First things first: I'm making my debut over at Canucks Army today with a preview of the Young Stars tournament.
Click here to check it out.
Thanks to Thomas Drance, editor in chief of the Nation Network, for reaching out to me. I'm looking forward to being part of the team.
Here at HockeyBuzz, nothing's changing. I'll still be around every day to cover the latest news and examine every possible angle of all things Canucks.
The prospects are heading up to Penticton today and will hit the ice for their first practice at the South Okanagan Events Centre at 2 p.m.
Some great news surfaced yesterday about the lineup that Vancouver will be icing:
Full speed ahead!
As well as seeing Jake Virtanen, McCann and Cassels all for the first time at Young Stars, Utica Comets coach Travis Green has high hopes for a number of his alumni from last season:
I fear the Canucks would have to be hit hard by injuries in order for all those players to score meaningful NHL minutes, but it's nice to see such a big group all get votes of confidence.
A couple more notes from Green:
Green also told News1130 that Willie Desjardins' hip surgery "didn't come as a surprise," and added that the coach will still be actively involved in the proceedings over the next couple of weeks.
Jason Botchford of
The Province reports that Willie's surgery was a hip replacement, but that he's already up and around on crutches after going under the knife on Tuesday.
Botchford says that Willie is expected to be in Prince George for training camp next week, and Jim Benning believes that he'll be back behind the bench well before opening night.
“I don’t think he’ll miss that many exhibition games,” Benning told Botchford—who emphasizes that the Canucks have lots of work to do in preparation for the new season, particularly integrating the team's new players.
As for this weekend, the Canucks' opponents are bringing some star-studded lineups of their own to Penticton.
Edmonton's Connor McDavid is generating the most hype, of course—and might not be as easy to push around as we'd expect after a hard-working summer of training with Gary Roberts in Toronto.
Click here to read about McDavid's offseason development, from Marty Klinkenberg of
The Globe and Mail.
Other big names on the Oilers roster include Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl—both of whom I'd expect to make the big club this year.
Winnipeg's bringing its usual boatload of impressive prospects, including a determined Nikolaj Ehlers—now listed at 6'0" and 176 pounds after weighing in at 5'11" and 163 pounds when he dazzled at last year's tournament. The Jets will likely have the best goaltending in the tournament thanks to both Eric Comrie and Connor Hellebuyck.
For the Calgary Flames, playoff-seasoned Sam Bennett—now 19 years old—will be leading the charge. I was a bit worried that Micheal Ferland might also be making an appearance after
NHL.com named him Calgary's No. 3 top prospect over the summer, but Ferland's a restricted free agent who's still unsigned, so he's not on the roster for Penticton.
I'm also interested in checking out the two defensemen Calgary drafted in June—Oliver Kylington and Rasmus Andersson. As pleased as I am with Vancouver's choice of Brock Boeser so far, I'd pegged Kylington as a potential fit to shore up the Canucks' blue line, and was very surprised that he fell all the way to No. 60. It'll be awhile before we know for sure, but I feel like he might turn out to be a real steal for the Flames.
Cody Franson Signs Two-Year Deal With Buffalo
There was no way of knowing on July 1 that Cody Franson's market value would fall to the level that it has. This deal has now been finalized and Franson has made his first appearance in front of the media in Buffalo:
When B.C. native Franson expressed interest in playing for the Canucks before free agency opened, I don't think any of us considered that he might be available for such a reasonable cost and term. I don't think the Detroit Red Wings thought so either, when they signed Mike Green for three years at $6 million to play essentially the same role that Franson will—a right-side defenseman who mans the point on the power play.
Naturally, Canucks Nation is quick to make this comparison:
In reality, Sbisa's role will be very different than Franson's. He's a left-side guy whose role will be as a physical, puck-moving defenseman.
The Canucks are filling the hole where Franson might have fit with Yannick Weber (1 year, $1.5 million), Matt Bartkowski (1 year, $1.75 million) and Frank Corrado (1 year, $632,500). The three of them together make $3,882,500—just slightly more than Franson's bargain-basement price tag.
Time will tell if that trio can outperform what Franson might have done if he had come back to Vancouver.
In other signing news, two ex-Canucks signed professional tryout offers on Wednesday:
Booth returns to the team that drafted him, where he posted his only three seasons with more than 20 goals, after a 13-point campaign in Toronto last season.
Bernier quietly hit a career-high 16 goals with the New Jersey Devils last season, and tied the career high 32 points that he set with the Canucks back in 2008-09. He never lived up to his potential as a big-bodied first-round draft pick, but those are some Shawn Matthias-level numbers from the 30-year-old, who could turn out to be a solid value signing.
One other ex-Canuck note that I missed last week—Max Lapierre has signed to spend a year in the Sedins' hometown, playing for Modo in the Swedish Hockey League. My mind boggles.
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