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JB: 3rd overall too pricy + pre draft talk

TheRussianRocket.

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TheRussianRocket. Canucks All-Star

TheRussianRocket.

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http://www.theprovince.com/touch/story.html?id=11128701

It's been 10 years since the Vancouver Canucks drafted a defenceman in the first round when they chose the late Luc Bourdon. It's been 21 years since they landed Mattias Ohlund, the franchise leader in blueliner goals, points, poise and presence.

In the 2015 draft (June 26-27), the Canucks could address the need for a potential franchise D-man like Noah Hanifin or Ivan Provorov, but it would take a major leap of faith and an enticing package to jump from the 23rd overall selection to the third pick that the troubled Arizona Coyotes are dangling.

The Canucks can still secure a solid rearguard or centre by not moving up and while tire-kicking for the Coyotes' coveted pick has started, the expected sticker-shock price of prized prospects and perhaps swapping first-round picks will keep Jim Benning from bidding.

Assessing talent and brokering deals have always been strong suits for the Canucks general manager, but hes not prepared to part with top young talent and deviate from his immediate and long-term roster vision. So there's no need to dial up Arizona GM Don Maloney.

"To get that pick, they would want Bo Horvat and Im not interested in anything like that because we want our top prospects and I feel comfortable at No. 23," Benning said Thursday from Utica, where he's watching the AHL affiliate Comets in the Calder Cup final and meeting with his pro scouts. "We're just starting to get some depth now with our young prospects and I dont want to give any of them up because they're further along on the development curve. I'm not willing to sacrifice the depth or our prospects pool."

Benning is more concerned with recouping second- and third-round picks for this draft that were surrendered in the Sven Baertschi and Ryan Kesler deals respectively.

"We've talked to lots of GMs to get a general feel for what's going on in the marketplace and we're going to try and recover a second-round pick if we can," added Benning.

Restricted free agent goaltender Jacob Markstrom is having a standout playoff run with the Comets and could command a third-round pick and there's also the possibility of moving Eddie Lack for a second-round pick if the club can't reach a palatable contract extension.

Convincing Kevin Bieksa to waive his no-trade clause could also attract a second-round selection.

"I haven't talked about that (NTC clauses), but at our pro meetings we're talking about our options and what direction we want to go with the goalies," said Benning. "Once we get out of these meetings, we'll have a better idea and act upon what we decide."

The intrigue in this draft will be after Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel are selected first and second by the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres respectively. Hanifin already has NHL size, speed, strong transitional game and plays with an edge. The 6-foot-3, 205 pound Boston College blueliner had five goals, 23 points and blocked 52 shots in 37 games as a freshman. He's been compared to smooth-skating, sublime decision-maker Scott Niedermayer, a 2013 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, because of his ability to process the game at speed. Provorov is considered the most-complete available defenceman and his passing and poise in pressure situations has the 6-foot, 201 pound Brandon Wheat Kings standout moving up the draft ladder. He had 15 goals and 61 points in 60 WHL games this season.

Another possibility at No. 3 is Dylan Strome. The 6-foot-3, 186-pound Erie Otters centre compiled 45 goals and 129 points in 69 OHL games.

Here's Benning on other topics:

On 2011 first-round Nicklas Jensen, an occasional healthy scratch, who scored the winning goal Wednesday in Game 3 of the Calder Cup final and has been the subject of trade rumours:

"The last few games he has played, he's engaged physically and is using his size and strength to get the puck to the net and is driving to the net when he has the puck on his stick. He's sticking around the net for tip-ins and deflections and that's how he scored his goal. He's had an up-and-down season, (14 goals, 28 points) but with young players it's consistency and he just has to keep doing it."

On North Vancouver product Jansen Harkins, a Prince George Cougars centre, who's ranked 23rd, 25th and 30th overall on various 2015 scouting lists:

"We like his game. He's a smart two-way player and because of his hockey sense, he can play in a lot of different roles and be a top-two line centre because he has the hands and the skill. He's good on the half-wall on the power play and that's a skill he has that others in this draft don't. He also played a third-line checking role at the world under-18 tournament."

On adopting a post-Henrik Sedin philosophy with the first-round pick to find a future No. 1 centre:

"We have four or five guys that we have interest in at No. 23, but we're not necessarily looking for need or fit, we looking for the best player available to develop over time."

Agree with everything JB said. Horvat+ for 3rd overall is a huge price and a move of made would be a step backwards instead of forward. Sounds like management is still mulling over the goalies and will have to make a determination soon on who to move. Seeking a 2nd round pick may be from a goalie being moved or maybe even trading a redundant forward or dman but then there's the NCs which they have to approach as well.

And a key note: JB says at 23, they'll take the best player available and not necessarily a need or fit. I'm iffy on that as I think a dman should be first priority but best player is the best strategy.

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Grape Canucks Third-Line

Grape

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I like BPA. It's not like the guy is going to play for us next season. BPA allows us to trade for a better player than which we would've drafted

Agree with this.

It's different from, say, the NFL where you draft positions of need because rookies are expected to contribute right away. It takes around 4-5 years for an NHL player to develop after being drafted and in that period of time chances are that position has probably been filled already.

For example just look at the Lu-Schneids fiasco. We drafted Schneider in the first because we needed a goalie, but by the time he developed which took like 7 years, we already had a true #1 goalie.

It is understandable though if a team has an old core group of guys at a specific position that might be done soon, in that case you might want to fill that position with some younger guys to step up in the future. But that being said I think BPA is still the way to go usually.

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JeremyCuddles Canucks All-Star

JeremyCuddles

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This is the response I received when I said we needed to include Horvat to get the third OA.

"Oh! Oh! I know! Let's think getting the 3OA being impossible because Horvat is a must in the trade."

HA! To you sir.

In all fairness he says "they would want" meaning they haven't asked for anything from the Canucks. It'd be pretty spectacular for Benning to negotiate a deal and not give up Horvat though. You'd think they'd want a prospect, a vet, and our 1st. Pretty steep price and sets us back. Although Hanifin or Provorov could be NHL ready and set to play top 4 almost immediately. Risk reward, Benning might not be a betting man.
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oldnews Canucks Hall-of-Famer

oldnews

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was the offer just Bo Horvat for the 3rd pick? If so I might be down for that.

I don't think so - I doubt there have even been discussions.

My take is that this is a hair-brained Province pipe dream, doing what they do - pretending to advise the GM of this team how to go about his business. It reads more like misleading suggestion than anything.

The reason I read it that way is the way Benning words his response to them:

"To get that pick they would want..." He's not saying they want Horvat, he's saying they would - which makes me think he's simply schooling the Province in reality. They would want Horvat....and....the 23rd?......and would that be all? No, not likely - it would require playing into the draft frenzy and strip mining prospect depth.

"We're just starting to get some depth now with our young prospects and I dont want to give any of them up because they're further along on the development curve. I'm not willing to sacrifice the depth or our prospects pool."

That doesn't sound like someone considering attempting to move up to 3 - it sounds like someone teliing the Province - politely - that they should stick to fantasy pools and video games.

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c00kies Canucks Star

c00kies

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I don't think so - I doubt there have even been discussions.

My take is that this is a hair-brained Province pipe dream, doing what they do - pretending to advise the GM of this team how to go about his business. It reads more like misleading suggestion than anything.

The reason I read it that way is the way Benning words his response to them:

"To get that pick they would want..." He's not saying they want Horvat, he's saying they would - which makes me think he's simply schooling the Province in reality. They would want Horvat....and....the 23rd?......and would that be all? No, not likely - it would require playing into the draft frenzy and strip mining prospect depth.

"We're just starting to get some depth now with our young prospects and I dont want to give any of them up because they're further along on the development curve. I'm not willing to sacrifice the depth or our prospects pool."

That doesn't sound like someone considering attempting to move up to 3 - it sounds like someone teliing the Province - politely - that they should stick to fantasy pools and video games.

Horvat is already more of a guarantee to succeed in the NHL than the 3rd overall pick, so it's better to pick 23rd and keep Horvat.

This is why we won't get a top-5 pick, it makes no sense.

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Standing_Tall#37 Canucks First-Line

Standing_Tall#37

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So you don't think he's actually interested in Harkins?

I saw him in pg once this year at a cougars game, heard of him being there once more and I saw him in kamloops when guess who they were playing.....the cougars. If he talks bpa, he's definately taking harkins if he's available at 23....unless someone really slides.
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Canucks Curse Canucks Second-Line

Canucks Curse

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I don't think so - I doubt there have even been discussions.

My take is that this is a hair-brained Province pipe dream, doing what they do - pretending to advise the GM of this team how to go about his business. It reads more like misleading suggestion than anything.

The reason I read it that way is the way Benning words his response to them:

"To get that pick they would want..." He's not saying they want Horvat, he's saying they would - which makes me think he's simply schooling the Province in reality. They would want Horvat....and....the 23rd?......and would that be all? No, not likely - it would require playing into the draft frenzy and strip mining prospect depth.

"We're just starting to get some depth now with our young prospects and I dont want to give any of them up because they're further along on the development curve. I'm not willing to sacrifice the depth or our prospects pool."

That doesn't sound like someone considering attempting to move up to 3 - it sounds like someone teliing the Province - politely - that they should stick to fantasy pools and video games.

Horvat would prob go 3rd in this years draft- certainly would have been a better known commodity than strome, Barzal, zacha, rantanen and winning the ohl playoff MVP he prob would have gone a head of hanifin who is not projected to be a franchise D

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