Additions: D Jay Garrison, D Derek Joslin
Subtractions: D Sami Salo, D Aaron Rome, D Marc-Andre Gragnani
UFAs: C Sammy Pahlsson, RW Byron Bitz
Promotion candidates: C Jordan Schroeder, G Eddie Lack, D Yann Suave, D Kevin Connauton
Gagner
said Schroeder was one of the Canucks' most improved prospects at
the AHL level last season. Gillis said he has no concerns about
Kesler making a full recovery. He is expected to be back by
mid-to-late November. There are other questions about the Canucks'
second line, which would play behind the usual top line of the
Sedin twins and Alexandre
Burrows. Can David
Booth return to being the scoring threat he was in Florida? He
scored 31 goals in 2008-09 and 23 goals in 2010-11. "It's
totally realistic," Gillis said. "There is a period of
time coming into a Canadian marketplace where there is an
adjustment period. David went through that adjustment period. He
understands what it takes to play here." Is Mason
Raymond, who overcame a serious back injury, ready to return
to being a 50-point guy? "At the end of the season we had
some discussions with him where we were very, very frank,"
Gillis said. Will Zack
Kassian be good enough to crack the top six, as Gillis
suggested is a possibility? "He's got a complete skill set,
it's about him maturing and using it to his advantage," the
GM added. Even with the change in net, Kesler's rehab situation
and the questions about the potential second-line wings, the
Canucks appear in fine shape to again be a serious contender in
the Western Conference. In small snippets, Schneider has shown an
ability to be a top-end No. 1 goalie. Leadership is not an issue
with the Sedins, Kesler, Manny
Malhotra and Kevin
Bieksa. Gillis feels he upgraded on the blue line this summer
by signing Jason
Garrison to a six-year, $27.6 million contract. And Vancouver
is expecting to see exponential growth from Christopher
Tanev, who is likely slotted for the third pair with Keith
Ballard. "(The Canucks) present a great opportunity to
win and that was more of a factor than anything," Schneider
said. "I've really gotten to know my teammates and the staff
and the city, and I really enjoy it."
Roberto
Luongo is still with the Vancouver
Canucks, but the general assumption is that he won't be for
too much longer because Cory
Schneider is ready to take over as the No. 1 goalie. Canucks
general manager Mike Gillis is shopping Luongo, the
gold-medal-winning goalie who has 10 years left on his contract,
and hopes to ship him out of town soon. Gillis wants a fair
return, but his options are limited because A) there aren't too
many teams in need of a No. 1 goalie at this late date; B) Luongo
is owed $40 million over the next six years of his deal; C) Luongo
has a no-trade clause. Luongo has already said his time in
Vancouver is done, but he's not about to go somewhere that doesn't
appeal to him. The Florida Panthers are considered his choice
destination because he used to play there and his wife's family is
from the area, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are in the market for a
goalie and Luongo also publicly expressed an interest in the
Chicago Blackhawks. Dealing Luongo is the one pressing offseason
issue still on Gillis' summer docket. It's also the one issue that
is preventing the Canucks from ironing out their depth chart for
the start of training camp because it's not clear what Gillis
would get in return, and if any of the players coming his way
would be NHL veterans or even NHL ready. Beyond the Luongo saga,
there are other questions that the Canucks will have to answer
over the course of the season if they want to stay atop the NHL
and remain a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
That's
the plan. The Canucks wouldn't be shopping Roberto Luongo if they
didn't believe Cory Schneider, 26, has all the goods to be one of
the best goalies in the NHL, as Luongo has been for years.
Schneider has to prove he's worth all the fuss, and worth the
three-year, $12 million contract he signed this summer. He was
performing well in Luongo's shadow before finally breaking away
from it in April thanks to his strong showing in the Stanley Cup
Playoffs, when he posted a .960 save percentage and 1.31
goals-against average in three appearances. It's just too bad
Schneider couldn't help the Canucks score, because maybe then they
would have given the Los Angeles Kings a scare. Schneider went
36-12-3 in two seasons as Luongo's backup. He recorded
career-bests across the board last season, including wins (20),
save percentage (.937), goals-against average (1.96) and shutouts
(3).
Perhaps
the better question is will Ryan Kesler ever be the same player he
was two seasons ago, when he scored 41 goals and won the Selke
Trophy? It's a fair question considering for the second straight
offseason he is rehabilitating from an invasive surgical
procedure. However, Kesler's season debut is first and foremost on
the Canucks' minds now. He had surgery to repair a torn labrum in
his shoulder in May and the initial diagnosis was that he would be
out for six months, meaning a mid-November return at the earliest.
Kesler isn't about to push himself to make opening night because
of what happened last season. He missed only five games after
rehabbing from hip surgery, but wasn't himself until after
Christmas. By the time Kesler finally got going, he hurt his
shoulder and wasn't the same for the final two-and-a-half months
of the season.
Jason
Garrison cashed in on his big season with the Florida
Panthers by signing a six-year, $27.6 million contract with
the Canucks. Now he'll have to live up to the money for the first
time in his career. His $4.6 million salary-cap hit matches that
of Kevin
Bieksa, who was the highest-paid Canucks defenseman. Garrison,
who will replace Sami
Salo, improved in all three of his seasons with the Panthers
and topped out at 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points in 77
games last season while earning $700,000, according to
CapGeek.com. He scored nine goals on the power play. "We have
a lot of confidence that he's going to be a stabilizing, solid
contributor," Gillis told NHL.com. "Expectations here
are high. He understands that. He's from the area. This is his
hometown team. I think he's going to respond really well."
Chris
Tanev has played in 54 games along with 10 playoff games in the
past two seasons. He has only three assists, but has served as a
capable stay-at-home defenseman. He's entering the final year of
his entry-level contract and the Canucks have him tabbed, at least
right now, as being a part of their top six along with Garrison,
Bieksa, Alex Edler, Dan
Hamhuis and Keith
Ballard. There is a very real possibility that Tanev and
Ballard start the season as the Canucks' third pair. That may make
some fans uneasy, but Tanev has the ability to be a breakout
performer because he's still young enough (22) and developing his
offensive game. "They were a very good pair for us last year
when they played together," Gillis said of Tanev and Ballard.
"They feed off one another really well." Tanev is not
going to light the lamp often for the Canucks, but he can become
at least a threat if he improves his shot. He's not flashy, but
his first pass is known to be quite good. He'll be given every
chance to be a regular on the Canucks' blue line.
David
Booth scored 31 goals in 72 games for the Panthers four seasons
ago. He has scored 47 goals in 172 games since then, including 16
goals in 56 games with the Canucks last season. If Booth plays a
full season, scores 20-plus goals and produces 50-plus points, the
Canucks would be happy. They need to see some consistency out of a
player who is signed for three more seasons with a cap hit of
$4.25 million. If he performs well, the Canucks will be a much
more dangerous team when Kesler returns and the pressure won't be
nearly as high on other wingers Mason
Raymond and Alex Burrows. The Canucks would likely prefer to
have a second line of Kesler, Booth and Raymond behind a top line
of Henrik
Sedin, Daniel
Sedin and Burrows. That would give them the flexibility to
have Jannik
Hansen, Zack
Kassian, Dale
Weise and Chris
Higgins in the bottom six.
Vancouver
traded for Zack Kassian hoping he would become the bruiser it was
missing in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. If he turns into Milan
Lucic, well let's just say the Canucks wouldn't complain.
Kassian will be given a chance to earn a spot in the Canucks' top
six to start the season. Vancouver will need to see him become the
gritty, tough, crash-and-bang player he was in junior hockey. He
was drafted No. 13 by the Sabres in 2009 because he has those
attributes. The problem Kassian will have in Vancouver is the
pressure to become that intimidating forward right away, because
Canucks fans won't have to stay up late to see how Cody
Hodgson is doing with the Buffalo Sabres. Hodgson was the
promising center and former first-round pick Gillis sent to
Buffalo in exchange for Kassian, so fans will likely measure the
trade by tracking the career paths of the two players. Kassian
needs to intimidate all the time, not just every once in a while.
And he needs to be a threat to score. "We've monitored his
training very, very carefully this summer, had him at a bunch of
different places and doing a bunch of different things,"
Gillis said. "He's in great shape physically."
Vancouver
Canucks center Ryan
Kesler is expected to miss the start of the season for the second
consecutive year after undergoing surgery in May. It's fair to ask if
he'll ever get back to being the dominant two-way pivot he was two
seasons ago, when he scored 41 goals and won the Selke Trophy. "I
think he can be, but you've got to give his body a chance to follow
his will and heart," NHL Network analyst and former Flames
general manager Craig Button told NHL.com. "You're never going
to question Kesler's determination to be an impact player, but if the
body can't follow he's just not going to be the same player." A
year ago, Kesler was rehabbing during the summer after having labrum
surgery on his hip. He missed the first five games of the season and
later admitted he returned too soon. Making matters worse was the
shoulder injury he incurred Feb. 9, an injury that basically
stopped his productivity dead in its tracks. After managing 18 goals
and 20 assists through 49 games, Kesler had four goals and seven
assists in the final 28 regular-season games. He did not score
against the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and soon
after the Canucks were eliminated, Kesler had surgery that is
expected to keep him out until mid-November. "I think in all
likelihood if the season started on time he probably wouldn't be
ready, but I also think we'd have to see how he reacted to contact
and different things that you don't see until you get into training
camp," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis told NHL.com. "He's
doing very well, he's on schedule, and there is a remote possibility
if season started on time he might be ready, but in all likelihood he
wouldn't."Gillis said Jordan
Schroeder, the Canucks' first-round pick (No. 22) in the 2009 NHL
Draft, will compete to be the No. 2 center until Kesler returns. Last
season, Kesler struggled through Christmas, and when it appeared he
was finally in a groove, scoring goals and playing his hard two-way
game, he ripped up his shoulder and wasn't the same. "When you
miss training camp you're really behind. It's difficult to get going
in season and it often takes some time," Gillis said. "There
is a build-up that happens in training camp. The exhibition games
don't have the emotional highs that a regular-season game has, and
that's done because guys are realizing that it's to get ready for the
regular season. When you miss all that time it can be challenging to
get back and get going the way you want. But I think Ryan is going to
be back and be fine."
The
Vancouver Canucks
won the Presidents' Trophy in 2011-12 for the second straight season,
but this one ended in far different fashion. A concussion for Daniel
Sedin left the Canucks shorthanded at the start of their
first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Los
Angeles Kings, and it was over before he could return to have
much of a say. Given the path of destruction the Kings were in the
process of carving out, the Canucks' defeat doesn't look as bad in
hindsight, even if that's probably not a view shared by many in the
Pacific Northwest. Cory
Schneider replaced Roberto
Luongo in net during the series, and the ongoing wait for a
resolution to Luongo's playing address for 2012-13 has dominated the
discussion about Vancouver this offseason. Like Rick
Nash, it is something of a foregone conclusion that Luongo will
end up elsewhere, but like the former Columbus
Blue Jackets captain, a no-trade clause is limiting the options.
Defenseman Jason
Garrison was a significant offseason acquisition, and moving
Luongo could free more salary cap space. The Northwest Division is
going to be significantly tougher after Minnesota, Edmonton, Colorado
and Calgary all improved this offseason, but Vancouver still looks
like the class of the group, and maybe the Western Conference for a
third straight campaign.
Daniel
Sedin - Henrik
Sedin - Alexandre
Burrows
David
Booth - Jordan
Schroeder* - Zack
Kassian
Mason
Raymond - Manny
Malhotra - Jannik
Hansen
Chris
Higgins - Maxim
Lapierre - Dale
Weise
Andrew
Ebbett
Dan
Hamhuis – Kevin
Bieksa
Alexander
Edler - Jason
Garrison
Christopher
Tanev - Keith
Ballard
Andrew
Alberts
Cory
Schneider
Roberto
Luongo
Ryan
Kesler was not expected to be ready for the start of the season
NOTES:
Kesler is the big name missing. If Schroeder can't handle that role,
the Canucks may look for a cheap option outside the organization
because there isn't an obvious candidate beyond him, or will just try
to get by with Malhotra or Lapierre. Kassian is the other question
mark up front; where he fits will lead to a ripple effect on the
bottom three lines. Garrison was signed and Sami
Salo was let go. It looks like an easy move to put Garrison with
Edler, who played alongside Salo at the end of the season. If Ballard
falls out of favor again, Kevin
Connauton or Derek
Joslin could spend some time in the top six. If Luongo is traded,
Eddie Lack
slides in as the backup and probably would see a fair amount of
playing time. No reason to overload Schneider in his first year as a
full-time starter, and Lack needs to play to keep developing. Expect
the Canucks to find a cheap, veteran insurance option to stash with
the Chicago Wolves if Luongo does end up elsewhere.
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