Raffi Torres Hurts People; On Waivers

Former Vancouver Canucks forward, Raffi Torres, has been placed on waivers by the San Jose Sharks. Torres last skated with the Canucks in their 2011 Stanley Cup Final match with the Boston Bruins, before leaving via free agency to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Much was made in the preceding campaigns of the Canucks inability to replace Torres’ pugnacity and violence in the lineup, prompting Mike Gillis to try and reacquire Torres at the 2013 NHL Trade Deadline. Time, suspensions and a bevy of injuries have since passed, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s a player worth giving a shot here.

Before getting into what Torres can, or cannot bring to the Canucks lineup, it bears mentioning that he’s played a grand total of 16 games in the last two seasons. Of course, Torres had a brief cup of coffee in this year’s pre-season but was hammered with a 41-game suspension for trying to decapitate Jakob Silfverberg. 

All this is to say that there is a great deal of unknown with Torres, augmented further by the fact he’s returning from a knee injury that has lingered since last season and is 34-years not-so-young. Whether Torres can bring that high-end middle-six production and often over the line nastiness at this stage of his career remains to be seen. Although, the Sharks have been monitoring this situation closely and clearly feel the odds aren’t in his (or their) favour, prompting reassignment.

What Torres was able to accomplish with the San Jose Sharks prior to injuries and suspensions forcing him out of the picture is mighty impressive. In fact, I’d say this alone makes his a flyer worth taking a chance on for a franchise lumbering towards the playoffs down the home stretch. Even if these two years passed are a mighty long time in NHL terms.

In a way, this might be a blessing in disguise for a franchise that is nearing its end with Brandon Prust. Not only does Torres play left-wing – like Prust – but he’s been considerably more effective in that role in seasons prior. Take on Torres and his slightly lesser cap hit and throw Prust to the waiver wolves or whichever sap is willing to drop a sixth or seventh round selection.

The Canucks would create cap-space, replace a malcontent and potentially come out ahead in net value with an extra late-round selection in the upcoming draft. Of course, this isn’t NHL16 and things often aren’t this simple, but it’s an option worth exploring anyways. Then again, just as possible that I’ve made much ado about nothing.