With the lottery out of the way, what is on your Vancouver Canucks offseason bucket list?
What a month of April it was for the Vancouver Canucks! The Canucks were able to stock up on young talent through the acquisitions of top NCAA free agents, defenseman Troy Stecher and netminder Michael Garteig. Great hockey stories too — what a way to come back home for the Richmond native and the Prince George native!
And now, here is May. What can possibly excite non-playoff hockey fans in May? Here is your survival guide for the month!
Signings Tracker: Drake Caggiula and Dan Hamhuis
With Stecher and Garteig out of the way and providing solid depth for the Canucks, now is the time to sweep the NCAA ranks and take the biggest fish out there — left winger Drake Caggiula. A decision seems to be imminent.
Caggiula was in Van City just last week. Jim Benning seems to have linked Brock Boeser and Stecher — both North Dakota products — to the discussion in attempts of luring Caggiula over to the west coast.
I like Vancouver’s chances here. Besides the fact that former ND coach Ron Hextall is now a Philadelphia Flyers coach, I don’t see too much competition that would deter Caggiula from coming to re-kindle his chemistry with Boeser here in Vancouver.
And of course, let none forget the case of Dan Hamhuis. Jim Benning has not talked too extensively with the pending free agent while hopes are that the veteran defender will stay with the Canucks and fill out what is shaping up to be a very crowded — and perhaps very potent — 2016-17 blueline in Vancouver.
IIHF World Championships
It is here, the 2016 World Championships. The world’s finest ice hockey players will gather from all over the world, unless they are injured, tired, or simply too good of players that they are still competing in the playoffs.
On that note, the inclusion of Finn Patrik Laine to the national team seems to have cost a Canuck a spot in the lineup.
Markus Granlund didn't make the Finnish national team for the worlds. #Canucks
— Tommi Seppälä (@TommiSeppala) May 1, 2016
And Bo Horvat, rumored to be making the trip to Russia for Team Canada, has yet to be seen. More to come, and soon, as the round robin play begins Friday, May 6th.
Here are highlights from last year’s tournament to get you hyped for the tournament. Let us bemoan the lack of Canucks content here.
Before we head to Russia let's look at the best 10 goals from the 2015 #IIHFWorlds! Which one was your favourite?https://t.co/Z2EnMG6cSY
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 2, 2016
This year, however, the Canucks will be well represented at the Worlds. Chris Tanev, Ben Hutton, Thatcher Demko, Jannik Hansen, and even Ronalds Kenins seem to be making the trip oversees.
We will have complete coverage of this year’s tournament. Stay tuned.
The Aftermath
So the Canucks are picking fifth overall, eh? The aftermath of the lottery is sure going to be interesting. Benning was on the morning show on TSN1040 on Monday and had this to say about this year’s draft class:
So it will now be up to the Edmonton Oilers, who are dangling their fourth-overall pick big time. Regardless of who the Oilers draft, the Canucks will likely now draft a forward.
Most likely candidates, should they remain, are Logan Brown, Matthew Tkachuk, and Pierre Luc-Dubois. The Canucks may look to make a trade to go up, go down, or to add more picks.
Next: Mock Draft 1.0: The Post Lottery Mess
The playoffs are creating quite the havoc, too. With the firing of Bruce Boudreau and the potential of a Milan Lucic signing making quite the financial mess in Los Angeles, the Canucks will be exploring all their options.
Here’s to a great month of May! June is going to be madness!