[Friedman] Canucks looking to “overhaul blue line” ...Ekblad & Cernak could be available

[EP40.]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/31-thoughts-matt-dumba-next-wild-trade-block/

3. As part of this, the Canucks want to begin an overhaul of their blue line. One coach said it was noticeable how differently Dallas could handle Vegas as opposed to Vancouver. The Stars have a big, strong, mobile defence that consistently broke down the Golden Knights’ offence. After he said this, I spent some time re-watching the games, and you can definitely see it. The Canucks clearly felt they had to pack in the middle and defend from there, while Dallas felt very comfortable aggressively challenging Vegas and were successful doing it. The contracts and free agency get the headlines, but this will be a critical part of Vancouver’s planning. (This coach, by the way, also said another difference between Dallas and Vancouver was the Stars sustained pressure in the offensive zone, which forced Vegas’s best forwards to change instead of rushing the puck up ice. Small thing, but a big thing.)
 

13. My guess: Zito’s going to be asked about Barkov (no chance), Aaron Ekblad and Jonathan Huberdeau. He’s going to explore moving one of the big tickets on his blue line to create flexibility. All he would answer is, “I’m going to listen to anything. But I’m going to say no to most things.”

 

> Harman mentions Florida is depleted of a 2nd line with Hoffman & Dadonov heading to free agency which is where a possible Boeser move would make sense...according to Friedman, Panthers new GM will look to move out a “big ticket” blue line contract to which Harman says Ekblad is the only one with positive trade value. (other dmen/contracts are essentially unmovable)

 

> A speculative deal would have to be Boeser+ simply due to the fact top dmen are valued more than top forwards. Maybe the only hockey deal I can remember in recent memory happening regarding a top D for top F was the Seth Jones for Ryan Johansen trade. Arguable no plus was needed with the forward because Johansen is a centre. (bit more valuable)

 

> Harman says the Canucks can look to target Erik Cernak from Tampa like we did with JT Miller. He’s 23, Tampa is in a cap crunch and won’t be able to afford him. If offer-sheeted at ~$4M, compensation would be a 2nd rounder. Cernak is a big body and already a better rated dman than Tanev whose declined has begun. Canucks can look to offersheet or go down the trade route and pay similar/possible even slightly less value to acquire him.

 

 

...what I’m getting from this is JB wants to better equip the Canucks backend and rightfully so. They were bombarded in the playoffs and held hostage in many sequences. 
 

There’s a few scenarios I see:

 

A.) Canucks simply re-sign both Tanev & Stecher keeping them for the right side (but that doesn’t change anything or improve the blueline if it’s looking to be “overhauled”) 

B.) Canucks keep one of Tanev/Stech and bring in a Cernak type dman 

C.) Canucks keep one of Tanev/Stech and bring in an Ekblad (who JB has historically been looking to add, a true top pair RHDman, as he’s been reported attempting to trade for dmen like Subban and Karlsson in the past)

D.) Canucks keep none of Tanev/Stech and bring in both an Ekblad and Cernak replacing the would be ex-Canucks.

 

Quite frankly I’d be pleased with anything other than scenario A. There’s no sense in keeping the same dcore if we’re truly looking to take the next steps to compete even more. It was evident this current d group won’t get the job done. If that means moving on from Tanev who has been so valuable for us, then so be it as long as it’s for improvement.

[Lionized27]

Ekblad would be a tremendous add.

I would be ok with trading Boeser in this scenario.

[Gnarcore]

Ekblad has had injuries but is someone I've always liked when I've seen play. Dare to dream. 

[billabong]

D

 

We all love tanev and he was important to this team, specifically hughes, but we would get over it

[PetterssonOrPeterson]

I'm not going to make a proposal but I really do believe we need more than just Hughes on that blueline.

 

We have elite stars like Petey, Boes and Horvat as our offensive guys, but it would certainly bring more balance to the team if we could add a fairly young, elite defenceman to the blueline. 

 

I think Ekblad would be great... even though it would likely include a deal involving Boeser to get him.

 

 

[JM_]

1 minute ago, Lionized27 said:

Ekblad would be a tremendous add.

I would be ok with trading Boeser in this scenario.

I'm not sure we'd need to, if they are more interested in gaining futures back this year than salary. E.g., our 2021 1st and Rathbone might open the discussion. It'll take more but that might pique some interest. 

[Mike Vanderhoek]

can we please stop with the Boeser crap before it starts to be a problem for the player in the city ? the team needs to recoup picks if anything else and continue developing who they have. It makes zero sense to trade an up and coming offensive forward when the team is finally getting the depth they need in that regard. Loading up for Ekblad would be a waste if it involved any of the key forwards. Vancouver's tradeable strength is most likely in goal and that is not a need of Floridas..

[Johnny Torts]

Get er done . 

[EP40.]

7 minutes ago, Mike Vanderhoek said:

can we please stop with the Boeser crap before it starts to be a problem for the player in the city ? the team needs to recoup picks if anything else and continue developing who they have. It makes zero sense to trade an up and coming offensive forward when the team is finally getting the depth they need in that regard. Loading up for Ekblad would be a waste if it involved any of the key forwards. Vancouver's tradeable strength is most likely in goal and that is not a need of Floridas.

 

 

I hear ya but disagree. Look at how Jones propelled CBJ to the next level. Ekblad would be that all around top dman. I feel our team has a much bigger glaring need on the backend and are surplus organizationally upfront.
 

So it’s a very sensible sacrifice to make to improve overall team balance.

[rekker]

Not sure on this. What is Ekblad's cap hit? Is he over his concussion issues? Florida would have to take LE back in the trade to make it work which may be ok considering they are probably near broke. 

[73 Percent]

This is like the best thread I've seen in a long time.

[Lionized27]

3 minutes ago, rekker said:

Not sure on this. What is Ekblad's cap hit? Is he over his concussion issues? Florida would have to take LE back in the trade to make it work which may be ok considering they are probably near broke. 

5@$7.5m

[grandmaster]

17 minutes ago, Robert Long said:

I'm not sure we'd need to, if they are more interested in gaining futures back this year than salary. E.g., our 2021 1st and Rathbone might open the discussion. It'll take more but that might pique some interest. 

This would be ideal but those prospect and picks they would want is what we would need to help unload dead weight salary like LE / Sutter / Rousell 

[73 Percent]

8 minutes ago, rekker said:

Not sure on this. What is Ekblad's cap hit? Is he over his concussion issues? Florida would have to take LE back in the trade to make it work which may be ok considering they are probably near broke. 

Hes missed 20 games in the last 6 seasons...

[JM_]

4 minutes ago, grandmaster said:

This would be ideal but those prospect and picks they would want is what we would need to help unload dead weight salary like LE / Sutter / Rousell 

yup its a pickle.

 

I'm not worried about Sutter, he's gone next year and so is Edler, so thats 10.4 mil right there. 

 

For this year, maybe Marky walks anyway and there's lots of cap. 

[Silky mitts]

Ekblad Will be too pricey but man would he be great addition to the team. Cernak however is a little more attainable and is exactly the type of dman we could use. 

[John_Guest]

I don't get what the TRADE BOESER NOWWW!!! (then add every 2021 pick, Virtannen, Motte, Stecher, Podkolzin, BC Place and Pettersson's first boy child) rush is.

Relax...

Not too long ago we were comfortable waiting to see what would become of Juolevi, Rathbone and such - what would happen when the dead weight contracts end and how would new forwards like Podkolzin and Hoglander affect things. 

Remember when we thought we were in a rebuild? Have things really changed so much you want to trade away what's working so far for exorbitant, quick fix tweaks?

[ohmy]

Cernak would be an amazing add. Perfect partner for Hughes and would be cheaper than Ekblad.

[MeanSeanBean]

3 minutes ago, John_Guest said:

I don't get what the TRADE BOESER NOWWW!!! (then add every 2021 pick, Virtannen, Motte, Stecher, Podkolzin, BC Place and Pettersson's first boy child) rush is.

Relax...

Not too long ago we were comfortable waiting to see what would become of Juolevi, Rathbone and such - what would happen when the dead weight contracts end and how would new forwards like Podkolzin and Hoglander affect things. 

Remember when we thought we were in a rebuild? Have things really changed so much you want to trade away what's working so far for exorbitant, quick fix tweaks?

Adding a young top pairing D man is not a quick fix though. No one is calling to trade Boeser now, he's likely just our best trade asset to acquire what we really need, which is clearly our D core. We were 8th in the league for goals per a game this last year, and 20th overall in goals against per a game. We would be dealing from a position of strength, with young players like Hog and Pod upcoming, for a position of weakness with significantly less top end talent in the pipeline.

[EP40.]

8 minutes ago, John_Guest said:

I don't get what the TRADE BOESER NOWWW!!! (then add every 2021 pick, Virtannen, Motte, Stecher, Podkolzin, BC Place and Pettersson's first boy child) rush is.

Relax...

Not too long ago we were comfortable waiting to see what would become of Juolevi, Rathbone and such - what would happen when the dead weight contracts end and how would new forwards like Podkolzin and Hoglander affect things. 

Remember when we thought we were in a rebuild? Have things really changed so much you want to trade away what's working so far for exorbitant, quick fix tweaks?

How would getting Ekblad be a quick fix if he’s the same age as Boeser?