CA Prospect Profiles: #17 Adam Polasek
Patrick Johnston
August 09 2012 11:53AM
Adam Polasek is a big, rugged defenceman who can move the puck and doesn’t mind (heck he excels at) the rough stuff. What’s not to like?
Click past the jump to read more.
CA Prospect Profiles: #19 Darren Archibald
Patrick Johnston
August 07 2012 12:14PM
Darren Archibald has always been a "late bloomer." While he had significant success in his Major Junior career, that career didn't even begin until he was 18. The young power-forward went undrafted several times, and was only signed by the Canucks as a 20 year old after his NHL draft eligibility had expired.
Until this past summer, undrafted free agents were a staple of Mike Gillis' tenure as Canucks General Manager. Prominent examples include Chris Tanev and Eddie Lack, as Mike Gillis aggressively pursued "late bloomers" of Archibald's ilk in an effort to jump-start a rebuild of the Canucks farm system and offset the loss of the mid-round picks that Gillis routinely moves at the trade deadline.
After several shining successes with undrafted free agents, Mike Gillis' luck ran out somewhat this past season. In 2011 he signed two more long-shots in Sebastian Erixon (who was unhappy in Chicago, was traded, and will return to Sweden for next season) and Darren Archibald, who spent nearly all of last season in the ECHL.
Generally speaking, spending a year in the ECHL is a bad sign. The league doesn't even have an NHLE number since, Alex Burrows aside, so few players ever actually make the transition. To get signed to a professional contract by an NHL club in the first place, Darren Archibald had to overcome long odds. Can he do it again and make the show? Click past the jump for more.
Suter and Parise Sign with the Wild. Should Canucks fans be Scared?
Patrick Johnston
July 04 2012 12:17PM
Over the course of this morning, speculation grew and grew that Minnesota would be the landing spot for coveted free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Then it happened, leaving most Canucks fans to wake up and discover that Independence Day had been cancelled, and the Wild had stolen the show.
Parise and Suter are two players whose statistical influence matches the narrative that surrounds them; both are said to be fantastic hockey players, and the numbers back this up 100 per cent. They have played tough, tough minutes in their careers and have succeeded while doing so.
Do the additions of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter make the Wild the Canucks' chief rival for Northwest Division supremacy? Let's have a look see...
Pavel Bure's Dominance During the 1994 Run
Patrick Johnston
June 27 2012 08:45AM
(Photo: David E. Klutho/SI)
The player comes off the ice in a huff. He's pissed. The look on his face says it all: in the biggest game of his life, nothing is working.
In an expression of the depth of his frustration, he kicked the bench....
Burrows' value through the Prism of Darren Helm's Extension
Patrick Johnston
June 19 2012 03:30PM
I got paid!
Today, Darren Helm signed an extension with the Detroit Red Wings that will pay him $8.5 million over four years (2.125 million dollar cap-hit). Superficially, that looks quite similar to the contract that Alex Burrows signed in 2009, doesn't it? How the heck does a player which just 32 career goals find himself signing a contract similar to Burrows'? Is Helm going to break out like Burrows did and score 89 goals over the next three years? Unlikely, but that isn't what Detroit is paying him for...
Read more about the parallels between Helm's new deal and Burrows' 2009 contract after the jump!
