[Rumor] Bieksa on the move

[angus]

Carolina is heavy after him.

I\'ve been busy working today so haven\'t been on the ball.

[repenttokyo]

i heard tsn say the same thing, in the sense that they had mentioned cole, williams and ruutu for him. i wouldn\'t be sad to see ruutu go.

[kovalchuk17]

im hoping justin williams.

[ridinryan44]

Oh man... wtf am I gonna do with my Bieksa jersey? I\'d hate to see him go, but he\'d get decent rreturn... I\'d love to see Williams in Van, but not Cole. If anything I\'d like to see Tuuomo and Williams!!!!!

Williams and Ryder would be some great depth in Vancouver1!!!!

[joos]

Would Bieksa moving to CAR change his value?

[Chicleteur]

If this trade happen and if it\'s Williams, do you think he\'ll play with the Sedin? Any impact on his numbers?

Bieksa only had one solid year and was injured most of last year, so it\'s really hard to tell if his value will change, but I can see him doing good thing in CAR.

[repenttokyo]

kovalchuk17 wrote:

im hoping justin williams.

he\'s my favourite cane, so i hope not!

[hockeylifer]

I hope this trade happens. I like Bieksa and his game but Vancouver needs to get some quality forwards. Cole, Ruutu, and Williams would fit nicely. I appreciate that Ruutu has been \'bandaid\' but he is due to turn it around.

[angus]

Bobby Mac said that there as been a ton of interest in Bieksa and he wouldn\'t be surprised to see him move before July 1. I really like Bieksa\'s game but Vancouver needs scoring.

Judging by the return of a very similar d-man (Keith Ballard), the Canucks can look forward to a very nice return.

[joos]

I think on most teams tho, Bieksa\'s value will decrease since he wasn\'t really a great PP quaterback and just that VAN was really thin on the blueline during that time. Or any I way off on this one?

[The Comish]

Bang on joos. My question is who would step up and replace Bieksa in Van? Salo is seemingly always missing 20+ games a year. I would think Bieksa is worth his weight in gold.

Trade that young goalie everyone keeps talking about - Schneider, I think his name is.

When you play a defensive game, shouldn\'t you keep some banging D around?

Ohlund, Salo, Mitchell, Edler, Krajicek, Miller. That\'s it? One injury will be devastating for the blue line corps.

Don\'t the Nucks have to replace two top six forwards in Naslund and Morrison? Could be a rough year on the left coast.

[angelofharlem]

As a Canucks fan, I\'m not sure why everyone talks about their great depth on D. Last year, injuries on D led to their undoing, and they don\'t have that many guys to step in when the top 6 go down. Especially after losing Bourdon, I just don\'t see the depth. Trading Bieksa isn\'t the solution to the scoring woes. I say open the vault for Hossa.

[hockeylifer]

I do consider that the goaltending and defence is the strength of the Canucks. Their best asset for a trade is probably a defenceman or Schneider. They probably are of the opinion that Schneider has just started to get his form and if they were to trade him now, they would not get fair value. I could see them moving Bieksa.

I really hope they don\'t go after the likes of Demitra and Hossa, but I think they will. Personally I think those \'unrestricted\' free agent investments are seldom worthwhile. Player signs for big coin and is no longer motivated, or the contract is to long and extends to the point where the player is in the downside of their career. Just my personal opinion.

One thing is clear, the team IS different with more to come.

[ridinryan44]

elevatemysoul wrote:

As a Canucks fan, I\'m not sure why everyone talks about their great depth on D. Last year, injuries on D led to their undoing, and they don\'t have that many guys to step in when the top 6 go down. Especially after losing Bourdon, I just don\'t see the depth. Trading Bieksa isn\'t the solution to the scoring woes. I say open the vault for Hossa.

great points. our d is fantastic when healthy.. unfortunately it\'s not healthy very often. McIver actually looked solid as a replacement last year and was a big, solid body and was never afraid to drop the mitts. He\'ll be better this year if called up.. but with losing bourdon after our top 6, we are pretty thin. Hopefully Rahimi can make some big strides this year, or somehow we find another Edler.

I love Bieksa and what he brings to the team, he is one of the few who wears his heart on his sleeve and that has been one of the things Van is missing...I\'d hate to lose him, but it also seems he could fetch a pretty good return, and that may be too hard to turn down for Van.

They will break the bank to get Hossa though. If he doesn\'t sign in Van it won\'t be due to a low-ball offer, it\'ll be because he finds a better situation. Gillies will do everything he can to sign Hossa.

[Reprimand]

I agree that last year our strength was D and G but the Canucks need to think about the future and not just the present or past. The Aquilinis have said they want a contender this year and for some that means trading assests for goalscoring. I think that trading one of our best assets in Schnider will hurt long term. The big \"What If\" Luongo is unsatisfyed with the teams performance in next two years and checks out the free agency market? Mike Gilis has said that BobbyLou is devoted to the team devoted to winning and devoted to the playoffs but if Vancouver isn\'t a contender will he devote himself to someone who is? So if Schnieder gets traded and Canucks can\'t compete in a tough Northwest division and Luongo leaves, we are up shit creek without a goalie.
With the death of Luc Bourdon we have lost a major building block. He was just coming into his own and started to show potential. He could have been a reliable top 4 and PP leader. His untimely passing has left the fans, players and organization shocked. It also left a hole in the defensive outlook that needs to be filled. Bieksa is going to be a good top 4 player. He has acclimatized himself to the NHL game fairly quickly and at 27 will be at the peak of his career soon. The Canucks need to build around him, Edler, Ohlund and Mitchell as a core and bring along other supporting cast.
I would prefer they traded Salo away before Bieksa but Salo obviously would not bring back as much in return.