Make no mistake, this trade was about money. O’Brien was going to be playing in Manitoba this year, eating up $1.6 million of Francesco Aquilini’s money. Having Parent in the minors instead saves ownership $675,000. Cap-wise, Parent can be recalled with less risk than O’Brien, as both would be subjected to recallable waivers. The other two parts of the deal, Gendur and Andersson, are likely career minor leaguers.

Ryan Parent was a blue chip prospect not long ago. He was a first round pick in 2005 and was a standout in the World Junior Championships for Canada. He’s only 23 and still has some upside. Unfortunately there’s no room on the Canucks roster for him this year but should he clear waivers he might have a future with the Canucks.

In other news, Jeff Tambellini has been placed on waivers. The good news is that should he clear, he can be recalled without having to be subjected to recallable waivers.

Ian MacIntyre from the Vancouver Sun sees the Tambellini move as an indication that Peter Schaefer has indeed made this team. Schaefer is still unsigned but his contract should be a formality according to MacIntyre.

If true, that leaves the Canucks opening night roster as such:

Sedin-Sedin-Samuelsson

Raymond-Kesler-Torres

Hansen-Malhotra-Schaefer

Desbiens-Bolduc-Glass

Hamhuis-Bieksa

Edler-Ehrhoff

Ballard-Alberts

Luongo

Schneider

Aaron Rome is the seventh defenseman, and Rick Rypien is injured. Cody Hodgson is currently still with the team be I expect him to be sent to Manitoba. Sami Salo and Alex Burrows will be on long term injury reserve.

Beyond that, it usually makes sense to tryout for a team that you think is a fit. Looking at the Canucks depth at centre (H. Sedin, Kesler, Malhotra), Morrison looks to be a fourth line centre on this team. So could it work? Well, lets take a look at the merits of him ending up in blue and green on October 9th:

What has he been up to?

After leaving the Canucks as a free agent in 2008, Morrison split 2008-09 with Anaheim and Dallas and played last season in Washington.

Has he been any good?

Mixed reviews. Morrison was 60 point first line guy for the most part in Vancouver, but his production has slowed with age/injuries. He put up a disappointing 31 points in 2008-09 but increased his total to 42 points last season.

Where does he fit?

His days of being a top six forward are over, but could be a third line centre with some speed/versatility on most teams. When healthy, the Canucks have a spot open on the third line (assuming none of their prospects step up and grab the spot). The problem is that spot is on the wing unless Malhotra moves over.

Can he be a 4th liner?

To me, this is the question. I think he can, if he’s willing to accept the role. I don’t think your 4th line centre needs to be a fighter/big body checker. He could be effective in that role playing with Oreskovich/Hordichuk/Rypien on his wing.

What he needs to show

He needs to show that he can kill penalties, play good in his own end and provide some offense with plumbers on his wing. He’ll also need to be willing to play for about $800,000 or less.

X-Factor

Morrison would be a nice insurance policy should someone get injured, because he could slide into an offensive role. He’s also a BC boy which should provide some inspiration for a good season.

After weeks of rumours, Willie Mitchell finally ended the suspense on Wednesday, signing a two-year deal worth $3.5 million per season. According to most, including yours truly, he hit a home run. While still a very effective defenseman, I thought that he would have to give up a little bit more money and/or term given his age and concussion history. Quite simply, he was out of the Canucks price range. The Canucks are very deep on defense and already have an injury riddled d-man they’re holding their breathe on with Sami Salo.

The LA Kings were in good position to sign Mitchell, given the room they have under the cap and also fits a more pressing need for them. Canucks fans ought to be sad that Mitchell has left the team, while understanding that this was a tough deal for the Canucks to match. Canucks fans should also be a little worried that of all teams, Mitchell went to a conference rival. Mitchell will almost surely be matched up against the Sedins, and will try to poke check the crap out of them. He knows all of their tendencies and would probably match-up really well against them.

Bieksa Staying?

With every passing day that Kevin Bieksa isn’t traded, I’m believing that he will remain a Canuck. With Mitchell leaving and Sami Salo on long term injury reserve (as well as Burrows on long term injury reserve), Bieksa’s importance increases, as does the room under the cap because of the injuries to Burrows and Salo. Lets hope that Bieksa has a strong year, because surely he must be motivated after hearing his name being dragged through the mud all summer.

Canucks Ink Torres

News broke late Tuesday evening that Mike Gillis signed Raffi Torres to a one-year $1 million deal. Torres is an absolute bargain. He can be a streaky player who certainly has his ups and downs but when he is good he is very good.

So what’s to like? Raffi Torres is a former 5th overall draft choice who netted 19 goals last year and had a career high 27 goals in 2005-06. He’s also only 28 and brings a physical element to the game. From what I remember and what I’ve seen on Youtube, Torres can deliver some devastating hits, something the Canucks desperately need.

So what’s the bad? The bad is that Torres hasn’t lived up to expectations placed on him after a successful junior career. He’s been inconsistent, marred with injury troubles and is now with his fifth NHL team.

As far as the Canucks are concerned, Raffi Torres should fit in on the third line once everyone is healthy, potentially on a line with Manny Malhotra and Cody Hodgson. That line has a lot of potential in my opinion, and could end up being a lot better than last year’s third line. Of course, Alex Burrows is still recovering from shoulder surgery and will miss the first couple months of the season. Torres is a good bet to move up and play on the second line in his absense, while Mikael Samuelsson could play with the Sedins. Raffi Torres will also probably get lots of power play time (he scored seven power play goals for Columbus last season).

All in all, this was a low risk move by Gillis with lots of potential. Good signing in my opinion.

Who’s got the C?

Take it for what it’s worth, but there are unconfirmed reports that the Canucks are planning to strip Luongo of the C and give it to Henrik Sedin. Is this a good move? I think so, although not that I’m sold as Henrik being the captain. Luongo is the Canucks most important player and I think most agree that the captaincy has become a distraction for him, as it would with any goaltender. But Henrik? Didn’t most of Vancouver agree that quiet Swedish captains who don’t hit make poor leaders? Well it seems our tune has changed. I think Ryan Kesler would be a better choice as a player to stand up in the locker room do everything on the ice.

The Canucks announced on Monday that they have re-signed Mason Raymond. The restricted free agent re-signed just minutes before his arbitration case was to be heard. But that’s not the surprising part, the surprising part is that Mike Gillis was able to get Raymond to sign a two year deal, worth $2.55 per season. There’s no doubt in my mind that Raymond would have been awarded more in arbitration, perhaps well more. In fact, most pundits (including myself)were predicting $3 million or more.

This begs the question: why did Raymond settle for less? Was he worried that he would get awarded too much and have the Canucks walk away from the award? Does he just really want to win and knew that a lower cap number would help keep the team together? Or did he just run-in to Mike “the negotiator” Gillis?

Mike Gillis has done a superb job on a number of contracts in his two plus years as Canucks GM. His style seems to lay low, keep quiet and then at the last possible minute offers up his best offer. It’s like playing hard to get. Remember when he re-signed Alex Burrows? Rumours were swirling that Burrows would be traded if he didn’t sign before the deadline, and what do you know, he signs a dirt cheap contract. You could almost just see him starting to sweat, wondering what Gillis was going to do.

The fact that Gillis is a former player agent plays a big part in this also. He knows how players think, what offends them, what impresses them, etc. It’s something that we didn’t see with the last few GMs in this town.

So just how good was this deal? Consider Raymond, a 25 goal scorer is getting $2.55 million and compare that to Clarke MacArthur’s arbitration award ($2.4 million for a 16 goal scorer) or Nikolai Kulemin’s new contract ($2.35 million for a 16 goal scorer). Both of those players are of similar age and clearly not as good as Raymond.

It went somewhat under the radar because it was reported the same day as Markus Naslund’s jersey retirement was announced, but the Canucks have announced that they will be having a “ring of honour” at Rogers Arena. The idea behind the ring of honour is that they will be able to honour some players from the past that don’t quite deserve to have their jersey retired.

Is this a good idea? In a way I like the idea of honouring past players in a way other than jersey retirement, but just what will be the criteria to get on the ring? Four players will be honoured this year, beginning with Orland Kurtenbach. The other three have yet to be announced.

Maybe I’m overly skeptical, but I can see this “ring of honour” becoming a bit of a joke. Lets be honest here, the Canucks do not have a great history. A long history, sure, but not a great history. I’m sure Orland Kurtenbach was/is a great guy and he was their first captain, but he’s the first member of the ring of honour? Kurtenbach played only four years in Vancouver, never played a game in the playoffs for them, and put up point totals of 53, 61, 28 and 21 in blue and green. He’s currently 46th in Canucks all-time scoring (one point ahead of Mark Messier).

So is the ring of honour for ‘good guys’ like Kurtenbach and guys like Tiger Williams,  Dana Murzyn and Harold Snepsts? Or is it for their greatest players, like Pavel Bure, Alex Mogilny and Todd Bertuzzi? Personally, I think it should encompass both. If you aren’t one of the top players in the history of the team, you’re out. If you embarrassed the club like Bertuzzi, you’re out. If you turned your back on the city like Bure, you’re out.

So who should make it in? They probably will not feel a need to honour the guys who have already had their number retired like Smyl, Linden and Naslund, so it should be the next group of guys who were the best players for a number of years while maintaining a minimum level of class. Thomas Gradin is a no brainer in my opinion. He’s the most unappreciated Canuck of all time. He was perhaps a better player than Stan Smyl was, yet gets no publicity while Smyl gets a tonne.Very similar to way we look at Trevor Linden versus Markus Naslund.

Other players that should get consideration? Don Lever, Andre Boudrias and Dennis Kearns from the 1970s, Richard Brodeur (along with Gradin) from the 1982 Cup finalist team, Tony Tanti and Doug Lidster from those terrible teams in the 1980s, and Kirk McLean, Jyrki Lumme and Cliff Ronning from the 1994 cup finalist team. Honourable mentions go to Geoff Courtnall, Greg Adams and Petri Skriko. Harold Snepsts, Garth Butcher and Tiger Williams will probably get consideration too, but probably shouldn’t.

Bieksa’s Not Gone Yet

Kind of interesting that the trigger hasn’t been pulled on Kevin Bieksa… yet. Is it possible that Mike Gillis is planning to keep all of his d-men this year? That would make six d-men making over $3 million plus Shane O’Brien ($1.6 million). I still think Gillis has to make a move and certainly Bieksa is the man to go, but with every passing day without a trade the chances of Bieksa staying increase.

Apparently there is a lot of interest in Bieksa. Ben Kuzma (the Kooze!) of the Province figures that Anaheim, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Jose and Columbus are all interested. I can’t see the Canucks wanting to help LA or San Jose, but the other three make sense to me. Obviously trading to a team in the east is the best option though.

What’s Raymond Worth?

I guess it depends on who his comparables are. Wojtek Wolski just signed for $3.8 million and Guillaume Latendresse signed for $2.5 million. Safe to say Raymond falls somewhere in that range, so perhaps $3 million? What do you think? Lets hear your opinion in the comments section.

Demitra Signs in the KHL

As expected, Pavol Demitra will not be returning to the Canucks this season, signing a deal in the KHL. His NHL career is likely over but perhaps we’ll see him again at the Olympics in 2014. Once a great player with the Blues, he never made it to the Stanley Cup finals in his career. This past season with the Canucks was injury riddled, and his previous season was sub-par. His absence will be felt in the shootout though, where he was one of the team’s best. We will also miss his crazy interview ramblings.

Great news for Canucks fans. The Canucks announced this morning that Ryan Kesler has signed a six year contract extension with the team. Kesler has proven that he can not only be a checker, but a scorer as well. He’s one of the best second line centres in the league, and could win the Selke Trophy this season. As early as the start of last season, nobody thought he had the potential to be the offensive producer that he is today. Again, it’s great news, depending on the price of course. If I were to guess I would say it’s worth between $4.5 and $5 million.

Update: Terms of the deal just released, $30 million over 6 seasons ($5 million per season).

It appears that Markus Naslund and Peter Forsberg will be returning to pro hockey together, playing for their hometown team of Modo in Sweden. The two of them are clearly very loyal to Modo, as they are reportedly going to play for FREE! This will mark the third (and presumably final) time that Forsberg and Naslund have played together for Modo. The two played together previously for Modo before their NHL careers and during the lockout canceled season in 2005-06.

The most interesting part of this new development could be the impact on Team Sweden for the Olympics in February. Forsberg has reportedly shown interest in playing in February but up to this point, Naslund hasn’t. He may or may not be interested, but if Naslund and Forsberg click well together in Modo, why wouldn’t Naslund want to have his swan song in the Olympics? It would mark his first return to play hockey in Vancouver since he last played for the team in 2008. He also missed the chance to play for Team Sweden in the 2006 Olympics, thus missing a chance at a gold medal. Consider further that Team Sweden doesn’t exactly have the best depth right now, and I think there’s an outside chance that Naslund could be in the 2010 Olympics.

How bad are the Canucks injury woes? Well, they’ve brought back a Tampa Bay Lightning cast-off! Yeeesh. Actually, I don’t mind this signing. Matt Pettinger was re-signed by Mike Gillis yesterday. With all their injuries at the moment, bringing a veteran NHL forward who can skate and kill penalties probably isn’t a bad idea. He’ll be here on a temporary basis in all likelihood though. The best they can hope for is a Trent Klatt effect. Klatt was sent down to the minors early in his Canucks tenure, and when he came back up was a changed man. His intensity was up considerably and he became an effective player. Surely, Pettinger will be a motivated player.

Speaking of Canucks injuries, this is getting ridiculous. In what seems like a daily injury update, Michael Grabner will be lost for six weeks with a fractured ankle. Amazing how you can be chased around at high speed by 220 lb defencemen for your career and it’s casually kicking a soccer ball that knocks you out.

After watching the following video I started to think that maybe Canuckz.com should consider spicing up its injury updates? Just a thought…

The Canucks have just announced that Alain Vigneault has signed a three year contract extension. The contract takes him through the 2012-13 season. While most everyone agrees that re-signing Vigneault is a good thing (except those bandwagon douchebags, of course), what are the odds of a coach lasting seven years with one team? That’s what Vigneault will have done if he coaches to the end of this contract. Seeing as how the Aquilini family is footing the bill, so long as this contract doesn’t make Gillis more hesitant to make a decision with his coach, this will prove to be a positive move.

In other news, the Canucks trimmed their roster today, with no major surprises. Dave Scatchard was released and may have played his last NHL game. Yann Sauve is on his way back to junior while most of the others will play in Manitoba. Interestingly, Mark Parrish was not on the list of cuts (although still a long shot in my opinion).

Update: so long Mark Parrish

The Vancouver Canucks have just announced that Roberto Luongo has re-signed, to the tune of a 12-year deal! No word yet on the official dollar amount, but it was rumoured to be a $64 million dollar deal (that’s $5.3 million per season). If that dollar figure is correct, it has the potential to do a lot of things.

This will make the Canucks more competitive in the short term, no question. Luongo is really a $7 million goalie. Having him on the hook for almost $2 million under market value will allow the Canucks to go out and sign a $6 million player instead of a $4 million player, which is significant. That’s the difference between signing a 1st liner or a 2nd liner.

Short term is clear, but long term isn’t as much. If Luongo plays out the balance of his contract, it will pay him $5.3 million per season until he is 42. I don’t know of any goalie in NHL history that was worth that much money in his 40s. Of course if the salary cap goes down, this will be magnified, and if it goes up, this will be minimized.

The scenario that Mike Gillis is probably banking on though, is the scenario where Luongo is a bargain for the next 5-6 years, and retires at the point where he is no longer an elite goaltender. Luongo strikes me as the type that would do that anyway (how many elite goaltenders become backups at the end of their career?).