Photo Credit: Candice Ward/USA TODAY Sports
As we predicted yesterday, Saturday`s later rounds of the NHL draft were much busier for the Canucks than Friday was. Also, Saturday may have officially been the end of the Linden and Benning honeymoon period, as fan favourite Eddie Lack was dealt before most fans had even woke up and had their morning coffee.
For a look back at the day that was, join us after the jump.
Lack Let Go
The day started on a low note, as the Canucks dealt Eddie Lack to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 3rd round pick (66th overall) and a 7th round pick in 2016. A 3rd round pick doesn`t have a whole ton of expected future value, but it`s also roughly the return you can expect for a prime-aged unproven goalie.
The return for their best goalie is far from encouraging. You can read our initial breakdown of the Lack deal here.
Canucks Draft Guillaume Brisebois 66th Overall
With the pick they acquired from the Eddie Lack deal, Vancouver selected young QMJHL defensive D Guillaume Brisebois 66th overall. Brisebois` resume is much more impressive according to his international play and scouts, as he is one of the more highly regarded D in his age group.
He has played in the CHL Top Prospects game and represented Canada internationally, and was also voted the captain of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan by his teammates. On the other hand, similar players in previous years didn`t have a fantastic success rate, and his QMJHL team was one of the worst in the entire CHL.
Read our first impressions of the Brisebois selection here.
McNally Traded for Late Pick
In a minor move, Vancouver dealt the rights to prospect Patrick McNally to the San Jose Sharks for the 210th pick in the 2015 draft. McNally was set to become a free agent after he was denied another year of NCAA eligibility in the wake of the Harvard cheating scandal.
Benning and the Canucks made the determination not to sign McNally with Jordan Subban and Ben Hutton already in the organization, so recouping an asset is not surprising.
Dmitry Zhukenov drafted in round 4
With the 114th overall pick, the Canucks went a bit off the board by taking diminutive Russian centre Dmitry Zhukenov. The shifty pivot is feisty and has good hands and performed well in international play, but really didn`t produce well in MHL play.
You can read up on what we know so far on Zhukenov here.
Canucks finish drafting with 4 more players
Vancouver ended the day by drafting Carl Neill and Adam Gaudette in round 5, Lukas Jasek in round 6, and Tate Olson in round 7.
Neill is a big-bodied two-way D from the Sherbrooke Phoenix. Gaudette is a thin and tenacious centre out of Cedar Rapids in the USHL. Jasek is a speedy offensive player and a great statistical sleeper who played in the Czech pro league, and Olson is a toolsy but unrefined defender from the Prince George Cougars.
We take a more detailed look at each of these guys here.
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Eddie Lack suffered the same fate as George R R Martin’s character Jon Snow.
So if anyone on this site has the ear of Mr Linden I would like you to ask him a few questions for me.
When is the change that you promised coming?
What is your plan if Millar struggles or gets hurt? Do you trust Markstrom at that point?
Will you extend contracts for vets like Bieksa and Hamhuis?
Will you move players with expiring contracts or let them go for nothing? (Matthias for a 2nd or 3rd would have been nice)
What is your plan for replacing our number one line as the Sedins age?
Do you have a plan to bring the cup to Vancouver or just make the play offs and pray for a miracle?
As a long time fan I am losing interest in this team and see nothing in the future to be excited about. I am not interested in watching the same old tired core for the next 4 years or more.I was hoping for much more out of you and Benning. I would rather watch a young team with potential for the future and miss the play offs.
Now I may be in the minority here but what if I am not? ( I will not spend five cents until I see true change)
Very well said. Those questions are all seemingly falling on deaf ears. It’s disgusting to realize the Flames and Oilers fans have far more to look forward to. No that’s not a prediction reflecting standings. More the direction these clubs are moving! Watching Hartley coach that young core and see them rise to the occasion was enough to make this seasoned Canuck fan very envious. Apparently we are on a 5 year plan to see those changes. I think I’ll keep my $ in my pocket for the next 4 seasons.
I think calling Lack at 27 a career backup is quite assuming. The league is very deep in goaltending talent these days which most definitely impacted the Canucks return on him especially with his contract expiring next season. But the fact is Lacks career excluding his personality is moving the right direction. His save percentage last season ranked 12th giving him I believe at the very least a look as a starter for a number of teams. My guess is Carolina being one of them. Not hard to see Cam Wards days are on full review.
Sure would be nice to have been a fly on the wall and have known if the Canucks brass were offered more for Lack from teams they didn’t want to help strengthen. Apparently this group has followed suit moving good players to terrible teams hoping their terrible deals disappear with little noise. Moving good assets is inevitable especially if a team has an abundance of them competing for the same position. The Canucks moved Lack for an underperforming rental player. They are backing up their poor decisions. It’s obvious with the terrible signings of Sbisa and Dorsett. Just wondering the riches that await Linden Vey?!? This management team is brutal!!! It won’t take 5 years to figure it out either. The goaltending has held this team further up the standings than it deserves for likely the last 10 seasons. Now we’ll get a real look at the small defense and ridiculous lack of leadership. The saving grace is change is coming but it’s gonna be ugly!
Not sure anything going on with this hockey club is on this management. Benning has a tough job trying to fix an aging team with numerous NTC’s. when trying to get younger it takes years to recover if you haven’t drafted well.
I would agree for the most part that the team in place is the work of past management. But the goaltending dilemma that faced Benning was 100% his doing. Signing Miller for the length of term 3 years for 18mil all but guaranteed below average goaltending for that span at a steep cap hit. The idea of rebuilding in part involves making cap room for replacement players to earn positions in the team. Irregardless of your long term vision of Lack ‘s ability to be an asset in winning Stanley Cups in the dreamy future he was their best option now. He was an entertaining player to lure support as the team rebuilds. Good faith and some management humility would have recognized this mistake and found a way to keep Lack here. Via buy out for Miller or sacrifice Markstrom. That good faith and recognizing what the majority of fans wanted would have bought this management far more fan support and belief than anything they could have actually picked in the draft. And yes fan support does count, it’s what keeps these guys employed. Benning won’t be seeing any from me!
Benning I guess doesnt remember how the canucks used to be the goalie graveyard. It starts from trading away fan favorites then the existing goalie, miller having a short leash from the fans. If he doesnt light it up , he will be booed into the goalie graveyard by his own fans because everyone knows miller should have been traded away. I remember holding a sign up at a game years back when we had given up on felix (the cat) potvin.
My sign said , CAT free to good home. That night it was shown on sportspage. Lol.
I feel for miller cause this is still a goalie graveyard if your not very mentally strong. Good luck with that miller.
testing the water