Canuckz.com » Mason Raymond

Gillis Re-Signs Raymond for Cheap

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:21:40 +0000

The Canucks announced on Monday that they have re-signed Mason Raymond. The restricted free agent re-signed just minutes before his arbitration case was to be heard. But that’s not the surprising part, the surprising part is that Mike Gillis was able to get Raymond to sign a two year deal, worth $2.55 per season. There’s no doubt in my mind that Raymond would have been awarded more in arbitration, perhaps well more. In fact, most pundits (including myself)were predicting $3 million or more.

This begs the question: why did Raymond settle for less? Was he worried that he would get awarded too much and have the Canucks walk away from the award? Does he just really want to win and knew that a lower cap number would help keep the team together? Or did he just run-in to Mike “the negotiator” Gillis?

Mike Gillis has done a superb job on a number of contracts in his two plus years as Canucks GM. His style seems to lay low, keep quiet and then at the last possible minute offers up his best offer. It’s like playing hard to get. Remember when he re-signed Alex Burrows? Rumours were swirling that Burrows would be traded if he didn’t sign before the deadline, and what do you know, he signs a dirt cheap contract. You could almost just see him starting to sweat, wondering what Gillis was going to do.

The fact that Gillis is a former player agent plays a big part in this also. He knows how players think, what offends them, what impresses them, etc. It’s something that we didn’t see with the last few GMs in this town.

So just how good was this deal? Consider Raymond, a 25 goal scorer is getting $2.55 million and compare that to Clarke MacArthur’s arbitration award ($2.4 million for a 16 goal scorer) or Nikolai Kulemin’s new contract ($2.35 million for a 16 goal scorer). Both of those players are of similar age and clearly not as good as Raymond.

Summer Tidbits: Ring of Honour Plus Bieksa, Raymond and Demitra News

Tonyz Tanti — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:29:45 +0000

It went somewhat under the radar because it was reported the same day as Markus Naslund’s jersey retirement was announced, but the Canucks have announced that they will be having a “ring of honour” at Rogers Arena. The idea behind the ring of honour is that they will be able to honour some players from the past that don’t quite deserve to have their jersey retired.

Is this a good idea? In a way I like the idea of honouring past players in a way other than jersey retirement, but just what will be the criteria to get on the ring? Four players will be honoured this year, beginning with Orland Kurtenbach. The other three have yet to be announced.

Maybe I’m overly skeptical, but I can see this “ring of honour” becoming a bit of a joke. Lets be honest here, the Canucks do not have a great history. A long history, sure, but not a great history. I’m sure Orland Kurtenbach was/is a great guy and he was their first captain, but he’s the first member of the ring of honour? Kurtenbach played only four years in Vancouver, never played a game in the playoffs for them, and put up point totals of 53, 61, 28 and 21 in blue and green. He’s currently 46th in Canucks all-time scoring (one point ahead of Mark Messier).

So is the ring of honour for ‘good guys’ like Kurtenbach and guys like Tiger Williams, Dana Murzyn and Harold Snepsts? Or is it for their greatest players, like Pavel Bure, Alex Mogilny and Todd Bertuzzi? Personally, I think it should encompass both. If you aren’t one of the top players in the history of the team, you’re out. If you embarrassed the club like Bertuzzi, you’re out. If you turned your back on the city like Bure, you’re out.

So who should make it in? They probably will not feel a need to honour the guys who have already had their number retired like Smyl, Linden and Naslund, so it should be the next group of guys who were the best players for a number of years while maintaining a minimum level of class. Thomas Gradin is a no brainer in my opinion. He’s the most unappreciated Canuck of all time. He was perhaps a better player than Stan Smyl was, yet gets no publicity while Smyl gets a tonne.Very similar to way we look at Trevor Linden versus Markus Naslund.

Other players that should get consideration? Don Lever, Andre Boudrias and Dennis Kearns from the 1970s, Richard Brodeur (along with Gradin) from the 1982 Cup finalist team, Tony Tanti and Doug Lidster from those terrible teams in the 1980s, and Kirk McLean, Jyrki Lumme and Cliff Ronning from the 1994 cup finalist team. Honourable mentions go to Geoff Courtnall, Greg Adams and Petri Skriko. Harold Snepsts, Garth Butcher and Tiger Williams will probably get consideration too, but probably shouldn’t.

Bieksa’s Not Gone Yet

Kind of interesting that the trigger hasn’t been pulled on Kevin Bieksa… yet. Is it possible that Mike Gillis is planning to keep all of his d-men this year? That would make six d-men making over $3 million plus Shane O’Brien ($1.6 million). I still think Gillis has to make a move and certainly Bieksa is the man to go, but with every passing day without a trade the chances of Bieksa staying increase.

Apparently there is a lot of interest in Bieksa. Ben Kuzma (the Kooze!) of the Province figures that Anaheim, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Jose and Columbus are all interested. I can’t see the Canucks wanting to help LA or San Jose, but the other three make sense to me. Obviously trading to a team in the east is the best option though.

What’s Raymond Worth?

I guess it depends on who his comparables are. Wojtek Wolski just signed for $3.8 million and Guillaume Latendresse signed for $2.5 million. Safe to say Raymond falls somewhere in that range, so perhaps $3 million? What do you think? Lets hear your opinion in the comments section.

Demitra Signs in the KHL

As expected, Pavol Demitra will not be returning to the Canucks this season, signing a deal in the KHL. His NHL career is likely over but perhaps we’ll see him again at the Olympics in 2014. Once a great player with the Blues, he never made it to the Stanley Cup finals in his career. This past season with the Canucks was injury riddled, and his previous season was sub-par. His absence will be felt in the shootout though, where he was one of the team’s best. We will also miss his crazy interview ramblings.

Who will stay? Who will go? Mike Gillis’ Offseason Game Plan

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:13:31 +0000

The countdown to the free agent frenzy is on. July 1st marks the first day of free agency 2010 and the Canucks are sure to be busy. The Canucks currently have five regulars scheduled to become unrestricted free agents and four regulars set to become restricted free agents. Clearly not all of them will be back and some new players will be added via free agency. There is also the potential for young players to step into the lineup and more trades to happen. So what will Mike Gillis do? Well, lets try to figure that out right now:

Unrestricted Free Agents:

Willie Mitchell: Perhaps the most valuable Canucks defenceman over the last number of years, most in the know are assuming that the Port Alberni native’s days are numbered in Vancouver. Mitchell, 33, made $3.5 million last season and should still have a couple more very productive years left. If not for his concussion history, I think the Canucks would be wise to re-sign him at the same money for a couple more years. The question is what will he command on the open market? He’ll probably land somewhere in the neighbourhood of $4 million on a short term deal or $3.5 on a 3-4 year deal. I don’t think he’ll be back, but I think they should try to keep him.

Pavol Demitra: Needless to say Demitra will not be back. He had a disappointing two seasons in Vancouver and isn’t a top six forward anymore with the players they have.

Andrew Raycroft: The one-way deal for Cory Schneider means that Raycroft won’t be back, though he was probably destined to go somewhere else anyway where he can get more money and playing time.

Ryan Johnson: Johnson is now 34 years old and has a lot of mileage on his body. His heart is unquestionable but he provides little offense and has lost a step. He had a very poor year on the penalty kill last year and I don’t think he’ll be back. He’ll find another spot in the league most likely, but at less than the $1.15 million he earned last season.

Kyle Wellwood: Sorry to say it, but I think Canuckz.com blogger Sean Ovariez’s favourite player will be playing somewhere else next season. Wellwood is just so inconsistent and doesn’t provide that grit element the Canucks were missing in the playoffs. Add the fact that the Canucks are probably hoping that Cody Hodgson takes over the third line centre role next season and I think the writing is on the wall, but he’ll be missed.

Restricted Free Agents:

Mason Raymond: Raymond will be back, but the question is at what price? A good comparable is Wojtek Wolski, who at a similar age and production just signed a two year deal worth $3.8 million per season. Wolski probably has the better resume thus far, so expect Raymond to make less than that, but not much less. Bet on about $3.2 million per season.

Shane O’Brien: O’Brien got a qualifying offer from the Canucks worth $1.6 million. The question is, is that too much for the role he plays? With the acquisition of Keith Ballard, O’Brien is now sixth on the depth chart. I like O’Brien, but I don’t think you can afford to pay your sixth d-man that kind of coin. He might be trade bait.

Tanner Glass: Glass brought some nice elements to the team last season, but I don’t think he’ll be back. He was good, but the team will probably be looking for more potential in his spot.

Jannik Hansen: Jannik Hansen is an interesting case. He’s still young at age 24, and was actually quite productive. Something tells me he won’t be back though. Perhaps it’s because he’s not Alain Vigneault’s favourite guy or perhaps they just want more grit and toughness on the third/fourth line.

Young Players Ready to Step In:

Cory Schneider: The young netminder signed a two year one-way deal worth $900,000 per season and will be handed the backup job behind Roberto Luongo. Mike Gillis has hinted that Schneider will get more playing time than Luongo’s backups have in the past.

Cody Hodgson: The Canucks most important prospect is now two years removed from his draft year and the team will do anything it can to give him the third line centre job. Assuming that he’s recovered from his injury troubles from last season he should be up for the challenge. Cross your fingers.

Jordan Schroeder: Schroeder didn’t have a great year last season with the University of Minnesota, notching 28 points in 37 games. At the end of the college season, he joined the Manitoba Moose and looked impressive. He put up 9 points in 11 regular season games and 6 points in 6 playoff games. That’s an impressive pro hockey debut, but I’m thinking he’ll probably need some more seasoning in the AHL.

Evan Oberg: In his first season of pro hockey Oberg lead all Moose d-men in scoring at age 21. He’s still young and could challenge for a job with the big club next season He’s probably destined to be a call-up from the Moose though.

Trade Bait:

In my mind the Canucks have a few pieces that could be offered up in a trade. Most notably, Kevin Bieksa could become expendable with the acquisition of Keith Ballard and perhaps the signing of free agent d-man. Shane O’Brien is in much the same situation as Bieksa (overpaid for his spot on the depth chart) and could be on the block. Look for at least one of them to go.

Up front, the trading of Michael Grabner probably solidifies Mason Raymond’s spot with the team. I say probably, because if he demands too much money as a restricted free agent he might be gone. That’s a long shot though. Darcy Hordichuk didn’t play a playoff game last season, but something tells me that he’ll be back.

So Who Will Gillis Bring Into the Fold?

Check back tomorrow when Canuckz.com will take a look at the most likely free agents the Canucks will target on July 1st. We’ll also take a stab at a few juicy trade rumours making the rounds. Remember to follow yours truly on Twitter for all the updates.

Game 1 Recap – Canucks Storm Niemi

Tonyz Tanti — Mon, 03 May 2010 06:00:21 +0000

The Canucks looked like a team still pissed off about their series loss last year, storming the Blackhawks right off the hop, while the Blackhawks looked a bit surprised by the push and never really seemed to recover. They’ve earned at least a split in Chicago, which is huge for a team like the Canucks that is so much better at home than on the road.

Goaltending

The Canucks looked like the better team in game 1, no doubt, but if the teams switched goalies the score would have been much different. Roberto Luongo looked real good, while his counterpart Antti Niemi looked absolutely terrible. Niemi made some big saves early, but looked shaky while doing so. His pads were like trampolines, bouncing pucks into the middle of the ice for Canucks to pounce on. Meanwhile, Luongo looked like the Luongo of old. The only goal beating him being scored on a 5-on-3. He was square to the shooter, letting out very few rebounds and even making a couple of acrobatic stops. Cristobal Huet replaced Niemi in the third period which begs the question: who starts game 2? Well, evidently the Hawks have completely lost faith in Huet, because it will be Niemi playing again in game 2 according to Joel Quenneville.

Full Team Effort

The Canucks are 3-1 in this year’s playoffs playing in arenas with smoking hot ice girls (the Kings ice girls for your reference). Ok, seriously though, Saturday night’s game was a complete team effort. All four lines scored a goal, and all six defensemen looked very strong. Two of the guys most in my doghouse, Kevin Bieksa and Andrew Alberts, I have to admit looked steady.

Grit Factor

I thought that the Blackhawks were pretty good at finishing their checks on the Canucks d-men (which should scare the crap out of all Canucks fans, they can ill afford an injury to one of their top defensemen). The Canucks meanwhile, did much the same and their hustle was nice to see. Vancouver consistently won loose puck battles, including Mason Raymond outworking Brent Sopel to gain possession and set-up Christian Ehrhoff on the first goal.

Cheapness Factor

You know what I mean by “cheapness factor”, those dirty little cheap plays that are so huge in the playoffs but aren’t serious enough to warrant a penalty, but throw the other team off their game. Examples of these are face washes, spraying snow on/falling down on/bumping the opposing team’s goalie, and taking cheap shots on the other team when the game is out of hand. Chicago was great at this last year, but they were unable to do much of it in game 1. With all the talk of Dustin Byfuglien before this series, he was a non-factor, as were most of the Hawks getting into Luongo’s kitchen. It was Henrik Sedin, I repeat, Henrik Sedin spraying Antti Niemi instead. Every time a Blackhawk got near Luongo, he was quickly ushered away by the Canucks defensemen. Once the game was out of reach, I expected a few cheap shots by the Hawks or at least challenging someone to a fight. The Blackhawks did very little to respond in front of their home crowd and went very quietly.

Looking Ahead

As good as the Canucks looked and as bad as the Blackhawks looked, game 2 will probably look a lot different. Chicago got its wake-up call and will respond with a much better effort. If Luongo continues to outplay Niemi as bad as game 1, it probably won’t matter. Look for a more determined Blackhawk team with some mixed-up lines and the insertion of one or both of Adam Burish and Ben Eager. I expect the Canucks to go with the same lineup, with the only potential lineup change being Ryan Johnson in for Rick Rypien.

Mitchell and Kesler Altercation at Practice

Tonyz Tanti — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:46:07 +0000

Willie Mitchell and Ryan Kesler are fighting mad. Jim Jamieson is reporting that Ryan Kesler and Willie Mitchell almost fought this morning at practice. What is up with that? Usually this happens when a team is in the midst of a losing streak, not just right after a win. It also doesn’t usually happen with two assistant captains. Even weirder is that this is the second time that Willie Mitchell has been involved in something like this in the last calendar year. During an eight game losing streak last year, Mitchell was involved in an altercation with Mason Raymond. Is this a case of Willie Mitchell being a little chippy in practice? Or maybe there’s a rift in the dressing room. Either way, don’t believe the spin that’s sure to come, this is not a good sign.

Onto more positive news. How ’bout Rick Rypien!? The little pit bull (and Canuckz.com favourite) knocked off another giant yesterday in 6’7″, 245lb Boris Valabik of the Atlanta Thrashers. I predict that it won’t be long until the fans at GM Place will be chanting his name.

What’s Wrong With this Team?

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:28:24 +0000

They’re 0-3 and in less than one week have gone from cup contenders to talentless bums (according to the bandwagon douchebags anyways). Well, the fact of the matter is that this team isn’t as good as those early season predictions (loyal Canuckz.com readers already knew this after reading this post) and they’re not as bad as their 0-3 record suggests. I think what’s wrong with the Canucks is a combination of them getting cocky, believing their own preseason hype, and being out of sync. Being out of sync can be attributed to them not icing a single game in the preseason with their full line-up. I believe they kept too many prospects right to the final game of the preseason. So that’s the bad news.

The good news is, they’ve actually played pretty well in large portions of all three games. The Canucks have outplayed their opponents in about 70% of their games, but haven’t been able to score. Conversely, their opponents have capitalized on their chances, putting Luongo and company in a big hole.

Random Thoughts

More good news: Luongo won’t be this bad for long and the Canucks won’t be this snake-bit for long.

When the Canucks have played with urgency, they’ve been very good. The problem is that by the time they decided to play with urgency on Monday night, they were down by three goals. Same thing against Calgary.

The Canucks penalty kill needs to get better. Their opponents have absolutely lit them up on the man advantage: Columbus was 1-3, Colorado was 2-6, and Calgary was 2-3. You can’t expect to win with penalty killing like that.

Ryan Johnson has been on the ice for all six goals against while shorthanded! Not good for someone who is supposed to be a penalty killing specialist. Rick Rypien has been on for three of them. Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows haven’t been on for a goal against while on the penalty kill.

Five of the six power play goals against have been scored by the other team’s second unit.

Maybe they ought to keep one of Burrows or Kesler on the ice at all times while on the penalty kill.

The Sergei Shirokov experiment may be over. Alain Vigneault juggled his lines after they were down 4-1 against Columbus and Shirokov ended up on the 4th line with Ryan Johnson and Rick Rypien. Shirokov’s old linemates, Ryan Kesler and Mikael Samuelsson, were much more effective playing with Mason Raymond in the 3rd period. Look for Tanner Glass to be inserted into the lineup against Montreal.

What are the game presentation people doing at GM Place? The Canucks are now hitting the ice to some mellow song by Cold Play after a sappy intro on the big screen. Not surprisingly, this put the home crowd a bit to sleep to start the game. I know it was Columbus on a Monday night, but I have never seen a quieter home opener to start the game, and the game presentation certainly contributed to it.

Anybody notice that there were an awful lot of tickets available for the home opener? It’s become abundantly clear that the sellout streak has ended (unless you count giving away hundreds of tickets) and it’s not because of a lack of fan support. Simply put, the Aquilinis have now priced people right out of the building. Seriously, how many people can afford to spend over $200 on a mediocre corner seat in the lower bowl, for Columbus on a Monday night no less? The entire city of Vancouver is crazy about this team right now and for the Canucks to price tickets so high that they can’t sell them is just plain greedy.

And now, something to help cheer us cheer up…

Lets Get Some Love for Demitra

Tonyz Tanti — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:59:33 +0000

That’s right, I said it. Pavol Demitra revealed on Tuesday that he will likely miss another six weeks with a shoulder injury and what ensued was what can be described as mild jubilation on sports talk radio and message boards. Demitra has been described as too soft and too streaky, and many are suggesting that the Canucks would be better off without him.

While Demitra is soft and is streaky, that by no means is an indication that the Canucks are better off without him. Every teams needs grinders like Kesler and Burrows, but they also need skilled/versatile guys like Demitra. Lets review. Demitra started last year at centre in between Taylor Pyatt and Mason Raymond on the 2nd line. Amazing he kept that line afloat. He also played the point on the power play when needed. When he actually had players to play with at his natural position (on the wing with Kesler and Sundin), he put up 31 points in the last 32 games of the regular season. He only put up 3 points in 6 playoff games, but the Canucks were 5-1 with him in the lineup. And if you need further convincing for his value, consider that he scored an overtime goal to beat Calgary in October and had the best shootout percentage of any Canuck that took more than 2 attempts (including the only shootout goal against Calgary in February).

Yes, I’m aware he makes $4 million. Yes, being out for a bit of time may help their cap situation. But having a skilled, experienced, versatile, enigmatic European on your team has its value.

Kiprusoff still hasn’t moved on this one:

Mason Raymond Gets a Job at Dairy Queen, and a Sneak Peak at the New Team Canada Jerseys for 2010

Tonyz Tanti — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:07:15 +0000

Cool story from this week. Mason Raymond worked a shift at Dairy Queen yesterday, to help out with Miracle Treat Day. Proceeds of all Blizzards sold on Miracle Treat Day go to help the Children’s Hospital. Apparently this wasn’t a planned event, Raymond just happened to visit the DQ in Yaletown to get Kyle Wellwood a Peanut Buster Parfait, and was asked if he could help out this week. Raymond obliged, and gave a few fans a pleasant surprise on Thursday. I’ve had the chance to meet Raymond briefly once, and he seemed like a real down to earth guy. Lets hope he can take the next step this season, a very important one for his career.

I checked out icethics.info for a sneak peak at the Team Canada jerseys to be unveiled on Monday. Not a huge difference (you’ll notice the logo is different as they were forced by the IOC to remove the Hockey Canada logo. I’m not really a fan of the design (I liked the Salt Lake 2002 design the best), but I think I like the logo better. It’s simpler and I think it works. Below is a sneak peak at the leaked jerseys:

Spotlight on Mason Raymond

Tonyz Tanti — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:44:58 +0000

One of the biggest wild cards heading into the 2009-10 season will be Mason Raymond. After a mildly impressive rookie season in 07-08, Raymond was supposed to take the next step in the 08-09 season. He started well, scoring 10 points in his first 13 games on the second line. After that, he sputtered, ending the season with an unimpressive 23 points in 72 games. The former 2nd round pick was shuffled in and out of the lineup, and between lines. He seemed to find a bit of a home on the third line towards the end of the season, with Kyle Wellwood and Steve Bernier. Regardless, he is supposed to be a scorer, and failed to produce enough offence last season.

So what can we expect this season? Things could go in a lot of different directions. If the team doesn’t make a move, then one of Raymond, Kyle Wellwood, or Cody Hodgson will see time in the press box or on the 4th line. But don’t bet on the golden boy Hodgson being in the press box. Furthermore, if Michael Grabner makes the team, that will bump one more player down the depth chart. It is time for Raymond to sink or swim. If he fails to produce 20 goals this year, he will be written off as a bust. There is lots of competition for roster spots at the moment, so he will have his hands full.

I am cautiously optimistic about Raymond this year. He did take a step back last season, but he showed flashes of brilliance, and has undeniable speed and a hard shot. A lot of prospects follow a bad 2nd year with a breakout 3rd year in the NHL (expect Sam Gagner to have a breakthrough season in Edmonton). If he does, he will have to prove that he belongs in the top 6-9 forwards currently on the Canucks roster and could find himself on a line with the likes of Demitra, Wellwood and Kesler. If he doesn’t, he could find himself shuffling through the lines, and spend time in the press box.