Dhaliwal: Canucks ‘working the phones’ to improve team
Earlier today, Vancouver Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal reported that he heard the Canucks are working the phone to reward the players for their strong start, and actively looking to make the roster better. The Canucks seem to have struck gold with their earlier trade for Mark Friedman, and it would appear they want to double down and make another move.
Right-shot defense is a perpetuated need for Vancouver, because even though Friedman has mostly excelled, Tyler Myers and Noah Juulsen have not. Friedman replaced Juulsen after some costly early struggles, and if the Canucks had more options, Myers would be in that same boat.
The Calgary Flames might be willing to start selling their pending free agents after an abysmal start to their season, and the Canucks would love to bring their former defenseman Chris Tanev back home. As a rock-solid right-shot defender, Tanev would cost a pretty penny given the amount of teams that could use his services. At the same time, he’ll soon turn 34 years old and is on an expiring contract at the moment.
Depth scoring has also been an issue for the Canucks to start this season; Pius Suter and Anthony Beauvillier are both without goals, and while Dakota Joshua has scored one, he appears to have gotten benched by head coach Rick Tocchet. The Philadelphia Flyers have benched embattled forward Morgan Frost for several games already, and even though he recently drew back into their lineup, it could very well be part of a plan to rehab his trade value.
Whatever the Canucks might do, they’ve had Lady Luck on their side during their last few trades. Filip Hronek has been an absolute stud since coming over from the Detroit Red Wings, and Friedman has held down the fort behind him. Casey DeSmith has also been nothing but reliable as Thatcher Demko’s understudy so far.
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There hasn’t been any concrete rumors about any player in particular yet, but the stove is starting to heat up in Vancouver. The Canucks are definitely a team to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.