Canucks Army Monday Mailbag: January 23rd

If Sunday’s results are any indication, there’s no joy to be had in professional sports. There isn’t for yours truly anyways. My Pittsburgh Steelers got smoked, and the Vancouver Canucks didn’t fare much better.

That’s not to say the week since we last met for the mailbag has been wholly disappointed. Watching Henrik Sedin hit 1,000 points live on Friday was pretty sweet. The part where Roberto Luongo paid respect afterwards was great, too. Hell, all of it was great.

Onto business, let’s tackle some Canucks related questions. That’s how we start the week around these parts.

Every now and then I get a question that has absolutely nothing to do with the Canucks, and I’m counting this as one such occasion. That’s not a complaint, though. I quite like talking about other items from time to time.

I think The Clash are the best of this bunch without question. The impact that London Calling had is unmatched. I still remember my father introducing me to it when I was, I think, about nine-years-old. It’s stuck with me since. In that sense, The Clash is the victor.

This strikes me as a significantly higher stakes version of the mystery that surrounded Jordan Subban and the timing of his entry-level contract. You’d have to think it’s going to get done and Brad Treliving will re-sign with the Calgary Flames. On the other hand, you’d be flat out lying to suggest none of this was out of the ordinary or plain bizarre.

I’m not terribly close to the situation in Calgary. There’s a tonne of potential here for something to be lost on me. I tend to think Treliving is doing an excellent job though, and they’d be foolish not to keep him around longer. To that end, this should concern Flames fans.

I have a hard time seeing the Canucks offering Nikita Tryamkin anything in Ben Hutton territory. In term and salary alike. I’d think this gets resolved with a one-year pact. I wouldn’t mind anything in the $2-million range, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s just qualified either. Whatever the case, I wouldn’t worry. Tryamkin doesn’t have a tonne of leverage or the credentials to put the Canucks over a barrel.

“Listen, Dallas, no idea what they’re doing with a hockey team. They’re bad. They stink. I talk to a lot of experts — great experts, they love me and what I’m doing. They tell me this all the time. They love me. I don’t think the Stars should comment on anyone. Look at their record. They’re a yuge failure. Massive. Strikes me as a Hillary voter with sour grapes! Sad!”

What I think it will look like:

D. Sedin – H. Sedin – Hansen

Baertschi – Horvat – Burrows

Granlund – Sutter – Eriksson

Skille – Chaput – Megna

Edler – Stecher

Sbisa – Tanev

Tryamkin – Larsen

What I’d like it to look like:

D. Sedin – H. Sedin – Eriksson

Baertschi – Horvat – Burrows

Granlund – Sutter – Hansen

Chaput – Gaunce – Boucher

Edler – Stecher

Sbisa – Tanev

Pedan – Tryamkin

It’s going to be more difficult than most seasons, for sure. Which is probably in the best interest of the Canucks, given their transaction history. I don’t rule out the possibility entirely, though. If the Canucks can turn Jordan Subban into a player of their liking, I think that’s a move they make. Other moves of that ilk strike me as a possibility.

Because I have a life. Go away.

The things Granlund is doing on the Canucks bottom six are nothing short of miracles. Last I checked, Granlund had one of the top three score and venue adjusted Corsi For’s on the team, with Brandon Sutter as his primary linemate. Let me put that into context.

Sutter has the worst impact on his linemates ability to control the flow of play at even strength. His impact is good for a -2.5 Corsi percentage on any given linemate. Only Jayson Megna, Luca Sbisa and Jake Virtanen have had worse seasons through this metric.

Granlund, by the way, scores a 2.9%… in the black.