Bleacher Report - Articles by Jason R

Vancouver-Anaheim: Preseason Game Two

Jason R — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:15:39 -0400

A 3-0 win and another positive result for the house that Gillis built seems to be proving the madness to his method is working out just fine.

Grabner again didn't look out of place, but didn't really stand out much either—other than moving the puck well, playing the point on the powerplay, and of course, his speed. Unfortunately for him, that earmarks him more as a serviceable call-up than a full timer. Shiro's still in the lead after game two for the temp position (with opportunity for full time work) filling in for Demitra.

Kesler and Bernier stood out most for my eyes as being the forwards most ready for the season to start. Bernier's upgraded and down-sized physique seems to fit him well. He looked faster out there and I can't be the only person pleasantly surprised to see him not whiff at but actually hit that puck into the net in front of Giguerre. Kesler looks like he hasn't missed a beat and seems full of confidence. Good news, if he hopes to repeat his numbers from last season.

Wellwood and Raymond both looked good as well. Wellwood is as shifty as ever and looks to be a bit faster and have a bit more grit in him despite his smaller heft. Raymond started off a bit slow but as he got into the game, utilized his speed and looked like he had more confidence heading to the net and playing less of a perimeter game. His pass on the Rome's goal was quite lovely as well.

Samuelsson, looked good at times and mediocre at others. To my eyes, he looked like he's still settling in and might take a week or two to develop some chemistry. My guess is once he does, he'll be a solid contributor. The good flashes he did show, if he can maintain them consistently with some matching team mates, bodes well for the Canucks.

As for the defense, Bieksa had an excellent game in my opinion. He, like Kesler, looks to have not lost his edge since last season and seems brimming with confidence. That was an excellent shot through traffic on his (Pope's?) goal.

What surprised me most, pleasantly, was how well Rome and Oberg fit in on the back end. Oberg had a couple defensive lapses on offensive forays but the speed and poise, not to mention offensive ability they both showed, was pretty exciting to see. I would not be at all offended if Gillis decided to keep them around as 7th/8th guys. Let's just say I'm glad I don't have to sit down and make the call on who gets traded/waived off the blue line.

Now we get to the netminders. If Luongo can use those two periods as a springboard to start this season, he may finally have broken his slow start curse. He was in midseason form and looked formidable. Schneider did a commendable job coming in cold in the third and tidily handled a less rambunctious Anaheim team, including a penalty shot that he looked like a Hindu cow on.

In coming days, we should get to see both the re-upped twins and Hodgson's 09/10 debuts and start to get glimpses of who will be on the final roster. It's shaping up to be a pretty positive year for the green and blue.

Faceoff: Gillis Vs. Sedin Twins

Jason R — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:54:30 -0400

Ask any Polynesian Fire Dancer and they'll tell you that playing with fire can be exciting and rewarding. Unfortunately, it can also light your grass skirt on fire.

It seems that with free agency looming, this is exactly what Mike Gillis is willing to do with his most prized free agents D. and H. Sedin. Both sides seem to have stated their cases and what they both feel are fair terms and dollars.

I won't re-hash the details here, but it seems to me that Mike Gillis has stated pretty firmly what he and the Canucks are willing to go to, and doesn't look willing to budge very far from that position. Say what you want about him or the situation, but that takes some pretty serious cajones.

He doesn't look like he's going to be the one to blink first either.

So where does that leave us as fans? Well, it seems we'll find out just how badly the Sedins want to stay here for their families, they're team, and this city in the next week or so.

There's obviously still the possibility that something gets done and they stay with the Canucks. However, we could just as easily see the end of the Sedin-era and a complete shift in the team's direction.

Thankfully for the Canucks and Gillis there's a smorgasbord of talent available this year, and we have a few promising prospects that may be able to fill in the gaps.

Even with no hockey being played, no one can accuse this time of year of being dull.

Vancouver Canucks' Offseason Moves

Jason R — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:49:08 -0400

Ah, the offseason. A time to reflect, review, and (30 teams would hope) to improve. As the draft and free agent frenzy approaches I'd like to share my thoughts on what I think is likely to happen with the Canucks and propose a few educated guesses.

First, let's look at the "holes."

Forwards

___, ___, Burrows

Demitra, Kesler, ___

Raymond, ___, Bernier

Hordichuck, Johnson, Rypien

Spares: ___, ___

Defense

Mitchel, Salo

___, Edler

__, Bieksa

Spares: ___, ___

Goal

Luongo

___

Now I know what you're thinking. Something along the lines of "Crap Jason, that's a lot of holes!" You may have also turned one or two shades lighter in the process. Let's see what we can do get you back to your normal, healthy skin tone.

Let's start with the forwards. First, I know everyone has grandiose visions of Hossa or Gaborik, or more recently Heatley coming to town but I'm sorry to say I just don't see it happening.

Unless there's some MAJOR player movement and an vast change in direction for this team. Mike Gillis strikes me more as the calm and calculated sort than someone who likes to make a dramatic splash (picture Brian Burke). Not that I doubt his ability to make a big move (see the Sundin offer).

My guess is the twins are returning. They want to be here, the team wants them to be here and quite frankly we couldn't replace their production for less money in the UFA market.

It's just a matter of working out the numbers and quite frankly I don't see either side digging their heels in to a point that it would prevent a deal being struck. My guess is something like a $40m ($5m cap hit), eight-year deal ($7m, 7, 6.5, 6.5, 5, 4, 2, 2) with a limited or NTC clause for say the first four years.

Look at that we've already filled two holes and have our first line intact!

Personally I see Gillis spending his largest pocket change on filling in the D with a quality, fast puck-mover. Which will leave only minimal money to upgrade the second line. My guess is someone along the lines of Samuelson from Detroit who we should be able to grab for around $3.5m-$4m.

In this scenario, Kesler slides to centre. Another option being that one of Grabner, Raymond, or Bernier (or Wellwood if we re-sign) shows enough promise to move to a more permanent spot on that line.

If I'm wrong, perhaps we go after Cammalleri for the second line centre (or possibly even re-sign Sundin FOR A SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNT) and go a bit cheaper on filling in the defense.

Otherwise my opinion is we give RFA's Wellwood and Hansen their mandatory raises and Hodgson/Wellwood duke it out for that third line centre role.

So that leaves us with the following:

D Sedin, H Sedin, Burrows

Demitra, Kesler, Samuelson/Grabner/Raymond/Bernier (or possibly Cammalleri/Sundin on centre)

Two of: Raymond/Grabner/Hansen/Bernier, Hodgson/Wellwood

Hordichuck/Hansen, Johnson, Rypien

Spares: Likely Wellwood, Hansen, and Hordichuck would rotate here.

Now for the defense. I hate to say it, but Ohlund's sadly gone. For his money we need someone faster. He will be missed though.

Personally I see Gillis going after Bouwmeester. He's got the skills our defense is lacking and is still young. Building a D core around him, Edler and Bieksa for years to come makes me drool. Unfortunately to fit him under the cap we may be forced to move Bieksa to clear some space. But I'll leave that to Gillman to sort out.

The other option is seeing if we can't entice Niedermeyer to sign here for a year or two. The immediate benefits should be obvious and would likely outweigh Bouwmeester's immediate impact but I personally like JBo as a longer term solution especially considering the rest of our aging D-men.

Another option might be Oduya out of New Jersey, He'd be cheaper than JBo or Nieds and maybe allow for the acquisition of Cammalleri and/or retention of Bieksa (who had more points than JBo lat year I might add).

Like Wellwood and Hansen, I'd give RFA O'Brien his mandatory raise and while I'm at it re-sign Vaananen. That fills in our 6/7 positions and we use McIver etc from the Moose as call-ups if/when necessary.

So now our defense looks like:

Bouwmeester/Niedermeyer, Mitchel

Salo, Edler

Bieksa, O'Brien

Spare: Vaananen

Luongo, will he stay or will he go? That's the biggest question that needs answering here. If we can't for some strange reason re-sign the twins he's all but guaranteed gone. I don't think that happens but even retaining them is no guarantee we keep our all-star goalie.

If he stays and we sign him to an extension, my guess is Schneider gets traded. He'd have limited playing time and wouldn't get a sniff of a No. 1 position for years. The we re-sign LaBarbera (or let's be honest any other available $1m'ish net minder).

If we can't retain Luongo though my opinion is Gillis should trade Luongo for as much prospect/pick/mid-grade goalie treasure as he can get his hands on.

We get a goalie in the say $4m-$5m range and let him and Schneider split games something along 52/30. The added benefit here would be freeing up $2m-$3M in cap space here for some of the more expensive moves listed above.

All in all, with those moves made we should be a better team next year and hopefully make an even bigger push deeper in to the playoffs!