Canucks Looking To Move Anders Nilsson
- Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province notes that the Canucks have been looking to move goaltender Anders Nilsson. However, he has had quite the rough season, posting a 3.50 GAA and a .903 SV% in 17 appearances this season and has another year left on his deal with a $2.5MM cap hit. Even though there were four other teams that had interest in him during the summer, it’s hard to imagine those teams will still want him now with the season he is having.
- Botchford also adds that the Predators might be a team to watch for when it comes to winger Thomas Vanek. He reports that Nashville showed interest in him during the summer and that Vanek’s decision may very well have come between them and the Canucks. It’s widely expected that Vancouver will be moving the 34-year-old and he would fit in nicely in a bottom-six role with the Predators if they can reach an agreement on a move.
Canucks Sign Darren Archibald; Call Him Up From AHL
The Vancouver Canucks have rewarded one of their minor league contributors with an NHL contract. The team announced this afternoon that they have signed 27-year-old Darren Archibald to a minimum deal for the remainder of the season. On top of that, they have recalled Archibald from the AHL’s Utica Comets and he may soon make the return to an NHL lineup that few saw coming.
It has been a long, strange path for Archibald, but one that shows that loyalty and hard work pay off. The big, 6’3″ Canadian winger was undrafted out of the OHL, but signed an entry-level contract with Vancouver in 2010. After three years spent mostly back in junior, with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, and with the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings, Archibald re-upped with the Canucks in 2013-14 and finally got to make his NHL debut. Archibald skated in 16 games with Vancouver that season, an made an impression with his physical play, but failed to make much of a dent on the score sheet with just three points. Archibald spent most of the season and all of the following season down in the minors with the Comets, but then in 2015, he didn’t receive an extension offer from the Canucks. Rather than bolting overseas, Archibald remained committed to Utica and has played on a minor-league deal with the team for each of the past three seasons.
Last year, Archibald found his scoring touch and set a franchise record (albeit for a young franchise) in goals in a season with 23. He entered the year already holding the second-place spot in career games played, goals, and points for Utica and was most penalized Comet in team history. Back when he re-signed with team this summer, we posited that another strong season could earn him another shot at the NHL. With 16 points in 25 contests thus far and a continued physical dominance of the AHL-level – and in some preseason NHL action – that has come to fruition. As much as this could be a kind act by the Canucks towards a loyal veteran player, it is also fairly easy to see Archibald playing a reliable checking line role for the team down the stretch. If the Comets’ alternate captain continues to work hard at the next level, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could start next season with an NHL contract.
All Options Still Open For Thomas Vanek
When the Vancouver Canucks signed Thomas Vanek late into the offseason, most believed it was a move designed for the trade deadline. Vanek could be given ample opportunity on the rebuilding Canucks, and be sold off to the highest bidder like the previous season. Recently though, there have been rumblings about a potential extension instead, as Vanek has fit in very well in Vancouver and taken on a sort of mentor role with young Brock Boeser. When Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 caught up with Vanek’s agent he wouldn’t rule any possibility out:
All options are on the table including being traded by Vancouver and re-signing with the Canucks in the summer.
That would seem to be the best option for the Canucks as they continue to try and build up a core for head coach Travis Green to take to the next level. Though Vanek has obviously found chemistry with some of the younger players, his value on the trade market likely outweighs any influence he’d have on them down the stretch.
Vanek was dealt last season for a third-round pick after a similar impressive start to the season with the Detroit Red Wings, only to find a little less room to operate for the Florida Panthers. The 34-year old is making even less money this season and could be added to a team looking for some powerplay help down the stretch, but there is still quite a few red flags in his game.
Never one to be referred to as an elite competitor, Vanek has been called out in the past for a perceived lack of effort at times. Though he’s not a defensive stalwart, 15 goals and 37 points is nothing to overlook. Any acquiring team will have to admit his flaws as well as recognize his strengths, but nothing he’s done in Vancouver has hurt his stock.
Vancouver Canucks Receiving Interest In Ben Hutton
Wednesday: Dhaliwal now reports that the Boston Bruins are one of the teams with interest in Hutton, and that the club had a scout watching the Canucks in Florida last night.
Tuesday: For Vancouver Canucks fans excited by the team’s early season success, the trade deadline will come as a bitter reminder at how far the organization still has to climb. After injuries broke a streak of success in the first few months of the season, Vancouver now finds themselves 28th in the league only ahead of Ottawa, Buffalo and Arizona. They’re obvious sellers as they continue their rebuild and hope to win one of the lottery spots.
Now though they’ll need to decide where the cutoff is for assets that can help them down the road. Can a 24-year old defenseman signed for a reasonable amount next season help them more than another prospect or package of draft picks? That’s the question surrounding Ben Hutton, who according to Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130, is generating a fair amount of interest around the league. Dhaliwal reports that the Canucks are certainly not shopping their young defenseman, but are willing to listen.
Hutton, a fifth-round pick of the Canucks in 2012, has developed into a relatively effective two-way option for the club. Though his career-high of 25 points set as a rookie looks like it might be near the top end of his offensive potential, logging 19-20 solid-if-unspectacular minutes is no small feat.
The decision though is whether Hutton, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2019-20 season if he isn’t signed long-term, is a piece to build around on the back end or an asset to flip at some point. Turning 25 in April, there is certainly time for him to contribute to the squad as they try to turn from rebuilding to contending, but if that value can be used more effectively right now he could easily be on the move.
Vancouver has more obvious trade deadline bait in players like Thomas Vanek and Michael Del Zotto, but as teams around the league move away from rentals or short-term options, players like Hutton become even more valuable in trade. If someone out there believes he can improve their blue line right away and for the next few years, the Canucks could decide to pull the trigger. There is certainly enough interest.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Morning Notes: Maple Leafs, Rangers, Prospects
The Toronto Maple Leafs are comfortably in a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division, sitting fifteen points up on the Florida Panthers. As they try to catch Boston or Tampa Bay down the stretch for home ice advantage, head coach Mike Babcock clearly wants some help at the trade deadline. As Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports, Babcock has let “the people who need to know, know” what he’d like to see added.
In his latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman mentions three names on the Maple Leafs that could easily be removed in the next few weeks instead. Josh Leivo, who has asked for a trade after being passed over again for playing time, Nikita Soshnikov, who will force the Maple Leafs into a roster move once he completes his conditioning stint, and Matt Martin. Martin has two more years on his contract at $2.5MM per season, but hasn’t been able to crack the lineup recently and could be moved to create some roster flexibility.
- As the New York Rangers prepare to sell off some assets at the trade deadline, they got some good news on the injury front today. While Marc Staal was absent from practice due to a neck injury, Jimmy Vesey (concussion), Pavel Buchnevich (concussion) and Chris Kreider (blood clot) all skated. Kevin Shattenkirk, who underwent knee surgery a few weeks ago, is now off crutches. Amazingly, the Rangers are still just three points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and with some returning players and new blood there is no telling what could happen in the latter part of the season.
- Craig Button and TSN have released their ranking of the top-50 prospects that have already been drafted, with Elias Pettersson coming in at the very top. The Vancouver Canucks first-round pick has been arguably the best player in the SHL this season with 45 points through 35 games and looks poised to make an impact in North America as soon as next season. Beyond that is Eeli Tolvanen at #2, despite falling nearly out of the first round entirely last June. Tolvanen turned a disappointing decision at Boston College into an opportunity, and has broken nearly every record for an 18-year old player in the KHL. The entire list is interesting, and is quite different than Corey Pronman’s ranking at The Athletic (subscription required) which had Casey Mittelstadt in the top spot.
Pittsburgh Penguins Third-Line Center Search Cooling Off
The Pittsburgh Penguins and GM Jim Rutherford made no attempt to hide the fact that they were after a third-line center early in the season. Rutherford admitted several times that he had certain candidates in mind, and eventually went out and added Riley Sheahan from the Detroit Red Wings. Sheahan wasn’t the “impact” player that Rutherford had spoken about, but he was at least a temporary fit for the team as they figured out what to do next.
Many still believe the Penguins will add that third-line player at the trade deadline, bumping Sheahan down a spot and away from Phil Kessel‘s unit. Adding more skill would certainly be beneficial, or at least it seemed so before a recent surge in Sheahan’s production—four assists in five games. Now, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes in his latest 20 Penguins Thoughts, they may not add a third-line center after all, instead making a smaller deal to strengthen the position.
Mackey suggests that Sheahan’s comfort level with Kessel has improved lately, and he points to Matt Cullen as the obvious answer to slide into the lineup. Cullen, who signed in Minnesota last offseason, is Mackey’s pick to “be a Penguin by February 26, maybe sooner.”
Cullen is on a one-year deal with the Wild worth as much as $1.7MM depending on performance bonuses tied to playoff success, and obviously has a great number of ties to the Penguins organization after winning back to back Stanley Cups with them the previous two years. Though his minutes have decreased even further this season, he could still offer the same dependable presence on the fourth line.
The Penguins certainly don’t have the cap space presently that would facilitate a larger move. With just under $2MM of deadline cap space (as per CapFriendly) a move for an impact player would likely require salary heading the other way. While there are obvious options for that—defenseman Ian Cole being one of them—removing players in the middle of a second-half run isn’t ideal. The Penguins have climbed to within four points of the Metropolitan-leading Washington Capitals, and have their eyes set on the playoffs once again. Whether that will be with a new exciting player skating on the third line, or a more experienced familiar face is still to be seen.
Deadline Primer: Vancouver Canucks
With the trade deadline fast approaching, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? Next up are the Vancouver Canucks.
The Vancouver Canucks found themselves trying to rebuild while continuing to hold onto some of their veteran forwards, namely Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. The team hoped it could rebuild on the fly this year with new head coach Travis Green and early on, the Canucks started strong, but injuries to key players such as Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi prevented the team from continuing their success. Instead, the Canucks have dropped in the standings and find themselves ready to rebuild for another year.
Record
21-24-6, tied for 6th in Pacific Division
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$4.7MM – full-season cap hit, 2/3 retained salary transactions, 45/50 contracts per CapFriendly
Draft Picks
2018: VAN 1st, VAN 2nd, VAN 3rd, VAN 5th, VAN 6th, VAN 7th
2019: VAN 1st, VAN 2nd, VAN 3rd, VAN 4th, VAN 5th, VAN 6th, VAN 7th
Trade Chips
The Canucks have two key trade chips in defenseman Erik Gudbranson and veteran winger Thomas Vanek, but whether the team will move them is unknown. One issue that confuses things is the Sedin twins potential interest in returning for another season next year. If the twins want to come back, the team may be more willing to hang on to their veterans to give the Sedins another year with the potential of making the playoffs.
The team has said they are considering extending Gudbranson, but rumors are that no negotiations have begun, which suggests that Gudbanson is very likely to move to another team unless they start negotiating now. A solid, but unspectacular defenseman, he will never live up to being the third-overall pick in 2010. He would be a quality addition to a team that needs help in that area. If the team wants to move Vanek, they shouldn’t have too much trouble as the 34-year-old Vanek is putting up solid numbers and already has 14 goals. He could be valuable to a team in need of a veteran scorer. In neither case would they be likely
Five Players To Watch For: D Alexander Edler, C Sam Gagner, D Erik Gudbranson, D Christopher Tanev, LW Thomas Vanek
Team Needs
1) Offensive Defensemen: The team truly lacks any offensive defenseman and it shows. Edler, the team’s top scoring defenseman is only the ninth leading scorer on the team. Their power play has little, if any support from their defenseman and the team has few defensive prospects that can put points on the board. A prospect with a good shot and the ability to put the puck in the net might be exactly what the team needs.
2) Prospects/Picks: What Vancouver wants more than anything else is future talent. Vancouver actually has quite a bit of young talent already coming through the system and wouldn’t mind even more. Last year, the team picked up several prospects including Jonathan Dahlen, Nikolay Goldobin and a conditional pick in moving out Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen. If the team can add some picks or another prospect whether it’s an offensive defenseman or more wing help, the team should be better prepared for the future.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Western Notes: Edmonton’s Future, Labanc, Gaudette, Crawford
Expect a long, boring summer for the Edmonton Oilers. After three offseasons in which the team made a “blow-up” trade, you can rest assured that it won’t be the case this summer, writes The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell (subscription required). The team, who in each of the last three years made questionable trades in hopes of sparking the team, including the 2015 trade of acquiring defenseman Griffin Reinhart (for a first-round pick which turned out to be Matthew Barzal), the 2016 trade of sending off No. 1 overall pick Taylor Hall and the 2017 trade of trading winger Jordan Eberle, should be quiet this season.
Mitchell writes that Oiler management has made it clear that the team will just be making quiet moves as they attempt to re-tool their roster to fix the teams’ struggles this season. He includes a list of team needs, which includes a first-line shooter, a top-four defenseman, a third-line center, a backup goaltender and a penalty-killing forward. He writes the team’s lack of cap space, after the extension of Connor McDavid kicks in, will not allow them to be big players in the free agent market, which will force the team to look for quality low-cost free agents and the young players from within their own organization.
Jesse Puljujarvi is the most likely candidate to continue to shoot next to McDavid, while Jujhar Khaira might make a quality third-line center if the team wants to keep Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as their second-line center and move Leon Draisaitl to the first line. Also, don’t forget about 2017 first-rounder Kailer Yamamoto, who played nine games for Edmonton this year. He continues to thrive with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs and might be ready to take a bigger role next season.
- Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that despite the injury to veteran center Joe Thornton, the San Jose Sharks’ top line continues to be highly efficient with winger Kevin Labanc in his place. The 22-year-old Lebanc has two goals and four assists in those four games since Thornton went down. He especially seems to be thriving on the power play. “Just feel confident,” Labanc said. “A lot of great players around me, too. … We break in cleanly, and I think that’s the big thing on our power play, is breaking in on the entry, settling things down, and once we do, just do our thing. We work well together.”
- The Vancouver Canucks are going to try to do everything they can to ink Northeastern star center Adam Gaudette after his season is over. While there is no guarantee that will happen, Ryan Biech of The Athletic (subscription required) goes into deep analysis of Gaudette’s game and says he sees similarities between him and former Canuck Ryan Kesler. Gaudette has already scored 57 goals and 64 assists in three seasons so far for Northeastern, could be a valuable piece to the team’s puzzle if the team can sign him.
- Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Potash tweets that Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford continues to make progress towards a return. The netminder worked out on the ice for the first time since suffering a head injury in December. Coach Joel Quenneville said Crawford is expected to work out again Sunday. The team needs the veteran goalie more now than ever as they sit outside the playoffs and need a solid run if they want to get back in.
The Odds Of Drafting A Superstar And The 2018 NHL Draft
Earlier this week, The Athletic’s Tyler Dellow went to work trying to figure out how the Ottawa Senators could maximize their trade return (subscription required) for Erik Karlsson, should the team decide to move the all-world defenseman prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on February 26th or at least before the 2018 NHL Entry Draft on June 22nd. Dellow surmised that in order to get anywhere near a fair return for Karlsson, Ottawa would need to acquire draft picks that could give them the best chance of finding a “franchise cornerstone” to replace him. The best-case-scenario for the Sens would obviously be to land the #1 overall pick in the lottery and the opportunity to draft the consensus top pick, Karlsson clone Rasmus Dahlin – a scenario that would not even require moving Karlsson. However, with the Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres likely having better lottery odds and another 12 teams having a chance at the top pick as well, its unlikely that the Senators choose first overall. Dahlin’s generational talent also means the lucky team that lands #1 isn’t moving it, even for Karlsson. So what then is the chance of finding a superstar in the draft? Dellow’s analysis produced these results:
- First pick: 90 percent,
- Second pick: 60 percent
- Third or Fourth pick: 15 percent
- Picks 5-20: 5 percent
- Picks 21-30: 2 percent
- Picks 31-60: 1 percent
- Picks 61+: .07 percent
While there is a considerable drop-off from the first pick to the second and the second to the third, it’s clear that picks #2 and #3 still hold immense value. Dellow goes on to describe the infrequency with which those picks are moved, citing Alexei Yashin-for-Jason Spezza and the drafting of Henrik and Daniel Sedin are rare recent examples. Dellow’s thesis continues that the current Vancouver Canucks could be a rare team willing to part with a high pick, if it meant landing Karlsson.
However what if Karlsson isn’t traded by the Draft – a situation that is far more likely than the media would make it out to be – would the normally untouchable top three picks be back off the table? Obviously, the results of the draft lottery matter immensely and the #1 pick will surely not be moved this year. More likely than not, #2 is going nowhere as well. Yet, the status of the 2018 draft class leads to much intrigue over the #3 pick, which historically has a 15% chance of landing a superstar. Unlike past years, there is no consensus second-best player in 2018. In some order, Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick were going 1-2 in 2017, as were Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine in 2016, and no one was going right behind Connor McDavid other than Jack Eichel in 2015. This year’s crop offers a situation unlike the last few seasons, wherein Dahlin is guaranteed to go first overall – and will be off the draft board of everyone but the lottery winner before the draft even begins – but the following picks are unpredictable. At #2, it could be Russian sniper Andrei Svechnikov, sleek Czech forward Filip Zadina, big, skilled Americans Brady Tkachuk or Oliver Wahlstrom, or a D-needy team with the second pick could even go off the board for a defenseman.
The decision on the second overall pick in 2018 will undeniably result in the top player on many teams’ board being selected, but the top player on many other teams’ board falling to #3. If that team at third overall was hoping to take the player selected at #2, now things could get interesting. According to Dellow’s results, the team at #3 has now lost a 45% chance of finding their next franchise player, but could trade out of the pick and still end up with one (or more) top 20 pick(s), each with a 5% chance of becoming a star, as well as possibly an established pick or player. If you put trust into a model like Dellow’s, a deal like this becomes much more about math and odds than simply taking the risk of trading back out of disappointment with the draft order.
Going back to the Karlsson-to-Vancouver hypothetical, imagine that the Canucks land the #3 overall pick while the Senators have a pick in the 5-20 range, either by the lottery or an additional pick from an upcoming trade. Vancouver hypothetically wanted Zadina, who went #2, while the top player on Ottawa’s board was Tkachuk (or maybe a defenseman like Adam Boqvist). Vancouver could, as Dellow proposes, offer the Sens the third pick – and a 15% chance at a star – and a prospect like Olli Juolevi, the fifth overall pick in 2016 – who holds a 5% chance of becoming a star himself – as part of a larger package for Karlsson and a first. Ottawa nets a 20% chance of adding a cornerstone player, including at least one potential replacement on the blue line, and Vancouver holds onto a 5% chance of finding a star of their own with the later first rounder. The 10% loss for Vancouver is more than made up by the gain of a bona fide star in Karlsson. Could a deal like this happen? For sure. Will it? Probably not, but Dellow’s analysis of draft pick values and a seemingly volatile draft board in 2018 helps to illuminate the possibilities of some fascinating, unprecedented deals early on at the 2018 Draft.
Sedins Won't Decide On Playing Future Until After The Season
- Although there has been plenty of speculation regarding Canucks forwards Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin and their playing future beyond this year, GM Jim Benning confirmed to Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province that the twins will not make a decision until after the season. The sides met on Wednesday and while Benning was hoping for a firm answer, the Sedins weren’t willing to commit just yet. Kuzma adds that Benning would like to sign both beyond this season but a new deal would certainly have to come cheaper than the $7MM cap hit that both are currently carrying.