i agree that the canucks have imporved in some areas. i know my post sounds like panicking, but i'm not. i was just hoping that shanahan would come here. he's a big bodied physical player. yeah, theres trades, but what is gillis willing to give up for players? the future? or present players and rebuild, yet again. canucks trends seem to rebuild every 3 years. if they want a winning franchise, they should look up to 5 years ahead.

if the player is an RFA then they get an offer sheet. players get put on waivers are usually still on contract

I don't think Naslund would have been back anyway. The team didn't even make him an offer. This could be in part because Gillis recognized that a serious change was needed, but it wouldn't surprise me if he'd had a chat with Nazzy, after OR BEFORE he got the GM job, and already knew that Naslund wanted or needed a change of scenery.

Well by not resigning naslund, I think Gillis fulfilled his statement of making bold changes to the team. I think it'll be good for both parties as well because naslund could use a change of scenery to perhaps jump start his career again and the city of Vancouver could also use a change of scenery for the fans.

:thumbsup:

Totally agree.

Not to mention, if he DID re-sign, there'd probably be no end of questions about Gillis' dealing with Naslund... especially if people thought he was being overpaid. It's better for everyone involved this way.

by not signing naslund, gillis sent a message to the city and fans... it's a new era. also, it's really hard for a team to keep a player but change the leadership (ie captaincy)


soundy: nice sig.

I disagree with that, by signing someone to a 2year contract, were not really handicap with him as for someone who signs a 5-8year contract worth 6-8 mill a year.

Also, theres tons of rumours, none of which i really follow just because i hate getting pumped up and in the end, have it slap in my face (as it has for the past couple of seasons). hahahhas. One that might spark some interest is Gionta for Bieksa.......but really i dont think our D corps has enough depth anymore to throw Bieksa in there.

If we do sign sundin, its going to be a huge bonus, i dont know maybe im just being biased but honestly speaking, i really do think that canucks can suprise some people this year if Sundin is signed.

All in all, we can't judge gillis yet, he's made some bold decisons and its tough in a hockey market like Vancouver where everytime something happens, or is said, every forum goes crazy (jumping on or off the bangwagon). And as someone saying that gillis doesn't have a plan if Sundin doesn't sign, i kind of fall into the catogory or believing that, but i really hope he proves me wrong.

Either way, GO CANUCKS GO...untill the end! :p

swedish newspapers that have a knack for getting things right, are reporting Sundin to Vancouver.

http://translate.google.com/translat...F8&sl=sv&tl=en

hmmm I really how tru that really is

Dude if we get Sundin then trade sedin sisters and get kovalchuk then trake bieksa for a good forward we're so fuckin' set for the season we might even end up top of the north west...

^ that's like a freaking DREAM COME TRUE!

You'd want all this to happen just so we "might" end up first in our division?

nice trade, 2 70-80 point players for one 90 point player. :haha::haha:

seriously if the twins played in the east they'd get 90 points a piece easily.

I think by now, we all know one line isnt going to be able to carry a team.

hypothetically speaking; if we traded the sedins for kovalchuk, finally landed sundin and even traded bieksa for a decent forward, we'd have a solid defined first and second line, plus the third and fourth which were improved early on this offseason. it would be a solid line-up... but it ain't happening.

we'll get sundin and maybe trade a d for another forward... you have to remember that bieksa makes over $3m a year... the teams that are willing to trade top 6 forwards have cap issues (and so will we if we sign sundin), taking on a $11m/3yr contract isn't going to help.

I'd pull the trigger at the trade deadline if our team is doing good because the way I see it, the Sedins are almost useless in the playoffs.

Yeah, that and the Sedins are UFAs at the end of the season. If we give Sundin 10m, I don't know if we can fit the Sedins at 5.5-6m each. We have 26m in cap space for 09-10 and say it goes up about 3m next summer,

29m minus Sundin and Sedins, that leaves 7-8m to sign Bernier, Ohlund, Edler, Krajicek, Burrows and others.

they also might not sit too well being 2nd liners again

Remember when people said Zetterberg and Datsuyk were useless in the playoffs?
Sedins sucked in the playoffs because they were the Canucks ONLY capable scoring line. Everyone focuses on them.

QFT. If we had ANY secondary threat for other teams to worry about, the Sedins would be able to put up much better numbers.

^Excellent analysis, Mr. Spock.

Not hating on the Sedins or anything, but they're easy counters regardless of which line they're playing on. All they do is dump to the sideboards, cycle, and pass cross-crease or into the slot from behind the net. Zetterberg and Datsyuk can both rush to the net and deke out everyone, and are way more dynamic in terms of playmaking and scoring ability. You can't even compare the Sedins to Zetterberg/Datsyuk because the Sedins are still far behind them. Hell, do I dare say they're even better than Crosby and Malkin?

But no matter what, I still love the Sedins. I just wish they mixed up their game a little bit.

Well they don't have speed, so theres not all that much they can do to improve their game, other than work on strength (which they have definitely improved the past few years).

I never compared their playing ability to Z and Datsuyk. I compared their success in the playoffs, before this year winning the cup Z and D always were ridiculed for their play in the playoffs just like the twins. But look what happened when players like Franzen and Fippula imerged on the second line to take the scoring load off those 2. Signing Rafalski who along with Lidstrom are probably two the best buck moving d-men in the league feeding them pucks from end to end didn't hurt their success either.
This has been discussed to death but have the Sedin's had a credible skilled linemate ever? Z and Datsuyk got a guy like Holmstrom tipping pucks left and right, screening the goaltender with his big ass, and making room for them.
With a big linemate that can create space for them I think the Sedins can do a ton of damage.

I think that's over-simplifying a little... sure they may just cycle along the boards, but they're incredible at it and both have an innate skill for maintaining possession of the puck. How often have we seen one or the other on the boards with the puck, playing keep-away and making the other player look like a fool trying to take it? Their passing to each other at times seems otherworldly, how they manage to find each other... where it all falls down is in having that third player to complete the passing plays reliably.

And as has already been noted, when they're the only real scoring danger on the team, the opposition can concentrate all their checking and defense on that one line. If they're playing, say, Anaheim, what chance do they have when the Ducks can throw Pronger AND Niedermayer at them, knowing that neither will need to worry about any of the Canucks' other lines?

The one thing that really seemed to work last year was when AV split them up, creating two semi-potent scoring lines instead of one really potent line. That showed that they have the ability, if they have the space. If we have a second GOOD scoring line, that opens up a lot more room and opportunity for both.

I think that was the original plan with pyatt being their linemate except pyatt doens't play to his size. Having said that, it's also been beaten to death that to stop the sedins, you just have to physically take one of them out of their cycle and it would usually lead to a turnover.