If You Were the Canucks GM

If you were the Canucks GM, what would you to to improve/change this team?
Trades? Fire the Coach?

Talk with Crow, tell him to get the boys in order, and he has until Christmas

Talk with Crow, tell him to get the boys in order, and he has until Christmas

step further than that... tell the whole team coaching staff down to the marginal players they have until Christmas to smarten up... if this BS continues until then, the pot will be stirred...

step further than that... tell the whole team coaching staff down to the marginal players they have until Christmas to smarten up... if this BS continues until then, the pot will be stirred...


Yea, pull a Burkie from a few seasons back. Specifically, tell the core group of players that if they don't get their act together that something will have to happen. I think it's too early to start dismantling the team, or firing the coaching staff, but it's something that should definitely be on Nonis' mind. This core and coaching staff has been together for what, 5+ years now, and what do they have to show for it? Not much at all. Sure they've won games and won a division title, but in the big games, they always seem to fall short.

Not over-react, wait till my number 1 goalie is back, and see if I can widen the gap of my first place team.

P.S. Alex Auld sucks and they were playing the second night of a back to back in Denver. Tough loss yes, ignition of a firesale, no.

I would do a trade for sure.
A deal including any of Cloutier, Jovo, Mo, Bert..
these guys dont seem to care how bad they are playing.
Crow probably tried to shout at guys but probably didn't work.
I think the players themselves should find out that nobody is untouchble and if they stink it up big time anybody could be on the trade block.
If replacement can be found for coaching job, fire crow as well.
The sens are better off without martin and lalime. this team at this point any change will benefit them. certainly they can't do any worse vs the avs because they are 1-4 and got owned in the losses.

even if they DO decide to play the best hockey in the second half, i still dont see us as a serious contender. Cloutier is the worst post season goalie. Jovo likes to have his worst giveaways in playoffs. Morrison is garbage when WCE isn't working for 3.2 million. Bertuzzi will not live up to the expections imo.

If I was the Canuck's GM I would quit eating so many damned cheeseburgers! Man that guy needs to go on a diet.

What's this talk of dismantling the team? That shouldn't even cross our minds at this point.

What's this talk of dismantling the team? That shouldn't even cross our minds at this point.

I love how some of you guys keep stumbling into threads and going "WHAT?? YOU CANT DISMANTLE THE TEAM!!!" Even though nobody even suggested dismantling the team.

If there is a better option in goal I would be chasing that first. I am not a big fan of Dan, but if nothing else is available for a reasonable price I would push for him and Auld to be splitting time.

I am so so about Crow, but I would definately keep an eye on that situation.

Defense - I would probably try to move Jovo for something, but it would depend who is available. Either way it would have to be something we could use right away.

I like the guys up front, but they need some kind of shake-up. Maybe just the other changes would lite the fire. So I would hold off of doing anything here for a bit. If they didn't smarten up I would have to evaluate the problem to see if I couldn't find out what is causing them to be so flat. If it is a coaching thing then that would be adressed. If it is a player or players then that would be adressed.

Not over-react, wait till my number 1 goalie is back, and see if I can widen the gap of my first place team.

P.S. Alex Auld sucks and they were playing the second night of a back to back in Denver. Tough loss yes, ignition of a firesale, no.

It's one loss of many, dude.

I mean. This team started off 8-2. Since then, it's 7-8. Yes, the overall record is still good, but shouldn't we be concerned with how we've been playing lately and not yakking about how wonderful we were two months ago?

I love how some of you guys keep stumbling into threads and going "WHAT?? YOU CANT DISMANTLE THE TEAM!!!" Even though nobody even suggested dismantling the team.
"Specifically, tell the core group of players that if they don't get their act together that something will have to happen."

I took that as telling them to smarten up or they would blow it all up. :)

I'd make a significant trade involving a "core" member, and let the coaching staff know that if the ship isn't turned around soon, they'd be next.

I'd hire Shane as Director of Hockey Operations.

I'd sign SopelFan to a two-year, three million dollar contract. Put him between Naslund and Bertuzzi, he'd probably be good for fifty, sixty points.

Yea, pull a Burkie from a few seasons back. Specifically, tell the core group of players that if they don't get their act together that something will have to happen. I think it's too early to start dismantling the team, or firing the coaching staff, but it's something that should definitely be on Nonis' mind. This core and coaching staff has been together for what, 5+ years now, and what do they have to show for it? Not much at all. Sure they've won games and won a division title, but in the big games, they always seem to fall short.

thats the thing.. Burke did it a few seasons back.. and what happend? this team went on a roll but choked in the playoffs..

i would have fired crawford after the minny series.. traded bert when he was floating b4 the moore incident.

jovo needs to go as well.. even if hes producing and hitting( which he hasn't been doin as much).. his defensive gaffs are so ugly that it kills your team and momentum.. we got malik gone now its his turn

park gives his all.. and he has speed.. but on a team that is so soft.. he doesn't help us on the 3rd/4th line..

mccarthy.. is worst than baumer.. thats all needed to be said..

nothing right now.

the team is 15-8-2.

I remember during the 02 season Burke didnt do jack ***** for the longest team as his team continued to struggled.

I expect the same out of nonis right now.

Nothing will happen. Even if we lost the next 7 games, and end up at 500, still nothing will happen.

But if there is any Luongo rumors I go for it.

Short term

I'd bring up Green and dump Goren. He is doing nothing.

I'd bring up Mojsis and if looked like anything I'd put McCarthy on waivers. He won't get picked up.

The usual first step in a shake up is to bring guys up. If this doesn't work then you must look to a trade.

If the team really starts to belly out, then I move Jovo to pick up a legit center. Could be we trade for a prospect at center and put a fork in this year.

I don't think replicating the Burke speech from '02 is going to do anything... Nonis doesn't have that aura around him that Burke does to motivate people.. I find Nonis to be more of a quiet leader than a vocal motivator.

I am as disappointed with this team's play over the entire month of November, as anyone here is.... I don't however think that firing Crow is going to help us right now. That's a move for the sake of making a move, and when you don't have a good coach lined up as a replacement, things could get even worse than they are now. We haven't hit rock bottom yet... we aren't a team that has gone into 4-5-6 game losing streaks in a long, long time... getting a new coach, and teaching a new system, in the middle of a season, with no real time off, isn't going to help this team get on the right track IMO.

What I would do is make one major change right now. Cloutier is the most obvious. I can't believe that this team isn't at the forefront of the Luongo trade rumours (they're there, but Colorado is still stealing the headlines)... that's a trade that does what this team needs - a major shakeup, while getting a legitimate #1 (finally!!). We don't need to dump Jovo (unless the deal calls for it), or Bertuzzi... just dump Cloutier - and at this stage I'd move our 1st and/or Bourdon, or Schneider to make it happen.

I would have also considered some waiver options. I still have no idea what Brookbank is doing on this team... and his one goal doesn't change anything. He's a tough guy that isn't needed. With the way fighting is now in this league, we have enough toughness with Cooke, Ruutu, others... not fighters, but grinders... and in today's NHL I don't think you need anything more. Brookbank is useless. We should have dropped him a long time ago. I would have gone after Koltsov when he was on waivers - $630K is not a huge risk for his potential... especially considering we're paying McCarthy $100K more! Koltsov couldn't be any worse of a risk on this team then Brookbank. And the upside is something we need to start taking chances on.

This team is adverse to risks. Nonis likes to play it safe... Crow likes to keep things safe with the lineup he knows... Great teams have balls, we simply don't! Colorado takes constant risks with player pickups... Ottawa has done the same in their coaching situation, despite Martin having a lot more success, in every way, than Crow has had here... Philly, Detroit... all these teams take risks to improve.

For us, it's as if the team thinks that any risk we take isn't going to pay off. We could have addressed a lot of our concerns right now if we took a few damn risks during the offseason, and now in the regular season. We could have taken a chance on Perreault - someone who most fans here think is useless, but wouldn't he address our faceoff concerns? Instead we take risks on players like McCarthy - guys that don't address any of our needs. For a team that needs some stability back there, and experience for a playoff run, we send a pick to get McCarthy instead of looking at UFAs like Lukowich - and he was a local guy as well!

If I were GM of this team, I'd start to take some risks with the makeup of this team.... status quo is great if your team has earned the right to stay together... our team hasn't earned anything yet, and the status quo they're getting is just keeping them in their comfort zone, instead of motivating them to work harder to accomplish something greater as a team. What we have now are more questions than anything else - something you can live with in their first few seasons together... but we're near the end of our current window, and we're no closer to the Cup than we were in 2002!

The great teams - they'll take a chance on a 40YO Stanley Cup winning goalie... they'll replace their regular season successful coach... they'll make a major shakeup by dealing their best player.

The canucks - they extend the coach's contract after losing in the first round... they'll go into a new season giving raises to guys like Cloutier... they'll trade assets for players that don't bring any intangible we need, while assuming that somehow those intangibles will address themselves.

If you were the Canucks GM, what would you to to improve/change this team?
Trades? Fire the Coach?

I'm going to suggest something that might blow a lot of minds on this board but this is what I would do if I were Nonis: BE PATIENT

Cooke is out. McCarthy is out. Bouck is out. Cloutier is out. We are near the top of the league in points but we are losing some key games against divisional rivals. I would wait to get back most of our team and then...BE PATIENT. Let's not do anything knee-jerky like.

We do need, as everyone has been saying from day one, a better #5 or #6 d-man and it is looking like we might need a good face-off guy....other than that...patience dear brethren...patience.

I'm going to suggest something that might blow a lot of minds on this board but this is what I would do if I were Nonis: BE PATIENT

Cooke is out. McCarthy is out. Bouck is out. Cloutier is out. We are near the top of the league in points but we are losing some key games against divisional rivals. I would wait to get back most of our team and then...BE PATIENT. Let's not do anything knee-jerky like.

We have been patient. And I don't think that the fact that McCarthy and Bouck are out hurts the team too much

I'm going to suggest something that might blow a lot of minds on this board but this is what I would do if I were Nonis: BE PATIENT

Cooke is out. McCarthy is out. Bouck is out. Cloutier is out. We are near the top of the league in points but we are losing some key games against divisional rivals. I would wait to get back most of our team and then...BE PATIENT. Let's not do anything knee-jerky like.

We do need, as everyone has been saying from day one, a better #5 or #6 d-man and it is looking like we might need a good face-off guy....other than that...patience dear brethren...patience.

All that is true. However until naslund, bertuzzi, jovo, ohlund, Morrison and Cloutier show up for 60 minutes a night every night it doesn't matter what a third liner does, a #5/6 D-man does, and a 4th liner does. the problem is in the core from what I can see not the supporting cast. And the only part of the core that is missing right now is Cloutier and he has been playing below his ability this season (i.e. not even average) and hasn't shown he has what it takes anyways.

This isn't a 15-20 game problem...this is a 100 game problem as this is the effort they put out on most nights in the last played season. It's time for it to be addressed somehow IMO.

All that is true. However until naslund, bertuzzi, jovo, ohlund, Morrison and Cloutier show up for 60 minutes a night every night it is irrelevant what a third liner does, a #5/6 D-man does, and a 4th liner does. the problem is in the core from what I can see not the supporting cast. And the only part of the core that is missing right now is Cloutier and he has been playing below his ability this season (i.e. not even average) and hasn't shown he has what it takes anyways.

This isn't a 15-20 game problem...this is a 100 game problem as this is the effort they put out on most nights in the last played season. It's time for it to be addressed somehow IMO.

I agree here... but I don't know if the problem is that simple as changing the core.

first of all, the problem needs to be divided between goal and the rest of the team. Adding energy and consistent work ethic up front, isn't going to address our goaltending needs. I've been a Cloutier supporter for many years now, but it's clearly time to go another direction. I was all for giving him another shot this year, after the year off, and seeing how he responds... during his year off, he played in Austria, and again got hurt... this year, after barely playing at all for a full season, he's again been hurt, inconsistent - both physically and mentally, and his stats have been even worse than before. IMO his nine lives are up. Right now is the best time for a change here as well. One, we have an elite goalie on the market, and this happens about once every 4-5 yrs. Secondly, this team doesn't have the cap space to compete on the free agent market to get a premier goalie either. The time is now to make a big push for Luongo, and as much as I'm looking forward to Bourdon being our next internally developed star prospect, I'd rather see us finally land a premier #1 goalie. Bourdon, Schneider, a 1st and whatever other futures that Florida would want in their rebuilding process should be made available.

IMO that one change, changes the entire outlook of this team. Luongo is used to playing behind a bad defense, so he should be fine behind an adventurous one. It also sends a clear message to the rest of the team.

The rest of the core, I don't think needs to be moved. Considering salary, and performance so far, we aren't likely to get a lot for them - at least not enough for a team not looking at futures, but current play.

I agree that we look inconsistent out there, and our core hasn't put together 60 mins of play... but I think this can be rectified by adding depth, not changing our core. We are seeing first hand how much Cooke means to this team right now... he brings energy to the entire lineup when he's in the game. Adding another player like that for our bottom 6, will do wonders... or adding that type of "intensity" player to our defense, instead of a guy like McCarthy (who is just plain useless IMO). Cooke's return will make a huge difference... but if we had another guy like that, I think that it rubs off immediately on everyone else's play. We are really missing Chubs as well IMO.

What we need to do though is scan those non-playoff team rosters, and find a bottom 6 player who's about to hit UFA status, and doesn't take a lot in salary... we need our version of a Lapperiere... or a Ricci (although he's too expensive). I'm sure there are teams out there that have a cheap solution available here.

That would add energy to this team, and help to push the current core. The core we have has tons of skill, but aren't guys that bring up the intensity of the entire team... Bert used to do that, but right now he's playing at about 5 out of 20 shifts in that capacity. Cooke brings that, but he's hurt... Ruutu is bringing that now, but he's playing a small role for this team overall. We need another player that can be an intensity factor on this team.

Our defense is also going to wiped out by the end of the season. We have 3 dmen that are getting worked out a lot - 25 mins a game each! Baumer is playing too much as well at 15mins/game. We need a real #5 dman - someone who can take on Malik type minutes of last season. We need someone back there that can also bring some intensity to the team, seeing as how this is the biggest factor lacking on this team right now.

Overall our team is too passive, and it's painfully obvious when our best energy guy is out of the lineup. Adding a bottom 6 energy guy, and a hardworking, in your face #5 dman, will do more for this team than moving any of our core pieces right now IMO. And of course finally - for the love of God - acquire a longterm solution in goal - the type of goalie that any team considering itself a contender, should have!

[QUOTE=nuckfan in TO]
What I would do is make one major change right now. Cloutier is the most obvious. I can't believe that this team isn't at the forefront of the Luongo trade rumours (they're there, but Colorado is still stealing the headlines)... that's a trade that does what this team needs - a major shakeup, while getting a legitimate #1 (finally!!). We don't need to dump Jovo (unless the deal calls for it), or Bertuzzi... just dump Cloutier - and at this stage I'd move our 1st and/or Bourdon, or Schneider to make it happen.

QUOTE]

I think you are bang on except for trading Bourdon which I simply wouldn't do - he is exactly the type of player we need. He's a guy who has talent and plays with passion and we definitely don't have enough of that at the moment.
Going after Luongo is the short term and long term answer for this team. Nonis will miss a huge opportunity if he doesn't get this guy.

I think you are bang on except for trading Bourdon which I simply wouldn't do - he is exactly the type of player we need. He's a guy who has talent and plays with passion and we definitely don't have enough of that at the moment.
Going after Luongo is the short term and long term answer for this team. Nonis will miss a huge opportunity if he doesn't get this guy.

I'd love to be able to acquire Luongo without putting someone like Bourdon on the table... however, I don't see that as being possible. Bourdon is one asset that separates us from other contenders like the Avs.

So if it comes down to it, would you not make this deal? If the Avs are close to acquiring Luongo, and have put guys like Liles and Svatos on the table, and Keenan is ready to pull the trigger, outside of the canucks offering Bourdon, would you hold onto Bourdon, and watch Luongo go to the Avs?

I wouldn't. If that's what it takes to get a longterm goalie solution, I'd be willing to take that risk. Sure Bourdon could be the future on our defense, but this team has talent right now - from Naslund, Ohlund, etc, that won't be there when Bourdon is ready to play a top 2 role for us. Right now is our best window, if we have a legit star goalie leading us. And for that risk, I'm willing to part with Bourdon.

If we can make it happen without Bourdon, I'm all for it... but IMO he's the one asset right now that gives us a legitimate shot at acquiring Luongo.

Keenan has said there is no basis to the Luongo rumours

Keenan has said there is no basis to the Luongo rumours

that means nothing. Keenan will wait till January, since Luongo's value increases when teams interested in him have the chance to offer a longterm deal to him.

But anything Keenan says right now in the media means nothing... he's always been like that (as have most other GMs in the league).

The only way that the Canucks deal Bourdon is if they are 100% sure that Luongo signs a long-term deal (e.g. at least four years) with the team. IMO, Vancouver will have to pay through the nose for any trade for Luongo, but it will only be worth it if the team holds on to him for a long while.

I'd deal for Roberto... Not only would it improve our goaltending situation, but it would also (hopefully) shake up the country club mentality that, IMO, plagues this team...

If I were GM, and maybe it's too lateral a move, but I'd trade Morrison to Buffalo for Chris Drury. They're both pretty similar players. Maybe Mo has a bit more offense, but Drury has more intangibles (big player in big games and bit more grit).

Plus, it gives us a right-handed shot possibly to play on the other boards, or at the point during the PP.

Also, I'd call up Bieksa and give him a shot soon. In 8 games, he has 2 goals, 4 assists, +3, and 20 PIM. That's a pretty good statement.

Again, could be a lateral move, and questionable whether Buf would go for it, but that's what I'd do if GM!

If I were GM:

1) Read the riot act to Crawford and the coaching staff. Read the riot act to the team as well. Make sure they know this won't be tolerated.

2) Find some veteran character. Chris Clark and Jamal Mayers are two gritty, tireless veteran guys stuck on brutal teams, who I'm sure could be moved for the right price. And both have low salaries. Exactly the type of player we need more of. Overpay in terms of draft picks/prospects if need be. I'd give up a #2 pick for either of those guys in a heartbeat.

A move like this is much easier to make than moving a core player, and we're not going to get value back for guys like Morrison and Cloutier (overpaid) or Jovanovski (impending UFA).

As much as I like Richard Park, I would be prepared to move him if need be - this team needs a Mayers-type player more than it needs Park.

3) Call up Kevin Bieksa; the team could use his fire and grit. Send Steve McCarthy to the AHL for more seasoning to see if he can get some confidence back.

4) Start looking for coaching alternatives if the team can't show more motivation and commitment. Bobby Francis is the name I like most of any mentioned ... no-nonsense guy, excellent motivator, Adams winner in 2002. Did a lot with a mediocre roster in Phoenix, and was canned because he wasn't Gretzky's guy. I think he's the sort of personality this team needs right now.

If I were GM, and maybe it's too lateral a move, but I'd trade Morrison to Buffalo for Chris Drury. They're both pretty similar players. Maybe Mo has a bit more offense, but Drury has more intangibles (big player in big games and bit more grit).

Plus, it gives us a right-handed shot possibly to play on the other boards, or at the point during the PP.

Also, I'd call up Bieksa and give him a shot soon. In 8 games, he has 2 goals, 4 assists, +3, and 20 PIM. That's a pretty good statement.

Again, could be a lateral move, and questionable whether Buf would go for it, but that's what I'd do if GM!I don't think Drury likes to play for western Canada teams. Remember when he went to Calgary and he looked so pouty... kinda came across to me at least as though he was just sent to prison.

If I were GM:
2) Find some veteran character. Chris Clark and Jamal Mayers are two gritty, tireless veteran guys stuck on brutal teams, who I'm sure could be moved for the right price. And both have low salaries. Exactly the type of player we need more of. Overpay in terms of draft picks/prospects if need be. I'd give up a #2 pick for either of those guys in a heartbeat.

A move like this is much easier to make than moving a core player, and we're not going to get value back for guys like Morrison and Cloutier (overpaid) or Jovanovski (impending UFA).


That won't work unless they dump salary though. Even though Mayers & Clark only make $700-900K, that would put the Canucks over (or at least extremely close to going over) the cap if they just gave up picks and prospects.

Nonis may have to cut his losses and not get "fair value" for someone like Cloutier or Morrison just so he can get the cap space to make moves to improve the team. :( It's really apparent now that those "small" overpayments of $500K or so on those contracts really handcuffs them.

That won't work unless they dump salary though. Even though Mayers & Clark only make $700-900K, that would put the Canucks over (or at least extremely close to going over) the cap if they just gave up picks and prospects.

Nonis may have to cut his losses and not get "fair value" for someone like Cloutier or Morrison just so he can get the cap space to make moves to improve the team. :( It's really apparent now that those "small" overpayments of $500K or so on those contracts really handcuffs them.

Clark makes $689k, Mayers $900k.

Sending McCarthy to the AHL and calling up Bieksa clears $310k in cap room. Enough to more than cover the difference in salary between Clark and Goren, and almost enough to cover the difference between Mayers and Goren.

And as I said, I'm not opposed to the idea of dealing Park, if we can find a grittier guy who can fill the same role.

_________

But yeah, those overpayments to Cloutier and Morrison are killing us. Although you can't really mention those unless you counter it by mentioning the killer deals Nonis got on Salo and Ohlund.

I'll tell u whats gonna happen..
Nothing will happen.
Nonis was Burke's lil b!@ch or Burkie II.

another thing is the value of our players.

Morrison is absolutly worthless as 1st line center at this point. If we trade him we need legimate #1 to fill his spot on 1st and we WILL NOT.. i repeat WILL NOT get something decent to fill that spot.

Jovo is a very talented offensively gifted also very overrated D whos UFA after this season. With the current situation with the sedins, they will not be able to afford jovo. the GMs probably know that the canucks wont be able to keep him.

Bertuzzi is probably the only guy who Keenan supposely got a real hard on for. Problem is who is going to man the RW on 1st line then???
can we get a legimate #1 RW and get something else just as good?
Imo, if bert is being pakaged it will have to be goaltending upgrade and we wont get RW as good as bert and if we dont, we dont get #1 line RW.

Cloutier is no brainer. Just about anybody who watches him knows his 30+ wins have alot to do with the prime years of WCE and high octane offensive system that successfully outscored opponents. Hes also the worst post season goaltender who can't perform mentally or physically.


do we need a trade? i absolutly believe so. the system doesn't work for em in the playoffs. the players are playing without determination/fire/will during regular season.
But, they aren't much of trade bait at this point and we wont get enough in return.

what does this leave us with?
years of no cup in the future and heading down the road of rebuildling in a few.

This team is adverse to risks. Nonis likes to play it safe... Crow likes to keep things safe with the lineup he knows... Great teams have balls, we simply don't! Colorado takes constant risks with player pickups... Ottawa has done the same in their coaching situation, despite Martin having a lot more success, in every way, than Crow has had here... Philly, Detroit... all these teams take risks to improve.

...

The great teams - they'll take a chance on a 40YO Stanley Cup winning goalie... they'll replace their regular season successful coach... they'll make a major shakeup by dealing their best player.

The canucks - they extend the coach's contract after losing in the first round... they'll go into a new season giving raises to guys like Cloutier... they'll trade assets for players that don't bring any intangible we need, while assuming that somehow those intangibles will address themselves.

Normally I agree with much of what you write, but this time I don't. I don't think Colorado takes more risks than the Nucks. Bringing Linden back, going for the Sedin twins, trying Carter, getting Park, keeping Brookbank -- the recent history of the team suggests we're no different than other teams, and no different than the Avs.

Also, the better teams have a solid core of (fairly) indispensible players. Take a look at Detroit and New Jersey, or what the Bolts and Flames have been building over the last couple of seasons.

The only way we are different from the other contenders is that our core is not gritty. (Tampa's isn't either but Lecavalier and Richards and St. Louis are simply better and more consistent than the Nucks top three. And we'll see what that team does in April and May without the security of Khabibulin.)

I will say this about the Avs: they draft well. And their workrate -- in the games I've seen this year -- is greater than the Nucks'.

Normally I agree with much of what you write, but this time I don't. I don't think Colorado takes more risks than the Nucks. Bringing Linden back, going for the Sedin twins, trying Carter, getting Park, keeping Brookbank -- the recent history of the team suggests we're no different than other teams, and no different than the Avs.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying here, but how are any of those risks? Colorado has always taken risks, trading picks/prospects for Theo Fleury, trading picks/prospects for Rob Blake, trading for Patrick Roy(not really a risk, but a sacrifice of young talent). The Canucks have yet to make any big move regarding their core, so far it's been status quo, and IMO, that is their biggest downfall. Someone mentioned that the Canucks have a country club atmosphere, I agree with this wholeheartedly. The Canucks of a team have really had nothing to own up to. IMO, Nonis has to threaten the team and coaching staff that if they don't improve, changes will be made.

If you were the Canucks GM, what would you to to improve/change this team?
Trades? Fire the Coach?

I'd lower the price on Beer and popcorn at the consession stands.

Normally I agree with much of what you write, but this time I don't. I don't think Colorado takes more risks than the Nucks. Bringing Linden back, going for the Sedin twins, trying Carter, getting Park, keeping Brookbank -- the recent history of the team suggests we're no different than other teams, and no different than the Avs.

Also, the better teams have a solid core of (fairly) indispensible players. Take a look at Detroit and New Jersey, or what the Bolts and Flames have been building over the last couple of seasons.

The only way we are different from the other contenders is that our core is not gritty. (Tampa's isn't either but Lecavalier and Richards and St. Louis are simply better and more consistent than the Nucks top three. And we'll see what that team does in April and May without the security of Khabibulin.)

I will say this about the Avs: they draft well. And their workrate -- in the games I've seen this year -- is greater than the Nucks'.

when was the last time the canucks made a blockbuster deal at the deadline? Or how about dealing key players to improve in other areas?

Looking at Colorado - you can go back to the Roy trade, the Fleury trade, the Blake trade, the Morris trade - and when that didn't work out, they traded him for Vaananen and Gratton.... this is a team that has won the division title 10 consecutive times, and still made these moves during these years. The canucks, meanwhile, have been happy standing pat, instead of trying to put their team over the top (with the exception of last season, but those deadline moves were made more to replace Bertuzzi, than adding to the team).

Jersey goes out and adds a deadline player like Mogilny and heads to the Cup. Detroit has never been shy to add players in the offseason.... Ottawa - when regular season success alone wasn't enough for them, they moved Hossa and signed Hasek - both bigger risks than the canucks would ever take. TBay did trade for Khabibulin - giving up a couple of key future assets in Mara and Johnson.

Clark makes $689k, Mayers $900k.

Sending McCarthy to the AHL and calling up Bieksa clears $310k in cap room. Enough to more than cover the difference in salary between Clark and Goren, and almost enough to cover the difference between Mayers and Goren.


Ok fair enough, I wasn't considering those moves being made in tandem.

As an aside, when was the last time the Canucks actually traded one of their roster players? I was thinking about this today. Was it Jan Hlavac in the Malik deal? Because I haven't been able to think of anyone else. As far as I can remember, every trade they've made since then has been either draft picks or minor prospects.

If I'm right that's pretty incredible - over 2 seasons now where not a single roster player has been traded. I wonder how much that has to do with the complacency that seems to exist on the team right now.

Ok fair enough, I wasn't considering those moves being made in tandem.

As an aside, when was the last time the Canucks actually traded one of their roster players? I was thinking about this today. Was it Jan Hlavac in the Malik deal? Because I haven't been able to think of anyone else. As far as I can remember, every trade they've made since then has been either draft picks or minor prospects.

If I'm right that's pretty incredible - over 2 seasons now where not a single roster player has been traded. I wonder how much that has to do with the complacency that seems to exist on the team right now.

Uh, Brent Sopel? :)

But yeah, the last players-for-players deal was Hlavac and Druken for Malik. Unless you count Martin Grenier going to the Rangers in the Martin Rucinsky deal.

Uh, Brent Sopel? :)

But yeah, the last players-for-players deal was Hlavac and Druken for Malik. Unless you count Martin Grenier going to the Rangers in the Martin Rucinsky deal.

Don't forget Langdon, he was the key to that deal.
Yeah I forgot Sopel, I guess just cause we got a draft pick back.