NHL Musings
The NHL Free Agency period started earlier this month and while I wasn’t totally plugged in, my blackberry was going nuts throughout the first couple of days. A lot of deals were done (a total of $300 million plus) and some solid trades were made. One thing I like about it is I honestly can’t say that I find quite the same hype around the other sports.
My team of choice, the Vancouver Canucks, started the whole offseason with a relatively strong presence, particularly after the death of their bluechip dman Luc Bourdon. I liked their waiver pick-up of Kyle Wellwood, who is seems to be lazy but I feel he’s young enough to turn the ship around. Hopefully his injuries are behind him and he can help out the secondary scoring.
Some other decent deals was the trade for Steve Bernier from Buffalo for some draft picks, whom I feel might fill the void of the power forward that has been missing since Bertuzzi was dealt. Also, I can’t help but to notice the signing of Thunder Bay boy Ryan Johnson who is most known for his heart abnormalites a couple of seasons ago. After following him in St. Louis, he’s always been considered a reliable grinder and will fit in great.
However, much to my chagrin, GM Mike Gillis has not stepped up and made any more waves. It almost seems like they’re putting all of their eggs in the Mats Sundin basket. With that, they have also parted ways with vets Marcus Naslund (which I feel will only hurt the Sundin situation) and Brendan Morrison. While I’ve never been a huge fan of Morrison, I feel he’s definitely an asset that would not cost an arm and a leg to keep. While the off-season continues, I can’t help but to think that the Canucks are starting to follow the likes of the Maple Leafs in a bid to rebuild from the goaltender out. Fortunately, their blueline is still very solid and i think they’re a bit closer than the Maple Duds.
Tags: canucks, free agency, nhl, vancouver