Salary Cap and ‘mood’ both UP in VanCity
June 26th, 2008 by thewordbirdThe Vancouver Canucks’ woeful end of the year has started to turn up new members in the staff, new draft picks (that I will outline in Sunday night/Monday morning’s BLOG comprehensively) and now, new players.
With the available prospects in town to practice at the Canucks’ practice facility in Burnaby and show the brass and media their growth and potential, management was busy plucking Kyle Wellwood off of the waiver wire from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The former Belleville Bulls/Windsor Spitfires’ star is currently nursing an injury he received playing indoor ‘footy’ and with the upheaval in the ‘Big Smoke’ and the fact that Wellwood would not sign for the reported $1.5M, instead asking for ~$2M - GM Fletcher decided to essentially release Wellwood. Kyle’s former hernia problems and a big ol’ drop-off in points has got some teams turning their noses up. This move is a very shrewd move by the Canucks. They have given up nothing except the cashish to sign him (if that does happen, as of right now there is NO signed contract) and if he does revive his career, then they both win.
Wellwood is a creatively gifted player with the ‘baggage’ (as some report) and the stigma of a lazy and uncommitted pro. Worst case scenario for the offensively-challenged Canucks is that they ’send him packing’ down the road when some younsters have had a further chance to pan out or truly develop into bona fide NHL players. What have they got to lose?
What I find more likely of a scenario is this:
Vancouver has sorely been in need of a faceoff specialist for some time. True, Kyle is not that. But, he would be an upgrade at this point for the Canucks with his 54.8% last year and has been over 56% in his previous two campaigns. The Canucks have gained in that department for sure. Potential is the wildcard here as Wellwood is still in his mid-twenties. Conditioning and rehab are the keys.
On Sunday and Monday, turn your browser this way for a complete look at the recent draft for Vancouver and a BONUS article on another key for the Canucks which deals with players that need to show improvement.
June 26th, 2008
Robin Keith Thompson
