VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks have few needs heading into the NHL trade deadline but general manager Mike Gillis still has some important decisions to make.
The first surrounds backup goaltender Cory Schneider. Gillis must decide whether to keep the coveted 25-year-old American for the regular-season stretch drive and playoffs or trade him now and get a good return. By dealing him now, Gillis risks not having a capable replacement in case No. 1 Roberto Luongo gets hurt or struggles in the playoffs like he did last season.
The Canucks would have to get a proven backup in return. Gillis has indicated he would prefer to hang on to Schneider, but several teams, including the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs, have pressing goaltending needs and may make a deal worthwhile.
Schneider’s departure from Vancouver is considered inevitable anyway, because Luongo has a decade to go on his contract. Meanwhile, Schneider is due to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season and can command a significant increase of the US$ 900,000 he will make this season.
But Gillis is in a virtual no-lose situation. Since Schneider is due to become a restricted free agent, Vancouver has the right to match any offer from another team and can then sign and trade him, or let him go as a free agent and get a lucrative compensation package.
The Canucks’ more pressing needs are similar to those of most other clubs — a veteran defenceman and a power forward. Vancouver’s blue-line corps has not displayed the same depth as it did last season, when a plethora of injuries had few negative repercussions.
This season, the Canucks have had fewer injuries among defencemen, but following the departure of Christian Erhoff as a free agent to Buffalo, they no longer have an excess of rearguards that can play top-four minutes.
The Canucks also have a shortage of consistent right-handed defencemen, prompting the recent recall of second-year pro Chris Tanev, 22, from the minors. Keith Ballard’s neck/head injury has also created uncertainty, while Andrew Alberts has become a bit part after rejuvenating his career last season.
Coach Alain Vigneault said Tanev was also inserted in the lineup so management could evaluate players — namely defencemen — and consider their trade options before Monday’s deadline. Aside from Alberts, rarely used Alexander Sulzer, who has spent most of his career in the minors, or journeyman Aaron Rome, the Canucks do not have obvious veteran defence candidates to move.
Gillis must decide whether he wants to make pending unrestricted free-agents Sami Salo and Rome available so he gets something tangible for them. Otherwise, he risks losing the vets to free agency and getting nothing in return.
Up front, the Canucks could use another winger to help shore up the third and fourth lines. As a result of the departure of Raffi Torres to Phoenix as a free agent last summer, Vigneault said the team has lacked two distinct offensive lines and a strong checking unit that can play against the opposition’s top forwards.
“If you look at our template from last year, which was pretty effective, we had two offensive lines with Hank Sedin and Ryan Kesler and a real strong line with Manny (Malhotra) and whoever would play with him,” said Vigneault. “Most of the time it was Jannik (Hansen) and Raffi (Torres), and that enabled me to play them head-to-head against one of the other team’s top lines, which freed up either (Kesler’s line) or (Henrik Sedin’s line) to play against a third or fourth line. When we’re capable of doing that, it can make it real challenging for the opposition.
“So we’re still trying to figure out where the pieces fit, whether that’s the ideal way of doing things or if there is something else out there.”
An injury to winger Byron Bitz, who missed almost two full seasons due to abdominal and hip injuries before joining the Canucks earlier this month, may prompt a change in trade-deadline strategy. Bitz is viewed as a solution to a perceived lack of toughness that hurt the Canucks in the playoffs last season, but he had missed three games with a sore hip before returning to the lineup for Friday’s game at New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Mason Raymond has been the subject of trade speculation. The speedy left winger produced eight points in his first nine games back from a career-threatening back injury, only to see his offence dry up since then.
However, Vigneault appears willing to use him in a different role, primarily as a third-line energy player and penalty-killer.
The health of Chris Higgins, who has missed significant time because of foot and hand infections and an adverse reaction to antibiotics used to treat them, could also convince Gillis to make a deal. Higgins, who recently returned to action, can be used in an offensive and defensive role and would be sorely missed if he is out for another stretch without an adequate replacement.
A deadline trade involving a veteran has to be evaluated extensively beforehand, because it poses a risk to a team’s chemistry at a sensitive time in the season. Winger Alex Burrows does not see a need for the club to do much following the acquisition of winger David Booth from Florida in October.
“We feel really good with the group we have,” said Burrows. “We feel we can beat anyone in this league, and if everybody’s healthy, we’re a really good team.”
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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