[Rayzor123]

Henrik Sedin, 3 assists tonight as the Canucks defeat the Oilers 3-2, he now has 70 points in 49 games.

If he continues the rest of the season at a PPG pace, he'll have 103 points at the end of the season.

[Jasmine]

So the Nucks played their last home game till mid March...

I was reading last night's game recap and the guys sound excited to head on the road for the next 14 games...

[Rayzor123]

14 game road trip... I predict they'll go 10-3-1

[Goaliethefirst]

Originally Posted by Rayzor123

14 game road trip... I predict they'll go 10-3-1

That's random.

[Matt the Aussie]

lol

6-7-1

[JoshLind]

8-4-2

[Rayzor123]

1-0-0 so far.

[alfie forever]

Sedin-Sedin-Burrows is pretty darn amazing

[MatchesMalone]

My best friend (who is a Canucks fan) and I came up with an idea for what the Canucks should do this summer. The Canuck's biggest need is on defense. They have a strong core of defenders including Salo, Edler, Bieksa, Ehrhoff and Willie Mitchell, but considering Mitchell's injury problems and the fact that he is a UFA, there is a good chance he is gone this summer. If they lose Mitchell, and especially if they lose O'Brien too, they are going to badly need big, tough defensive defensemen to replace them.

The problem is, the Canuck's biggest organizational weakness is defense prospects. Their top defense prospects are Yann Sauve, Evan Oberg and Taylor Ellington. None are likely to be NHL ready and none are likely to be top 4 defensemen when they do make the NHL. Canucks fans were a mixture of shocked, disapponted and excited last year when Gillis picked Jordan Schroeder with their first round pick. Excited because Schroeder is an extremely skilled player and they were lucky to get him as low as they did but shocked and disappointed because everyone thought they were going to pick a defenseman.

So this year, they have to pick a defenseman, right? Not so fast. Gillis is going to stick like glue to his "best player available" policy and considering that Pysyk, McIlrath and Forbort will all likely be gone by the time the Canucks pick 24th, I'm not convinced Patrick Nemeth, Alex Petrovic, Jon Merril or Jarred Tinordi are going to be worth picking ahead of some of the forwards that could or should be available such as John McFarland, Quinton Howden, Tyler Pitlick, Riley Sheahan, Brock Nelson, Kevin Hayes, Calle Jarnkrok, Ludvig Rensfeldt, etc.

So what are the Canucks to do about their defense? Both for the present and for the future? It wasn't good enough in the playoffs, especially against Chicago's big forwards like Byfuglien and Eager. Alberts was the only one who could handle those guys in front of the net but he is horribly slow and makes bad decisions with the puck and so was exposed by Chicago's skilled players. One option would be to re-sign Mitchell, but his injury this year has a lot of people concerned about his future. A lot of people are saying they should sign a big name UFA like Volchenkov or Michalek. That would be a good solution for the short-term but it would cost a lot of money and they still have the problem of their defense 5, 6 years from now. Physical, shot blocking defensemen like these guys break down over time. Assuming they pick a forward again in this year's draft, their later round picks are going to be long-shots to make the NHL so it could take easily that long to re-stock the shelf with high-end defense prospects.

So here is the idea, remember a few years ago when Philly gave Kesler an offer sheet and drove up the price on him? Well here is the chance to vastly improve the team for both the present and future as well as get a measure of revenge for that. Gillis should give Braydon Coburn an offer sheet. Philly is very short on cap space and if Gillis offers him a large contract, they likely wouldn't be able to match. Vancouver will be pretty cap friendly this summer assuming they allow all of Demitra, O'Brien and Mitchell to walk (which I believe they can afford to, as they have young players ready to step in and play complimentary roles).

Vancouver could easily afford to give him upwards of 4 million, and as long as it is under the 4 mark, the compensation would only be a 1st and 3rd. Even if they go over 4 million, it would be a 1st, 2nd and 3rd, which I think they could still handle. Coburn is a giant of a defenseman who is solid in a shutdown role and can also move the puck reasonably well, exactly what the Canucks need. Not only would he be a drastic improvement to their defense, he could be a staple on their defense for years.

Also, believe it or not, Philly is without a pick in this year's draft until the 4th round!(And people think Toronto has it bad). This fact, combined with them already having one of the weakest prospect pools in the league, leads me to believe they would be quite willing to let him walk and take the 3 draft picks.

Edler and Coburn are both 25 and under and could potentially be a career top-pairing (Both are left hand shots but both are just as comfortable playing the right side, in fact, Coburn is preferred there), Bieksa and Ehrhoff are both under 30 and could be a good fit together for another 6+ years. With a core of Coburn, Edler, Ehrhoff, Bieksa and Salo, who needs defensemen in the system? As long as they have guys to play supplemental roles in case of injuries, such as Aaron Rome, Andrew Alberts, Baumgartner and Lukowich, that gives them easily 6+ years to draft and develop new defensemen for eventual replacements.

Thoughts?

[Matt the Aussie]

That is a very well thought out scenario.

I like Coburn, and Vancouver would do well to have him. What I will say, is that in the limited time I have seen the Nucks play (which isn't much due to time zones and such), they have at times used Edler on the right and he has struggled with his positioning. To me, he looks much more comfortable on the left. It would be interesting to see if he could make a full-time adjustment to playing the right side for the sake of the team.

I agree that all of those UFAs should be let go, including Mitchell. And Philly could certainly use those picks given the cap hell that they are in right now...

[MatchesMalone]

Haha, yeah come to think of it I suppose Edler was always quite better on the left side. But he can play right if necessary. And regardless, I'm pretty sure Coburn is used almost exclusively on the right side in Philly. So there you have it, Edler on the left, Coburn on the right.

[Matt the Aussie]

Oh, well there you go then, no dramas.

[Choi]

what do you guys think vancouver will want for raymond's rights if the arbitrator sets the price too high for them??

[Matt the Aussie]

Originally Posted by Choi

what do you guys think vancouver will want for raymond's rights if the arbitrator sets the price too high for them??

If the arbitrator sets his asking price too high, Vancouver won't have a choice. They either sign him, or let him become a UFA.

[Rayzor123]

He becomes a UFA. His "rights" have no value.

[JoshLind]

Sami Salo will miss the first three months. He was injured while playing floor hockey in Finland. Someone needs to study him and Pascal Leclaire...!

[Choi]

Ahh i see that makes sense.
Think the sens should go after him then??

[Jasmine]

Originally Posted by Choi

Ahh i see that makes sense.
Think the sens should go after him then??

Salo use to be a Sens...however, I think Josh meant those two are so injury prone, they should be study cases.

[Choi]

Originally Posted by Jasmine

Salo use to be a Sens...however, I think Josh meant those two are so injury prone, they should be study cases.

nono, lol
i meant raymond :P
probs too expensive though

[JoshLind]

YouTube - The Vancouver Canucks :: Progression

YouTube - The Vancouver Canucks :: Progression