WWYDW: The Jared McCann Conundrum
By J.D. Burke
7 years ago
The Vancouver Canucks acquired Markus Granlund for the price of Hunter Shinkaruk because they didn’t have room for the latter on their left wing going forward. You can quibble with whether the Canucks lost the better player until the cows come home, but the real irony here is that they didn’t have room down the middle, either.
Henrik Sedin, Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter, Linden Vey and Jared McCann already accounted for the middle of Vancouver’s lineup. Add Granlund to the mix and we’re talking about six centres for a grand total of four openings. Something’s gotta give. That something likely starts with the Canucks not qualifying Vey. But then what?
Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins hasn’t ruled out the possibility of sending his younger players to the Utica Comets next season to help with their development. Was McCann one of the players he had in mind?
For your sake, though, the question is whether he should be sent down next season or not. Are there alternatives? Let your voice be heard!
Last week I asked:
Would you qualify Linden Vey this summer?
Darth Veyder:
I find your lack of faith in Vey disturbing.
Neil B:
I’d tell him we’re not qualifying him, but we are giving him a $950K “show me” two-season deal. That way he has some certainty, and we have a contract that can be buried if he doesn’t make the team.
Sean:
Even before this story became public, I would have given Vey another one year contract.
I personally think his versatility as a right shot that can play centre and wing is useful in a limited role.
And if he cannot stick on the NHL roster, he would be one of the better players in Utica.
Goon:
You can never have too much centre depth. Vey may not be great, but he is an NHL-caliber player with potential untapped upside, and that’s good to have in the system, as long as you’re not paying more than $1 million/year for him.
Fred-65:
Here’s the thing with the Vcr roster. There are no high end skill centres enroute. No one that has high hockey IQ and a play makers. Vey has that capability. I agree it’s not showing right now but his confidence is pretty low I suspect. He’s not big he’s not robust along the boards ( although it surprising how often he comes away from a scrum with the puck)he’ll never be a power forward which I suspect his distractors are looking for. If he’ll take a low base salary I’d sign him, he’s still relatively young and so fitVcr future vision
Dirty30:
The Linden Vey experiment needs to come to a close.
He was Willie’s ‘Welcome to Vancouver ‘ expensive pick and fave plaything in situations where someone else would have done better.
Yes he has some skill and some speed, but seldom wins faceoffs, puck battles, scores or sets up goals. He tends to make too many moves when he has the puck and falls down if somebody farts on the ice.
Should have sent him to Pittsburg and kept Bonino — the Pens would be playing golf right now.
End this. Use the money to sign some skill and size.
krutov:
i’d sign him but right now i would not hesitate to risk him on waivers.
vey so far in his career looks like one of those almost good enough players that fill up the rosters of bad teams but have no role on a good team.
he can’t be a shut down centre. all the try in the world can’t make him big enough to handle any of the top centres in this division.
he’s below average as a face off guy.
he’s not a physical player and never will be.
he’s not a scorer or serious offensive threat.
he’s not an energy player, shows little grit, doesn’t stir up his team and doesn’t impress on the pk.
that leaves generic fourth line centre / utility player. basically he’s a guy who covers for injuries and/or fills holes in weak teams.
he seems like a smart player so maybe he will bear down and develop a role.
the canucks are hard up enough to sign him for a year or two but they need to limit the number of players like this on their roster (granlund is another) or they will never progess.
Recent articles from J.D. Burke
