think of how many happy faces there would be if it actually happens :D

Gillis on Ballard trade: Bernier and Grabner were redundant

By Botchford Fri, Jun 25 2010 COMMENTS(0) The White Towel

Filed under: gillis ballard

Canucks GM Mike Gillis comments after Ballard deal:



On trading the first round pick (after Tinordi and Bennett were gone):

"We didn't feel there were players there who would be able to help us for a number of years.
"We waited a long time to see if a couple players were going to be there, when they weren't there and we got to that point, we made the decision this was something we really had to do. There wasn't a player who could step in and help our team. We know Keith Ballard can step in to our team and play big minutes and make a real contribution."

If Tinordi or Bennett were there?

"We would have traded our first pick next year."

On his defence:

"It's still a need we feel we have to continue to address to add more depth. Last year in the playoffs our Achilles heel seemed to be the fact we had defencemen get hurt and we didn't have enough depth to continue to compete at the level we wanted to. If we're going to get past the second round and into the conference finals, we're going to have to have more defencemen."

On July 1

"We're going to be active. There are still areas we want to address.
"We have lots of cap space and lots of opportunity."

Letting go of Michael Grabner

"It was really difficult. But you have to include quality if you want quality in return, that's the nature of the NHL right now. We have a defenceman who is signed long term and signed through his key period and that was vital for us.
"This was a unique opportunity to improve our team and not be at risk.
"With Mason Raymond's emergence, with our lineup, it would have been very difficult for Michael to get in. If Mason continues to advance and gets into the 30-goal category, our third line can't be constituted with guys who are goal scoring players. We were fortunate to have that kind of redundancy so we could look at trade like this.
"Grabner is a really good player with big upside. But you're not going to get an NHL defenceman without giving up a player like that."

On the third line

"Look at the playoffs. Chicago beat us. We have to change the dynamic of our third line. We have to have bigger players and we have to have a different look."


On Ballard

"He brings a real edge. He's a puck-moving, skilled defenceman. He plays real hard. He can play on the power play. When we brought in Christian Ehrhoff, he really exploded offensively. If that happens it will be terrific. But another 30-40 point season would be really good.


Could you have found someone like Ballard after July 1?

"Last year we couldn't. We had to make a trade late in the summer to get someone we considered a top-four defenceman. It was a much deeper free agency group last year then it's going to be this year. I was uneasy about going into that with that real need without some form of guarantee."

Are you looking to get into the second round?

"We're trying right now. If I wasn't sitting here, I'd be on the phone."

Are you disappointed in Bernier?

"No, we had to fill holes when I got here and we filled a hole. We filled a need and he played well.
"We thought initially he might be able to play with the twins then Alex Burrows emerged as the perfect guy to play with them. So again, you have that redundancy and we were able to take advantage of it."

Have you been waiting a while to acquire enough assets to make a deal like this?

"Yes, absolutely. We had situations where we could have given up assets before. We chose not to. We stuck with out plan and this is another part of the plan. We wanted to get stronger defensively and we wanted to get players who are under 30 years old to add to our team."

Best of luck to Bernier and Grabner and I still think Garbner will turn out to be a very good pick up for Florida in the long term.

^me too... i think grabner's gonna be better htan raymond. Grabner's got way better vison than raymond

very excited to get ballard though.

doesnt anyone else think the nux overpaid for ballard?
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^just a bit but i'm not upset. people bitch and bitch about gillis not doing something and when he finally does people cry

Hockey Insider NHLSourcesSay

Canucks looking to move Bieksa, hearing teams are interested, source says deal could get done tomorrow, Gillis is taking offers 3 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

The Pens are thin on D with only 3 players signed. They have 11 forwards under contract and have roughly 12 million to play with.

That's 12 million to split between 4 defensemen and another forward or three. They'll need someone to step up from junior and make the team if they hope to get Hamhuis under contract and still be within the cap.

If Hamhuis wanted $4.5-5m from Philly, he'll probably want the same from Pittsburgh.

That being said, it's even more unlikely Hamhuis will be signed here if we can't rid ourselves of Bieksa as we need to sign Raymond (and hope he plays top 6) because right now, our lineup looks like this

Sedin Sedin Burrows
LW Kesler Samuelsson
LW C RW
Hordi Rypien New Guy

Salo Edler
Erhoff Ballard
Alberts Bieksa
Rome

Louie
Schnieder

That means we gotta hope that Hodgson makes the team and can play some 3rd line minutes if we're even going to have a shot. Assuming Raymond gets $2.75m, we're left with roughly $6m.

Agreed.. With Ballard, he helps our D which we need and yet ppl still complain? Bernier is replaceable while Grabner is still up in the air..

As long as we win a cup soon I'll be happy and it seems like Gillis is very determined to make more moves now..... next up.... Hamhuis?


I believe Hodgson makes the team next year, this kid is itching to play already! and they gotta keep him happy as well. Can't wait for some trades now :D

Damn, the UFA pool is pretty bleak for wingers. The best options (apart from Kovalchuk...who isn't coming here...) are guys like Kariya, Frolov, Tanguay and Ray Whitney. Past that you're going to Colby Armstrong, Lee Stepniak, Alex Ponikorovsky, Maxim Afineganov...

I wouldn't mind Tanguay if he'll take something like $2 for second line duty. Whitney is too damn old, as is Kariya. Frolov is too expensive at the expected $5m and the rest are pretty shitty for the money. We need a guy that's gritty and quick to play with Hodgson and Raymond on the third line and a LW to play with Kesler + Samuelsson on the 2nd.

As much as im very mixed with bieksa, him moving, isnt such a great thing. If the ultimate goal is to beef up the D, why move this man? beefing up and building a winner..i cannot see the likes of ellington or that giants Dman..kevin C.... cmin up anytime soon...

another depth filler isnt gonna cut it. It seems to me the end result on the back end is having 5guys night in and out on a consistent basis with the 6th being the role player

can't wait to see Tyler Seguin tear it up in Toronto (playing for Boston)

:troll:

I see moving Bieksa, is a way to dump cap space to pick up a better d-man, just as Hamhuis. That is if he holds out until July 1st.



There is possibility that Jordan Schroeder could fill a spot in this years team along with Cody Hodgson.

I think Bieksa needs a change of scenery. He's only had one good season which was before he signed his contract but I guess to be fair to him, he's never been the same player after his injury so one could argue that the injury sidetracked his career.

For me, Bieksa has been to inconsistent, makes too many mistakes and can't control his temper which ends up costing the team when he's sitting in the box. It'll be interesting to see what Gillis gets for him.

considering that salo wont be coming back after his contract is over next year, gillis in the end is doing the right thing. we need D men. we've lost bourdon who wouldve replaced ohlund or salo when the time came

this is very true about juice, but I'm being sold by Gillis himself on a steady backend, it wouldnt surprise me that Bieksa is PART OF THE SOLUTION. inconsistency is one thing, you can also limit the guy's ice time as well.

All this Biekshit needing a change, I dont disagree, but some place in everyone's gut will ask the big

WHAT IF... or MAYBE.. or HE WOULD sorta thing about Bieksa..

His breakout season was based on offensive numbers rather than being a shutdown guy, even though he came through when needed. The Canucks now have a decent top 4-5 guys ready to play. If everyone is sold and accepts their role, the back end will be fine

I personally do not like this trade, not becuz we have traded stonehands and Grabner, but because Keith Ballard hasn't done dick all the past few years. Yes, he mainly played on mediocre teams. Of course, he does bring the agility of a offensive minded Dman, but he doesnt make the team better defensively. He doesrather put the canucks as a top team on the PP from ur Dman deph

yes, i feel like throwing in that 1st rounder was over doing it.
and i personally dont like grabner or think he's gonna turn out as good as everyone expects him to be.

as for bieksa, i could care less if we move him, the only thing im not a huge fan of is his pay otherwise meh
regarding defense - as long as we keep ehrhoff, edler, and mitchell i'll be happy. ehrhoff is an amazing dman and edler has a ton of potential to be great.

Well put it this way, Gillis will and has to make a few moves during the summer if he wants this team to be a possible western conference/cup contender and in some ways the moves he makes in the coming weeks will test his GM position. Either he'll come out a winner next summer or we'll all be calling for his head and begging the owners to fire him.

If u guys didnt notice about Bieksa, prior to his FIRST bad injury, he was already started to play like crap. I think the injury made it even worse so yea
but i dunno if u give him up at this point, hes a pretty decent defenseman despite what people say
also im not entirely sure if mitchells coming back

I'm going to be soooo choked if Mitchell doesn't come back! Who wouldn't want this man back in the blue?

It's true haha.. it's vancouver.. he'll get ripped for signing Lu to 10 years and trading Grabner lols..

But I honestly think that the trade for Ballard is a very good start for him this off season...althought it would have been better if we got a 2nd or 3rd pick as well.. iit's all good

As for Mitchell, no way he comes back unless he takes a HUGE pay cut....

We gave up a lot for an overpaid D-man IMO. I'm kind of of the fence on this one. If Ballard was making around 3 I'd be happier. As with most deals, time will tell. I have faith in Gillis' decision making so, for now, I'll have to trust this was a good move for the Canucks.
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Kabanov to Islanders.
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i liked our team better at the start of last year than what this year is looking like

Gillis is a smart guy...he hasn't made a terrible move yet. He's stocked the farm with top level talent, which was a big problem before with Nonis and Burke and ditched aging vets for young, skilled forwards. More importantly, he's locked up a core group of players for the Canucks in the Sedins, Kesler and Louie that are easy to build around.

If he gets Erhoff under an affordable contract and gets us another top six forward, I'd be happy enough.