I’m not sure when exactly this began, but it’s pretty clear that the Vancouver Canucks are the most hated team in the NHL. We got more evidence of this when the recently retired Mark Recchi decided to offer this up:

(In) 22 years they are the most arrogant team I played against and the most hated team I’ve ever played against. I couldn’t believe their antics, their falling and diving. It was very frustrating, but at the same time as the series wore on we knew we were getting to them and we knew our physical play and our skating, I think it caught them off guard a little bit.

Mark Recchi is open to his opinion of course, and he certainly isn’t alone in his hatred for the Vancouver Canucks. But what I don’t understand is how the entire hockey world seems to be in agreement that the Canucks are a bunch of jerks while the Bruins get off Scott free.

Recchi cites the diving the Canucks were doing, which I believe is grossly exaggerated. What never seems to get brought up is the amount of cheap antics the Bruins employ. We’re all familiar with Brad Marchand’s punching bag job on Daniel Sedin in game 6 last year, but apparently that’s honourable. The latest example of a cheap shot by the Bruins came from Milan Lucic:

Amazingly, this didn’t receive any kind of a suspension. It’s a clear cheap shot on a defenseless player that resulted in an injury. Wait, isn’t that how they described Aaron Rome’s hit on Nathan Horton?

Has anyone in the NHL noticed that Nathan Horton is back playing hockey this season and hasn’t missed a single game? That’s interesting because his concussion was described as being ‘severe‘ last June. It’s also interesting because Horton himself admitted that he was symptom free on June 20, only 14 days after the Rome hit. Sounds like the Bruins may have embellished the injury to Horton in an effort to get Aaron Rome suspended (on a related note, read this article from March 23rd titled “Mark Recchi Says Canadiens Embellished Max Pacioretty’s Concussion in Effort to get Zdeno Chara Suspended).

Oh hey, Zdeno Chara was in the news recently. Here is his hit on Max Pacioretty last season in case you forgot about it.

If you noticed that Nathan Horton is back playing, you probably also noticed that Mason Raymond still isn’t. Raymond is still recovering from a fractured vertebrae. I think the entire hockey world has forgotten that Johnny Boychuk was the guy that delivered the crushing blow on a late hit.

But above every cheap hit by the Bruins that has resulted in a lot of injuries with few consequences, it’s the chirping they do that makes it worse. Mark Recchi has his Stanley Cup ring, but refused to take the high road this week. He also said that Max Pacioretty was embellishing an injury while he was out with a fractured vertebrae and a concussion. Milan Lucic was pretty unapologetic after giving Ryan Miller a concussion, and he basically called the Sabres a bunch of wimps in the process. And what about Nathan Horton? He voiced his displeasure about Aaron Rome sending him a text message, rather than phoning him, after his hit last June. You know how Johnny Boychuk apologized to Mason Raymond? Through text message!

I get that the Canucks are not the most liked team in the NHL, and that’s fine, but sooner or later logic has to prevail here. I don’t like the cheap shots the Bruins deliver, and I don’t like that they’ve gone unpunished. But enough with the whining that goes along with it!

The Canucks announced on Tuesday that Ryan Kesler underwent hip surgery and will be out 10-12 weeks, meaning that he’ll likely start the season in November. It’s interesting that they waited until August to do the surgery. Perhaps they were waiting to see if his hip would get better without surgery (as they claim) or perhaps there’s something sneakier going on. Is it possible that the Canucks purposely chose to have Ryan Kesler have surgery late in the summer, meaning that he would miss a month of the regular season while he recovers, thus saving precious cap space? Perhaps I’m reading too much into this, but it’s certainly plausible. Having Sami Salo injured for more than half a season last year was of great reward to the Canucks, because they were able to save on the cap while still getting Salo back for the playoffs.

If Ryan Kesler misses one month or more of the regular season, the Canucks could save about $1 million off of their cap. But who would fill-in for Kesler during his absence?

Enter Cody Hodgson. The prized prospect of the Canucks organization will be hard pressed to make this team. He’s a natural centre and Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Manny Malhotra aren’t going anywhere. Max Lapierre is also a lock to be the fourth line centre. So where does that leave Hodgson? Sure, he could try to make the team as a winger, playing on one of the top three lines, but even that would be tough. With Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows, Mikael Samuelsson, Jannik Hansen, Marco Sturm and Chris Higgins, the Canucks have all the wingers they need for their top 3 lines. And that list doesn’t include Mason Raymond, who will likely return sometime in December.

Whether or not Hodgson is ready to play on the Canucks second line is up for debate, but he might not be as far away as some think. There’s a perception that Hodgson has been a major disappointment, and that simply isn’t true. What has been disappointing is his luck with injuries. If you look at Hodgson’s stats, it reads of a remarkable junior career and one year of pro hockey. His numbers were not draw dropping in the AHL last season (30 points in 52 games), but he was leading the Moose in scoring until he suffered a broken orbital bone. He had just 2 points in 8 regular season games with the Canucks and only 1 point in 12 playoff games, but that can hardly be seen as a disappointment. With rare exception, Hodgson had no skilled players to play with, and received very little playing time on the fourth line. Clearly, his role was to play it safe and be responsible defensively (which he accomplished).

So an injury to Ryan Kesler offers the perfect chance for Cody Hodgson to get a chance to play significant and meaningful minutes with the Canucks. Barring another long term injury to Henrik Sedin or Ryan Kesler, Cody Hodgson likely won’t get another chance like this. So whether it was by design or not, Cody Hodgson: your time is NOW. This will be your best chance to become a full-time NHL player.

I’m not one to use Canucks marketing campaign slogans on a regular basis (I’ve never said that ‘we are all Canucks’), but never has ‘this is what we live for‘ been more true. Game 7, Stanley Cup Final, at home. This IS what we live for. It’s what the players live for, it’s what the fans live for. Quite simply stated, it’s the biggest game in Canucks history. It’s bigger than 1994. There will probably never be a bigger game for this franchise. This is their time. They will become legends if they win, or be labeled as chokers should they come up short.

Making Sense of Game 6

If you’re like me, you were angry at the Canucks performance in game 6, then went into a deep depression for over 24 hours and it’s only now that you’re getting excited for game 7. So just what happened in game 6? As funny as it sounds, I don’t think the Canucks were that bad in game 6. Obviously they weren’t spectacular, but they needed a save from Roberto Luongo. With each goal let in, the Bruins received an enormous surge of momentum. The Canucks couldn’t weather the storm, and it became 4-0 very quick. In game 7, the Canucks will need their goaltending to be air tight, especially early.

Injuries

By now you’ve probably heard about Mason Raymond’s injury. He won’t be in the lineup for game 7, and the health of Andrew Alberts and Alex Edler are uncertain also (though I expect both to play). Ryan Kesler is banged up, as is Henrik Sedin, Chris Higgins and a whole host of others. I expect Jeff Tambellini to spot in for Mason Raymond, but the rest of the walking wounded will likely play, and will need to dig down deep for the game of their lives.

What worries me most about these injuries is that maybe the Canucks are no longer the better team on paper. With Dan Hamhuis injured and Christian Ehrhoff hobbled with a bad shoulder, their defense is in shambles. Their high end talent up front is severely banged up. Who is the better team right now?

Keys to Victory

1. Roberto Luongo. He has been spectacular at home and terrible on the road. He needs that to continue. Momentum has been so huge in this series, Luongo has to play the game of his life.

2. Goals. The Canucks haven’t scored enough in this series, and they need that to change (duh). The Canucks power play has to get it together. They need to solve Tim Thomas. I think the way to do that is to throw a whole lot of pucks on goal and hope they get a good bounce. If they get too picky, they will shoot themselves in the foot.

3. Sedins must show up. They’re the Canucks best players and it’s time for them to step up. I feel like the key for them is to quicken up their cycle. Because Hudson Bay rules seem to be in play during this series, if the Sedins spend too much time on the cycle, they will get crosschecked off the puck. Daniel Sedin predicted that the Canucks will win game 7, and now it’s time to back it up.

4. Don’t anger the hockey gods. Before game 6, the poll question on Team 1040 was “who will Henrik Sedin give the Cup to first?”. They can’t afford to think along those lines. The team that deals with the distraction of being one win away from the Stanley Cup the best will be best suited to actually winning it.

5. Heart. There’s not likely to be a lot of power plays and scoring chances, as is the case in most game 7s, so the Canucks will probably have to win this in the trenches. Who has more heart? We will find out.

As a longtime Canucks fan I just feel like ONLY the Canucks could put us on such an emotional roller coaster, such as this. To do what they did against Chicago in the first round and then have such a bizarre series against the Bruins, who’d have thunk it? But in a way, isn’t this how you knew it would be? If the Canucks were to lose this year, you know they would do it in absolutely the most painful way possible, just when you think they’ve got it won. But on the flip side, if they were to win the Stanley Cup, you just knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. One of two scenarios will play out on Wednesday night. This is what we live for.

Great news from the Canucks today, as it was revealed that Manny Malhotra has been medically cleared to play hockey again. Media outlets aren’t saying when he’s going to play, but I will. He will play in game 1. I base this on the fact that Cody Hodgson is getting very few minutes on the 4th line right now, and the fact that Malhotra has been skating for weeks. He should be in decent game shape. So if he’s medically able to play (which he is), he’ll play.

Kudos to Jason Botchford on getting this story right from day 1. A lot of the local media were taking the Canucks at face value, even though it was clear that Malhotra was in the middle of a comeback. I’m glad to say that Canuckz.com was on board with Botchford the whole way.

But enough of that. Against all odds, Manny Malhotra is back. What a story.

This is huge news for the Canucks. Malhtora will help with faceoffs of course, but his biggest value is on the penalty kill. He will play with a full visor and will likely start on the fourth line, given the strong play of Maxim Lapierre on the third line. But if Lapierre and the third line falter, Malhotra might find his way back in between Torres and Hansen. In any case, this news means that Canucks are now a four line team again, which is great news because so are the Bruins.

What an inspiration this will be to the Canucks, and what an ovation he’ll receive from the fans at Rogers Arena in the Stanley Cup final.

It was a slow day in Canuckland today given that the team has been given their second day off without practicing and the fact that they won’t play game 1 of the conference finals until Sunday. That was, until Jason Botchford of the Province dropped this in the Twitter world:

I choose to read lots into news malhotra is skating #callitacomeback

This is unexpected and encouraging news. Manny Malhotra’s career was thought to be in jeopardy after he suffered a serious eye injury on March 16. Malhotra was skating with a full cage, by himself. The Canucks aren’t saying that he’s on the comeback trail, but it doesn’t make sense for him to be practicing unless that was a possibility.

Malhotra’s eye first appeared better in some celebration videos inside the Canucks dressing room (notice he’s not wearing sunglasses):

Who knows if and when he could possibly return, but if he could it would do wonders for the team. Malhotra helps in a lot of areas, and would give them another centre they so desperately need right now. It would turn the Canucks from a three line team into a four line team. Currently they are a team that plays only three lines primarily when the score is close in the third period. If he could return to his previous form, he could be matched up against other teams’ top lines, freeing Ryan Kesler to play in more of an offensive role.

I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Henrik Sedin has 1 goal (an empty netter) in his last 18 games. Daniel Sedin has not scored since the Chicago series. Their plus-minus is a combined -14 in the postseason. Mason Raymond has zero goals.

There are a lot of uneasy stats making Canucks fans queezy right now, and they are  a little concerning. But remember stats can be misleading. For one, Henrik Sedin has only 1 goal in his last 18 games, but he often has stretches of 10+ games without a goal. You know why? Because he is a playmaker. When he’s not getting assists, that’s when alarm bells will go off for me.

You know what else is misleading? Plus-minus in small sample sizes. The Sedins have been a victim of this lately. Is it their fault that Alex Edler has been playing like he’s drunk in this series? He’s coughed the puck up more than a few times resulting in goals. And combining their plus-minus is just plain stupid. If they’re on for two goals in a game, they’re “a combined -4″. Sounds impressive but it’s misleading.

These aren’t great stat lines, but things can change very quickly. Remember when Ryan Kesler had 0 goals in the playoffs? Where was the offense from this 40 goal scorer people wondered. Kesler had no goals in 9 playoff games, that was 6 days ago. Now he’s tied for the league lead in points.

What about Roberto Luongo? Remember his save percentage and goals against average after game 5 and 6 versus Chicago? All of a sudden, if you take a look at Luongo’s stats (2.35 GAA, .914 SV% and 2 shutouts) they’re pretty good.

My point is not to suggest that the Sedins are doing great, clearly they’re not. I thought Daniel and Henrik had some great shifts in game 5, but ultimately they didn’t produce. But all of that can change in an instant. If Daniel Sedin scores 2 goals in game 6, he will move into a tie for first in league goal scoring.

The Canucks lost game 5 because of a few bad breakdowns. If they tidy that up, they should win. Every game in this series has been so tight, that just one bad bounce can decide the hockey game. If they play hard and smart, they should earn their bounces and the stats will follow.

Lineup Changes

Mikael Samuelsson injured himself in game 5 and didn’t take the trip to Nashville. That means he’s not close to returning, and could mean it’s a very serious injury. I would be very surprised if he’s not out longer than a week at minimum. That means that either Victor Oreskovich or Jeff Tambellini are likely to take his place. Personally, I would like to see Jeff Tambellini inserted into the lineup. Tamby hasn’t played a playoff game yet, and I think he would be thrive given the chance. He would be so pumped up to play, he would play like he was shot out of a canon. He’s gritty enough, and they could use a fourth line goal.

For the first time in the Canucks-Blackhawks Trilogy, we will have a game 7. And it will happen in the most improbable way. As you must know by now, the Canucks have squandered a 3-0 series lead and now face elimination on Tuesday night.

A few of my observations from last night’s game:

-I wasn’t a fan of the Cory Schneider start in net, but he played well… Apart from his two major puck handling blunders. In many ways, those two errors cost the Canucks the game.

-Despite losing 4-3 in game 6, the Canucks were the best team on the ice last night, but the best team doesn’t always win.

-Kevin Bieksa had the best game of his career last night. He logged over 36 minutes of ice time, had a clutch goal and was a plus 2. Every decision he made seemed to be the right one, and he wasn’t playing a conservative game by any means.

-Bieksa had to play big minutes in part because the Canucks lost Sami Salo to injury. It’s the playoffs so nobody is saying what is wrong, but I wouldn’t count on him playing in game 7. In true Sami Salo fashion, he injured himself simply skating up the ice.

-Maybe with Salo injured we will see Keith Ballard inserted back into the lineup. It makes absolutely no sense to me why he has been benched time after time. He’s clearly better than Andrew Alberts and Aaron Rome. Why this isn’t clear for Alain Vigneault is a mystery. To make matters worse, Alberts was a central figure on the winning goal, as his mobility was an issue dealing with Marian Hossa.

-Alex Burrows arrived last night. It was his best game of the series by far, as he picked up a goal and two assists.

-I thought the referees absolutely shafted the Canucks last night and Mike Gillis agrees. Somehow, with the Canucks carrying most of the play, they were given only two power plays. I’m all for letting the players play, but on two occasions there were ‘automatic’ penalties that were overlooked. The first came when Daniel Sedin was high sticked on an offside call, the second came when Henrik Sedin’s stick was slashed in half.

-Roberto Luongo is getting some heat for his play in game 6 and I think it’s unwarranted. Sure, he looked a little shaky coming in cold in the third period, but the bottom line is he only let in one goal and you can’t blame him for it. He needed to make an acrobatic save on a deflected shot. To expect great rebound control or to make the second save is asking a lot.

Lineup Changes

-Bryan Bickell is injured and will miss game 7. Tomas Kopecky appears ready to return from injury, he’s traveling with the team to Vancouver.

-Sami Salo will likely miss game 7 as well, perhaps he will be replaced by Keith Ballard.

-It will be interesting to see if Alain Vigneault decides to play Cody Hodgson in game 7. Personally I think he should play Maxim Lapierre on the 3rd line and re-insert Tanner Glass at 4th line centre. We probably won’t find out until game time.

-Of course the biggest lineup change is the starting goalie, Roberto Luongo.

Keys to Game 7

A quick start. It goes without saying that the first goal is important, but perhaps more important will be the second goal. If Chicago gets the first two goals, the pressure will mount.

Special teams. It remains to be seen how many penalties will be called in game 7, but the Canucks will need to be better on the penalty kill and power play. I would love for Alain Vigneault to put Alex Edler back onto the first unit power play in place of Mikael Samuelsson. I know he reads this blog, so that should be no problem…

Pressure. There will be lots to go around, especially for the home team, especially for Roberto Luongo. How he and the players in front of him deal with that pressure will absolutely be the biggest key to the game. They need to harness the energy from the home crowd and play smart with controlled aggression.

History

This will be the 10th game 7 in Canucks history, the first without Trevor Linden. They’re 5-4 in game 7s, 3-2 in game 7s at home. The Blackhawks will try to become just the fourth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0.

This game is one of the most important games in franchise history and undoubtedly the most important game in franchise history that didn’t take place in 1994. It may well define the legacy of Alain Vigneault, Roberto Luongo and the Sedins. If they are unable to win this series, serious questions will be asked and Vancouver will have a very grim summer. On the other hand, if they win this series this propel this team to greatness.

I’ve got to admit that when I heard the news this morning that Manny Malhotra would be lost for the regular season and playoffs due to his eye injury, I began a mini-panic. Weird that a season ending injury to a 30-35 point scorer could cause such angst, but anybody that has followed this team closely knows why.

Malhotra brought a lot of intangibles to this Canucks team, the type of intangibles that help a team win a Stanley Cup. Aside from his mild offensive output, he was one of their top penalty killers, one of the best in the league at faceoffs, and brought leadership to the dressing room. Now Canucks fans have to hope that he will be able to regain his vision for the sake of his life, nevermind his career.

What Next?

With Malhotra officially done for the season, what next? There’s now an opening in the middle on the third line and it appears Maxim Lapierre will get the first crack at it. Lapierre is a natural centre, but might not be the answer. Other options would be to play the more talented Chris Higgins or Mason Raymond in the middle, although their experience at centre is limited.

Alex Bolduc has been called up from Manitoba, so perhaps he gets another chance on the 4th line but it’s another centreman from the Moose that has me intrigued. What about Cody Hodgson? I have been fairly critical of the Canucks forcing Hodgson into a 4th line role earlier this season, but this could be the perfect opportunity. Hodgson is a two-way centre with lots of offensive upside. He’s not exactly putting up eye popping numbers with Manitoba this year (27 points in 45 games), but they are respectable.

In my mind, Hodgson has the most potential to adequately replace Malhotra, albeit in different way. The Canucks should give Hodgson another chance and see what he can do. It’s by no means a slam dunk, and the more realistic option will probably be to hope that Maxim Lapierre can prove he belongs on the 3rd line.

Can it be done?

Can the Canucks win without Manny Malhotra? Of course they can, but it won’t be easy. With that said, there are a few examples of teams losing key members for long periods of time in the playoffs and still going on to win the Stanley Cup:

• The Chicago Blackhawks lost one of their top 5 defensemen, Kim Johnsson, for the entire playoffs last year but still went on to win the Stanley Cup.
• In 2006, Erik Cole had 30 goals in 60 games while playing on the Carolina Hurricanes’ top line. He suffered a serious injury at the hands of Brooks Orpik which kept him out for all but the final two playoff games. Despite this, the Hurricanes still managed to win the Stanley Cup.
• Perhaps the best example of a team winning despite an injury,  was in 2001 when Peter Forsberg missed the conference finals and Stanley Cup finals, yet the Colorado Avalanche still managed to win it all.

So what’s the moral of the story? If you’re a good enough team, you can overcome an injury to a player like Manny Malhotra. The Canucks will need someone to step up in the 3rd line centre position, combined with excellence in other areas. Of course, on top of that they’ll need to get the bounces and try to limit further injuries, but that’s what makes the Stanley Cup the hardest trophy in all of professional sports to win.

The Vancouver Canucks played tonight’s game in Nashville without Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, Keith Ballard, Andrew Alberts and, as we found out this morning, Kevin Bieksa. That’s 5 of their top 7 defencemen out of the lineup. To make matters worse, minor leaguer Lee Sweatt broke his foot in practice. Even the Manitoba Moose have injury troubles on the blueline, with Nolan Baumgartner suffering an injury last week. He might have been one of the recent call-ups.

So panic in the city right? No. Wait, what?

This is an issue that in years past would have just crippled the Canucks and caused panic in the streets. But this year is different. Sure, there’s concern, but the club is showing incredible defensive depth at the moment. The latest call-up, Evan Oberg, played two NHL games last season. Not a lot of teams can go to number 12 on the depth chart and have a player with any NHL experience. The Canucks will try to get by with the likes of Christian Ehrhoff, Sami Salo (*cringe*) and Aaron Rome getting huge minutes. The most impressive youngster, Chris Tanev, will see his minutes climb also.

Of course, you can only get by with injuries like these for so long, and the Canucks are fortunate to have a healthy cushion on first place in the Western Conference at the moment.

But it wasn’t always this way on the west coast. Can you believe the Canucks used to go into seasons with 7 defencemen, rather than 8? Can you believe that they were counting on the health of Sami Salo at one point in time? Remember when Rory Fitzpatrick was an everyday player? Lets take a trip down memory lane…

2005-06

Top 6 defencemen to start the season: Mattias Ohlund, Ed Jovanovski, Sami Salo, Bryan Allen, Nolan Baumgartner, Steve McCarthy

Key injuries: Ed Jovanovski injured his groin December 28, came back too early, and re-injured it January 24. He remained out until April 8. Sami Salo suffered a season ending injury during the Olympics in February. Mattias Ohlund also got injured during the Olympics but only missed four games.

Result: Dave Nonis panicked and acquired Keith Carney, Sean Brown and Eric Weinrich at the trade deadline. They were all terrible, and the Canucks continued to slide down the stretch, missing the playoffs.

2007-08

Top 6 defensemen to start season: Willie Mitchell, Mattias Ohlund, Sami Salo, Kevin Bieksa, Lukas Krajicek, Aaron Miller

Key injuries: Mattias Ohlund was lost for the season on March 12. Sami Salo missed the first 10 games of the regular season, played 4 games and then missed most of November. A bizarre skate cut kept Kevin Bieksa out of action for 4 months. Lukas Krajicek had a season ending shoulder injury he suffered on January 23. Aaron Miller missed most of February, March and April.

Result: Not surprisingly the Canucks struggled with a depleted blueline and had to call-up the likes of Zach Fitzgerald and Nathan McIver. They missed the playoffs and the Aquilinis were not pleased. Dave Nonis was fired, Trevor Linden retired and Markus Naslund left to play in New York.

Sami Salo is back, well, almost. He’s been skating for a long time now, and has been practicing and traveling with the team for a couple of weeks also. So when is he set to return? The Canucks are keeping this somewhat secretive, but it looks to be soon.

The reason is of course the salary cap. The Canucks are very close to the cap right now and will be over it when Salo returns. According to CapGeek, the Canucks would need to get rid of $1.8 million of annual salary if Salo returned today.

If the Canucks are smart, they’ll keep Salo on long term injury reserve as long as possible. I expect this to happen because the longer he stays on IR, the more that $1.8 million number goes down. They’ll also have the option of putting him in Manitoba on a conditioning stint to stall for more time before returning. But with that said, they’ll make a mockery of the NHL if he practices with the team for four months while staying on IR.

Who goes?

So what will happen? Personally, I expect him back sometime next month. I also expect Mike Gillis to have a plan in place. Recent speculation has everyone from Keith Ballard ($4.2 million), Raffi Torres ($1 million) and Mikael Samuelsson (2.5 million) being traded. Personally, I find that speculation ridiculous. Those are playoff-type players that the Canucks would loathe to lose. The more likely scenario would have Andrew Alberts ($1.05 million) and Aaron Rome ($0.75 million) being sent away, assuming they both return from injury not long from now. Notice I’m not mentioning Kevin Bieksa anymore? In case you missed it, a lot of things have changed since the summer and now we are all Bieksa.

What Salo means to the team

Not a lot of people are talking about what Sami Salo is likely to bring to the team. Everyone jokes about his injury troubles, but over the last few seasons Salo has been one of their most valuable defensemen. My worry (and his worry too apparently) is that he comes back and is a shadow of his former self. To recover from his injury and missing more than half a season is not easy to come back from. It’s even more difficult to do at age 36. Of course, if he is able to regain his form he’ll be a huge boost to an already impressive defense corps.

What about Raymond?

Nobody ever seems to mention Mason Raymond’s name in trade rumours and I find this curious. He’s got some value given his age, contract and production, but he’s also somewhat dispensable for this team. Jeff Tambellini has stepped in and pretty much matched Raymond this year. They’re a similar age (Tambellini is 26, Raymond 24) too. I don’t want to see Raymond go, but the possibility should at least be in the discussion. He should be able to fetch a decent draft pick (the Canucks will need to restock given the amount of picks they’ve traded away recently) or perhaps get a guy like Tyler Kennedy ($0.725 million) out of Pittsburgh, though the Penguins would need to do some salary cap shuffling of their own to make that work.

Whatever happens, it’s sure to be interesting. Of course, should another high priced player get injured before Salo returns and gets moved to the IR, the problem with solve itself.