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The 2009-2010 Vancouver Canucks, How Bad Was It?

Tonyz Tanti — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:30:48 +0000

Well, we’ve all had a chance to take a deep breath, sit back and really think about the year that was for our beloved Vancouver Canucks. Gone is the emotion/heartbreak/disappointment/anger from their second straight second round loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. What’s left is a better chance for impartial analysis as to what they did, what they have and what they should do.

Was it as Bad as we Thought?

It’s been over a month since the Canucks were ousted by the Blackhawks. At the time we knew the Blackhawks were good, but we also thought the Canucks could have and should have been better. Perhaps they should have, but consider this. The Canucks lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, which suggests they’re a pretty good team. The Blackhawks beat a hard working bunch with a strong defense (Nashville), a high scoring team (Vancouver), an all around talented team (San Jose) and a gritty team (Philadelphia). Basically, they beat different teams and it didn’t faze them one bit. The Canucks stretched the Hawks to 6 games, as far as any of their other three opponents.

I’m not arguing that the Canucks couldn’t have played better or that they don’t have problems they need to fix, but I’m starting to think that they weren’t as bad as we thought they were. We need to give the Blackhawks a bit of credit.

Your Best Players Need to be Your Best Players

So what just happened? Why did the Canucks look so terrible at times against the Blackhawks? For me, it starts with the old adage that your best players need to be your best players. I believe that Daniel and Henrik Sedin were good enough in the playoffs, each notching better than a point per game in the post season. It was the Canucks most important player, Roberto Luongo, who did not play up to par. True, the Chicago Blackhawks can make a lot of goalies look silly, but Luongo ended the playoffs with a save percentage below .900, not good enough for a goalie of his ability. Quite simply, the Canucks as they were constructed this year can’t and won’t win a Stanley Cup with average or below average goaltending.

But now, a little perspective. A lot of uneducated hockey fans are suggesting that the Canucks trade Luongo and “give Schneider a shot”. Lets not lose our minds here folks. Luongo may have had an off-season, but he can certain bounce back and giving the reigns to an unproven good AHL goalie is probably not a prudent move. For those of you in favour of letting Louie go, consider that his cap number will be going down next season, from $6.75 million to $5.33 million. That cap number puts him in 9th place among the other goalies in the league.

Who Would You Rather Have?

For those Luongo haters I also ask you this: how many goalies in this year’s playoffs would you want ahead of Luongo? Certainly not either of the Stanley Cup Final goaltenders. Would it be Evgeni Nabokov, he the man who plays behind all that talent in San Jose and year after year can’t get it done when it matters? How about Ilya Bryzgalov, who after a terrific regular season posted similar numbers to Luongo and lost in the first round. It’s getting harder and harder to make the case for Martin Brodeur now, with his best days behind him he looks like he’s beginning to lose a step and has had a few playoff flops in recent years. The Marc-Andre Fleury argument has always been “he’s got a Stanley Cup ring” but look at this year’s playoffs and I defy you to say that you’d be more comfortable with him in net. Steve Mason proved that having one amazing year doesn’t necessarily mean that it can be sustained, so lets forget about Tuukka Rask, Craig Anderson, Jimmy Howard, Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak. That leaves Ryan Miller, who was the best goalie in the league this year, and I would take him ahead of Luongo, but his teams (Team USA and Buffalo) didn’t do as well as Luongo’s this year.

The point? The best option for the Canucks remains to keep faith with Luongo and hope that he has a bounce-back season. Perhaps he needs to play less, and perhaps they’ve learned their lesson in that respect. Maybe he doesn’t need to play every game to be a great goalie, maybe he just needs to get used to resting more.

Where was the Grit?

Against the Chicago Blackhawks it seemed to be non-existent. While the Canucks defensemen were getting pounded, the Blackhawks defensemen cruised around with ease. A little more grit that can play in their top 9 or even in their top 6 should be a high priority for GM Mike Gillis, but once again, a little perspective is needed. Yesterday, Alex Burrows underwent shoulder surgery, while Ryan Kesler revealed he also played through a shoulder injury in the playoffs. It should come as no surprise that grit would be an issue when the two grittiest players in the Canucks top 6 forwards have shoulder injuries. So maybe it’s not quite as bad as we thought.

Defense

What was once the Canucks greatest strength not long ago is now their greatest need. Losing Willie Mitchell hurt greatly, and I contend that he is their most important defenseman. Christian Ehrhoff had a great season, but is not great defensively. Sami Salo actually stayed healthy for longer than anyone predicted, and had a solid season. Kevin Bieksa is now another year removed from his great breakout season, and I’m among those who think that he won’t regain the form that rewarded him with a big contract. Alex Edler stepped his game up more than anyone in the playoffs, which was a pleasant surprise. The Canucks D is missing a bit of nastiness though, something Kevin Bieksa is supposed to provide. It’s also missing a stud on the blueline that can eat up big minutes against the other team’s best players while contributing offensively.

The Recap

The Canucks had a nice regular season, not a great one. They won their division, but finished fourth in points in the Western Conference. They were a clear notch below the Sharks and Blackhawks in the regular season and failed to make it past the second round. That is not the mark of an elite team ready to knock on the door. There were a lot of positive things that happened this year though (the emergence of the Sedins as elite players, Kesler and Burrows proving they can score consistently, Edler and Ehrhoff taking steps forward in their development). Mike Gillis has some things to tweak, no doubt. But how bad was it? It wasn’t so bad, and it can sure get a lot better.

Ten Days Away

The NHL entry draft is ten days away, which not only marks the day that teams pick future NHL stars, but also the start of the NHL trade frenzy! Speaking of frenzies, the free agency frenzy begins in just over two weeks.Check back before the draft and July 1st to get in-depth analysis of just what Mike Gillis’ options are.

Game 6 Recap – Hawks Too Much For Canucks

Tonyz Tanti — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:45:32 +0000

The better team won. Face it. I have heard lots of whispers from the Canucks players and from fans that somehow the Hawks aren’t the better team, which boggles my mind. They were the better team during the last two regular seasons, they were the better team the last two playoffs. Sure there were some mitigating factors. Willie Mitchell’s injury sure hurt. Playing game 6 with a less than 100% Sami Salo and losing Alex Edler made things difficult. Lots of the Canucks forwards were banged up. Injuries ARE excuses, legitimate excuses. Injuries don’t mean you automatically lose, but they make things more difficult. These injuries meant that the Canucks had to be extra good, seeing as how they were underdogs to begin with. In the next few days I’ll take a retrospective look back at the Canucks season that was, but for now, lets concentrate on what happened in the deciding game, game 6 versus Chicago.

The Start

The Canucks got off to a terrible start in game 6. The shots on goal and the score were very misleading stats after the first period. The Blackhawks got probably the best five chances to score, but were stonewalled by Roberto Luongo. Luongo was positively in vintage form in the first period and gave his teammates a mulligan for a terrible start. Despite the bad start, his big saves got the crowd really involved, who were much more into the game than they were at the start of game 3 and 4 of this series.

‘Balls of Steel’

Canucks fans are normally known for unimaginative, lame cheers. You know the ones, “Turrrrrrrrrrrcoooooo!” and “Calgary Sucks!”. Well, we took a giant step forward with the “Balls of Steel!” chant for Sami Salo in game 6. Salo did indeed play, and was clearly under distress. He showed great courage, and should have provided a boost for his teammates.

Edler gets Byfuglien’d

The beginning of the end came in the first period when Alex Edler got hit into the boards by Dustin Byfuglien. Edler fell awkwardly on his leg and suffered an injury, which knocked him out of the game. Edler was the Canucks’ best defenceman in the playoffs, and given the depth on defence, he was probably the player they could most ill afford to lose.

Bad Bieksa

In the game preview yesterday, I asked the question of whether we would see the good Bieksa or the bad Bieksa. In game 5, we saw the good Bieksa. In game 6, not surprisingly, we saw the bad Bieksa. His unbelievable misplaying of the puck in the neutral zone which lead to Chicago’s second goal was a huge moment in the game. It kind of summed up his season: too casual.

Demitra’s Grand Finale

Demitra decided to roll the dice on a play at the blueline and he crapped out. His giveaway which lead to David Bolland’s breakaway goal made it 3-0 going into the second intermission. It was an absolute dagger. Alain Vigneault wasn’t impressed and benched him the rest of the game. That play will be Demitra’s last as a Canuck.

The Comeback

Could they? Would they? They didn’t. Shane O’Brien’s goal early in the third made things interesting, but only for a moment.

The Nail in the Coffin

Patrick Kane’s goal to make it 4-1 all but sealed it up. Another Canuck blunder, the Blackhawks made it look easy. Despite the fact that the Canucks stayed almost completely out of penalty trouble, the Hawks waltzed into GM Place and had their way. Nevermind the home ice advantage, the crowd, having last change. None of it mattered because the Blackhawks were too fast, too strong, too mean, too skilled, too good. There’s no shame in losing to the Blackhawks, they were the better team, but to lose in that fashion, was an embarrassing way to end the season.

Game 5 Recap – Not So Quick

Tonyz Tanti — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 08:23:52 +0000

Game 5 was the first one sided game of this entertaining series. For the first time in the series, Roberto Luongo clearly outplayed Jonathan Quick, who was chased in the second period. For the second game in a row, the Canucks power play equaled the Kings power play, perhaps indicating that this penalty killing jinx is at least close to ending.

While the Kings have silenced Alex Burrows in this series (I believe he must be injured, he hasn’t looked himself at all), they haven’t found an answer for Mikael Samuelsson. Samuelsson had two goals in game 5 and is red hot, netting seven goals already in this series. That ties him with none other than Pavel Bure for the franchise record of most goals in a playoff series.

Encouraging for the Canucks was the play of their defense. Alex Edler continues to be a beast on the back end, with Ehrhoff and Sami Salo also leading the way. The problem in recent weeks has been the play of their bottom three d-men: Kevin Bieksa, Shane O’Brien and Andrew Alberts. While the three of them weren’t superstars by any means, Bieksa looked steady, O’Brien got in a fight and the fans were chanting “Lets Go Alberts!” late in the game. Alberts looked steady defensively, but is still incapable of making an outlet pass, which reminded me of possibly the best tweet in the history of twitter: “Saw Alberts play a bit in Carolina. Hits like a truck. Handles the puck like a truck, too”.

Speaking of O’Brien, he appears to have not learned his lesson yet. I think he’s an underrated player, but giving the #1 motion with his finger after his fight was not the brightest move. If you’re in a one-off game in the regular season I don’t have much of a problem with it, but doing it in a playoff series is showing up the other team and essentially works the same as giving the other team “bulletin board material”. Kings head coach Terry Murray called him a “clown” which was probably a little bit harsh, to which Alain Vigneault responded with “I don’t care” (you got to love Vigneault).

Here’s another example of why you’ve got to love Vigneault:

Now the bad news. The Canucks ran away with game 5 and looked good doing it. I believe a lot of Canuck nation is getting a little cocky after it though and we shouldn’t be surprised if the Kings take game 6 to set-up a dramatic seventh game at GM Place. Teams often rebound from blowouts to win the next game, presumably because the losing team makes a lot of adjustments while the winning team gets a little overconfident. Game 6 will also be played at the Staples Center where the Kings have looked great and the Canucks (save for the 1st period in game 3 and the 3rd period in game 4) have looked overwhelmed. Once again, special teams will be of the utmost importance. If you stop the Kings power play you should win the game.

And now something to keep you entertained until game 6, one of the better Canucks songs I’ve heard in a while (with apologies to Ivan Hrvatska and Ink Operated) :

Game 1 Recap – Canucks Squeak by Kings

Tonyz Tanti — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:55:22 +0000

Whew! That was close. Not only did Jack Johnson nearly put the puck in the net, but if Michael Handzus doesn’t put his arms up in the air, he might have been able to bury it. Classic Bieksa pose in this picture by the way, standing upright, watching a member of the opposing team in front of the goal. With that said, perhaps I’m being a bit unfair. I thought Bieksa had a solid game, as did the rest of the Canucks D. Most notably, Alex Edler was strong in both ends of the rink. He was a beast, as evidenced by this hit on Drew Doughty (you think Edler trash talked him? Something like “welcome to the playoffs, kid” would have been nice).

Other random thoughts from the game:

The Canucks outplayed the Kings, outshooting them and outchancing them. I guess the predicted shaky LA goaltending didn’t materialize. Jonathan Quick looked good.

If Roberto Luongo lets in that goal in overtime, today everyone is talking about how he lost the game for the team. He didn’t have much work and certainly didn’t steal the game, but he was good enough.

Alain Vigneault really shortened his bench. Rick Rypien saw one shift in the 3rd period and overtime, as did Steve Bernier. Matt Pettinger didn’t see any ice past the 2nd period.

The Canucks really need to work on their penalty killing. They got scored on twice while on the PK. I miss Willie Mitchell.

The Sedins are such bad asses now. Their toughness, clutch plays and emotion is great to see. I loved Daniel’s fist pump after his goal.

Green Men vs Blue Men:

We all know and love the green men, but now we have been introduced to the blue men! Personally, I’m giving the green men the big edge. The blue men are pretty much just a bunch of copy cats, who aren’t as weird and crazy as the green men. Either do something original or improve on the green men. The green men, always innovative, have added an impressive hand stand to their arsenal. Keep it up boys.

Contender or Pretender?

Tonyz Tanti — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 06:13:14 +0000

With 15 games left in the regular season and the nightmare record road trip behind them, one thing is still not clear. Are the Canucks contenders or pretenders? It’s a question that doesn’t elicit a unanimous response. I think that we as Canucks fans underrate this edition of the Canucks (just as we overrated the Naslund-Bertuzzi era Canucks).

The numbers

Looking at the numbers, you would have to say that the Canucks are contenders. Lets review. They currently have the fourth best record in the NHL, tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins. If they go 10-5 in their remaining 15 games, they will tie the Canucks record for points in a single season. Vancouver is currently second in goals per game, behind only Washington. They have the second leading scorer in the entire league in Henrik Sedin. Henrik needs only 20 points in the last 15 games to tie Pavel Bure’s team record for points in a season. Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, Mikael Samuelsson, Mason Raymond and Christian Ehrhoff are all on pace for career years. Pavol Demitra has had an injury filled season, but lead Team Slovakia in scoring during the Olympics and was named to the tournament all star team.

Defense

This has not been a banner year for Canucks defencemen. Christian Ehrhoff has provided more than anyone expected, but Alex Edler, Willie Mitchell, Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa have had seasons marred by injuries and inconsistent play. Andrew Alberts was brought in at the deadline and it looks pretty clear that they gave up too much (a 3rd round draft pick) to get him.

Reality

The reality is that the Canucks right now are a very good team who can make some noise in the playoffs. They have balanced scoring, a good defense (when healthy) and a superstar goaltender. At this point, we still should consider them more pretender than contender, because we’re still waiting for a couple of missing pieces of the puzzle. To me, their forwards have been good enough. To win a cup, they will need a healthy defense, playing up to their potential (most notably Willie Mitchell, Sami Salo, Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler). They may be able to get by a round or two with a banged up blue line, but they will need Salo to stay healthy and Mitchell to get healthy.

The wild card in all of this is of course Roberto Luongo. He has put up good (not great) numbers this season, sub-par by his standards. He’s still a world class goaltender, and is capable of more. He is their best player, and only spectacular play by him will give the Canucks a chance to win it all this spring.

Team Sweden Roster Announced and Samuelsson is Pissed

Tonyz Tanti — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:15:14 +0000

The defending Olympic champions, Team Sweden, announced their 23 man roster on Sunday. The Swedes are flying a bit under radar at the moment, as a lot of their top players from years past are now retired or nearing retirement: Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg and Nicklas Lidstrom. Speaking of Forsberg, he’s playing in the Swedish Elite League this season. Apparently he’s playing pretty well too. His 15 points in 9 games were enough to warrant a spot on the Olympic team. In case you were wondering about Markus Naslund, he has 8 points in 8 games but was not selected.

So who made the team? Take a look:

King Henrik will be in between the pipes as the clear starter for the Swedes once again in 2010. Look for Gustavsson to be his backup. If Sweden is to win gold, it will need to come with some spectacular goaltending from Lundqvist.

Goalies:

Jonas Gustavsson (Toronto Maple Leafs/NHL), Stefan Liv (HV 71), Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers/NHL)

Sweden’s defense will once again feature six-time Norris trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom. Niklas Kronwall and Mattias Ohlund will also be leaned on heavily, but their blueliners are a little thin after that. All the more surprising that Alex Edler was not named to the team, while NHL castaway Magnus Johansson was.

Defenders:
Tobias Enstrom (Atlanta Thrashers/NHL), Magnus Johansson (Linkopings HC), Niklas Kronwall (Detroit Red Wings/NHL), Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings/NHL), Douglas Murray (San Jose Sharks/NHL), Johnny Oduya (New Jersey Devils/NHL), Henrik Tallinder (Buffalo Sabres/NHL), Mattias Ohlund (Tampa Bay Lightning/NHL)

Assuming his foot holds up long enough, Peter Forsberg will certainly provide an unexpected boost to Sweden’s forward group. A healthy Forsberg gives Sweden three potent centres, joined with Nicklas Backstrom and Henrik Sedin. After Daniel Sedin, Daniel Alfredsson, Henrik Zetterberg and maybe Loui Eriksson, their wingers don’t have a whole lot to offer. This didn’t escape Mikael Samuelsson, who is PISSED! When asked for his reaction, Samuelsson had this to offer:

“I pretty much have one comment and maybe I’ll regret it,” Samulesson said. “But they can go f*** themselves. That’s what I really think.”

This rare moment of candidness from an NHLer was probably in bad taste, but it’s hard not to agree with him. In 2006, Samuelsson played well on the team that eventually won gold in Torino. He’s having a pretty decent season and can play in an offensive and defensive role. He’s put up better numbers and has a better resume than Patric Hornqvist. Fredrik Modin hasn’t had a decent season in a few years, yet was named to the team. Mattias Weinhandl had trouble cracking the Minnesota Wild lineup just three years ago, but is playing well in the KHL and made the team.

Forwards:
Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators/NHL), Nicklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals/NHL), Loui Eriksson (Dallas Stars/NHL), Peter Forsberg (MODO Hockey), Tomas Holmstrom (Detroit Red Wings/NHL), Patric Hornqvist (Nashville Predators/NHL), Fredrik Modin (Columbus Blue Jackets/NHL), Samuel Pahlsson (Columbus Blue Jackets/NHL), Daniel Sedin (Vancouver Canucks/NHL), Henrik Sedin (Vancouver Canucks/NHL), Mattias Weinhandl (Dynamo Moscow/RUS), Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit Red Wings/NHL)

Also NOT selected to the team was Tommy Salo (who is still having nightmares at last report):

Treading Water

Tonyz Tanti — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:52:53 +0000

At the quarter-way mark of the 2009-10 season, the Canucks have successfully treaded water. With a record of 10-10-0, you’d think that the Canucks would be disappointed, and perhaps they are. For me, this is about what we should have expected, all things considered. If they had been 100% healthy, you’d maybe expect a record of 13-7 through 20 games. Consider that Luongo has started only 13 games, Daniel Sedin has played only four games, Sami Salo has only played 12 games and Pavol Demitra has missed the entire season, not to mention the other countless missed games here and there, a 10-10 start should be considered par for the course.

With that said, there are more than a few alarming trends through the first 20 games:

Injury or no injury, Roberto Luongo hasn’t been lights-out yet. He has a very mediocre 6-7 win/loss record, 2.74 GAA and .903 SV%. Those are not Team Canada numbers. It’s also alarming that he got injured, again. He needs to stay healthy.

Offense from the D. Alex Edler (he of the minus seven rating so far), Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo have combined for ONE, just one, goal.

Kyle Wellwood. He’s been absolutely invisible through 20 games.

Team toughness. Where is it? The Canucks were a nasty piece of business to deal with last year. Perhaps injuries have changed that a bit, but still. They’ve got to get back to that blue collar attitude.

So will the real Vancouver Canucks please stand-up? We haven’t seen them yet, and might not this season given Pavol Demitra’s status, but once they get Daniel Sedin back (and that should be soon). The excuses will be all gone. And hopefully the losing will be gone too.

The Injury Bug Strikes Again

Tonyz Tanti — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:57:55 +0000

It appears the injury bug has bitten the Canucks early this season. It started with lingering injuries carrying over from last season for Pavol Demitra and Mathieu Schneider. Then it was Jannik Hansen, who was injured on the last game of the preseason. Now, even worse news. The Canucks will be without iron-man Daniel Sedin and (what’s the opposite of iron man?) Sami Salo.

Daniel Sedin broke his foot after being struck by an Alex Edler slap shot, he’ll be gone 4-6 weeks. This means that Daniel Sedin will miss the most games he’s ever missed in a single season, since his NHL debut in 2000. It also means that twin brother Henrik will get a long stint on a line without Daniel for the first time in his career. How will he fare? It will be interesting to find out.

Sami Salo will also be gone for 4-6 weeks with a knee sprain suffered in their last game against Dallas. For all the joking about Salo’s injury woes, he will be sorely missed. Everyone knows about his big shot, but he is most valuable to the team with his role on the shutdown pairing with Willie Mitchell. I feel bad for the guy. He’s suffered a lot of injuries, to no fault of his own. Some guys’ bodies are just more durable than others in my view. It’s not like he runs around recklessly like Rick Rypien or anything.

Speaking of Rick Rypien, how about a little time-out to watch this again!?

So where does this leave the team? Well, luckily they have depth. Losing a top 4 defenceman a few years ago would have meant power play time for Patrick Coulombe. Luckily, Salo’s ice time can be absorbed by their other regulars. Capable reserve defenceman Aaron Rome will see his first action as a Canuck and, if you read between the lines, Mathieu Schneider should be ready to go, probably as soon as his long term injury reserve time expires on October 25th.

Daniel Sedin’s’ role will be tougher to fill. Guys like Steve Bernier, Mason Raymond and Kyle Wellwood will need to step it up, but this is the time where the Canucks really need a pleasant surprise from prospects Sergei Shirokov or Michael Grabner (though I wouldn’t hold your breath).

***Update*** Looks like Grabner will get into his first NHL game.

But the number one way the Canucks can withstand all these injuries? You guessed it: Roberto Luongo. Luongo has the ability to steal games, and he may need to do a bit of stealing coming up.

Random thought of the day:

Isn’t this an Olympic year for the NHL? Isn’t the NHL supposed to be compressing their schedule to accomodate the two-week break? If so, why on earth are the Canucks on a stretch of 1 game in 8 days this early in the season? That’s a schedule that more resembles the CFL, not the NHL. I know that there are many factors that go into the schedule, including building availability, and the NHL’s desire not to go head-to-head with MLB playoffs and the NFL, but could they please give the Canucks a bit of a break?

With the horrendous road trips the Canucks have coming due to the fact that GM Place will be occupied with pre/post Olympic use, you’d think the NHL could have thrown in a couple of road games now, instead of in February and March. For those counting, the Canucks have an eight game road trip before the Olympics and a six game road trip after the Olympics.

Mike Gillis’ Search For a “Puck Moving Defenceman”

Tonyz Tanti — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:36:31 +0000

He’s out there somewhere… isn’t he? It seems ever since Ed Jovanovski signed with the Phoenix Coyotes three summers ago, the Canucks have been trying to find a “puck moving defenceman” (that’s the buzz word of the year for Canucks fans) that can make a good first pass and run the power play. Not that the Canucks don’t have decent offensive blueliners already. Kevin Bieksa is a good all-around defenceman, but is not a true power play quarterback. Sami Salo and Alex Edler both have the big shot from the blue line, but they don’t rush the puck up the ice with ease and they each need a lot of time to load up their canons. So who will it be? Who is available? Who can fit under the cap? All legitimate questions that depend on who the Canucks will move (and believe me, it will be somebody) to make room. That player will be a forward, which will make room for a defenceman.

How about Anton Babchuk? This article out of Carolina from the News & Observer states that Babchuk, a restricted free agent, will be traded. Apparently the Hurricanes are not looking for a forward in return, rather they are interested in a prospect or draft pick instead. That’s not great news for the Canucks, who are thin on prospects, but deep on forward. While this is the case, Gillis could always trade one of his forwards for a draft pick to lessen the impact of losing a draft pick for Babchuk.

So who is Anton Babchuk!? He’s a 25 year old defenceman who in his first full season in the NHL last season scored 16 goals (5th best in the league last season) and 19 assists. He was also a plus 13 (second to only Eric Staal on Carolina last season). He was at his best on the power play, notching 9 power play goals. To put that in perspective, consider that Salo, Bieksa and Edler each scored only 5 power play goals last season. Babchuk is also 6’5″ and has a great slap shot that he can get away quickly.

Don’t believe me? Check this out: