Vancouver - The "Free Agent Frenzy" seems so long ago, but it was only a month ago that the Sedins looked like they might be on their way out of B.C. Obviously that didn't happen, with the twins signing a deal that will keep them on the rainy coast until the end of the 2014 season at a $6.1M cap hit per season. Also in the opening minutes of the 'Frenzy' Mattias Ohlund flew out of Vancouver after 12 years with the organization and landed on the much improved blue line of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Keeping the Sedins was a big piece of the off-season agenda for Mike Gillis, but a replacement for Ohlund is going to be hard to find - and even harder to pay for.
There are lots of rumours out there that the Canucks are working on a deal with their former Big Cheese Brian Burke that would have Tomas Kaberle step into Ohlunds spot on the backend, but as anyone with a PC, TV, radio or any other form of news broadcast knows by now (Burke is a media whore that likes to hear himself talk - no doubt) the Leafs need to be blown away to trade Kaberle.
So what are the expectations for the 'Nuks if they are not able to land a top tier blueliner heading into the season? A top 4 group made up of Willie Mitchell, Kevin Bieksa, Sami Salo and Alexander Edler will be plenty hard to play against, but will there be enough production? Without GM Gillis adding a weapon youngster Edler will need to continue to show progress and add to his 10 goals from last year (second only to Bieksa's 11 among the team's D-Men). Clearly Gillis has identified this as an area that needs some help. Unfortunately there are way more people looking for a puck moving defenceman than are available, so he has his work cut out for him.
The forward corps for the boys in blue & green are pretty solid. A nice mix of speed and skill with some jam mixed in for those western battles along the way.
As I am writing this blog I see an update on TSN about Alex Burrow's possibly being investigated by police for an on-ice assult during a summer league game. Apparenly where was a stick swinging incident with a 19 yearl old goaltender during a PHL (Pond Hockey League - I'm not jokeing) that was serious enough for the police to be called to the arena.
So, we will have to see what becomes of that, but I am sure that the last thing Canucks fans want is any connection to another on-ice incident involving police investigations.
Assuming that the you know what doesn't hit the fan and Burrows isn't negativley effected by that situation, the top 2 forward lines should have enough output to keep the Canucks rolling along and fighting for the North East division crown. Gillis has done a good job of grooming his young role players. The opposing players will have to earn victories against this team.
The addition of Mikael Samuelsson adds some depth and Alan Vigneault hopes it adds stability as the third piece to the Sedin line. If Samuelsson works on the right side of the first line, it will give Vigneault much more flexibility for the rest of his forwards.
Now, this is the part of this blog that is going to drive some Canucks fans crazy. Let's talk about goaltending. I am by no means the first one to ask this, but has Luongo really done enough in big pressure games to have the Canuck fans convinced that in a 'must win' he will get the job done?
I can read stats and I know what everyone says about Luongo's game, but lets not forget how the Canucks season ended in 2009. The Canucks were eliminated in 6 games by the young Blackhawks after being tied heading into the 3rd of game 6 before Louie allowed 4 goals in 9 shots in what ended as a 7-5 loss. The Canucks were also tied going into the 3rd period of game 5 with the series locked at 2-2. All of the blame is not Luongo's but this a goalie with label of "give him an average team and he will be the difference". I'm not going to say that Luongo in not the guy that can bring a cup to Vancouver, however, if I were a Canucks fan I would like to see the Capatain get back to a meaningful playoff game as soon as possible to see how he builds on last years disappointing finish.
Well, there it is, my first blog. I kind of liked doing it. I will be looking at the Flames and their huge addition of Jay-Bo next.
