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(Rumour) Eklund says Canucks interested in Lars Eller


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Yup.

Lets lock up all these type of centers when that's the positional strength of our prospect group.

Sign 'em up long-term so our prospects have nowhere to go.

Lose prospects for low return. Give up picks at the same time.

Makes sense.

Did you know that Centers can play the Wing position as well? Just saying.

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This would make a lot of sense. Higgins is exactly what Montreal is looking for. Mid 6 winger who can PK and pitch in. He's played in Montreal before and he could waive to go back.

Eller is a few years younger than Higgins. He can play wing and can fill the center roll if Henrik, Sutter or Horvat get injured. He's locked up for a few years on a decent contract and a fresh start could do him some good.

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Yup.

Lets lock up all these type of centers when that's the positional strength of our prospect group.

Sign 'em up long-term so our prospects have nowhere to go.

Lose prospects for low return. Give up picks at the same time.

Makes sense.

There is never anything wrong with increasing a company's assets.

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How about checking the CAP space it would leave the Canucks.

Then we move Burrows too, for a pick? That creates Cap room. I think Eller, as others have pointed out, suites the needs of our team going forward. Heck, he could play wing in our top six.

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This rumor doesn't really make sense for a couple reasons:

1) We already traded with Montreal ; why not add Eller to the package instead of another 1-1 trade where we'll likely get fleeced on the deal?

2) We already have Sedin/Horvat/Sutter/Vey/Gaunce down the middle. Where does Eller fit (unless he plays wing)?

While Eller would boost our PK and 3rd line, I don't see any interest on what Montreal would even want back from us

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I watch a lot of Habs games and Eller has better speed and strength, and is also a beast on the PK, more so than Higgins and Vey. He is also not bad on faceoffs, and has proven he can light it up in the playoffs.

He also plays wing and center, increasing his versatility. The thing is under Therrien, its defence first and offensive creativity is stymied. Therrien is a regular season coach, hence why pittsburgh won the cap after he was fired. Eller is still young and is a comparable to Sutter. He also stood up to the Bruins in the playoffs. If there is a trade available I would take him.

Higgins

Vey or Jensen

For

Eller

Verby should be saved for the deadline IMO, or we keep him for a playoff push.

Vrbata was a complete non factor in the playoffs.

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Definitely not a foundational player, but he is one of the top 5 fastest players in the league and if we had given him a shot with Kesler full time, we probably could have built him up to get a decent return.

When you give a player 20 games in the NHL before dumping them you pretty much guarantee to get nothing for them.

Jensen has no value right now, so why trade him? Are we hurting for contract spots? It makes no sense to dump a player just because we don't think he'll be any good. This team can afford to be patient and see which players pan out and which don't. Jensen has one more season to get it together.

I often wonder if we would have been better off with Grabner instead of Raymond. I'm sure there are some opinions on this but at the time there was a roster spot for one or the other and a decision had to be made to risk losing one to waivers.

I guess in the long run,we really didn't end up with anything for either player.

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We are speculating that MTL is willing to trade Eller, for example. A good player entering the peak of his career in a year or two. The guy's physical and can skate like the wind. Canucks fans are saying we'll give MTL Higgins and Vey, two players they don't really need if they're in fact going to try and make a Cup run. We can suggest the Canucks throw in Gaunce and whomever, but it doesn't make MTL a better team ready to compete for the Cup. Why would the Habs make that trade? A lot of fans tend to think of a trade where they come out dumping dead weight and robbing the other team blind. It doesn't work that way. MTL will want Burrows, a Quebecor, a proven playoff guy, and a player who will go to battle every night. He would become an instant hero in Montreal, especially with the French media. But because Burrows is also in his mid-30s now (post-peak), MTL may also want a prospect or low draft pick. If this is the case, I hope Benning doesn't make the trade. We can't trade Burrows anyway IMO, as he's the best and only proven winger for the Sedins. Might seem like a good deal if it was Eller for Burrows, but then we may also expect the Sedins to fall off the charts as a result. I hope Bennings careful here, we need D.

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A lot of folks in here under-rating Eller imo...

May have been in Therien's doghouse at times, but I find some of Therien's decisions to be fairly odd at times, so I don't put a lot of significance in that.

What Eller did last year:

- put up 27 points playing primarily with Prust and Sekac, and to a lesser extent, DSP and De La Rose

- he had 37.1% offensive zone starts (48.8% finishes) again mid range quality of competition.

- he was a strong 51.7% in the faceoff circle.

- his underlying numbers (-2.9 relative corsi) were quite respectable in that context, and better than any of his linemates'.

I like his speed, his two-way strengths, ability to play harder minutes/high D zone starts, kill penalties, with good upside for that kind of role - a pretty versatile guy who'd strengthen the team down the middle - certainly defensively.

Eller is far more suited to the role this team needs to fill in the bottom 6 than Vey is, certainly at this point anyway.

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IF Montreal is entertaining trading Eller, it's to bolster the offence in their top 6. They have a surplus of centres and can afford to deal one if it gets them the help they need on the wing. Taking that into consideration it's very likely that they would have zero interest in a deal that revolves around Vey. Montreal is a legit contender and trading Eller for a package including Vey does nothing to improve their chances for the Cup. .

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