Ilya Mikheyev Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Proposal: Sign UFA Michael Stone to a 2-3 year, >1.125M dollar deal Why - Stone is a right-handed, big 6'3/210 pound, physical defenseman who has a big shot and could act as steady, veteran depth - The Canucks lack RHD in their prospect cupboard - The Canucks lack RHD on Abbotsford - with only Noah Juulsen and Jett Woo (not NHL ready, questionable for Abby's top 4) left on the farm after Madison Bowey was let walk. Hopefully Brady Keeper can make a return this year, but the right handed defensive depth who can step in as a NHL fill-in in the case of injuries is low/questionable - Michael Stone has signed 3 consecutive 1-year deals with Calgary (after the team bought out his much bigger salary). It looks like both Calgary is ready to move-on and Stone would probably like some stability, though I doubt he's getting too many offers - Michael Stone and family have settled in Calgary (originally from the Peg) - so staying within western Canada is probably preferable for the veteran - on the Canucks he gets that whether he's with Vancouver or Abbotsford. On this one way deal, he gets a significant raise too, it's probably the best offer he'd get. - The term also benefits Vancouver - we've seen this tool used a few times - with a little bit of term making teams less likely to pick up a stopgap player on waivers as they risk taking on term (i.e., Justin Dowling, Kyle Burroughs altho he didn't get waived, Curtis Lazar & Dakota Joshua this year) - The biggest knock on Stone is his speed, especially after a number of injuries, but as a 9th/10th defenseman on the team, any player is likely to come with some fault in their game - Stone was praised for his ability to step up in CGY's playoff run last year, putting up 5 points in 9 games with varied uses, playing from 5 mins TOI to 21 mins under Sutter depending on the context. - LIke Lazar, this salary amount could be completely buried in Abbotsford if necessary, meaning the biggest risk is moving toward that 50 contract limit. A small price to pay for what he would bring IMO. - Pre-injury Stone played quite a bit on a pairing with OEL, having the 3rd highest TOI/GP on Arizona between 2013-2016, so there would be organizational familiarity - and if Myers goes down, some potential chemistry and familiarity to draw from. I assume there's another move in the works - but without any other trades, the Canucks D depth would look like this: OEL - Myers Hughes - Schenn Rathbone - Dermott Burroughs, Johansson/Stone Wolanin - Juulsen Brisebois - Stone/Johansson Walynuk - Woo Schmiemann, Kannok Leipert 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Meh, beats giving Gudbranson $16M. Forgot all about him playing with OEL, he looked really promising back then. If there is still uncertainty over Poolman’s and Keeper’s health, it’s probably a good play. But if those two are tending to come back, then it might get a little crowded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilya Mikheyev Posted July 16, 2022 Author Share Posted July 16, 2022 1 minute ago, D-Money said: Meh, beats giving Gudbranson $16M. Forgot all about him playing with OEL, he looked really promising back then. If there is still uncertainty over Poolman’s and Keeper’s health, it’s probably a good play. But if those two are tending to come back, then it might get a little crowded. Yea, I guess I wrote Poolman off, assuming his migraines will keep him on LTIR, but I guess we don't really know. Gudbranson is the LOL of the off-season for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 (edited) sure, more depth can't hurt. He hasn't played a full season in 5 years tho, so we can't expect anything but injury fill in up here. Don't think we need him for 2 years tho. Edited July 16, 2022 by JM_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Nice post. I'd be very dubious of bringing in a player that simply hasn't played many games in a season for years. Nothing to indicate at this point in his career, he could bring accountability or the speed needed. If he's really still interested in playing hockey, maybe he could be talked into a two-way deal. I can see him bringing valuable knowledge and wisdom to Abbotsford. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Canuck #12 Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 I thought they should have signed him last year and was kind of surprised Benning didn't then, considering all the other RHD he was adding. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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