PUCK ALERT – by Saint Pako

The wait is over, and it looks like our captain will retire as a Canuck.

A 12-year $64-million contract means an average $5.33-million annual cap hit, more than one million dollars less than his last contract. Although, officially the cap reduction won’t happen until next season, this gives the Canucks very good Cap space in the future.

With a no-movement clause included, this will mean that Luongo will most likely finish out his career in Vancouver, latest by the 2021-22 season. However, most analysts believe that he will choose to retire a couple of years before the contract expires.

This is the break down of his salary:

I’ve seen fans saying that Mike Gillis pulled another super deal to secure Luongo long-term at a significant pay-cut. Being a top-end goaltender, arguably the top 3 in the league, and at the prime of his career, he’s worth way more than $5.33-million per season.

Although, I also congratulate Gillis for his job well-done, you can argue that Luongo didn’t really take a pay-cut in any form. This is simply the Capologist spreading out the annual cap-hit.

The first $10-million per first season is way overpaid, which I believe is used to compensate the final 3 years of the contract, during which I believe Luongo will retire. Luongo is now 30-years old, let’s say that he does retire after the 2018-2019 season, by then he will be 40-years old.

Adding all the salary paid up to 2019, this will equal $6.7-million per season for the next 9 years.

Martin Brodeur, 37, makes $5.2-million per season, up until he’s 40. But when he was 30, also his prime year, he made $6.9-million per season. At 33, he signed a six-year contract worth approx. $5.2-million per season. Everybody knows that Brodeur took a pay-cut to stay with the Devils. (Salary Reference & NHL Numbers)

Miika Kiprusoff, 32, last season made $8-million in salary, and will continue to make $7-million per season for the next two years. At 30, also his prime year, he was in a previous contract which gave him only $3.5-million.

Tim Thomas, 35, recently signed a new contract extension of $6-million per season for the next two years, then $5-million and $3-million for the remaining two.

Nikolai Khabibulin, 36, last season made $6.75-million in salary. That was also the final year of his 4-year contract with the Blackhawks. Signed by the Oilers recently, his new contract promises him $3.75-million per season up until he’s 40.

Brodeur and Khabibulin are proven Stanley Cup Champions, while Kiprusoff and latest Vezina-trophy winner Thomas are considered elite goaltenders in the market today. It is, of course, unfair to make direct comparisons across these players, because the time of their contract negotiation differs, but we can get a general idea of where Luongo’s contract sits.

Brodeur is considered the best goaltender of our generation, and at the prime of his career, he only made $6.9-million per season. Kiprusoff’s latest contract covers 6 years until he’s 38 averages out to $5.8-million per season only, despite the $8-million paid in the first year. Khabibulin’s last contract of $6.75-million per season was a relatively short contract for only 4 years, so the price has been inflated slightly. Thomas, signed his new contract the year he was awarded the Vezina, and his four year contract only averages out to $5-million per season, but he is considered a late-bloomer.

Let’s take a look at one more player, goaltender for the latest Stanley Cup Champions, Marc-Andre Fleury, and we will see a much clearer picture. Fleury, 24, is slowly entering his prime, but he’s still relatively young, and his best years are still ahead of him. Fleury’s latest contract, signed in 2008, promised him $35-million for seven years, which is $5-million per season.

If we summarize all these stats, we will see that Luongo’s contract of $6.7-million per season for 9 years isn’t a pay-cut. He is and will be paid as a top goaltender in the league.

Of course, none of the above mentioned goaltenders are the captain of their team except for Luongo. With Vancouver so hungry for the Cup, the Canucks is still extremely fortunate to have such an elite player committing his career to.

So don’t be mistaken, I still think Gillis did a heck of a job with his sales pitch to lock down Luongo for good, and his Capologist did a great job minimizing the Cap hit for the team in the future. It was, perhaps, an even greater move by Gillis & Co. Public-Relationship-wise in creating an illusion of Luongo taking a pay-cut to stay in Vancouver.

Hopefully, after you’ve read this, you will have just a slightly clearer picture of why Luongo said he and his family is “thrilled” to have this contract extension.

Finally something to write about. Actually I started to write about the Schneider rumor last thursday, but never finished it, as you can imagine, I wasn’t too excited about signing a 40-yr old journeyman who I thought wouldn’t be healthy enough to play more the 50 games this coming season.

But Gillis, again surprised everyone.

On Friday, Gillis pulled off another lopsided trade with San Jose, by shipping out Patrick White and Daniel Rahimi to the Sharks for Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich. I found this out via Twitter, and my initial reaction is that Eklund was at it again with his crazy rumors.

I love what the guys at CDC said, if someone was to suggest this trade in the forum, everyone would have flamed him and called him stupid. But I guess in today’s NHL, there are a lot of hidden factors that we fans don’t know about. This time is the Salary Cap problem for San Jose.

Prior to this trade, the Sharks were up against the Cap with only a $600,000 cushion, but only 16 skaters and 1 goalie signed. They need at least 18 skaters and 2 goalies. It has been widely published that the cause of this is the inflated contracts Doug Wilson offered to his young players in the past season.

However, when you hear that so many teams are still looking for experienced puck-moving defensemen, you’d think that the Sharks could’ve gotten much more than White and Rahimi for Ehrhoff alone, not to mention Lukowich. But if you look at the offer closely, you will learn that with Lukowich’s salary, he was actually a condition for the Sharks, not against them.

A $1.6-million 6th defenseman is unaccpetable in today’s NHL, especially if the player is older than 30, with little upside to his future improvements. Gillis accpeted the deal mainly for Ehrhoff, and if you look at the offer this way:

Young Puck-Moving Defenseman with a slight drop in overall performance (according to folks at Sharks.com’s forum, but in fact Ehrhoff had 42 points last season, same as that Bouwmesster fellow)

for

Unproven former 1st-round centerman (White) + Cheap young AHL defenseman with potential to become a 5th or 6th D-man (Rahimi) + Salary Cap Acquisition of $1.6-million.

Then, this deal makes some sense.

I don’t believe in pure luck for these deals, Gillis is smart, but Doug Wilsion is no dummie either, if he could’ve gotten more with his intention to offload salary, he would’ve gotten it.

Despite what reason Wilson has, this deal is still an awesome deal if Ehrhoff can continue with his point production, he is afterall just entering his prime. Fortunately, in Vancouver, with our decent top 4-defensive pairing, we can afford to take a chance with him.

So, who is Christian Ehrhoff?

Christian Ehrhoff, German, was drafted 106th overall in 2001, and that’s the year when Kovalchuk and Spezza were drafted first and second overall. Christian is known for his skating and offensive abilities. He started out full-time with the Sharks after the lock-out. In the following four seasons with the Sharks, Ehrhoff improved in his point-production every year, except for the 2007-08 season, which is due to the team switching to a defensive system, and almost every players’ point-production were affected.

Last season, Ehrhoff was one of the few sharks logging the most ice-time, and he was the one with the most ice-time during the playoffs. In the past three seasons, Ehrhoff gathered 48 powerplay points. Although the Sharks, again faced an early exit the last season, Ehrhoff had a breakout year point-production-wise, with 8G 34A and 42Pts.

What about his down side? His major problem for the fans was his turn-overs, which lead to his horrible +/- stats. He was a negative -12 last season, and with $6.2-million remaining on his contract for the next two seasons, fans are crying for his head this summer.

A quick look at the Sharks’ forum, and you will find out two facts. First, Ehrhoff is suggested as a trade bait in most if not all of their fan’s suggestions. Second, most fans aren’t upset that he’s gone, but that Wilson was only able to get so little in return. Sharks fans were expecting Ehrhoff as a part of the deal to Ottawa for Heatley, and with that not longer available, they are worried that it is going to take much more to see Dany in teal.

But that’s their problem, right? What about us? How does adding 3 defensemen affect our Cap situation? I think it’s obvious that we don’t NEED 3 more veteran defensemen, what’s going on?

As of today, according to NHL Numbers, the Canucks are $1.2-million over the cap with 16 forwards, 10 defenseman and 3 goaltenders (Matthieu Schneider not included).

Are we in trouble? You ask. Of course not, I think from what Gillis said, he’s implying that we aren’t over the cap because he won’t play everyone. A few players will have to start their season in Manitoba.

Just take a look at the D. We are hearing that Schneider’s contract is somewhere near the $1.5-million range. As I explained earlier, Lukowich is here mostly for salary dump, but Gillis signed Schnedier willingly, so I’m guessing Schneider will start with the Canucks, and Lukowich won’t. Shane O’Brien will also most likely not see any icetime.

But why are we paying $3.1-million for O’Brien and Lukowich to play in the minors? Doesnt’ make sense, right? We already have Rome, Nycholat, Baumgartner there already, the Moose will have a heck of a D-corp.

Since we already have 16 forwards signed, and this is not including Hodgson. With a second-line of Demitra-Kesler-Samuelsson/Burrows, I honestly think it doesn’t parallel our defensive depth, so will we see a Demtira + O’Brien/Lukowich deal to get a legitimate top second-liner??

Don’t know…but knowing Gillis, he’s probably not going to be this predictable.

If anyone is wondering how Mike Gillis can get from being a player’s agent to the CEO of the Canucks in only two years, I may have an answer now.

This guy has something down his sleeves, he’s got a plan, not one that I can understand, but I imagine he’s got something crazy brewing.

For starter, I don’t think anyone, including most GMs and Hockey commentators can understand the need for the abundance of third-line forwards. The Sedins, Burrows, Kesler, Demitra and Samuelsson will most likely play the top six. The bottom three will most likely be Johnson, Hordichuk and Rypien. That will leave only three vacancy for:

Kyle Wellwood
Mason Raymond
Steve Bernier
Jannik Hansen
Michael Grabner
Cody Hodgson

And if we don’t immediately assume Desbien, Glass and Pope are AHL-bound, we will need to add them to the list. Even if we don’t include Shirokov, Walsky, White or Shroeder, there are still a lot of players fighting for the third line.

Let’s not even get started on Gillis’ phone call to Mats Sundin…

What about our defense? Everyone is always talking about that puck-moving defenseman, but by my count, I don’t think there are a lot of them out there un-signed. Still, with Bieksa, Mitchell, Edler, Salo, SOB and Rome + Nycholat, I honestly don’t think we are in a lot of trouble, unless Salo re-injures himself early in the season. Otherwise, we still have some time to make a mid-season trade. (Assuming the team is doing well prior to trade-deadline)

So what’s Gillis’ plan for the US$3.4-million remaining in CAP? Let’s assume he will want at least US$1-million in buffer, just in case. The US$2.4-million doesn’t buy us a whole lot.

Then there’s the issue of re-signing our Star Captain. WHY is it taking so long??? Am I missing something? I mean, even if we increase Luongo’s salary to $8-million per season, the contract won’t kick in until next summer, why are we holding back on using the US$2.4-million?? Salary negotiation doesn’t take that long, especially for a franchise player like Luongo, the Canucks WILL spend that money!!!

So, again, what’s going on here? We have tons of third-line players, I don’t believe Gillis is planning on trading Hanser, Wellwood or Bernier, it’s going to be pretty stupid to just signed them and then trade them away, what does that say about the organization?

We won’t trade Hodgson, Grabner or Schnedier either, since Gillis has stressed so many times that the Canucks will focus very much on internal development. What does it say about your team, if you trade away the best three players of your youth-core.

It’s now pretty obvious Gillis isn’t planning on just taken up salary by signing a free agent. If he intends to do this, he wouldn’t have spend the $550K on Hansen until we’ve signed that defenseman. I mean we sure need another defenseman MORE than we need another third-liner, right??

If we look closely, who else out there fits our need? I could probably only think of Marc-Andre Bergeron. But if no teams have picked him up this late, he’s either got some un-disclosed problems, or he’s asking way too much.

So this leaves us with Raymond, and maybe one of our defenseman for a trade. But what is Gillis waiting for?? Who’s he targeting?

What’s going through Gillis’ mind??

Perhaps this is exactly the reason he’s made CEO. His un-orthodox approach in player selection, and his un-predictabilty may prove to be the key successful element for the Canucks in the near future.

The loss of Mattias Ohlund via Free Agency may have been compensated by the signing of veteren Swedish winger Mikael Samuelsson on Friday by Mike Gillis. A 32-yr old winger from the 2008 Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings, Samuelsson is a member of the prestigious Triple Gold Club – having won the Stanely Cup, Olympic Gold and World Championship.

Signed for three years at US$2.5-million per season, Samuelsson may be able make up for the loss of Ohlund in terms of the team’s overall talent, but not in terms of position. The 6’1 205 lbs rugged winger scored 40 points last season in 81 games playing mostly on the third line. In 23 games during the most recent playoff, Samuelsson registered 10 points and were just a game away from capturing the Cup in two consecutive years.

However, Gillis still has a lot of work to do, especially finding a top four defenseman. Although the Canucks currently have a solid top-4 in Willie Mitchell, Kevin Bieska, Sami Salo and Alex Edler, Salo is injury-prone and hasn’t played more than 70 games per season ever since the lockout in 2004. Shane O’Brien, when playing his A-game is more than capable in stepping up to fill a top-4 duty, but his inconsistencies during last season will make him a risky bet, especially if Vancouver plans to go far in the Playoffs this year.

Rumors of Gillis trying to sign Andrew Alberts and Tomas Kaberle had surfaced since July 1st (mostly by Eklund!), but I personally don’t think that will happen. Still, I will be very happy if Eklund’s e4 rumor of Kaberle for Schneider + 2nd is true!!

The current forward roster looks sufficient for the Canucks, with the Sedins + Burrows on one line, Demitra/Kesler/Samuelsson on the second line. Gillis will probably not sign back UFA Taylor Pyatt, but maturing prospects Michael Grabner and Cody Hodgson are expected to crack the line-up this coming season.

Another rumor about Gillis looking to sign back Mats Sundin, if he chooses to return for another season. According to Sundin’s agent J.P. Barry, his client will take much shorter time deciding his future this year. It is expected that Gillis will likely offer no more than US$4-million for the aged Swedish superstar.

If this is true, we shouldn’t expect Gillis to sign any more forwards via Free Agency. Instead, his focus will most likely be on a top-4 defenseman. Having said that, the signing of depth defensemen Aaron Rome, Nolan Baumgartner and Lawrence Nycholat should allow the team some options of the bottom-2 defensemen, should O’Brien needs to step up to replace Salo.

The Canucks still have US$7.2-million in cap space with RFA Kyle Wellwood, Jannik Hansen, and Shane O’Brien unsigned. If all three signed similar contracts as their previous ones, it will cost approx. US$2.5-million of the cap. This will leave the canucks with US$4.7-million to either resign Sundin, or another UFA defenseman of similar value. Otherwise, the Canucks still has a choice to re-sign defensemen Rob Davision ($0.5-million) or Ossi Vaananen ($1.0-million).

The last option has remote possibility, and that is the possibility of Burnaby Joe playing for his hometown before he retires. At 39-yrd old, Sakic can announce his retirement any time, especially with Ryan Smyth traded to the Kings and the Avalanche entering rebuild mode. Of course, Sakic hasn’t played a full season for two seasons, and he only mentioned to played 15 games last season, having only 12 points. So even if he does sign with Vancouver, his impact may be minimal.

Anyways, let’s wait and how things unfold after this weekend.

Since some of the bigger names UFAs have found new teams and inflated contracts, I thought I should have a look at who else is still available for the Canucks. As I wrote in my previous post, not including internal promotion, the Canucks is most in need of a top-six forward and a top-four defenseman. (I know, which team doesn’t!!)

Here’s some big names we can fantasize about until tomorrow morning:

Name – Position – Age – Previous Team – Previous Salary

Maxim Afinogenov RW (29, Sabres – 3.5-million)
Jordan Leopold D (29, Panthers – 1.5-million)
Alex Tanguay LW (29, Canadiens – 5.375-million)
Saku Koivu C (34, Canadiens – 4.75-million)
Nik Antropov C (29, Rangers – 2.15-million)
Derek Morris D (30, Rangers – 3.95-million)
Paul Mara D (29, Rangers – 1.95-million)
Mike Comrie C (28, Senators – 4-million)
Andrew Alberts D (28, Flyers – 1.4-million)
Petr Sykora RW (32, Penguins – 2.5-million)
Miroslav Satan RW (34, Penguins – 3.5-million)
Marek Malik D (34, Lightning – 1.25-million)
Francois Beauchemin D (29, Ducks – 1.65-million)
Darryl Sydor D (37, Stars – 2.5-million)
Sergei Zubov D (38, Stars – 5.35-million)
Ales Kotalik RW (30, Oilers – 2.5-million)

While I was writing these UFA down, I actually think that some are pretty good options of the Canucks. Afinogenov although carries with him some risks in terms of production and health, a change of scenary may be good for him. With his drastic decline in production during the recent years, Gillis can probably sign him at around US$2-million per season for a one season trial??

What about Ales Kotalik?? A very decent goal scorer with 43 points despite shifting between two teams last season. If the Canucks can slightly up their offer to US$2.8-million, we may be able to land this solid second-line right winger.

Another notible mention is Petr Sykora, who usually is able to produce 50 points per season at a price tag of US$2.5-million. With the Penguins not using him in their line-up, and his age at 32, he wouldn’t be expecting any raise in salary.

At 34, Miroslav Satan had a great playoff run with the Penguins this year, and the Penguins will most likely want to try and fit him back into their line-up. But if they aren’t able to do so, Satan’s 50+ points per season and his experience will be well worth $3.5-million.

The Senators are in enough troubles right now with Heatley, and I don’t think Murray is talking to Comrie that often. At 28, Comrie is becoming a journeman across different teams, and with his average 50-points-per-season production, if he can find some stability on the West Coast, he may be able to regain his former 60-points seasons.

Tanguay and Koivu both have huge re-bounding potential, and are still considered elite players, so their price tags are comparative higher.

As for Defense, although Jordan Leopold’s rights were traded to the Panthers, I don’t think Florida has any advantage in signing him now that July 1st has passed. At 29, with a previous salary of $1.5-million, if the Canucks can beat the other teams in terms of salary, he will be a great addition, especially with his power-play point shots.

Francois Beauchemin is of course another hot item still available. Apparently Brian Burke just loves him, but he will surely have a decent raise in salary from his former $1.65-million contract.

If Gillis doesn’t want to fight for someone with the result of driving up the contract price, Marek Malik can be a cheap but decent addition to the bottom-two. I mean, Tampa grabbed our Ohlune, we should get someone back from their roster, right?

Sydor and Zubov are aged veterans from the Stars roster. They do bring a lot of experience to the team, and are bonifide top four players, I believe they will take a huge pay-cut now near the end of their careers.

What about Derek Morris, Paul Mara? They are decent top-four defenseman with at a sensible price. Morris, a former first rounder, didn’t have his best season this year, but with some great offensive upside and very reliable in his own zone, he will be an improvement over Ohlund, but also more expensive at about +US$4-million per year. Mara, also a first rounder (97) is somewhat less talented, but is usually considered a powerplay specialist. At about US$2-million per season, a change of scenary for him may prove drastic improvments to his point production.

So, Like I said, there are still a number of great players out there. Who knows, sometimes good things go to those who wait, as we saw with the recent Entry Draft. Maybe not pulling the trigger on the first day will prove similar fortune for the Canucks.

I will start off my summary for the first day of Free Agency with a cliche. The best signing Wednesday by Gillis was the one that wasn’t signed.

Of course, finally settling the Sedins with a 5-year US$6.1-million contract is excellent news for the Canucks, but perhaps the decision to not sign Gaborik or Havlat were better moves. Embracing technology provided me with realtime news of most of the signing, as I followed Twitter via iPhone most of the day. A big thanks to Darren Dregger, Richard Loat and Eklund for their updates.

It is because I was able to follow the events unfold closely that I realize the Canucks were pretty much only involved in Gaborik and Havlat ever since they announced the signing of the Twins. If my estimation is correct, including a US$1.5-million increase to Luongo’s upcoming extension announcement, and Sedins’ combined US$12.2-million contract, the Canucks roughly have US$8-million to spare. With Ohlund signed in Tampa, the Canucks will need to sign a work-horse defenseman for the team to come out similiar to where they were in the beginning of last season.

This is why Gillis doesn’t have a lot of room to sign Gaborik, who everyone knew will be asking for a huge contract. US$7.5-million for FIVE years for a player who’d played so few games and coming off such a serious surgery, the best approach is to walk away. I think the Rangers are making another huge mistake here. Just when you think they got rid of Gomez’s crazy contract, they go and sign another even more ridiculous one.

As for a 30-goal right-winger in Havlat, US$5-million should be something Gillis is willing to accept, and I think that Havlat would’ve preferred playing for Canucks instead of the Wild. But for him to finally sign with the Wild is probably due to the length of the contract. A 6 year deal would put him over the Sedins in terms of the length of the contract, and I don’t think the organization is willing to risk it at this point in time.

This being said, this is still only the first day of free agency, and I think by reserving their spending power, the Canucks still have a lot options. Of those, Gillis’ first target is most likely to sign or trade for a top-six defenseman. Eklund mentioned that a Kaberle deal is close to being done, I personally don’t like that very much, because after the Phil Kessel failed-trade, Brian Burke will be looking for assets of similar value going back the other way, and I don’t think the Canucks should rid themselves on any more talents.

To sum up, I don’t think the Canucks are than much worse than they were before July 1st. There is, of course, still many holes to fill, but as many teams are loading up via Free Agents, and the cap not going up, somewhere some salaries must be off-loaded. By then, the Canucks might be able to grab better players at sensible prices. If not, there’s always RFA offer-sheets and promotion (ie. Grabner or Hodgson) within the organization.

You got it. Perhaps the best signing for the Canucks so far and maybe the only signing prior to this year’s deadline is that of Alex Burrows.

Signed today at 2-million for 4 seasons, the Canucks have finally locked down on a one of their most valuable player. Alex Burrows entering his finally year of contract was to become a Restricted Free Agent by the end of this season. With his tremendous play shown this year, if remained unsigned will probably be receiving various offer sheets in the summer. Therefore I think Gillis did a great job signing him today, and with how the team is playing right now (as I write this, the team is still down 2-1 against the Wild, but they put up a lot of chance during the 2nd period, hopefully they will get a goal soon – fingers crossed.), I think re-signing may even be better than any new signing.

In any case, I think it shows great vision in the management, rewarding a home-grown player with a good contract instead of paying inflated salaries for rentals. Great job Gillis, let’s hope the team responds well to this, I know Burrows did, with his cluth goal let in the first period.

[Updated] Wild 2 @ Canucks 4 (Final)

Wow, what a game for Burrows, eh? I guess I picked the right topic for my post today. Two goals for Canucks win, and the second goal for Burrows means all the difference in confidence during the dying seconds of the third, when the Wild pulled their goalie for six attackers. Not to beat this to death, Burrow’s value to the team is unbelievable. It’s not just about the goals, but the timing when he scores, I think now with the contract settled, we will see definite growth to his play comes playoff and next season.

Turning point for this game is definitely Demitra’s effort during the end of the second period. Coming off a fabulous save on Pavol’s break-away by Backstrom, Demitra regrouped and during his next play he scored the crucial equalizer for the team. With less than 2 minutes the go, the momentum went to the Canucks, and before Backstrom can regain himself after Demitra’s goal, Bernier threw the puck on net can caught the Wild’s goaltender off guard thru his five-hole.

Burrow’s second goal was a nice feed from Henrik, and his deke to the back-hand was another Burrow’s trademark we have come to know so well. It’s was very close for Burrows to earn a hat-trick in his first game with a new contract when he received a pass entering the neutral facing an empty net. He was, however, checked off the puck, and the score remained at 4-2. In any case, Burrows was named the first star of the game, and rightfully so.

Great team effort tonight, and with the Blue Jackets’ win over the Kings tonight, the Canucks remained 4 points ahead of sixth place Columbus. Vancouver will take a few days off, and face the Sharks in GM Place on Saturday.

A final note, again with the way the team played tonight, I honestly don’t think Gillis will do anything big with a few hours left before the deadline.

Wild 2 @ Canucks 1 (End of 2nd Period)

Onto tonight’s game, the team seems to have a lot of energy, but they are facing a top goaltender who’s just received a tremendous contract extension, Backstrom is just stopping all kind of shots, don’t know if the team can get another one.

I hope Luongo isn’t hurt, he looks to be in pain after stopping a slapshot in the second period.

9 defensemen in Canucks active roster. This is the result of the Canucks picking up Finnish defenseman Ossi Vaananen off waiver from the Flyers on Friday. Philadelphia has to clear off cap-room to fit the return of Daniel Briere from injury, hence placing both Vaananen and Glen Metropolit on waivers.

Now, that’s what you called depth in defense. Is it really??

So far Davison, Nycholat and Vaananen are the odd men out, but anyone can tell you (even coach Alain Vigneualt had to agree) that changes are going to happen to the defensive corp sooner rather than later.

But before we go into what might happen before Wednesday’s trading deadline. Let’s take a look at what type of player we’ve picked up.

Ossi Vaananen, 28, was the 2nd round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes back in 1998. He ranked 43rd overall. A stayed-home Finnish defenseman who participated in numerous national competition for his home country, winning a silver medal in 2001 in the World Championships. Ossi played four seasons with the Coyotes before trading to Avalanche, along with a 2nd rounder and Chris Gratton (who also was picked up off waiver recently – by Columbus). Ossi played a couple of seasons with the Avalanche before leaving to play in Sweden last year. During the off season he signed with the Flyers and played 46 games this season notching 1 goal and 9 assists at a +7 rating.

As he himself explained, during an interview in Vancouver, he doesn’t put up a lot of points, and his game is a physical one with focus in the back-end. Vaananen is a physical defensive defenseman with very good experience. He’s very responsible and reliable if he can stay healthy, but has been known to battle through various injuries in the past few years, some suggests as a result to his freaky 2003 car-accident. Throughout his NHL career, he’s been a vagabond, and most of the time the 5th or 6th defenseman, but he definitely has the skills and size to move up the roster if he can prove his worth in the Canucks line-up.

It’s very obvious that by picking him up off waivers, the Canucks intend to use him in the active 6 for the remaining of the season, since we already have Nycolat and Davison standing by, and the one-way contract of Vaananen prevents the team from sending him anywhere else without clearing waiver again. But…is there any indication where he might fit in?

Common sense will suggest that the Canucks is planning on shipping out a Defensive D-man, hence acquiring Vaananen. The most obvious choice is of course Mattias Ohlund, an Unrestricted Free Agent by the end of this season. But is Vaananen good enough to step up to that role?

Mitchell, Bieska and Salo are the back-bone of Canucks’ defense, each with their own uniqueness. Mitchell is smart and reliable, Bieska is tough and can join the rush, Salo is terrific in PP situation with his awesome point-shot. Edler is really maturing into another Ohlund-type of player, except that he has more offensive upside than Mattias. (At least I think so)

Shane O’Brien is also very physical, and has improved a lot after his media fiasco a few weeks ago. With Bieska and Edler playing a more puck-moving style of play, the bottom two D-man will likely play a more defensive-minded game. This is probably where Vaananen and O’Brien will fit in. Aside from handling defensive duties, Killing penalty will probably be their main tasks as well.

If you look at the make-up of the Defensive position:

Bieska – Mitchell
Edler – Salo
Vaananen – O’Brien

It is in fact a very strong line-up, with a lot of grit and experience.

So what’s likely to happen to Ohlund? He’s openly said that he’s quite happy to test out the open market, therefore he will be the prime trade bait for Gillis in this trading deadline. The two teams which have expressed interest throughout the year has been Montreal and Ottawa. Now with Ottawa out of playoff picture, the Senators will likely be sellers instead of buyers. This leaves us with the Canadiens.

But to complicate things, Ohlund does have a No Trade Clause, and he will (if he hasn’t already done so) have to provide a list of teams he’ll like to end up with. I seriously think that he will waive his NTC, especially with his 11 years of relationship with the organization, and his agent J.P. Barry is also the agent of a number of big stars in the Canucks line-up, including the Sedins and Sundin.

I will try a little Eklund this time with Ohlund, (probably the same way he came up with his rumors – I made it up!!! I will use “s” for Saint Pako instead of “e” in my ranking system)

Ohlund
Montreal (s4) - Ohlund  for Alexei Kovalev and 2nd rounder 2009
Boston (s3) – Ohlund + 2nd rounder 2009 for Phil Kessel
Toronto* (s4) – Ohlund + 3rd rounder 2009 for Nik Antropov
New York (s2) – Ohlund + Raymond for Zherdev

Most of them are quite obvious, except for Toronto. Since Burke drafted Ohlund and he knows he probably can sign back Mattias in the off-season, hence giving away a player he doesn’t like in Antropov for someone he loves.

I love this time of the year, it almost seems like everything is possible. The closer you get to the deadline the crazier it becomes.

It’s been relatively quiet in the NHL the past few days, and nothing significant to report, so I thought I will write something about the newest signing of the Canucks, Jason Krog.

So who is Jason Krog? First off, he is a local B.C. boy, from Fernie. He plays center, medium built at 5’11 and 191 lbs. Jason played his junior hockey with the Chiliwack Chiefs of the BCJHL, and during his college hockey years at University of New Hampshire, he captured the 1999 Hobey Baker Award as top collegiate player, but this will be the only Hockey award he will receive for the next nine years. [Other Hobey Baker Award winners include Paul Kariya (93), Brian Holzinger (95), Brendan Morrison (97), Chris Drury (98), Ryan Miller (01)].

But for some reason, Krog was never drafted. After capturing the Baker, the Islanders signed him as a free agent on May 14, 1999 only to send him to their AHL affiliates. Then, during the next nine years he floated between AHL and NHL teams, but always showing signs of his offensive abilities. During his stay with Islander’s farm team, Brideport Sound Tigers, he finished 2nd in scoring by only playing 64 games, he follow that up with 23 point in the playoffs and winning the Calder Cup against the Chicago Wolves.

Fast forward nine years, during the time he had a decent run with the Anahiem Mighty Ducks, playing 67 games and 25 points (10g, 15a), and 21 games in the playoffs helping the team to the finals in his first year, and 18 points in 80 games during his second year with the Ducks. He played in the SEL during the lock-out and upon his return, he played 14 games with the Thrashers and 9 games with the Rangers.

But not until this year, when he finally settled down to play a full season (80 games) with the Chicago Wolves, the team which he help defeated during his time with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the Calder Cup 6 years ago, did he have a breakout year.

He scored a total of 39 goals, and 73 assists for 112 points in the regular season, capturing the John Sollenberger Trophy as the league’s top point scorer, Willie Marshall Award as the league’s top goal scorer, and the Les Cunningham Award as the league’s MVP. Krog led the wolves to a divisional title, and help them reclaim the Calder Cup during the playoffs, while leading everyone in scoring, hence also capturing the Jack Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.

Although he individually captured almost all of the significant personal achievement awards in the AHL, Jason Krog was hardly noticed, as usual, just like nine years ago. What Jason accomplished this year, would surely be noticed by the Thrashers organization, one would think. However, he wasn’t offered to resign with the AHL club or promotion to the NHL club. No NHL team was interested in him, in fact, just prior to Canucks signing, Krog has planned to play in Russia come the following season.

I heard some people criticizing Mike Gillis on this pick-up, suggesting that Krog will only be an career-AHL player due to his past, and that Gillis has again picked up some trash another team left unwanted. (Sometimes these arrogant fans really piss me off)

On the contrary, I think Mike Gillis did a great job acquiring Krog. Yes, he was given his opportunity during his time with the Ducks, the Rangers and the Thrashers. But I see Krog as a late-bloomer, and one who has developed into a mentally-strong player through his years of failures and disappointment. He has shown that he has the offensive skills this year, and I think coming home to Vancouver, he will have the highest incentive to try to stay in the big club. Combining the above with the lack of offense with the Canucks, which should provide more opportunity and ice-time for him, I think he will have a great year in the NHL this year.