It's Mid-July, Time to Start Some Rumours! How 'bout Streit, Wideman or Morrow to the Canucks?

Hello everybody. I’m back. It’s been a while since my last blog, and I’m sure you can understand why. The Canucks exciting and exhausting Stanley Cup run ended one month ago today. That was followed up quickly with the NHL draft, the NHL awards and the start of free agency. I was exhausted. I needed to re-charge. And no, the signing of Marco Sturm didn’t exactly give me the kick start I needed.

But I’ve recovered and I’m back for some fun summertime blogging. You know what’s great about summertime blogging? RUMOURS. Mike Gillis and the brass are pretty tight lipped, so there aren’t many juicy ones out there.

To start a good rumour, we have to address a team’s needs.

What do the Canucks need? The three most glaring areas are: an offensive defenceman to replace Christian Ehrhoff, a better second line winger to play with Ryan Kesler, and more grit/toughness.

Ok, those are the needs, lets start it off!

Mark Streit

Position: Defence

Age: 33

Contract: 2 more years left at $4.1 million per season

Last season stats: n/a

Why he’s a good fit: He’s an offensive defenceman who can play big minutes. He didn’t play at all last year due to injury, but his stats the previous three years are very impressive. He had 62, 56 and 49 points with the Canadiens and Islanders. He’s great on the power play, doing most of his offensive damage there. But he’s more than just a power play specialist. He averaged over 25 minutes of ice time in 2008-09 and 2009-10 on some terrible Islanders teams and was a combined +6. That’s downright astonishing.

What it would take to get him: So if Mark Streit is so good, why would the Islanders want to get rid of him? Perhaps because of his age (at 33 he’s getting old for a rebuilding team like the Islanders) or perhaps because of his injury troubles. But the best reason why he would be available is because Garth Snow is not a very good general manager! He wouldn’t come cheap, but perhaps he could be had for a combination of Keith Ballard and Mason Raymond? That’s a bit of a long shot, but certainly the Canucks could get him if they were willing to give up Cory Schneider or Cody Hodgson. I probably wouldn’t trade either youngster for him, but it’s at least worth a thought.

Dennis Wideman

Position: Defence

Age: 28

Contract: One more year left at $4.5 million per season

Last season stats: GP: 75, G: 10, A: 30, Pts: 40, -19, TOI/G: 23:59

Why he’s a good fit: He’s an offensive defenceman that could replace Christian Ehrhoff. He’s only two years removed from a 50 point season with the Bruins. He’s also low risk, seeing that he is only under contract for one more season.

What it would take to get him: Probably draft picks and/or young players. The Washington Capitals are currently over the salary cap and have a lot of defencemen. Wideman was brought in last season to fill-in for the injured Mike Green. Now that Green is healthy again, perhaps there’s less of a need for Wideman. The Caps currently have eight legitimate NHL defencemen signed.

Brenden Morrow

Position: Left Wing

Age: 32

Contract: Two more years at $4.1 million per season

Last season stats: GP: 82, G: 33, A: 23, Pts: 56, -3, TOI/G: 19:14

Why he’s a good fit: He’s got grit, toughness, determination, leadership, experience and a goal scoring touch. He also scores big goals. What more do you want for your second line alongside Ryan Kesler?

What it would take to get him: A lot. He is the captain of the Dallas Stars and has played his whole career there since being drafted by the Stars in 1997. With that said, with the departure of Brad Richards and not much else coming on the horizon, the Stars are in a rebuilding situation. If the Canucks could knock their socks off with some young talent, I think the Stars might be willing to give up Morrow. What about Cory Schneider and Mason Raymond (or insert someone else’s name here if Dallas is unwilling to acquire a player with a broken back!) and a first round pick for Morrow and Andrew Raycroft? I’d make that deal.

So that’s my best attempt at getting the rumour ball rolling. Keep on enjoying the summer everybody.

31272 Response2011-07-16+00%3A56%3A42Rob to It's Mid-July, Time to Start Some Rumours! How 'bout Streit, Wideman or Morrow to the Canucks?

Sebastian on July 15, 2011

The Stars actually aren't in a rebuilding state. They may have lost Richards, but Benn might be taking a 2nd line center role, they re-united Ryder (a 20-30 goal scorer in Montreal) with Ribeiro, signed Souray as a possible PP QB, signed Fiddler as a face-off and PKer, and signed some others to help their overall depth. Next season, if injuries play as large a role as last year, they'll be better suited to take them on. Good luck getting Morrow from a fairly well established team.
Robert Williams on July 16, 2011

Sebastian, that's a very optimistic look at the Stars' chances, but I don't think it's accurate. Souray is injury prone and old. He didn't exactly light up the AHL last year. Moving a winger like Benn to centre sounds like you're missing a legit second centre. Vern Fiddler is a useful role player and Michael Ryder is a decent 2nd line winger. Dallas will likely still miss the playoffs though, and then Morrow will be another year older. I know it's a longshot that they would move him, because he is so highly thought of in Dallas like Trevor Linden in Vancouver, Wendel Clark in Toronto or Ryan Smyth in Edmonton. Those players were all traded when the player got older and the teams began to suck.

Rob The Hockey Guy