Vancouver Canucks

Updates, Updates

So many things to talk about…

Jay Bouwmeester was dealt to Calgary this morning for impending UFA Jordan Leopold and a third rounder. That caught me off guard - it wasn’t much to give up for Bouwmeester’s negotiating rights and at the price I imagine it’s because Gillis didn’t part with any of the four current defensemen under contract. However, all is not lost. Bouwmeester’s agent has announced that Bouwmeester will test the market on July 1, however Calgary will have first dibs in contract talks. The fact that Calgary didn’t shed significant salary to sign Bouwmeester means that Sutter isn’t confident that he’ll be able to get him under contract. If the Flames do sign him, they’ll have to shed even more salary, and that also means that a few key forwards, perhaps Bertuzzi and Cammalleri, won’t be returning. The Pronger trade obviously had its effect, as the Flyers were out of the running for his services once that trade went through, which, by the way, was a hell of a deal for Anaheim.

A lot of scouts saw Jordan Schroeder’s 5′8″ frame as a major setback and that obviously showed at the draft, after the highly touted scoring dynamo dropped to 22. I did not expect Schroeder to drop this far, although in Gillis’ brief interview with James Duthie (ugh), I was right in that the Canucks would be taking a forward. Stefan Elliott dropped to the second round, while Dmitry Kulikov was taking 14th and John Moore was taking right before the Canucks. Schroeder was one of the US’ best forwards at the World Juniors this year and along with Colin Wilson anchored the American offense. He’s got great puck-handling ability and has some great finish. He may be a little too small to play centre in the NHL, but he’s very comfortable playing either wing. The Canucks got a little lucky in this one but hey, I’m not complaining. Carter Ashton and Landon Ferraro, my two guesses, went 29th to Tampa and 32nd to Detroit, respectively.

That Luongo made the draft announcement, despite mispronouncing Schroeder’s name (Shro-der instead of Shray-der), is a sign that he may stay. Negotiations on an extension are in the works, and in the Gillis’ words, they’re going “great.” The Canucks will remain mum on the subject until July 1 when they can announce it, but expect Oh Captain, My Captain to be back in the fold long-term. Luongo received a thunderous applause at the draft from Montreal fans.

No surprises at the draft with Tavares, Hedman, and Duchene going 1-2-3. The Isles sure made a splash and the franchise finally has something to be excited about, although I think Snow and Co. got caught up in the moment and made a trade up to grab Calvin de Haan, which I felt was unnecessary. With 15 000+ packed at the Coliseum, you can’t not make some more noise after the first fifteen minutes of the draft, I guess.

No news coming out of the Sedins negotiations, although it’s been reported that the Sedins have stayed away from the negotiations and it’s mostly JP Barry that has been doing most of the talking. Montreal’s papers are indicating that the Sedins may very well sign with the Habs if nothing gets done, although that would not happen if the Habs deal for Vincent Lecavalier. The package the Habs are offering is reportedly Jaroslav Halak and Chris Higgins… no doubt the Lightning haven’t accepted yet, considering the package Anaheim got for Chris Pronger.

There’s been lots of rumours about goaltending movement in the Northwest, and it’s believed that JS Giguere has submitted a list of teams to Bob Murray that he is willing to be dealt to, and Toronto is on that list, which would re-unite him with Burke and Nonis, although that would mean Toskala would have to be on the move again. Martin Biron has the Avs as his number one destination and the Avs should take him - if they can finally get their minds around the fact that Peter Budaj is not starting material.

Ryane Clowe is still on the block, and the latest rumour has him heading to the Wild, who are expected to lose Marian Gaborik via free agency.

The draft is now in the fifth round, and to recap the Canucks’ picks:

2nd - 53rd - Anton Rodin, Brynas IF Gavle, Swedish Junior League
3rd - 83rd - Kevin Connautron, Western Michigan, NCAA

Notables:

F Landon Ferraro, Red Deer, WHL - 32nd overall, Detroit
F Ryan O’Reilly, Erie, OHL - 33rd, Colorado
F Carl Klingberg, Vastra Frolunda, Swedish Junior - 34th, Atlanta
F Chris Brown, USNDP - 36th, Phoenix
F Drew Shore, USNDP - 44th, Florida
F Jeremy Morin, USNDP - 45th, Atlanta
D Stefan Elliott, Saskatoon, WHL - 49th, Colorado
F Kenny Ryan, USNDP - 50th, Toronto

More on the picks tomorrow.

EDIT: Perhaps I spoke too soon about Bouwmeester, the Flames just re-acquired Brandon Prust from Phoenix in exchange for Jim Vandermeer. Also, there’s some talk about the Canucks wishing to move Schroeder from the NCAA to Everett, who holds his rights. I don’t see why though? Schroeder competes with bigger, stronger, and more mature players in the NCAA and he’s been tearing it up in Minnesota. The only motivation behind this from what I can see is so that management can keep a closer eye on Schroeder.