Not much Canucks talk going on here and I know why, all this losing can be depressing. I think that the Canucks are in good shape going forward, so I'm not too worried about our position within the league but I am growing a bit concerned about whether or not the moves required to right the ship will be made by this management group.
I believe that they made the right decision regarding their goalies..... well at least somewhat. Although I saw the talent in Schneider, I also saw a goalie who is terrible at playing the puck and although he stole many games he never stole a game that mattered. For them to buyout Luongo's contract and pay Schneider among the top 5 or 10 goalies in the league on a longterm contract would have worried me. They really should have traded Schneider immediately after losing to LA in the first round in 2012. Schneider went 1 and 1 in games 4 and 5 of that series and finished the season in net while Luongo watched from the bench, every team in the league took notice and if Schneider was actively shopped at the 2012 NHL draft, I'm sure they would have gotten significant offers. Not to mention, by sending out Schneider and effectively emptying the pipeline behind Luongo would have been a huge boost to Luongo's fragile ego. Speaking of which, it seems that the Canucks were'nt sold on Luongo long term either and although his long term cap hit made him the 10th or so highest paid goalie in the league their lack of faith in either of their goalies made them stumble. Luongo asked to be traded because it "looked" like Schneider was their goalie of the future and Canucks management did nothing to either confirm or deny this as being true. So they tried to trade Luongo and the 11 years remaining on his contract, just after he had been outplayed and surpassed by an unproven young goalie. They couldn't find a team willing to pay up for him and sat tight until they were forced to trade Schneider a year later at the 2013 draft. Luongo was still unhappy with the situation and they finally worked out a trade with the Panthers after their blue chip goalie prospect took a big step back this season. Even after this whole debacle, The Canucks came out of it with a fantastic prospect in Bo Horvat who is poised to become one of the better 2nd line centermen in the NHL in a few years. They also took on Florida's unfinished project in Markstrom who only a year ago was thought by many to be a sure fire starter in the NHL and a serviceable young center in Matthias who is happy to play in a hockey market like Vancouver. All in all not bad...... considering.
Now the Canucks have options in net. They have two young goalies who have a chance of emerging as a starting goalie in the NHL, or they might go after one of the free agent goalies that will become available this summer.
This year the Canucks really stumbled, and as a fan, I'm glad they did. They could have been a bit healthier and limped into the playoffs but there was really no chance for them to get past the likes of St. Louis, Chicago, LA, Anaheim or San Jose. No chance for them to win a cup in 2014. If they did make the playoffs and god forbid even won a round in the playoffs against say Colorado or Minnesota only to get clobbered by a better team in the 2nd round they might have some sense that they are still close. Missing the playoffs altogether is the best thing that could have happened this year because it forces the entire organization to re-evaluate.
Trading two or three veterans is the best way for this team to transition. They probably need to replace the Coach, some will say the GM as well but I for some reason still believe that Gillis is capable of making schrewd trades although I cringe as I write that because of the way things were handled regarding Luongo and Schneider. Room needs to be made for a new generation of Canucks and the Sedins are staying whether us fans like it or not. It is clear that Kessler has to be traded and I believe that Edler should as well. Hamhuis, Bieksa, Garrison and Tanev are a solid top 4. Not fantastic but solid. Edler would be a better defenceman on a different team and would command a large return as defencemen of hos caliber almost never become available in todays NHL.
If it was up to me I would certianly trade Both Kessler and Edler. So what would I look for in return? I would try to get two great pieces rather than several decent ones. The rumors of Pittsburg offering Sutter, Depres and a late 1st don't excite me. Edler played very well when paired with Karlsson in the Olympics and why wouldn't Ottawa jump at trying to acquire Alex Edler but would they give up Zibanejad for him? Hard to say. What about this: Buffalo looks like they will have one of the top two picks and probably will have the Islanders top 5 pick as well. Would Buffalo trade their two top 5 picks for two eltablished NHL players? Both of them under 30 years old and former allstars remember. It sure would help the sabers immediately and would take a lot of pressure off their young core players already in place. I'm not sure the Canuck would even do this but as a guy who follows the team, I would love it. two picks in the top five and three in the top 11 or 12 would be a huge add for the Canucks prospect pool. Moving Kessler and Edler out along with buying out or trading Booth would really open up some spots for emerging talent. The Sedins can't carry this team by themselves, they never could.