Let's start the roll into the weekend on a high note. Eight years ago today, Alex Burrows slayed the dragon, kickstarting the Vancouver Canucks' run to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
For me, this is probably the single most vivid highlight of all my years of watching the Canucks. I was in the building and watched it go down in real time. Slack-jawed, I looked over at Randip Janda, who was sitting next to me in the press box. We both incredulously said "It's in!"
It seemed impossible, after the Chicago Blackhawks had eliminated the Canucks so mercilessly in the two previous years—and on home ice, no less, in 2010.
Click here to read the New York Times' piece outlining why the Blackhawks were ready to win Game 7 and complete the comeback from their 3-0 series deficit that night. The Canucks were deep in the muck, goalie-wise, and the Hawks were on a mission to avenge Raffi Torres' hit on Brent Seabrook—much like Washington was pissed about the Warren Foegele hit that took out T.J. Oshie but drew only a minor penalty, this year.
If the Canucks had fallen to Chicago again on April 26, 2011, the legacy of the Alain Vigneault years would look so different, wouldn't it? The Canucks would have been two-time Presidents' Trophy winners who never got out of the second round...
A member of that 2011 team, Jannik Hansen has now announced his retirement after winning a Gagarin Cup as part of CSKA in the KHL this season.
Esmatovich to TASS: @hccska has re-signed deals with Klas Dahlback, Mat Robinson & Lars Johansson. We still consider Greg Scott & working on a foreign forward. Danish forward Jannik Hansen has retired. #KHL#KHLse#TreKronor
Hansen played in all 25 games in the 2011 playoff run, finishing with 3-6-9. Now 33, he was originally drafted in the ninth round by the Canucks in 2004 and went on to finish with 105-130-235 in 565 career games in Vancouver.
Traded for Nikolay Goldobin and a fourth-round pick at the 2017 trade deadline, Hansen never found his groove in San Jose. He picked up just four goals and 21 points in 61 regular-season games and one assist in six playoff games.
The only players from that 2011 team still with the Canucks are Alex Edler, now 33, and Chris Tanev, 29. The only other skater still in the NHL is Dan Hamhuis, 36. He has one more year to go on his current deal with Nashville, which pays him $1.25 million a season. In net, of course, Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider are also still hanging in there. Luongo's 40 now; Schneider's 33. Both have three years left to go on their current deals. (Thanks, Nelson19777!)
On the Chicago side, the Blackhawks still have the big four from their 2010-11 roster: Kane, Toews, Keith and Seabrook, as well as Corey Crawford. Marcus Kruger was also back with the team this year after a series of deals that saw him spend the 2017-18 season with the Carolina Hurricanes/Charlotte Checkers. A number of other players from that Blackhawks team are also still scattered around the league: Michael Frolik in Calgary, Niklas Hjalmarsson in Arizona, Nick Leddy with the Islanders, and Troy Brouwer's a UFA after spending last season in Florida. Ryan Johnson, of course, is now the GM of the Utica Comets and the Canucks' director of player development, and Patrick Sharp has settled in nicely as a studio analyst for NBC.
Speaking of Nikolay Goldobin, a rumour has surfaced that he might end up replacing Hansen on the CSKA roster:
Goldobin, now 23, is an RFA this summer, so he's contractually able to make the jump to Russia. In the past, his agent, Igor Larionov, has insisted that wasn't the plan.
@FriedgeHNIC Goldobin's agent (Igor Larionov) says the possibility that he runs to the KHL is slim. He has been in NA 6 years, since he was 16. He's committed to playing in the NHL. Not a culture issue like with Tryamkin.
When those comments were made during the 2017-18 season, Goldobin was with the Canucks during a season of bouncing back and forth between Vancouver and Utica. He ended up playing 30 games with the Comets that year, accumulating 31 points, plus six assists in five playoff games, while logging just 14 points in 38 games with the Canucks.
No longer waiver eligible this year, Goldy got into 63 games with the Canucks but his goal-scoring actually slipped—from eight goals in 2017-18 to just seven this season, on his way to 27 points. He was healthy-scratched 19 times over the course of the year, including for 10 of the Canucks' last 11 games, and had just two goals and two assists in the 19 games he did play after the All-Star Break.
With a glut of forwards currently on the Canucks' roster heading into next season and Goldobin not looking like he fits into Travis Green's preferred plan, it's not hard to imagine him making the move back to Russia. Something to watch.
Jim Benning was praised for his bold moves when he dealt Hansen and Alex Burrows for younger talent at that 2017 trade deadline but if Goldobin leaves, and with Jonathan Dahlen already traded for Linus Karlsson, the Canucks are on the verge of having virtually nothing to show for those deals.
Jannik Hansen retiring today. Benning moved him for Goldobin & a 4th. We then flipped the 4th for two picks. Those selections were Kristoffer Gunnarsson & Petrus Palmu. #Canucks
Canucks Euro prospects. Linus Karlsson - no contract talks with Canucks yet, sounds like 1 more year in Sweden Kristofer Gunnarsson - another year in Sweden Artyom Manukyan - 1 year left on KHL deal Toni Utunen - no contract talks with Canucks yet, 1 year left on deal in Finland
And speaking of Russia, they're sending a freaking all-star team to the World Championship this year with Washington, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay all out of the playoffs!
So team Russia will have Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Malkin, Kucherov, Gusev, Sergachev, Orlov, Zaitsev, Provorov (contract talks pending), Kovalchuk, Kaprizov, Grigorenko, Vasilevskiy, Yakovlev, Sorokin, Georgiev, Nesterov, Lyubushkin and Anisimov in its roster for the #iihfworlds2019
USA also has a strong initial roster, and it's not out of the question that Jack Hughes might join his brother Quinn once he wraps up his U18 duties. Depending how many roster spots are still open, I wonder if Cole Caufield has a shot at getting an invite?
#TeamUSA names its first 17 players to the 2019 U.S. Men’s National Team. #IIHFWorlds 🇺🇸
Thatcher Demko, of course, is part of the U.S. goaltending platoon. He was announced so early, I forgot that he was heading into the offseason without a contract as a restricted free agent.
No worries, though. That got settled on Wednesday.
#Canucks have extended goalie Thatcher Demko to a 2 year contract that carries an AAV of $1,050,000.
Largely due to injuries, Demko didn't get a chance to play much with the Canucks this season, but finished out the year with pretty decent numbers: a 4-3-1 record with a 2.81 GAA and .913 save percentage. He'll turn 24 in December but with his relatively small body of work so far at the NHL level, it's not surprising to see him signed to a relatively economical bridge deal.
Now we'll wait to see whether Jacob Markstrom gets a contract extension after July 1.
The Canucks also have plenty of other contract work to do this offseason. They're looking to re-sign UFA defensemen Alex Edler and Luke Schenn, and have eight other RFAs to handle along with Goldobin.
Markus Granlund, Tyler Motte, Josh Leivo, Ben Hutton and Derrick Pouliot all have arbitration rights. Goldobin, Brock Boeser, Brogan Rafferty and Josh Teves do not.
Finally, to wrap up this very long blog—playoffs.
Sucker for punishment that I am, I went ahead and made my picks in the NHL's Second Chance Bracket before Round 2 kicked off on Thursday. The Islanders are my team now.
I went 3-for-8 in Round 1, which I think is actually a pretty respectable score this year.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»