[Report] Canucks wont ask Alex Edler to waive NTC

[rawkdrummer]

Just listening to the Team 1040 and...

Scott Rintoul just reported from his trusted inside source (he wouldn't name the source) that Edler won't waive.

[Nuxfanabroad]

They WON'T ask him, huh?..Well that's ok, cos' I'LL ask him anyways!

Uhh, Eddy-baby..want'cha ta sit down, we gotta' have a little talk...

[Angry Goose]

you want another great skating d man to partner with Edler? Sure. won't get an argument from me.

[CanuckofSteel]

Thank god! This is great news, I still believe in Edler. He's had one horrendous year where the entire team did, the guys still good but they need to get him the right partner.

I personally prefer Edler over Hamhuis, Bieksa, and Garrison. Edler is the youngest and has a much better skill-set than all of them.

[Phil_314]

I'd be willing to give Edler another chance, but if his play still sucks next season I'd want the team to explore the options.

Alternatively, maybe Garrison can be moved to Philly? If Timonen retires they could really use another minute muncher on that back end and they have some decent forwards we could want in return. If Kesler leaves I wouldn't mind something like Garrison for Matt Read straight up, or for Scott Laughton and pick.

Streit - Coburn
MacDonald - Garrison
Grossmann - Schenn

Burr - Hank - Jensen

Daniel - Read - Kassian

[nuckster33]

 

Soooooo...same old team, only now the spin is coming from Linden and not Gillis.

Brilliant move by Aquaman.

well I do trust Benning and Linden to be smarter than us when it comes to hockey, so let's be patient here man..

1. Edler, as Linden said, will be highly coveted for reasons, while CDC is inherently childish and short sighted, the Canucks know that making the playoffs anything can happen. If you dont believe that, look at Montreal. Are they big enough to beat the bruins? Hell no but they did. Did anyone pick NYR to get to the finals? Hell no....ya ya its the east but see mtl/bos. If we make the playoffs which, really we should assuming not every ONE of our players manages to have a career worst season at the same time again, well then we have a shot. so this whole gut the team and tank idea is silly. Moreover, want ten years of pain like Edmonton? that's what happens when you gut!!! Edler can play and he will rebound, much as everyone said Kassian was a bust, and now loves him, and much as many people are saying Schnieder wasn't ready, much as everyone was saying Tanev is at best a 6 dman and too small...well guess what CDC lacks alot of hockey sense.

2. Yes, I fear it seams as though the Nucks won't make moves but lets see here. I think its fairly obvious Kesler is being moved. So there's one.

3. Have to think, Garrison will be moved along with Booth being bought out. That's 2 and alot of cap room

4. Alot of cap room means we have the ability to go hard at some UFA's ie Stastny

5. We will likely get a very good young roster player and a pick with a Kesler deal that will hopefully be parlayed into a higher pick this year.

So

Sedin Sedin Kassian

Jensen New Center (UFA) New Winger (Kes Trade)

Higgins Horvat Burrows

UFA/Archie Richardson Matthias

Hammer / Bieksa

Edler / Tanev (can skate and move the puck, which Karlson did and seems to be the type of player Edler needs, then he stays at home more and carries the puck less)

Stanton / Corrado

Thats not bad man

Plus future

Shinkaruk New Center from Pick Kassian

Jensen Horvat Winger from Kes trade

Gaunce Cassells Matthias

[nuckster33]

 

you want another great skating d man to partner with Edler? Sure. won't get an argument from me.

ya we got TWO!!!

ONE IS NAMED HAMHUIS THE OTHER NAMED TANEV

[Apple Juice]

Why would we need to trade away any of our D? This lineup looks pretty slick to me.

Hamhuis-Bieksa

Edler-Tanev

Garrison-Corrado

Stanton

[nuckster33]

Why would we need to trade away any of our D? This lineup looks pretty slick to me.

Hamhuis-Bieksa

Edler-Tanev

Garrison-Corrado

Stanton

agreed

Garrison is a pretty good 5/6 ie we had ALBERTS! before

Its really the pairings that matter and how we play as a team. If you look at LA, outside Doughty and Voynov, they have average skaters....We have Hammer, Tanev, Bieksa, Corrado all very good skaters (first 2 elite)...

Stanton and Edler are Average/good

Garrison is a little less mobile but as a number 5 if paired with a guy that can move, he's fine...

The point on LA, was that a team with arguably weaker skaters on the back end seems to be in the cup, and that's because the team plays a system, and perfectly.

When players aren't playing a system and making errors all over the ice, well you get into chasing and running around, and unless you all skate like Keith its not going to end up well.

I have no issue with our dmen (wasn't it argued we would have one of the most deep d groups in the league last year? )

[hsedin33]

I think they are giving him until the trade deadline to prove himself sans tortorella. Also this might have to do with the fact that there is no FA replacement for him anyways with all these massive contracts being given out.

[Nuxfanabroad]

It won't make or break us. Moving Kesler should be a higher priority. Then my massive deal to NYI.

[Rey]

If the Canucks make no changes to the core - like as in the REAL actual core Sedins, Kesler, Bieksa - how can they expect fans to buy into this as anything other than an extension of the Gillis regime?

The Sedins are going nowhere. But both Kesler and Bieksa would bring back great assets to change the team in a meaningful and significant way. I know I am tired of seeing them shuffle the bottom 6 and depth D hoping it will fool us into believing this team has what it takes in its current form. It clearly doesn't.

This has Calgary Flames written all over it if they keep sticking with the same core and hope they suddenly want to play for the new coach.

What are you talking about Gillis regime? The whole damn core, is still Nonises. In fact, if we go back. I wonder, if it just stayed as Nonis's, we'd maybe have a cup by now.

Willie Mitchell, might just be on his way to his 2nd cup ever since he's left. Why did Gillis let him go again? He had injuries, but none of it was career threatening.

I can't believe we kept Bieksa and Salo, over Ehrhoff and Mitchell.

[DeltaSwede]

Where do you fit in a puck mover if they all stay?

Hamhuis-Tanev

Edler-Puck Mover

Garrison-Bieksa

Neither Garrison nor Bieksa will want to be a 3rd pairing guy. And there is no sense getting a 3rd pairing puck mover. They need a guy who can play big minutes in all situations if they want Edler to actually reach his former glory.

I personally think you take the bounty for Bieksa and give Corrado that spot or you trade Garrison and have Stanton-Bieksa as your 3rd pairing. I would not even be upset to see both Garrison and Bieksa traded and Stanton-Corrado as the 3rd pairing if the puck mover is a premium one.

Doesn't mean they wouldn't get playing time. It's just a number really whatever pairing or line you are on. If that happens they would use all pairings frequently and all have very similar on ice time. Just because you put Garrison and Bieksa on the third pairing doesn't mean their minutes will dwindle down to 10-12 minutes.

What are you talking about Gillis regime? The whole damn core, is still Nonises. In fact, if we go back. I wonder, if it just stayed as Nonis's, we'd maybe have a cup by now.

Willie Mitchell, might just be on his way to his 2nd cup ever since he's left. Why did Gillis let him go again? He had injuries, but none of it was career threatening.

I can't believe we kept Bieksa and Salo, over Ehrhoff and Mitchell.

I can.

Ehrhoff wanted too much money (I would have paid him). Mitchell was regressing in play and getting older. Salo was a huge part of the team and arguably our best defensemen at the time, when he played. Bieksa is the heart and sould of this team really. "I will go down with the ship" is essentially what he said and he was one of our better defensemen the past few years.

Would an Ehrhoff been nice over the past few seasons. Yes of course it would but would his 10 year 40 million contract be nice still? Not a chance.

[DownUndaCanuck]

I've said this for a while now - the Canucks NEED a top-10 NHL defenceman at the least if they want to win a Cup anytime soon. There's three main ways we can do this:

1) Get a Norris trophy-nominee through a trade, which would probably cost us a couple of very good prospects (Horvat and Shinkaruk) plus a high pick, maybe a roster player like Higgins too. Most top-5 or top-3 defencemen in this league (ie. Keith, Chara, Doughty, Karlsson etc.) are locked up long-term and will end up being franchise defencemen for their teams so good luck getting one of them.

2) Sign one as a UFA. Weber has a cap-hit of around 8M which is what it would cost us to sign a top-5 defenceman in this league right now IF somehow one of them became available. Subban is the closest one, and he's about to get locked up long-term by Montreal.

3) Draft one. There's Ekblad and Fleury in this upcoming draft who are the only really good defencemen, and even they'll take a while to flourish. Of course it's hard to tell how defencemen pan out, but Ekblad looks to be the real deal so far. Even if everything goes well for him, he's not going to be challenging for the Norris or dominating the league for at least 3 to 5 years.

4) Grow from within. THIS is our one legitimate chance we have at obtaining a top-5 if not at least a few top-10 NHL defencemen. Hamhuis and Bieksa seem like they've definately eclipsed their maximal potential (I don't see Bieksa out-doing his 40-something point season too much), which leaves the rest. All do respect to Tanev and Corrado, but we haven't seen the sort of offensive dominance and playmaking ability from either of them that you see in the league's top 10. They simply don't have the hockey IQ offensively that Norris trophy winners have. Sure they're sound top-4 defencemen in this league, maybe even top-30, but they'll never be a part of that upper echelon unless they have a couple of big breakout seasons which is unlikely and simply not in their nature.

That leaves two. Jason Garrison is solid in his own end, physical in front of the net and has a booming slapshot which we've all seen, but he's a good passer as well and surprisingly fast on his skates so can jump up into the rush very well. As for Edler, we've seen him put up 49 points and absolutely take over games before. Unlike Tanev and Corrado, Edler has that upper-echelon hockey IQ. We've seen him make brilliant passes on the PP to the twins, we've seen him go coast-to-coast and score so we know it's there. We've seen him destroy forwards with huge hits, and not just little guys but we've seen him demolish Hall a few times. Best of all, Garrison and Edler are both under 30. Keith is 30 right now and having a Norris-trophy season again. There's still time for these guys, especially if they're (and it looks this way) late bloomers.

Garrison played his hockey in Florida where the defencemen were encouraged to jump up in the rush often (despite an average season, they had the most points from defencemen in the league that year) and Edler really thrived in the years building up to 2011 where AV had the defence playing up and joining the Sedins' passing plays. Then came Tortorella whose style of play simply didn't work - it didn't work in New York and it was hopeless in Vancouver.

Most importantly, I believe, is the lack of a true calming influence or veteran leadership on our blueline that influenced Edler the most (and Garrison may I add). Back in Florida, Garrison was paired with Campbell - a Cup winner with years of experience. Edler was paired with Sami Salo in his best season. Last season we saw Edler play on a carousel with just about everyone, as did Garrison, and there was no true grey-beard or more importantly, a calming influence, to settle Edler and Garrison's nervous defensive play when they made mistakes.

Ideally we'd have a veteran on defence, but with Chris Tanev, Corrado and even Stanton chomping at the bit for more ice time, it would make sense to pair these guys up. Keep Tanev with Edler for an entire training camp and season (NOT Hamhuis and Tanev - Hamhuis does not need a back-up defensive specialist, Edler does) and see how much better Edler plays.

Linden is 100% right - we have a top-10 NHL defenceman in our ranks and they're hard to find. It's much easier to try and groom them and make them great than find another one. That being said, if Ekblad is up for grabs we should take a stab at him, but it's all a game of probability for management: what's more likely to happen - Edler regains his 50 point, physically dominant self or a completely unproven 18 year old kid ends up as one of the games best?

[Baggins]

What are you talking about Gillis regime? The whole damn core, is still Nonises. In fact, if we go back. I wonder, if it just stayed as Nonis's, we'd maybe have a cup by now.

Willie Mitchell, might just be on his way to his 2nd cup ever since he's left. Why did Gillis let him go again? He had injuries, but none of it was career threatening.

I can't believe we kept Bieksa and Salo, over Ehrhoff and Mitchell.

He suffered a concussion in January and still wasn't cleared to workout in July and wasn't cleared for contact in August. I'd call that pretty serious. Gillis said he was still interested in signing him but not until he showed he could take full contact. LA signed him before he was cleared. They took a big chance and it paid off for them.

[Sugar baby watermelon]

So if Garrison is moved, who would be a steady defensive presence for Edler? Tanev or Hamhuis, or is there one on the market this year, Greene maybe or even better Willie Mitchell!!! Bring back Willie on a 1-2 year deal, he is a calming presence plus he wields the big stick

[DownUndaCanuck]

So if Garrison is moved, who would be a steady defensive presence for Edler? Tanev or Hamhuis, or is there one on the market this year, Greene maybe or even better Willie Mitchell!!! Bring back Willie on a 1-2 year deal, he is a calming presence plus he wields the big stick

It's no surprise that our defence went down-hill after Mitchell, Salo and Ohlund left this team. When they were all on our team at once we had 3 calm, steady defensive defencemen with Bieksa and Edler bringing the offence (I believe Kraijeck was also on our blueline at the time). That chemistry was hard to match amongst defences and was a big reason we made the playoffs in 2007 and only lost to the Cup winners.

Then in 2011, look at our defence:

Edler - Salo

Hamhuis - Bieksa

Ehrhoff - Tanev/Ballard

Another perfect mix of offensive defencemen (Edler/Bieksa/Ehrhoff) and defensive specialists (Salo/Hamhuis/Tanev)

Now look at our defence of last season:

Edler - Garrison

Hamhuis - Tanev

Bieksa - Stanton

Defensive defencemen (Hamhuis/Tanev/Stanton a bit) are playing with each other and offensive defencemen (Edler/Garrison/Bieksa) really don't have that traditional defensive defenceman to play with.

Furthermore, guys like Edler, Garrison and Bieksa are particularly nervous defencemen. They aren't young or inexperienced, they just panic a lot and make mistakes which add up and make situations worse, which is how they get scored on often - not just by making one mistake, but by compounding those errors. With calming veterans like Mitchell and Salo, they wouldn't make stupid plays worse, they would fix them up. Now over the last 3 seasons we've seen Edler and Bieksa in particular fall apart. These "nervous" defencemen need someone to calm them down, and I'd hate for that huge responsibility to fall on young Tanev's shoulders.

[EmployeeoftheMonth]

Soooooo...same old team, only now the spin is coming from Linden and not Gillis.

Brilliant move by Aquaman.

Well at least the fans will still be able to bitch.

Jesus christ the playoffs aren't even over yet.

[EmployeeoftheMonth]

What are you talking about Gillis regime? The whole damn core, is still Nonises. In fact, if we go back. I wonder, if it just stayed as Nonis's, we'd maybe have a cup by now.

Willie Mitchell, might just be on his way to his 2nd cup ever since he's left. Why did Gillis let him go again? He had injuries, but none of it was career threatening.

I can't believe we kept Bieksa and Salo, over Ehrhoff and Mitchell.

With Mitchell it was because of injuries and they were career threatening. "We" tried to keep Ehrhoff he just wanted too much. He's showing now he's not really worth it.

[Boudrias]

With the Canuck advance man busy pumping tires in Florida I can see some Vancouver vets headed that way.

As the Canucks ramp up for draft day I do not expect Linden to come out and say anything less than what he did about Edler. Edler did not have just one bad season. He does have all the tools to be a #1D on most NHL teams but that doesn't mean he will. He has his own challenges as a player but it also makes a

dif who his coach is and who he plays with. I still consider Edler a player from the Nonis era when some

players like Edler and Raymond were rushed to the NHL without sufficient AHL experience. Top Edler's

situation with coaching that rode him into the ground. Edler player 25 - 27 TOI when he was floundering

was unacceptable.

When you look at the TOI for the LA Kings as they head to the CUP finals you can quickly see that this

is a very balanced roster. Depth! I cut both AV and Torts some slack as they tried to win with no

depth.

Does Linden and Benning think this club is a 'couple' of pieces away from serious CUP contention? I am

hoping that as wise hockey people they do not. I am hoping that they do not tune into the CDC summer

chatter. No matter what is said in public any possible player move is always measured by what the needs and what has to be given up to get it. IMHO Van has a golden opportunity to move some vets to gain the

org depth that it has rarely had in 45 years. Many of these vets have CUP final experience and are attractive pieces for CUP challenging teams. Van's opportunity does not come along that often. Failing

to take advantage would be a serious step backwards.

IMHO this roster is a far way from serious CUP contention. If new management continues the decades old

practice of patching the roster to maximize the existing vets then nothing will change. Benning has a

rep (deserved or not) that he will make moves for long term success. Combine that with his ability to

appraise players and I expect deals to be made. If Kesler is a fence sitter then his movement could trigger even more movement towards a younger roster.

Next season will be a transition period for the Canuck org. Whether Benning makes big moves prior to or

during the draft or prior to the March trade deadline depends on his assessment. I assume the Van org is viewed as wounded and other teams will be circling to pick off usefull pieces. As always no player

should be considered safe in this process. They all have +/- and it is always about what comes back.