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So Far So Good ... What's Next? |
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I think it’s safe to say that the vast majority of Canuck fans have now stepped away from the ledge and are no longer having to continually look up to see if the sky is falling, but there’s still a ways to go before this team can be considered a true contender in an extremely tough Western Conference.
Today’s acquisitions of Pavol Demitra and Rob Davison, along with the signings of Steve Bernier, Darcy Hordichuk, Ryan Johnson, Kyle Wellwood and Nolan Baumgartner don’t come close in scale to the one we’re all waiting word on (how long is forever?), but they do go a long way to upgrading this team in many areas as well as giving Gillis a few more options on the trade market with his organization's newer depth and it's revised set of assets overall.
Say what you want about Mike Gillis, but he definitely has tried to accomplish a lot of things that he’s said he wanted to do and his team appears to have been upgraded in specific areas that he has identified as priorities from day one.
Offering Mats Sundin 2 years at $10 Million can certainly be filed under “bold and aggressive moves”. Whether it works or not, he targeted the best and only legitimate #1 centre on the Market to fill the team's most glaring need.
Demitra brings speed, playmaking abilities and versatility in being able to play all forward positions and with the deal being only 2 years doesn’t hurt us long-term.
Bernier definitely fits into the younger, bigger and grittier categories along with having some very good offensive upside, not to mention the right-handed big body that so many think the Sedins need.
Hordichuk, although not a heavyweight by any means, is a huge upgrade in the toughness quotient and does his job without taking stupid penalties.
Johnson is a gritty veteran who’s shot-blocking (best amongst forwards in the league last year) and PK abilities will be a huge upgrade as the 4th line centre.
Davison is big (6’3” 225 lbs) and tough, is decent on the PK and easily fills in the bottom end of the blueline replacing a Miller or a Weaver and adds a lot to the physical play of the overall D core.
Bringing back Baumgartner also adds much needed depth on the back-end and he is a player who is very well respected amongst his team mates here and in Winnipeg.
Wellwood, Gillis’ first acquisition that caused much angst in Canuck Nation, also brings some offensive skills and the ability to play both centre and wing, although I think he will end up being more of an insurance pickup versus a key acquisition.
The changes so far haven’t done enough to really give the balance needed in the top 6, but let’s look at it this way … would you have been willing to trade Naslund and Morrison for Demitra and Bernier? Considering the need of change for both individuals and team, I think it's a no brainer.
There’s still the one big fish to lure in Sundin, and there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence from many different places to suggest that he could be signing here within a week or so. From everything I’ve heard and been told, the possibility of it happening are pretty good. I wouldn’t want to make a wager on it or anything (who would when it comes to guessing a decision from Sundin?), but I’d put it about a 60/40 shot right now.
As I’m writing this, John Shorthouse (Canuck’s play-by-play) is on the radio and he said: “Up until 24 hours ago I thought the chances of Sundin signing here were slim and none, but since then I have heard from 2 different people that I know and trust a great deal who say it is a distinct possibility.” Throw in another piece of that anecdotal evidence into the bin.
If he does sign here the obvious improvement in balancing out the offense on the top two lines would be huge, but with all the chatter going on these days around here I almost think a lot of Canuck fans on HB would take as much satisfaction in having certain posters on this site eat their words.
Whether it’s Mats Sundin or someone else, you can look for one more forward being brought in. I would be shocked if Bernier doesn’t get a long look with the Sedins and Mason Raymond doesn’t get an opportunity to play with Demitra and the player yet to come. Ideally, this should take the pressure off of the twins of having to be the only guys creating offense, either at full strength or on the powerplay. The 4th line has definitely been upgraded and we all know how good Kesler and Burrows were last year in the 3rd line checking role.
It’s way too early to say for sure whether the changes made will allow the Canucks to seriously challenge for contender status in the West, but the summer of change is well under way and excitement is starting to build around the city which is a whole heck of a lot more than could be said 2 weeks ago.
What’s next Mike?
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