Canucks Army Roundtable: Draft Day

 

The NHL officially expanded this week, with the unveiling of the Vegas Golden Corral Knights as the 31st NHL team. With that comes the obvious question of “Who will play for the team?” As we all know, there will be an expansion draft in the summer where Vegas will begin to build their squad, and with them taking a player from all other 30 teams, they could get a decent player or two. With the Canucks having some important players that need to be protected, they could have to leave a good player up for grabs.

I’ll probably ask this again closer to when there’s a better idea, but I decided to ask the team at this point in the season, who do they see being plucked from the roster?

Question:

Which player do you think Vegas will snag from Vancouver in the upcoming expansion draft?

Obviously things could change between now and then but I think the Canucks will lost Markus Granlund in the expansion draft.There has been suggestions that the Canucks would protect Granlund over Baertschi – but that doesn’t seem like a prudent idea given the upside of both players. So thus I am operating under the assumption that the Canucks do protect Baertschi, and expose Granlund.Also given the defensemen and goalies the Canucks will expose, it’s fair to believe that the Golden Knights will look to take a forward from the Canucks – and Granlund is a perfect selection for an expansion team. A two-way centre who can play wing, who can chip in offensively and skates well.

Markus Granlund because I agree with everything that Ryan said, and I think it would be funny because of this tweet.

It’s too early to say, really. Especially because Anton Rodin hasn’t even suited up yet. I’m inclined to say Baertschi, just because I believe the ceiling is higher. All of a sudden he has more points than Granlund,  and he’s converting on 5.7% of his shots to Granlund’s 14.3. I expect by the end of the season Baertschi will cement himself as the better player.

It sounds like, according to Botchford on the Pat-cast, that Luca Sbisa is the guy that would go. His cap hit is enough to take on so the GNs can make the floor and he’ll essentially be in their top pairing. I can’t see them exposing Sven Baertschi but Granlund is up there. But considering we’re still talking about Benning, he might go off the board completely and put Dorsett.

Reason suggests the Canucks trade Jannik Hansen at the trade deadline so they can keep Markus Granlund and Sven Baertschi protected, and not lose anyone for nothing. If that’s the case, that leaves Luca Sbisa exposed. If the Canucks have even a fighting chance at the trade deadline and retain Hansen, I suspect they’ll expose Markus Granlund. The Golden Knights would be wise to snag Granlund at that point.

Personally, I think there’s a chance it could be Sbisa. The Golden Knights are going to want to stockpile defensemen, and the other options on Vancouver vs. other teams might not be attractive enough to shy away from a d-man in Van. If it’s a forward, I can see them protect Baertschi and leaving Granlund. But as JD noted, a move of Hansen to make all of that moot would be ideal.