In
yesterday's blog, I posted a projected starting lineup based on the idea that the Vancouver Canucks were unlikely to add any more contracts.
General Fanager has the Canucks listed with 48 of the 50 allowable contracts, but as a sharp-eyed bryndog pointed out in yesterday's comments, that number is probably not correct. Their list of 25 non-roster players includes PTO candidate James Sheppard (who does not have a contract type listed on their site) as well as junior-eligible players Olli Juolevi and Guillaume Brisebois.
Over at the "other" salary-cap site,
CapFriendly, Sheppard is correctly IDed as a PTO player, while Juolevi and Stecher's contracts both carry a special icon indicating that they are exempt from the 50-contract limit.
Assuming that's correct and the Canucks are at 45 contracts instead of 48, that ramps up the possibilities in terms of potentially signing another player before the season begins.
The Canucks, like every team, will need to set their 23-man roster, that's salary-cap compliant, next Tuesday—one day before the beginning of the regular season next Wednesday, October 12. Though I still think the odds of making the team are stacked against them, I think that means we'll probably see more of Tuomo Ruutu and Jack Skille in the Canucks' last two preseason games, before Jim Benning needs to make a final decision on whether to offer either veteran a contract.
Last season's situation with Adam Cracknell was similar, but not the same. Cracknell was a career journeyman, and had already been signed to a two-way contract before training camp. He performed well enough to grab a spot in Vancouver's 2015-16 opening-night lineup, and played a solid 44 games before being snatched up on waivers by Edmonton in late February.
Cracknell signed a two-way deal with the Dallas Stars this summer. He's still in camp—and doing well, again—but if he does get sent to the minors, he'll make a relatively comfortable $325,000 this season.
By contrast, Ruutu and Skille come with higher pedigrees. Both are former first-rounders who didn't live up to expectations. Ruutu has had more success—346 points in 735 games compared to 75 points in 313 games for Skille, but Ruutu is also much older. He's 33; Skille's 29.
Ruutu's career has largely been derailed by injury. Having cut his teeth in his homeland of Finland, he has never played a game in the AHL. Skille, by contrast, honed his game at the AHL level. Drafted in 2005, he didn't make the NHL full time until the 2010-11 season. Just three years later, as property of the Columbus Blue Jackets, he was back in the minors.
I think both Ruutu and Skille have shown some good stuff during camp, but I don't think James Sheppard has shown nearly enough to be included in this conversation. If you were to pick one, who would you choose?
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If one of the vets does earn a contract, that puts new father Emerson Etem in jeopardy.
Iain MacIntyre of
The Province loudly sounds the warning bell on Etem's prospects in a new article.
After saying earlier that he wants to use Markus Granlund in a top-nine role, coach Willie Desjardins told MacIntyre that in a perfect world, he'd find a similar spot for Etem.
“The big thing with him … is he needs to score,” Desjardins said. “He’s got to contribute offensively and he hasn’t. I don’t think he’s had as many chances and he’s needed. It’s one thing if you’re getting chances and they’re just not going in. I don’t think he’s quite generating the chances he needs.
“He has tried to change his game so he can give you (other things) when he’s not scoring; I think he’s tried to play a little more physical. But the best part of his game is when he’s creating some offence, when he’s going to the net and doing that. He can play that fourth-line role. But he’s a guy I see probably more in our top three lines.”
MacIntyre name-checks Ruutu and Skille, as well as Brendan Gaunce and Joe Labate, as the players that are battling with Etem for that final roster spot. Labate's another wild-card to watch here—less experienced than Ruutu or Skille but also younger (23), bigger (6'5") and with plenty of jam.
Side note—the player that Etem was traded for, 2011 first-rounder Nicklas Jensen (now 23), was placed on waivers today by the New York Rangers.
With just two games to go, Willie Desjardins will need to start integrating his World Cup returnees and inching closer to his final NHL roster.
The Sedins and Loui Eriksson—the Tre Kronor Line?—are on the ice this morning at Rogers Arena.
Also, from practice:
The Stecher/Larsen battle is another one that'll be exciting to watch as these final days of training camp play out!
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