The Philadelphia fans get the privilege to host the NHL entry draft tonight. Usually the draft isn't that exciting because there are very few players in the 10 top that actually play the following season but this year there is a lot of talent and trade rumours. My Canucks have made the biggest splash today by making 3 trades.
Here's the down low about Kelser:
- Fan favourite and a great face off guy.
- Hard worker and gave it all he had.
- Fact: Injured A LOT!!!
- Scored 41 goals but I think he don't do that again or come close.
- He lead our team in goals last season with only 25. With a whopping 43 pts. It was a bad year of offence for the Canucks (Burrows had 5 and D.Sedin had 16).
What we got in return:
26 year old Bonino who had a break out year with 22 goals and 49 pts.
Sbisa who missed most of the year (only 30 games) and had 6 pts and 0 +/-
The 24th overall pick (McCann)
And the 3rd round pick which we traded for Dorsett. (We also give up a better 3rd round pick)
Then we trade D Garrison to TB for the 50th overall pick (2nd rd)
Garrison is a solid did but is know for his big shot. My point is he rarely scored. So who cares if he has a big shot if he can't score on the PP. Elder and Garrison both only had 7 goals but Elder was -39 and Garrison was -5.
But why trade Garrison? Was it to clear up space ($4.6 million) to go after Ryan Miller or Tyler Myers? Both guys I would LOVE on Vancouver.
Or maybe it's all about Conner McDavid...say what?
Yeah I said it, maybe the goal is not to be better but to be lame. Lame enough to get the #1 pick. I know it sounds crazy but what's crazier is what just shook down in the last year and a half.
Instead of firing Gillis, AV gets fired (goes to NYR and in SAME year he goes to the Cup final). Then we think let's get a veteran coach who has had success but has a temper like no other and can't control himself and the team doesn't perform AND 2 of our best players want a trade out of town (I get this is an incorrect sentence but I'm proving my point here). Not only that but we trade both our #1 goalies. Our ROOKIE goalie (who I like BTW) is now our starting goalie. Morale is at it's lowest and we finally fire Gillis then to clean house we get ride of Tortorella (losing millions of dollars in the process). In the process we hire Linden, then Benning, and our new coach Desjardins has zero NHL experience (good resume considering). Actually none of these guys have any experience in the roles that they are in currently (but I'm all for giving people a chance to prove themselves). We have to trade Kesler and do it but don't get significant playable players in return. We dump a decent D who can help our cause. We are clearing up cap space like it's no one's business for a rainy day.
And I'm the one who's crazy to think we are tanking the year to get the stud (next Crosby, Ovie, Hall???). What I think is crazier is that we believe Benning's propaganda that we are adding pieces to stay competitive.
"I wouldn't say it's a rebuild. We acquired players that are going to have an impact on us winning this year" - Benning
I get he has to be political and can't share the master plan. And I'm cool with it if we are rebuilding and tanking this season. I really am. I get the big picture stuff. But correct me if I'm wrong but when you are trading your top goal scorer and not getting enough in return and your dumping salary to gain draft picks...isn't that REBUILDING? Because it looks like a rebuild to me. We are not retooling. We are not adding to make a run. And if we are adding or retooling we are delusional. haha
I could be wrong but I doubt it.
Overall it was fun to be a Canucks fan today. We were the talk of the day. I had a blast on FB, Twitter, Texting & calling friends.
Here's how the 1st draft day ended...
We traded Kesler and our 3rd pick for Bonino, Sbisa, McCann and Dorsett. We sent Garrison to sunny TB and we also drafted Virtanen.
I wish we could have traded up for #1 and got Reinhardt but I'm extremely happy with who we drafted and looking forward to the rest of our draft.
Virtanen is a scoring machine and has heart. Injured shoulder and played through the playoffs with the Hitmen.
McCann was ranked really high on TSN's board 16 and we landed him at 24. We need another young C and still plan and hope Horvat turns out.
And I give Linden and Benning an A for effort. Supposedly they had offered our 6th pick, 24th pick and Shinkaruk for the #1. But thankfully they didn't accept it.
I'm not mad or disappointed about what has happened at the draft but I'm excited about the future.
Good bye Ryan Kesler, I don't blame you for wanting to leave. Thanks for the memories and playing your heart out every night.
