Welcome to the yearly wrap up of the top read articles over the last year!
As the league worked to prepare a return to play plan, Vancouver Canucks GM fielded some questions over at TSN 1040 on the team.
Cam Lewis highlighted some notes from it on April 30th and it as the ninth most-read article this year.
The article touched on a few points including Nils Hoglander, Nikita Tryamkin and the impeding free agency:
On Nils Hoglander…Q: Do you have any thoughts on where he might fit in? Do you think he could be a player that could contend to make the NHL roster next year?BENNING: He could. He played in the Swedish Elite League this year and never looked out of place in the top-nine and that’s where I see him playing in the NHL. He’ll be a top-nine player and I think once he’s up and going and after he has a year or two under his belt I think he’ll be a top-six player for us. We got him signed [Wednesday] and the next step is to get to training camp and see where he fits in with everybody else and we’ll decide from there.On Nikita Tryamkin…Q: What is your level of interest in signing Nikita Tryamkin?BENNING: We’ve had conversations with Nikita’s agent and we’ve told him that we’d like to figure something out to get him back in the fold for next year. But we’re in a holding pattern right now. As we get more information and we know more about what’s going to happen for next year we’ll continue those talks. When the time comes we want to get him back here and playing as a part of our group.
On the organization’s prospect pool…Q: Whether it’s Hoglander or [Vasili] Podkolzin or some of the other guys you’ve discussed on this call, how important is it to have them contributing to your NHL roster at some point on those entry-level contracts?BENNING: It’s important for us because we’re going to try to get some of our UFA players signed and we’re going to have to pay them market value to get them signed. On the other hand of that you’ve got to make sure that you have good, young players that can play and contribute to be cap compliant. I think we’re getting to a point now where the depth pool of our prospects is really good and we’re developing some kids down in Utica that we’re going to see in the next year or two. I’m happy with the way we’ve drafted and the way we’ve developed. When these kids are ready to play we’ll give them a chance to get in the lineup and show us what they can do.On signing impending free agents…Q: Do you have an update on contract talks with Jacob Markstrom? And an overall comment on how challenging business like that can be where the future is so uncertain.BENNING: I’ve been talking to his agent but we really haven’t been talking contracts or anything with the uncertainty of not knowing what the salary cap is going to look like next year or if we’re going to be able to finish off this season. There’s just too many unknowns right now. I’ve been in contact with all of their agents, Chris Tanev, Tyler Toffoli, just to say we want to try to figure something out to get their clients to come back but we’re just in a holding pattern right now. As soon as we have a better idea or better understanding of where we’re going to be next year and what the cap’s going to be at we’ll go hard at trying to get those guys figured out
On Twitter: @zjlaing
