Lady Blue Green

Most think McWard is knocking on the door. They would like to get him some games in the NHL this year. He almost made the team out of camp last year while we were sorting the Ethan Bear prognosis.

Today @ 9:04 AM ET I stole this from another fan site. But it is interesting and seems to confirm that JG was never a real target. Yes, had he hit FA they would have kicked the tires but were more inclined, given the cap they had to work with, to pursue Debrusk as their number one target for the top six. Some interesting tidbits from Drance:

Ya I'm sure agents do let it be known in one way, shape or form. Too many times we have seen numbers player X is asking for come true. So ya I guess there is talk that goes on. Canucks though were never in it, as he wasn't a FA. I just hate how the media spins that the Canucks lost out on plan A and B when we know that is not what happened. And besides, had we landed JG, Daliwahl would have been the loudest screaming about incompetent management.

I'm sure they would have loved it if he reached FA and they could have kicked the tires. But they weren't close to being able to do that. If they really wanted him they could have easily matched the Tampa offer to get his rights. I think they knew there was no way they could afford him and still plug other holes. So why waste the assets together his rights? Dhaliwal has been known for years to start these rumours and more often than not he has been shown to be full of it. I love that he has been shown to be wrong more than right. While I do believe they tried to get him at the TDD it was also true that they blew their wad on Lindholm and did not have the cap space to fit him in. They could clear cap to make a serious pitch for him.

No he wasn't. He was asked if they came close to signing any of the higher offensive players. He laughing said we came close to Jake, obviously, he said. He could not have talked to JG as he never hit FA. He has also never said they were trying to trade for JG or that they were close to trading for him. He was talking about Debrusk. Go listen to it again. Saying anything else would be admitting to tampering. Now I, like everyone else, have no idea if they made a play to trade for JG or not. Even if they made a play to trade for his rights is not the same as coming close to signing him. Sure if they traded for his rights, which they very easily could have done had there been serious interest in landing him, sure they would've had a window to try to sign him. But noway could he spin that they came close to landing JG. They were never in it. Again. watch the clip again. He was referring to Debrusk.

Yes D is scary now. I would have loved Big Z back. Best we should hope for is that we are better on the PK and our team defence matures one more year. We really are buying time for 1 or more of our kids to develop.

No he wasn't their top priority. He was asked if they thought they might have a chance for any of the big name FAs. He answered, well we thought for sure we had a chance at Jake and then laughed. He was referring to Jake Debrusk. The Canucks never had a chance at the other Jake as he never hit FA. They could not have possibly thought they had a chance to land a player that they never had a chance to speak to. It was media driven speculation that the other Jake was their top target. The media has tied the Canucks to every top FA. Then they spin that the Canucks lost plan A and plan B and had to circle back to plan C and D. What drivel. I for one do not believe this. Would they have liked him? Oh for sure. But they never had plans to blow 9-10 M on one guy. They had too many holes to fill. Allvin said that they had a list of 3-4 guys they targeted. Debrusk, Sherwood and Heinan were the top 3. Forbort was also someone they targeted after they lost Cole. For 5.5 per what other forward should he have targeted? 7 years is 1-2 years longer than I would have liked but they wouldn't have gotten him without going to 7. Both Calgary and Edmonton kicked the tires because Jake wanted to be out West closer to family. While cap was not a problem term was. So that was the price we paid to get the guy we could afford and felt would fill a need. His NMC is only for the first 3-4 years then he has a MNTC. His contract will age well. Not sure what some fans expected today. This is a refreshing day from years past when we have been the ones to blow the wad and over pay. Allvin has bought us a couple of years of developmental time while icing a competitive lineup. Next year our FAs up front are: Boeser, PDG, Suter, with Hoglander being RFA. On D, Juulsen, Friedman and Forbort are our UFAs with no FAs. That makes for an easier off season while Poolman is done and the cap goes up. In 2 years we then lose Soucy and Desharnais. Precious time to develop some back enders. Allvin also said he does not want to be into LTIR if he can help it. I think if he can he will move the Poolman contract. Our current roster, according to Cap Friendly, has us with a roster of 14 forwards, 8 dmen and 2 goalies. Also with Poolman on LTIR. So we know we are at 24 players and 1 will have to be traded or waived. That will free up 800-1 M. Candidates are to me anyway: Aman, PDG, Friedman, Podkolzin, Hoglander, depending upon if it is a trade or waivers. If we could move one of those players plus the Poolman contract we could save another 3.6, give or take. We would be fully cap compliant, roster set, with cap to add or improve the team. Don't buy the spin that we lost out on our plan A or B and had to settle. Does a disservice to the intelligence of Allvin and crew. Media driven drivel.

Giving agents permission to speak to other teams happens all the time. So this in and of itself is not a big deal. Canucks have been trying to trade him for awhile but have an asking price and perhaps a max they will retain. I doubt they will bite at any trade requiring them to move picks, unless they like what is coming back. Canucks don't want to give him away either as he does have utility. Contrary to what most seem to believe I do not think he's is overpaid. The fact he is still on the team tells us Canucks have not been able to move him. I hope his agent has success in finding a fit and one that gives the Canucks back whatever it is they feel they need to get back.

Sometimes to be a playoff team you have to make moves like this. He is an upgrade for the bottom line and has a lot of versatility in playing all three forward positions and on the PK. NHL depth. He alone will not make us a playoff team but he is an upgrade to help solidify the other offseason moves we made. Aman will be back. If Strudnicka clears he will get a chance to continue to become that type of bottom 6 he will need to become to carve out an NHL career. this is a no loss trade.

We cleared out two roster spots up front. We traded for Lafferty and now have room for Mikheyev. With Mikheyev we have 13 forwards. If he isn't ready to go we have 12. Strudnicka deserves credit for getting himself ready for camp but as a bottom 6, more likely bottom 3, he did not bring what we needed. He has zero toughness and does not forecheck the way we want. Can he reinvent his game? Maybe, which is why if he clears waivers he will get every opportunity in Abbotsford to do so. Aman has showed he can play on the 4th line the way we went but was waiver exempt so I saw him being sent down from the start of camp. A numbers, cap game. Blueger was hurt last game and we don't know if he will start opening day. They may just be shutting him down until Wednesday. But if he can't go we have a reliable 4th line centre to take his spot. After the season starts, if Mikheyev and Blueger can't go, we can recall Aman or Podkolzin. Our playoff aspirations did not depend upon either of those two. with Lafferty we get a right handed shot that plays all three forward positions. He is a tenacious forechecker, that is he plays the way Tocchet wants. He kills penalties and he will drop them if need be. He us usually good for about 20 points a season. He alone will not meet our playoff aspirations but he is an upgrade to the bottom 6, more specifically the bottom 3. This trade is not a big deal. We trade a 5th round pick of a player who is better suited to what Tocchet wants. That's it, that's all. I am more concerned about the D. Soucy is week to week but we all know that could change once he has his MRI. Brisbois we don't know if he will be ready to start the season. I am surprised they waived Wolanin and called up Hirose. Hirose's cap is higher than Wolanin's so it may simply be that they want to get closer to the cap to take advantage of the Poolman LTIR. None of this means in any way that the Canucks don't know they still need to upgrade the right some on D. It also doesn't say that are not trying to do so. Getting a top 4 on R D is a high costs. Canucks fans exploded when we traded for Hronek. Are we prepared to give up another first at this point? Yes I think the Canucks are still trying to move a big contract. Maybe Myers although they would be foolish to do so without an upgrade in place at this point. He and Cole actually looked very good together. I think they want to move one of Boeser, Beau or Garland. Right now it looks more like they traded to upgrade the bottom 3 while playing cap gymnastics to get compliant and to be able to take full advantage of Poolman's LTIR. This is not a train wreck. This is not throwing picks away. This is tinkering to better the team, even if just small incremental increases. They add up. And now we have more capable centre depth int he bottom of the lineup.

Hirose, McWard, Sasson, Bains all looked very good last night. Klimovich and McDonough also had strong games. Klimovich can be a very effective forechecker but consistency will be his challenge. Zlodeyev impressed me with his nasty streak. He loves to push back after whistles and he can use his stick as a weapon when need be. He does have a nasty streak in him. 66% in the F/O too.

It has to be playoffs for sure this season. Anything less will be a drastic failure for this team. We all know so much can go wrong and so much has to go right to make the show but I do believe we have the team that should be competing for a playoff spot.

I don't think Raty is ready for the NHL on a regular basis. I have not been impressed with what I have seen from him so far. Last night he looked stronger on the forecheck but the rest of his game still needs work. Perhaps just a confidence thing? I have been impressed with Hirose and McWard but the numbers game makes it likely they start in Abbotsford. For me it has to be Woo that I am hoping will step up and show he is ready. Looking for big things out of him at camp. Also very interested to see what Hronek can bring. Honestly I guess I'm watching everyone on D this camp. Other than Hughes who we know what he will bring.

Long time lurker at CDC. Out of protest to them closing down I thought I would join up. Hope to get to know you all over the course of the year.