What are the Vancouver Canucks Doing?
While NHL Free Agency is still ongoing, the offseason is here, and moves will be scarcer than they were on July 1. So it begs to question, with all the moves that were made, what are the Vancouver Canucks.
Not only did President Jim Rutherford and General Manager Patrik Allvin extended Conor Garland and Thatcher Demko, but the Canucks also re-signed Brock Boeser, whom many thought was leaving via free agency.
However, this should not come as a surprise, as the Canucks have a history of re-signing or extending players who are perceived to be leaving via free agency or trade.
Just look over the past couple of seasons under the Allvin and Rutherford regime. J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson had issues dating back to when Pettersson was drafted. There are some rumblings that both guys could be leaving. More so Pettersson than Miller, as Vancouver was having trade talks with the Carolina Hurricanes surrounding Martin Necas.
Those talks fizzled, and then Pettersson signed an eight-year extension with the Canucks a year after Miller signed an eight-year extension to stay with the Canucks despite the issues between the two. Now, Miller is in New York, and as it stands, Pettersson remains with the Canucks.
Vancouver was looking to trade him, but, like with Miller, the Canucks were not willing to win an Elias Pettersson trade, so they kept him. Not to mention, number one, centers don’t grow on trees. So it made sense to keep, unlike what happened with Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo when the Canucks traded both goalies away.
And that is the strange thing about Brock Boeser: there were all these reports that he was gone, similar to Tristan Jarry with the Pittsburgh Penguins until he wasn’t. Often criticized by Canucks management, Boeser, who scored 40 goals two seasons ago, had better offers on the table.
However, he chose to go despite Rutherford and Allvin saying they needed time to evaluate him. It was clear Boeser felt underappreciated until he no longer did. As Boeser said, one phone call suddenly changed something in his mind, causing him to stay. And while it surprised many, including those in Vancouver, this is typical of the Canucks. We should no longer be shocked by what comes out of that city.
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While Boeser is the big fish in the trio signed by the Canucks, Conor Garland and Thatcher Demko also received new extensions. Garland’s name was out in trade discussions for the last couple of seasons, and most recently, Demko’s name was out there just in case the team and player could not strike a new deal.
But look what happened the Vancouver Canucks kept all three guys. However, the strangeness of Demko’s deal is that he could have had a full no-movement clause for all three seasons despite his health issues.
Evy said he's healthy and skating. That's all well and good. However, the fact remains that he has not been able to finish a full season in a couple of years. Kevin Lankinen, who was signed off waivers last year, has a new five-year extension at $4.5 million a season.
That means Vancouver is spending $13 million on goaltending starting next season, as Demko’s next extension pays him $8.5 million a season. But that is a lot of money to spend on goalies, especially with Arturs Silovs waiting in the wings. So, this is where the math does not work. Why spend that much money on goalies when there are other needs to fill?
But this is typical Vancouver Canucks. Let’s be honest here. It is like Manny Ramirez in Boston with the Red Sox. The players and coaches said it was Manny being Manny; well, with Boeser, Garland, and Demko staying, it’s just Vancouver being Vancouver.
In addition to these moves, the Canucks traded for Evander Kane as they aim to remain competitive and return to the playoffs under new head coach Adam Foote. Not to mention, these moves were done to keep defenseman Quinn Hughes, who has been mentioned in trade talks.
The Canucks are going to try to run it back and hopefully end the mess of rotating coaches, which started after they fired Bruce Boudreau. Vancouver wants to head back in the right direction.
What the right direction is for the Vancouver Canucks, only Rutherford, Allvin, Foote, and hopefully Quinn Hughes know. From the outside looking in, many are asking what the Vancouver Canucks are doing as they head into next season.
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