Originally Posted by D-Ly
interesting read I found on cdc...
Sturm, Mancari and Baumgartner...
Sturm, Mancari, Ebbett, and Baumgartner... How would Karnak the Great pose a question to this answer?
4 players who did relatively nothing last season.
That's the sum of the Canucks UFA period activity to date. After losing Ehrhoff, Glass, Rypien, and Torres has Mike Gillis filled his holes so far? Mancari may be the most interesting guy of the group as he has some size, some hands and appears to be ready to move from the AHL. Is he a 4th liner sure but is he also soon to be one of the Chicago Wolves? Probably.
Gillis hit a home run two years ago with his signing of Samuelsson and it appears he saw another ball to take a good cut at with Marco Sturm. Sturm is a guy who has put the puck in the net for a few years except an injury plagued season last year. He's 32 and with a one year deal is there any risk other than the money? He can be waived or traded should he not be of use to the Canucks but it appears to me he is insurance for the team and a future trade.
Let's step back a bit before we get into Baumgarner...*chuckle*
Gillis and his regime have built a very dynamic machine for player development in Vancouver. Players who have come in from other teams/organizations have had a very hard time meeting the fitness standards which are the benchmarks for the Canucks. This group is very fit and often during the second half of last season the Canucks were able to stick it to the opposition in the third period because of their conditioning. The fact that Kesler was even able to play in the finals is a testament to this program.
Look at recent activity with the Canucks-Higgins signs a two year extension as does Alberts. The latter proved that with the right training and committment a player can improve far beyond what they have shown. The former may be another shrewd move by Gillis should Higgins develop into another Samuelsson type value with the support and conditioning of the Canucks' program being the key piece of the relationship.
This very same program may be the reason Keith Ballard is not traded. Ballard had hip issues all last summer and had to recover from surgery and then came a concussion early in the season. He didn't earn his ice time and had to use what little he had to help himself get into game shape. Ballard by all accounts hase been given a program to adhere to this summer with strict instructions and expectations for him. Let's see what the results are for all three of these players before we judge whether this off season is a failure or success. Sturm falls into this category too.
Stepping away from hockey business to plain business strategies, Gillis is doing what a smart business does, investing in the assets that is personnel. He is developing programs to motivate and ensure success for his assets and then finding more assets which can benefit from the same program. One significant result is it keeps him out of crazy spending sprees like we have seen for three days and that is a good move.
Looking forward the Canucks like up looks like this:
(thanks Capgeek)
CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR
FORWARDS
Daniel Sedin ($6.100m) / Henrik Sedin ($6.100m) / Alexandre Burrows ($2.000m)
Mason Raymond ($2.550m) / Ryan Kesler ($5.000m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($2.500m)
Marco Sturm ($2.250m) / Manny Malhotra ($2.500m) / Chris Higgins ($1.900m)
/ Maxim Lapierre ($1.000m)
DEFENSEMEN
Kevin Bieksa ($4.600m) / Dan Hamhuis ($4.500m)
Sami Salo ($2.000m) / Alexander Edler ($3.250m)
Keith Ballard ($4.200m) / Andrew Alberts ($1.225m)
Aaron Rome ($0.750m)
GOALTENDERS
Roberto Luongo ($5.333m) / Cory Schneider ($0.900m)
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $58,658,333; BONUSES: $0
CAP SPACE (19-man roster): $5,641,667
I have not included Hansen or Oreskovich as they are only qualified and not signed but you can see the beginnings of your 2011-12 Canucks. We know Raymond is out until November and maybe longer. Samuelsson, Kesler and Hamhuis are expected to be ready for the start if not shortly after. Does Mancari start on the 4th line? Will Hansen, who I believe will be signed, bump Sturm or Higgins or Samuelsson down?
Where is Cody Hodgson and Chris Tanev in this calculation?
No matter how I look at the last 3 days and then analyze the line up I keep seeing a trade coming. A line of Higgins, Kesler and Raymond could be dynamite but is it big enough or will it even happen due to Raymond's recovery time? Right now the Canucks have some assets to spare, Hansen, Hodgson, Ballard, Tanev and Schneider are all options for a deal and I fully expect one to happen. The roster is too crowded and there is 5.6 million in space before two RFA signings should no more changes be coming.
Just because you have cap space is not a reason to spend it but when you have space, roster flexibility and assets to move those three things don't all arrive by accident and I believe Gillis is in this position for a reason. The coming weeks should be interesting as trades of the magnitude Gillis may be looking at don't come out of nowhere. I'm not saying one is certain but I certainly believe that all signs point to some sort of trade activity in the future.
Enjoy the day.
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