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Trevor Linden on Shinkaruk/Granlund and the Trade Deadline
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J.D. Burke
Feb 24, 2016, 00:56 ESTUpdated:
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The Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations was on TSN1040 this afternoon, to discuss yesterday’s trade and the Canucks going into the February 29th trade deadline.
Hosts Don Taylor and Bob Marjonovich had Linden on the air for nearly 20-minutes this afternoon, discussing the acquisition of Markus Granlund, the backlash that followed and any other number of topics. The soothsayer President was at his politicians best, selling the trade and the plan managements putting into action, along with the involvement of ownership.
There’s a lot to dig into, so let’s get to it.
Before delving into the happenings around the team, Marjonovich and Linden traded cordialities and the odd joke. As quick as you could roll your eyes, though, they switched tones and got right to it. First on the docket was the acquisition of Markus Granlund, by way of Hunter Shinkaruk…
TSN1040: “Has today been better than yesterday? Or was yesterday good?”
Linden:  “Yesterday was good. Yeah, it was a very good day. I mean, obviously, it’s hard. Making hard decisions, we kind of knew that the reaction we would get would probably be that. I guess the minute we start making decisions based on the reactions, we’re in trouble.”
They continued on the topic of fan backlash…
TSN1040: “Why did you know? Was it just because of the first round label?”
Linden: “Just because, you know, we saw what happened last summer with some of the reactions to the moves we made and I wouldn’t go back and do any one of those differently. It’s just the temperament of our market, I guess. We understand, but we also understand that to get where we want to get to we have to make hard decisions and that’s part of it.”
Fans don’t want to hear it, but it’s a definite positive that the Canucks brain trust isn’t basing their decisions on rulings in the court of public opinion. Remember when Roberto Luongo was public enemy number one? That was a thing. A thing I’m glad Mike Gillis ignored. 
Linden’s assessment of their moves this summer is… interesting. They hit on goaltending but flubbed on about everywhere else, sinking money and futures into two not-very-good players in Brandon Sutter and Brandon Prust. That says nothing of Frank Corrado. 
On breaking the news to Hunter…
TSN1040: “Did you talk to Hunter?”
Linden: “I didn’t actually. I was on a scouting trip, so I wasn’t in town. Jim and Weisbrod spoke to him.”
continued…
TSN1040: “What’s that like for Hunter you think?”
Linden: “In a players mind, you’re forward thinking and you’re looking forward to the future. And he’s excited for the opportunity to play in Calgary, where he grew up and rooted for the Flames. I think players generally have that forward thinking mindset and I’m sure he does.”
Where Linden was scouting…
TSN1040: “Who were you scouting?”
Linden: “Well, I was actually in North Dakota. I was seeing Brock, I hung out with Brock.”
TSN1040: “How did he look?”
Linden: “Oh, he’s good.”
TSN1040: “Going to set some records down there.”
Linden: “Yeah, he’s impressive. Brock is an impressive kid, he looks great, he’s a big kid. I don’t know if you’ve seen some of the tape on his goals, but it’s impressive. He’s as good off the ice… he’s just a really solid kid. We had an excellent discussion, talked about his World Junior experience, which was interesting. Loves being a part of that team and he drives the bus down there.”
Linden’s not wrong. Boeser is having an amazing season in North Dakota and really is on track to break the odd record here or there. Ryan Biech has spared no expense in bringing this to light, going into fine detail to break down the season he’s in the process of having. Boeser was the fourth ranked prospect in the Canucks system when voted on by CA writers this summer. Between graduation and trades, he’s probably number one now.
They then went on to why the impetus for consummating yesterday’s trade…
TSN1040: “Hunter Shinkaruk, and I don’t know if you listened yesterday, here’s the number one complaint we got: why just one game in the NHL? Why not battle test him a little bit more?”
Linden: “I think our plan all along was to have him develop at the AHL and continue to develop his board play, zone play and two-way play. He was obviously… had a good offensive year going and that was a positive. We thought it was a good place to continue playing well. So we felt good about that. Same thing we’re doing with Brendan Gaunce. He’s been having an excellent season – had a thumb injury around Christmas – but he’s been good. I’ve talked to Brendan several times and he understands that we want him playing 20-25 minutes a night in every situation and contributing in that way.”
I was never upset by Shinkaruk not getting a shot with the Canucks. Not this season, anyway. The Canucks are a tire fire. Shinkaruk isn’t going to turn the season around. If with all they know, they feel the AHL is best for his development, then that’s good enough for me. Hard to argue with the results to this point.
Not surprised to see Brendan Gaunce come up. He’s a player this management group has been high on for a calendar year now. I remember watching him in Penticton and coming away impressed with his two-way game and ability to process play. Might not have it offensively, but Gaunce can think the game well enough to keep up. Maybe he gets a shot on the other side of the deadline?
TSN1040: “Do we underestimate what Granlund can do? We keep hearing the phrase two-way forward. Do we underestimate what he can do offensively?”
Linden: “I do. I do because the kid got off the plan as a nineteen-year-old in Abbotsford and had 47-points, 25-goals in 52-games. That’s a hell of a year for a kid in his first year in the American Hockey League. That’s hard to do. He’s proven that he can contribute and I think that he plays a hard game. He’s a two-way guy. I mean, Bergeron is a two-way guy. I would take a few of those. That’s the type of skill set he brings. It’s well rounded, it’s versatile and that’s certainly the type of player we want in our organisation.”
On the one hand, that kind of production is nothing to balk at. On the other, that team was stacked. In fact, Granlund was just the third-highest scoring center on the team. The Bergeron comparison is… it’s something. It’s absurd, but it’s not the first time they’ve made this comparison. They tried it with Sutter too.
Finally, they touched on those meddling owners. Allegedly, meddling owners. 
TSN1040: “Is it fair to say that you have a passionate owner, but you have the autonomy that you demand and thought you would have when you first started this job?”
Linden: “Yeah, for sure, it’s been great. Francesco’s been outstanding to work with. I really mean that. He’s been supportive right from the get go. On any financial or personnel decision. The family’s been tremendous. They understand where are, where we need to go. They get that there isn’t a magic bullet on July 1st.”
Ownership shouldn’t be involved in the day-to-day running of a hockey team. Plain and simple. That’s almost always where things go awry. If ownership is as easy to work with as Linden indicates, though, perhaps much ado has been made of nothing. Doubt that’s the case though, unfortunately.

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