Hossa
Registered User
While Eric Staal and Evgeni Malkin, the two big centres taken near the top of the draft in 2003 and 2004, were the twin pillars of the HFNHL Canucks' early foundation, it was not until the 2005 draft that the club actually surrounded them with the pieces necessary to develop a core. In that 2005 draft, with only four picks, the Canucks selected Carey Price, David Krejci, Kris Letang and Derek Joslin.
While Joslin never established himself as an NHLer, the other three quickly become part of a five man core that propelled the Canucks to more than ten consecutive years in the playoffs and a championship. While Staal was eventually moved for salary cap reasons, bringing back Bryan Little and Dougie Hamilton from Columbus, that trio of Price, Krejci and Letang continued to back-up Malkin as the headliner of many powerhouse Canucks teams.
However, after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and with Price appearing unable to perform as a starting goalie next year, management knew this would be an off-season of change, and Krejci was unfortunately the first big domino to fall. In one of the toughest moves the club has ever made, Krejci was dealt last weekend to the rival Nashville Predators for two prospects, clearing more than seven million dollars in cap space and creating a massive hole on the first line.
Trading off veteran players for financial reasons is not new in Vancouver. Recent cap casualties have included Justin Braun, Bobby Ryan, James Wisniewski, Dan Hamhuis and Jason Garrison, while in the more immediate aftermath of the club's Cup championship veterans such as Brooks Laich, Dan Boyle, Antoine Vermette and of course the aforementioned Staal were all shipped out for futures. None of these moves, however, strike at the core quite as much as dealing Krejci, even Staal, who was quickly replaced by Little in the top six.
The Krejci trade was of course the first domino, with two subsequent trades following within twenty four hours. After receiving prospects for Krejci, the club shipped a couple young players to Detroit for Ryan Spooner, and a pick and a prospect to Anaheim for Kari Lehtonen, a placeholder starter for a year while Price hopefully rediscovers his form. All in all, the trades look like the following:
IN: Ryan Spooner, Tom Kuhnhackl, Kari Lehtonen, prospect Troy Terry, and prospect Sami Niku.
OUT: David Krejci, Matt Nieto, Benoit Pouliot, prospect Kalle Kossila, prospect Nick Baptiste, prospect Carl Dahlstrom, prospect Jayce Hawryluk, and two third round picks.
Spooner will hope to replace some of Krejci's production in the top six, while Kuhnhackl, prospects Jakub Vrana and Nikita Soshnikov, and signings Chris Wagner and Ben Street will compete to fill Nieto and Pouliot's spots in the bottom six. Rumour has the club still looking for another third line winger, possibly dealing from strength on the blueline to do so. For now, the team's roster shapes up as the following:
JT Miller - Evgeni Malkin - Kyle Palmieri
Mike Hoffman - Bryan Little - Ryan Spooner
Jakub Vrana - Derek Ryan - Jesper Fast
Tom Kuhnhackl - Chris Wagner - Nikita Soshnikov
Tyler Graovac, Ben Street
Jeff Petry - Kris Letang
Mike Matheson - Dougie Hamilton
Justin Faulk - Jake McCabe
Justin Falk, Brendan Smith
Kari Lehtonen
Carey Price
With the movements in and out of the prospect list, the following would be an indicative updated top 20:
1) Thomas Chabot
2) Robert Thomas
3) Evan Bouchard
4) Henri Jokiharju
5) Connor Timmins
6) Adam Gaudette
7) Tristan Jarry
8)) Troy Terry
9) Boris Katchouk
10) Josh Norris
11) Jake Walman
12) Sami Niku
13) John Quenneville
14) Zach Senyshyn
15) Alex Formenton
16) Will Borgen
17) Reilly Walsh
18) Andrew Peeke
19) Dominik Masin
20) Alexander Georgiyev
HM: Filip Hallander, Petrus Palmu, Dennis Yan, Ben Thomas, Jack Dougherty, Jack Badini, Mikey Eyssimont
While Joslin never established himself as an NHLer, the other three quickly become part of a five man core that propelled the Canucks to more than ten consecutive years in the playoffs and a championship. While Staal was eventually moved for salary cap reasons, bringing back Bryan Little and Dougie Hamilton from Columbus, that trio of Price, Krejci and Letang continued to back-up Malkin as the headliner of many powerhouse Canucks teams.
However, after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and with Price appearing unable to perform as a starting goalie next year, management knew this would be an off-season of change, and Krejci was unfortunately the first big domino to fall. In one of the toughest moves the club has ever made, Krejci was dealt last weekend to the rival Nashville Predators for two prospects, clearing more than seven million dollars in cap space and creating a massive hole on the first line.
Trading off veteran players for financial reasons is not new in Vancouver. Recent cap casualties have included Justin Braun, Bobby Ryan, James Wisniewski, Dan Hamhuis and Jason Garrison, while in the more immediate aftermath of the club's Cup championship veterans such as Brooks Laich, Dan Boyle, Antoine Vermette and of course the aforementioned Staal were all shipped out for futures. None of these moves, however, strike at the core quite as much as dealing Krejci, even Staal, who was quickly replaced by Little in the top six.
The Krejci trade was of course the first domino, with two subsequent trades following within twenty four hours. After receiving prospects for Krejci, the club shipped a couple young players to Detroit for Ryan Spooner, and a pick and a prospect to Anaheim for Kari Lehtonen, a placeholder starter for a year while Price hopefully rediscovers his form. All in all, the trades look like the following:
IN: Ryan Spooner, Tom Kuhnhackl, Kari Lehtonen, prospect Troy Terry, and prospect Sami Niku.
OUT: David Krejci, Matt Nieto, Benoit Pouliot, prospect Kalle Kossila, prospect Nick Baptiste, prospect Carl Dahlstrom, prospect Jayce Hawryluk, and two third round picks.
Spooner will hope to replace some of Krejci's production in the top six, while Kuhnhackl, prospects Jakub Vrana and Nikita Soshnikov, and signings Chris Wagner and Ben Street will compete to fill Nieto and Pouliot's spots in the bottom six. Rumour has the club still looking for another third line winger, possibly dealing from strength on the blueline to do so. For now, the team's roster shapes up as the following:
JT Miller - Evgeni Malkin - Kyle Palmieri
Mike Hoffman - Bryan Little - Ryan Spooner
Jakub Vrana - Derek Ryan - Jesper Fast
Tom Kuhnhackl - Chris Wagner - Nikita Soshnikov
Tyler Graovac, Ben Street
Jeff Petry - Kris Letang
Mike Matheson - Dougie Hamilton
Justin Faulk - Jake McCabe
Justin Falk, Brendan Smith
Kari Lehtonen
Carey Price
With the movements in and out of the prospect list, the following would be an indicative updated top 20:
1) Thomas Chabot
2) Robert Thomas
3) Evan Bouchard
4) Henri Jokiharju
5) Connor Timmins
6) Adam Gaudette
7) Tristan Jarry
8)) Troy Terry
9) Boris Katchouk
10) Josh Norris
11) Jake Walman
12) Sami Niku
13) John Quenneville
14) Zach Senyshyn
15) Alex Formenton
16) Will Borgen
17) Reilly Walsh
18) Andrew Peeke
19) Dominik Masin
20) Alexander Georgiyev
HM: Filip Hallander, Petrus Palmu, Dennis Yan, Ben Thomas, Jack Dougherty, Jack Badini, Mikey Eyssimont
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