Canucks News: Sedins Must Be Traded, Rebuild a Long Road Ahead
Vancouver Canucks fans and media are all-in on the rebuild. If management and ownership are, too, we can expect more big moves to happen in the future.
Following the 2017 NHL trade deadline, there is only one relevant topic in British Columbia: the Vancouver Canucks’ rebuild.
Luckily, it’s officially started.
Alex Burrows may have scored twice in his debut with the Ottawa Senators and a healthy Jannik Hansen is all we wanted on the twins’ right wing, but we are happy with what the Canucks got.
Hence, today’s daily news edition is all about the rebuild, with lots of great content out there.
Canucks Top Top Prospect List
Ryan Kennedy (The Hockey News) — The Top 10 Prospects Moved on Trade Deadline Day
"The trade deadline is as much about the future as it is about the present, with draft picks and prospects representing hope for the teams shedding NHL players. Those assets contain loads of potential, but naturally, to varying degrees. So which NHL franchises gave themselves a leg up on the future before the deadline passed? Here’s a look at the top-10 prospects that were dealt. The top players on this list have the highest ceilings, in my opinion, so older assets who may already be on their way to careers in the AHL are ranked near the bottom."
The list of players with the highest ceilings is topped by the two newest Vancouver Canucks — Jonathan Dahlen and Nikolay Goldobin.
To be fair, they were the only real blue-chip prospects traded; the rest is mostly “could-make-it-one-day” players. Still, seeing Vancouver at the top indicates that GM Jim Benning made the right moves.
Related Story: Get to Know Jonathan Dahlen!
He could have settled for youngish bottom-six NHLers, but acquired a former first-round pick and an early second-rounder from last year instead. Great job, Jim!
Horvat Happy to Carry the Team
Ben Kuzma (Vancouver Sun) — Horvat to Carry Transition Torch in Canucks’ Youth Movement
"The Canucks have made room for Nikita Tyamkin and Troy Stecher, and have signalled the arrival of the improved Brendan Gaunce. All three are 22. They’ll have Nikolay Goldobin, 21, and Brock Boeser, 20, and hopefully a mature and motivated Jake Virtanen, 20, next season.It’s also not a stretch to suggest that Olli Juolevi, 18, will be fast-tracked and developed at the NHL level and that red-hot NCAA sniper Adam Gaudette, 20, who has 25 goals in 33 games at Northeastern, has been taking major leaps in his development.All this is comforting Bo Horvat."
Every rebuilding team has a Sidney Crosby, a Jonathan Toews, a Taylor Hall or a Gabriel Landeskog. I am not talking about a future superstar, but rather a young leader. Someone who seems old because he’s been around for so long although he’s actually just turned 23.
For the Canucks, that guy can be Bo Horvat.
We don’t know how much exactly Horvat has left in his tank, but if the 2016-17 season is any indication, the 21-year-old has top-line potential. Plus, he is the kind of leader a team wants, and it shouldn’t be long before he gets a letter sewn on his jersey.
The Sedins will always be the face (yes, I used the singular here on purpose as it really is the same face) of the franchise. But Horvat is ready to be next.
Long Road Ahead
Daniel Wagner (Vancouver Courier) — Canucks May Be Rebuilding, but Have a Long Road Ahead
"If you look at the Leafs this season, their resurgence has been driven by not just Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander (a trio of forward prospects likely better than any in the Canucks system save Boeser), but also rookies Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, and Nikita Zaitsev. Brown was a sixth round pick, Hyman a fifth round pick, and Zaitsev was undrafted."
If there is one thing we learned from the Edmonton Oilers in the past decade, it is that rebuilding teams need more than a few first-overall picks. A generational talent like Crosby or Connor McDavid can be enough to take a team to the playoffs, but even then you need a strong supporting cast.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a great example for how a rebuild works. Accumulate draft picks and get as many prospects as possible. In Toronto’s former and Vancouver’s current situation, that will lead to a few top-five picks (or higher), but the later rounds are at least as important.
Some prospects work out, others don’t. So, collecting as many picks and prospects as possible is the only way to ensure that you will eventually have a strong roster overall.
Trading the Twins
Matt Larkin (The Hockey News) — If Canucks Are Finally Rebuilding – Trade the Sedins at 2018 Deadline
"Vancouver fans have to hope the Sedins hunger enough for a championship to make themselves available via trade if and when the team falls out of contention again next winter. They have to hope Benning and president Trevor Linden are done hedging their bets and ready to accept life as a basement dweller for the sake of long-term betterment. The franchise may have ushered in that era this week. It’s too early to know for sure, however. The fan base can only cross their collective fingers."
Yes, we’re going there again. Well, Matt Larkin is, anyway.
Should the Sedins be traded? Do they deserve to be traded? It’s a difficult question.
Had the Canucks won Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, the twins could happily play for the Canucks for as long as they want. But, they didn’t.
Because of that, there might still be that hunger for greater success. That, along with the fact that the twins are smart men who understand the importance of a rebuild, might allow the Canucks to trade them eventually.
Would that be better than keeping them around on cheap one-year contracts to play on the third line, though? Is trading the twins really a necessary step in the rebuild? Wouldn’t the Canucks profit from having veterans like the Sedins in the lineup — and the locker room?
Next: How Jim Benning Won the 2017 Deadline
Honestly, I don’t know the answers to those questions.
But I fully expect the twins to retire as Canucks.