Comments on: Interesting: Canucks GM Mike Gillis took in today’s Caps-Pens game

By: leepetertk

leepetertk — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:15:23 +0000

Read #6 of Elliotte Friedman’s 30 thoughts
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/opinion/2012/04/luongo-trade-talk-30-thoughts.html

Kassian, Sutter, Carlson, Gudbranson, Clifford.

On the hotstove after the trade, Friedman said the Leafs called, but the Canucks said they were not interested in anything the Leafs had in return for Hodgson (ruling out Gardiner).

The Canucks were looking for a player who had potential and could play on the team now (ruling out Bjudstad… for this trade). They also wanted a player still on their entry level contract, preferably with plenty of years left (ruling out Bogosian). I think Jamie Benn was far too established to be a viable trade candidate for Hodgson.

By: colby7

colby7 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:45:18 +0000

I’ve always wandered who his “5 or 6 good young players” that he would have traded Hodgson for were. Obviously he was being semi realistic, Heres my list:

Bogosian
Benn
Bugstad (Florida)
Gardiner
Kassian
Carlson?

If Brooks Laich was skating that game I would consider him too, he would be a perfect second line center on the Canucks.

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:25:04 +0000

definitely no team in the west. i could see toronto, fla, washington making it happen though

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:23:43 +0000

johansen sucks, you would have to add a 1st round draft pick to that trade because he isnt worth crap.

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:21:41 +0000

i would bet he was there to see kundratek. kundratek hasnt been very good but he is young with a lot of upside. i dont think he wants carlson’s contract though. gonna want orlov or kundratek, maybe a 2nd or 3rd round pick with one of those guys and a deal is made for schneider. caps are desperate to shake things up. holtby goes back down, neuvirth gets some pressure to play better and then it becomes a holtby vs neuvirth competition for backup – one of them could end up being trade bait later.

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:33:22 +0000

caps have nowhere to go but up. backstrom looks dreadful, that whiff on the 2 on 1 he had was pathetic yesterday, he isnt passing well either despite the 5 or 6 assists he has this year. wonder if the neck is stiff. they are missing laich big time, they have no 3rd line with perreault or johansen – they are terrible. this is the perfect example of a time where your superstars are paid to pull your team through and they arent delivering. guys like ward, brouwer, chimera – while playing well now – are supposed to be that supplementary scoring to get you to a manageable 3rd period lead, not carry the team – you cant expect wins when those guys are the ones with the most production. cant complain about ribiero – he is giving everything he is supposed to

By: trick9

trick9 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:29:28 +0000

Such a shame… I don’t really want any trades involving Vancouver. Nothing against the team but we need big physical d-men and high draft-picks.

Only trade that could work between these teams would be Johansson to Vancouver in exchange of Luongo. Sure Luongo is better but he has that terrible contract and Johansson would fit well in that speedy system Vancouver uses… and hes had a terrible start for Washington so far.

By: jdd428

jdd428 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:46:04 +0000

They should not trade Luongo. He’s the hotter goalie and it makes sense to keep two top-level goalies this season. No other team is willing to give Vancouver enough talent to justify trading either goalie.

By: thehighcountrybear

thehighcountrybear — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:58:52 +0000

That’s probably why he looks like he just woke up…?

By: grimlock410

grimlock410 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:42:15 +0000

To 19to77, Ovi was number 5 in goals last year. You should at least try to know what you are talking about before you post.

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:27:06 +0000

who says they wouldnt trade schneider? luongo is playing well, no one wants his contract – schneider is worth a good amount of value and people could actually afford him. imagine the canucks trading for brouwer…lol…and orlov or kutnetsov or kundratek throw in a draft pick and you got a deal that meets everyone’s needs and wallets.

By: ikillchicken

ikillchicken — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:09:26 +0000

Yeah, right now they have that luxury. They can afford a bad (or at least excessive) contract or two. Because right now the cap sits at an astounding 70M. It’s gonna go down almost 6M though. Plus, the Canucks have to deal with major raises for long underpaid players Burrows and Edler. That’ll be another 4M+. Going forward we don’t just need to maintain our current level. We actually need to clear cap space (Probably about 10M) and that’s without taking anything in return. Thus, five 4-5M defencemen becomes a luxury we can’t possibly afford.

Although that said, I’ll admit that it is very perplexing as to who Gillis is scouting if not Carlson. It would obviously have to be a roster player and not a prospect. The most obvious choice would be a center though and I’m not sure Washington has one to give up. They’re not very deep there and might already lose Ribero next year (especially if they take one Luongo’s big contract).

By: leepetertk

leepetertk — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 03:49:43 +0000

well right now they are living with 5 defencemen making 4-5 million. Add Carlson and subtract Ballard and that is basically the same amount of dollars.

I’m not saying this will happen, but I think Carlson is the player Gillis covets from the Caps. He is scouting somebody from that team and I think it is Carlson.

By: ikillchicken

ikillchicken — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:59:50 +0000

I don’t know. If they trade Lu and get rid of Ballard AND cut loose any more expensive depth players then perhaps they might be able to add Carlson for this year and next. But it just doesn’t make sense to commit to five different defencemen long term all at $4-5 Mil though. It’s going to end up costing us big time when we have to resign guys like Kassian or maybe even the Sedins.

By: leepetertk

leepetertk — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:11:47 +0000

They would not have to move anybody else this year because they would be sending Luongo back the other way. In the summer, Ballard would have to be bought out for salary cap (and past performance) reasons.

The Canucks would be tight to the salary cap next year regardless of removing or keeping Luongo. Many in the bottom six are free agents and they cannot all return with pay raises.

By: ikillchicken

ikillchicken — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:40:07 +0000

That’s an interesting thought. Carlson would be a great fit. But I just don’t know if the Canucks can afford to add another $4 Mil plus defenceman though. We’re already going to have to buy out Ballard next year just to get under the cap. To add another guy I think we’d pretty much have to move someone else. Who though? It’s not gonna be Edler obviously and everyone else has a NTC.

By: pens919209

pens919209 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:24:43 +0000

I think the fact that you read something on hockeybuzz.com pretty much refutes anything you have to say.

But really, why in the world would the Canucks give up both Kesler and Luongo for Ovechkin? That just makes their team weaker… and Ovechkin has been on a pretty steady downward trend the last few years.

By: ikillchicken

ikillchicken — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:21:15 +0000

How on earth do you come to that conclusion? It remains to be seen how good the Caps will be but if anything they’ll only get better and better as time goes on. Don’t forget that they’re an incredibly young team. They’ve got a ton of talent and potential on defence but all from guys who are only in their early 20s and are still finding their way. Same goes for goaltending. We’ll see how Holtby and Neuvirth work out but they’ll only get better as they mature. And even established guys like Ovechkin, Backstrom and Green are only in their mid 20s and still have room to grow as players. Again, I’m not saying they’re going to turn into a dominant team but there’s absolutely no way they’re “dropping off”.

By: 19to77

19to77 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:51:49 +0000

He hasn’t been for the last two, but go ahead and keep dreaming that Ovechkin’s still even half that good if it helps you sleep at night.

By: leepetertk

leepetertk — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:46:54 +0000

I think Gillis highly covets John Carlson. He was one of the players that he wanted in return for Cody Hodgson. Carlson really solidifies the Canucks defensive pairings as they could move Edler back to his natural side.(Ballard would be the odd-man out in this situation). In addition, Gillis has always talked about defensemen who can contribute offensively. Carlson has demonstrated ability to put up offensive numbers.

I think a Van-Wsh trade would have a few other moving parts (i.e. draft picks, depth forwards, one of Wsh goaltenders, etc…)

By: nunan

nunan — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:41:49 +0000

Sick of this Luongo stuff.

By: bigbadbruins77

bigbadbruins77 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:33:31 +0000

I told you the Bruins were only improving and the caps are dropping off

By: uscthom78

uscthom78 — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:04:05 +0000

This trade would be riot if made.

By: live4hockey

live4hockey — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:02:19 +0000

Caps won’t trade Ovi…he puts butts in seats for the Ted.

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:38:11 +0000

Yea who needs an elite winger who will be top 5 in scoring every year

By: stakex

stakex — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:35:02 +0000

The point that everyone keeps missing is that its not just Ovechkin thats playing bad for the Caps…. its everyone. In that kind of situation, where all your stars are mis-firing its either the GM or coach who ends up getting fired.

Though Ovechkin getting out of the mess that has become the Caps organization would probably be the best possible thing that could happen to him.

By: thesableo

thesableo — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:01:12 +0000

This may not be the right article for this, but is anyone else totally baffled by Gillis’ negotiation tactics? It’s like he’s trying to give the impression that there are a TON of teams fighting for Luongo…which makes me think it’s probably just Toronto, and he’s trying to make them sweat.
I don’t know, maybe his genius is just beyond me. At any rate the Canucks are doing fine for now.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:25:10 +0000

Beat me to it.

By: cspsrbums

cspsrbums — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:05:04 +0000

Time to move GMGM had a decent team together under BB with plenty of young talent down in the AHL and he slowly year by year destroyed the caps an their near future with his horrible moves and Shultz I still on the team.

By: rushledger

rushledger — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:03:09 +0000

I don’t think that Ovi is on the block but I’m sure the GM there is at least playing with the idea in his mind. 4 points in 9 games is awful for what he’s getting paid this can’t keep up.