To no one's surprise, I'm sure, Brock Boeser declared his allegiance to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, when he was asked about trade rumours linking his name to Matt Dumba and the Minnesota Wild.
"I don't think I'm going to get traded," he said during his season-ending media availability. "Obviously, rumours are going to happen and stuff's going to be out in the media, but I love Vancouver.
"I love the guys I play with. I love the organization, the fans. So I want to be a Canuck.
"I think our team is right there and, and we can win a Stanley Cup in the next couple of years. I truly believe that and I think our coaching staff and our teammates believe it as well. So I want to be a Canuck and I want to stay in Vancouver."
You can see Boeser's full interview here:
Typically pretty low key in his demeanour, Boeser was noticeably animated when asked about the confidence that he and his teammates may have gained during the playoff run.
"I think it's eye-opening for all us young guys," he said. "We're right there.
"We're a young group. Just be that close to the conference finals, it's eye opening.
"I think our mindset next year, throughout the whole season, is 'We can beat anyone.'
"I think that we proved it in the playoffs and I think we felt it during the playoffs, too, that we can beat anyone. So I think we're definitely gonna be a confident group coming into next year and make another run at the Cup."
Of course, Canucks fans know that progress is not necessarily linear in the NHL. A lot of things have to break the right way in order for a team to step forward.
But that's not to say that it never happens — look at the Dallas Stars. Despite a tumultuous year that saw their coach fired mid-season for behavioural issues, and just a year-and-a-half removed from team president Jim Lites' profane dressing down of top players Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, the Stars are now set to play for the Stanley Cup, starting Saturday.
A year ago, they reached Game 7 of the second round before losing in double overtime to the eventual champion St. Louis Blues. Then, general manager Jim Nill went out and added some veteran pieces to try to help them get to the next level — and it worked. Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry have both been impact players for the stars throughout these playoffs, while organizational depth and patience is paying off with impressive showings from young defensemen Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg, and breakout rookies Denis Gurianov and Joel Kiviranta up front.
The Stars needed to catch some breaks to squeak out a Game 7 overtime win against Colorado, and may not have ended up where they are right now if the Avs hadn't been down to their third-string goaltender and lost workhorse defenseman Erik Johnson in Game 1 of that second-round series. But Dallas has been able to find a way to come out on top in the big moments and in my opinion, they earned their spot in the final with a decisive five-game triumph over Vegas — an outcome that I didn't see coming.
There are no guarantees in the NHL, but it's pretty fantastic to think about just how far the bar for the Canucks has moved.
A year ago, the prevailing feeling was skepticism when Jim Benning announced that he felt his team was ready to push for the playoffs when he acquired J.T. Miller. Now, players are talking about winning championships — and it sounds plausible.
That experience and confidence gained by the Canucks' young stars this summer will help set the foundation for them as they move forward in their careers.
The Canucks have also become a team that has enough good things happening that other organizations are starting to look there for talent.
On Thursday, we learned that eye-in-the-sky assistant coach and faceoff wizard Manny Malhortra won't be back for the 2020-21 season, as he has accepted an on-the-bench job as an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
If you missed it, Sportsnet published a Big Read last month about Malhotra's promising coaching career, and how he's being viewed as a star on the rise in the field.
While I'm sure the Canucks are disappointed to lose a staff member who has been such an integral part of the team's rise over the past three seasons, word is that they didn't want to stand in the way of Malhotra's career progression. Seeing a coach graduate like this does reflect well on the organization.
My head is still spinning a bit at the pace that this offseason is unfolding — especially as it distracts from the Stanley Cup Final. But the wait has been long for the kids who will finally be drafted in two and a half weeks. And for the organizations that didn't play six weeks of summer hockey like the Canucks did, they're eager to start solidifying their plans for next season, however that ends up looking.
Now that we're successfully nearing the end of the summer restart and so many other sports are back in action, I am starting to feel more confident that the league will find a way to run the 2020-21 season in some form — although, with the border closure still in place and Covid numbers still on the rise in many regions, I expect modifications will be necessary.
Before the Canucks can take a crack at re-signing their unrestricted free agents — and their RFAs — it would make sense to see if they can make any moves to free up salary-cap space.
Pierre LeBrun is on the Loui Eriksson case at
The Athletic today, drawing a line between the Canucks and the cash-poor but cap-space-rich Ottawa Senators, as has been discussed around these parts for....literally, years, right?
He acknowledges that the cash cost of Eriksson for the next two years is a pretty reasonable $5 million, in total. And the $6 million a season cap hit that goes along with that contract can have benefit to a team that needs to reach the salary-cap floor without having to spend the same actual dollars. But he also points out that it cost the Maple Leafs a first-round pick to get rid of Patrick Marleau's deal — and that was for only one season, and came before the economics of the NHL were turned upside down by Covid-19.
LeBrun says he thinks the Canucks would balk at a similar price tag — on top of not having a first or second-round pick in this year's draft. But he does point out that Eriksson now has a 15-team no-trade list — which is less restrictive than the full no-trade that has been attached to his contract for the last two years.
LeBrun also adds that "it goes without saying he’d likely invite a chance to play a more regular role elsewhere."
Eriksson appeared in 10 of the Canucks' postseason games — basically, drawing in while Tyler Toffoli was sidelined. And it's like he was barely there, finishing with no points and an even plus-minus while averaging 15:56 of ice time. That's after a regular season where Eriksson had 13 points in 49 games and was healthy-scratched 19 times.
The Canucks may not have draft stock, but they do have prospects. If they can find a willing suitor, the time has probably come to sweeten that Eriksson contract and try to get it off the books.
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