Sunday, August 17, 2008
Questions revolving around Vancouver
As we wait longer and longer for Sundin to make a decision, you have to wonder that if he really hasn't decided whether he is going to play next season, do you really want him? Its not long before training camp opens, and the new NHL season begins and Sundin still has yet to make up his mind. My personal opinion, if he wanted to come to Vancouver, he would have done so already and its time to move on. But to what you may ask, well at this time that is unclear, but its obvious the Canucks need atleast 1 more top 6 forwards. The names that have been thrown around, linked to Vancouver are, Vermette, Gionta, Afinogenov, Williams, Jokinen, and Weiss. Unfortunately out of those players none of them are 1st line centers, but they are good forwards nonetheless. But what would be a good fit in Vancouver? Should Sundin be off the radar, look for Vancouver to go very hard for Weiss, as he maynot be anything more then a 2nd line center, but he definately has a play making ability, and the Panthers look like they are going to be sellers, with the Bouwmeaster rumours running rampid, and their captain Oli Jokinen already traded to Phoenix. Another good fit would be Vermette, a player that I have personally be a fan of for quite some time, Vermette had put him 20+ goals on a 3rd line in Ottawa, so in a second line roll you would expect the same, if not more. Finally, Justin Williams, he is a young stud, only 26 years of age, and has scored 30+ goals twice, prior to last season. A player who could be an impact on Vancouver's second line, Williams could bring some much needed scoring to a team that is dearly lacking. Now on a different note, a move that I would not be surprised if the Canucks made would be trading long time Canuck Mattias Ohlund. With UFA's like Gaborik next season, look for Ohlund to be possibly moved, depending what he wants to stay in Vancouver. Canucks have some key Free-Agents like the Sedins, Ryan Kesler, Alexandre Burrows and Steve Bernier to name a few, look for them to possibly trade Ohlund. For Ohlund to stay he would need to take a home town discount, and unfortunately, that is not something, I suspect, he is willing to do. So what do you guys think? What is Gillis's next move? What will he do with pending UFA/RFA's? Has Gillis moved on from Sundin? Is Gillis targetting a big name player? Is Bieksa a movable asset? Some many questions, so little time before training camp. So I ask you, if you were Mike Gillis what would you do?
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5 comments:
You don't necessairily need a superstar to win games. The sedins have been one of the most productive duosin the nhl for a couple of years so I do not see why they are not classified as 1st liners. The problem with vancouver is they are a one-line team and even though they have a decent top line, they are not good enough to carry the whole team on their own. What they need is scoring depth on the second and third lines so I could see guys like gionta, vermette or williams being able to help them out a lot. They've got the defensive depth and cap room to trade for them as well without having to move Ohlund. I mean just look at a team like Montreal last year. Who can you classify as a "superstar" forward on that team? They won because they were getting goals from every line and outscored every team in the nhl including teams with superstar first lines such as ottawa, tampa bay and detroit.
One slight problem with your "trade Ohlund" theory - he has a no trade clause. It doesn't matter if Gillis thinks it's a good idea to trade him...unless he's prepared to waive the no trade clause (and I've certainly not seen any evidence he is), he's not going anywhere. In fact, the only D-men they've got who don't have no trade clauses are Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler. You can thank Dave Nonis for that.
its called a ''paragraph''...
Ohlund will never waive his no-trade clause, as his sick child's specialist physician is in Vancouver.
Ohlund won't be traded. Look for Bieksa, Schneider (or some other prospect) and maybe the Sedins (we all know MG's opinion of them) to be traded.
I like Vermette, Williams and Afinogenov...one can only hope that MG will finally accept that it's over. Pretty soon, other team rosters will be so set that nobody will want to play trade with him.
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