuries pile up. If there is one bubble player up front who an aspiring rookie would bump to waivers, it's Santorelli. I suspect the farm will have a difficult time scoring next year and Santorelli's skill-set and experience would warrant top line minutes.
User avatar
tantalum
CC Hall of Fan Member
Posts: 1911
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2004 3:41 am
Location: Carl Junction, MO

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by tantalum »

The Torts interview piece yesterday I think sheds a little light on what we should expect. Torts will be looking to see who has the fight and mental fortitude to do what needs to be done through camp and the first month or so of the season. Those that don't will be cast aside in a hurry. Gillis has left about $3 mil in cap space to enable them to look at some youngsters, have injury space and make moves. Considering the "cap hell" they were supposedly in that's not a bad job.

So what you see is what you get....for the first 15 games anyways. After that it is a good bet that some changes will be made.
dbr
CC Legend
Posts: 3093
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 5:37 pm

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by dbr »

herb wrote:I would have liked to see Burrows move in a “sell high” deal in an effort to get younger and grittier.
Me too.

That being said I am starting to wonder whether the value of a legit top six forward (with a medium term contract, high dollars and moderately high cap hit) really is what many of us think.

After all, one of the ways Mike Gillis so effectively took this team to another level under the last CBA was by exploiting his cap space to make trades that he won handily in terms of on-ice performance (but "lost" from a payroll/liability perspective)?

I know David Booth hasn't been a raging success here but he was long perceived as a bona fide scoring forward and we scooped him up for peanuts on the strength of a couple of vets and a willingness to pay out the rest of his deal. Ehrhoff we got for even less.

Alex Burrows is a good player and can be an important part of a team but is there much reason to think trading him would be fundamentally different from trading those other guys? The CBA environment is more or less the same and this season there is even less cap space available than there has been traditionally.
User avatar
herb
CC Legend
Posts: 3020
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:17 pm
Location: Mars

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by herb »

dbr wrote:That being said I am starting to wonder whether the value of a legit top six forward (with a medium term contract, high dollars and moderately high cap hit) really is what many of us think.
Fair enough.

Burrows’ deal certainly isn’t horrible, and as long as he continues to score 25 goals and 50 points we will be getting good value. A 32 or 33 year old Burrows doesn’t scare me much, but a 34 or 35 year old Burrows might. I would guess the last year of that deal is probably going to be bad value, but we’ll see.

My main concern with Burrows is that my ideal scenario sees Burrows getting bumped down the lineup rather consistently over the next three seasons. A $4.5M veteran third line winger sounds expensive to me, but of course there is no assurance that any of these youngsters will demand top 6 minutes in the next few seasons and I would be surprised if Burrows’ deal became immovable.
User avatar
$lacker
CC 2nd Team All-Star
Posts: 262
Joined: Mon May 07, 2012 5:33 pm

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by $lacker »

Luongo breaking his silence... should be interesting. I'll reserve judgement until I see the interview, but just from the few "teasers" I would have preffered Luongo had just come to the Olympic camp and said something along the lines of "I was disappointed at the time, but I'm ready to play and I'm highly motivated etc", instead of using TSN as a mouthpiece.

James Duthie ‏@tsnjamesduthie 14m
The summer of silence is over. Roberto Luongo's first interview since the Schneider trade tonight/tomorrow on Sportscentre (6et) #TSN

James Duthie ‏@tsnjamesduthie 7m
Luongo also reveals that in May he had serious talks with the NHLPA about the possibility of voiding his deal and walking away from 40m.
Expand

James Duthie ‏@tsnjamesduthie 10m
Luongo also talks about breaking down after not being dealt at deadline and "blacking out" when he learned VAN had traded Schneider.
Expand

James Duthie ‏@tsnjamesduthie 12m
Luongo: "I had moved on from Vancouver and was ready to start fresh somewhere else...like a divorce...except she wanted me back."
Expand

James Duthie ‏@tsnjamesduthie 13m
Luongo will report to Canucks training camp, and says he is extremely motivated, but remains uncertain about his future in Van.
Expand
User avatar
ukcanuck
MVP
MVP
Posts: 4591
Joined: Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:04 am

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by ukcanuck »

Mondi wrote:Remember when Gillis said something about how he spent more time on one player's issues than the rest of the team put together...

Sick of hearing about and from this player. Get between the pipes and play a kid's game for several million per year and pipe down sir.
Personally I'd like to know Luongo's side of things if you dont mind
User avatar
JelloPuddingPop
MVP
MVP
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 3:53 pm

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by JelloPuddingPop »

Vancouver's crease concerns get even more murky after this year. If I remember correctly - Luongo can submit a 5 team list he wishes to be traded to in 2014. If he does so, and the Canucks don't oblige, they lose the ability to request a 5 team trade list in 2018.

If the relationship isn't fractured now, it certainly will be if MG doesn't trade him next year. Even for a bag of pucks. No way Luo doesn't submit this list.

Then Vancouver's crease will be handed over to Stork, or someone like him. Or perhaps even a sulking Luo... not sure what would be worse.

I guess they should look into signing Thomas, Bryz or... Hasek!! They'll fill the mental side of the crease at least :mrgreen:
Boston Canucker
CC 1st Team All-Star
Posts: 816
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:30 am

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by Boston Canucker »

I'm looking forward to this interview. My sense with Luongo is that he does not see the situation in black or white terms. He is honest that he thought he'd move on, and preferred to do that, was shocked at Schneider trade, but will also show up at camp motivated. His strombone tweets show he's keeping his sense of humor about it. I don't see him coming into camp looking to be a bad apple. Gillis screwed this up royally and in many ways Luongo is saving his ass by being a professional about it, even while RL is not obligated to be dishonest about his feelings, nor would I want him to be. Anyway, we'll see what he says in the full interview, I just saw the short 'divorce' clip, which seemed to show his humor and perspective on it.

Let's play some hockey! First game can't get here soon enough.
User avatar
Strangelove
Moderator & MVP
Moderator & MVP
Posts: 42804
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:13 pm
Location: Lake Vostok

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by Strangelove »

$lacker wrote: I would have preffered Luongo had just come to the Olympic camp and said something along the lines of "I was disappointed at the time, but I'm ready to play and I'm highly motivated etc", instead of using TSN as a mouthpiece.
Well it seems the entire hockey world is slightly obsessed with the Luongo saga.

So I can see him wanting to address the boundless speculation.

And to all you dumbfucks who entertain the notion of trading Burrows: You are dumbfucks! :mrgreen:
____
Try to focus on someday.
User avatar
Strangelove
Moderator & MVP
Moderator & MVP
Posts: 42804
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:13 pm
Location: Lake Vostok

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by Strangelove »

Mondi wrote: I suppose you're right, it is a "news" story. But, a humble player might release a statement; not have a two-part sit-down on national television to discuss what did not happen.
Well TSN begged him IMPO.

Besides who the hell wants a humble player? :crazy:

The Great Strangelove says SCREW HUMBLE.
____
Try to focus on someday.
User avatar
Hockey Widow
CC Legend
Posts: 19125
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:52 pm

Re: Canucks News and Notes

Post by Hockey Widow »

Better for him to address it all at once in a sit down. Then close the door on the issue, if he does close the door. I think this is an attempt to get his side heard and be done with it. I imagine he will use humour a lot but will be pretty honest and straight forward. Better to have it done in this forum before camp.

Gillis did not fuck this up. There was a miscalculation about what Luongo's worth would be after the new CBA was in place. Once the cap recapture clause became part of the new reality all the other GM's got chicken shit scared. There was interest in Luongo before the new CBA but only the leaves were willing to pull the trigger before the new CBA. The other GM's wanted to see what the new landscape was before they pulled the trigger. Not much MG could do at the point and it was pretty obvious Luongo was not moveable. And the leaves kept changing the bar right up to the last second demanding a cap hold back.

The media and the fans are the ones who threw Luongo under the bus, not the team or management.
The only HW the Canucks need
Locked