Since pretty well, since day one of free agency, Doan has been the best free agent on the market that would suit Vancouver's needs. He would bring grit, size, leadership, and character. He could play in Vancouver's top 6 and give them the type of player Vancouver hasn't seen since the glory days of Trevor Linden.
So why haven't I brought his name up until now? Well that has two do with two reasons. One, I just don't see him leaving the desert. Phoenix has been his home for years. It is likely the only home his kids have known, and he genuinely seems to like it there, win or lose.
And two, If he does leave, I see him ending up in the Southeast Division somewhere. The reason I say that is because The Eastern Conference offers players 6-8 weeks more at home time because of the reduced travel. Doan is a family guy, and no Western team can offer him that. The reason I say Southeast is because the move would be less of a culture shock for his family (with the exception of Winnipeg), and all the teams in that conference have the cap space to add him. I ultimately see him in Florida or Carolina if he does move one.
However, the one thing that gives Vancouver a ray of hope if Doan does test the market is Gillis has a pretty good history of waiting for players and making sure they know how much they are wanted. He flew to Sweden and worked on a deal all morning to get the Sedins signed. He waited till mid-year and got Sundin signed. Gillis just seems to get that players need time to think offers over, and I think a lot of players respect that.
He doesn't just roll up to players on a Yacht, with busty girls in bikinis hanging all over him like Tom Vu, and yell out, "be rich like me. Come to Vancouver." And hand them a bag of money. (Although that may work pretty well to). Gillis waits and gives players time to think about all their options.
While Vancouver may have made calls to Suter, Parise, and Garrison in the opening minutes of free agency, my guess is they were also one of the first teams to contact Doan. It was likely nothing more than a. "Hey, how's it going Shane? I know you are waiting for Phoenix to sort out the ownership and I respect that, but I'd love to chat with you if you do test the market. We think you would be an excellent addition to the Canucks".
It's that kind of respect that players love and why Vancouver has been able to lure players to Vancouver. That respect for players has players wanting to play in Vancouver and even taking discounts to do so. I believe that patients at least give Vancouver a shot at getting Doan. While most teams are making Doan feel like plan "B" right now, my guess is Gillis has made Doan feel like plan "A" the whole time.
Best of What's Left
Peter Mueller- A real good player. If he's healthy he can get 40-60 pts and help a team a lot.
Ryan Stoa- Size, speed, and skill. Still wanting to see him re-unite with Schroeder and see what they can do.
Kristian Huselius- Best passer left out there. Will likely come for 3 million or less and upgrade a lot of teams top 6.
Aaron Johnson- solid, physical D. He can give you a solid 15-18 minutes and be a real character guy. Likely signs for under 700,000. Perfect 6/7D for teams
Garnet Exelby- Rock solid guy, who has some mobility issues, but can still give a team 15 minutes a night of safe defence. PK type guy who can hit and fight still.
Cam Barker- The biggest wild card in free agency, Barker has character flaws but at the end of the day there isn't a whole lot of D out there that have put up 40 points at the NHL level. For a 800,000 to a Million, I think the rewards outweigh the risks.
Wojtek Wolski- Kinda like Barker, there are some issues with Wolski, but when he wants to play, the guy can play. He shown he can score at the NHL level and will likely sign for around 1.5 million.
Nick Johnson- I have no Idea why the wild did not qualify him. An even better question is why is he still on the market. He has good size, speed and is a bit of a pest. He plays hard and can get you 25-40 points.
Jason Williams- He's bounced around his whole career but he can be an affective player on the PP. decent skater, good skill, and he makes players around him better. In the right system he could get 50 points and do it for less than a million.
Casey Pierro-Zabotel- the pro game hasn't really worked out, but he did score 115 points in the Dub, so you know he should be able to score better. He also has the size to bang a bit on a team's bottom 6 and could likely be had for the league minimum.
Boris Valabik- Big, physical, nasty D. he's very limited in his role but should be able to play 15 minutes a night and provide size and toughness.
Jason Arnott- Veteran player, with a ton of leadership and size. Needs to play in a conservative system to succeed, but he showed last year there is gas in the tank. Good solid guy.
Jamie Langenbrunner- Another veteran that is out there that would help a lot of teams. Is a great checker, who scores big goals. He's a solid guy that would help any team out still.
Daniel Winnik- after Prust and Burish cashed in I thought Winnik would be next. He's a great character pest, with size. He can hit, fight and get you 20-30 points. I would love to see this guy in Vancouver.
Alex Semin- when free agency is over, there could be a lot of teams scratching there heads as to why they didn't look harder into getting Semin. Right now he is sitting around as plan B as teams hold out hope for Parise. My guess is he gets tired of waiting and is inked somewhere by the weekend. There could be a lot of teams kicking themselves if he signs for ¾ of the price as Parise and out scores him.
Eric Fehr- Big bodied player, who has just never been able to stay healthy long enough to establish himself. He'll likely sign for around a million and if he gets going he will be well worth that price.
Mike Duco- every game Duco was called up for last year I thought he was one of the better Canucks on the ice. The guy can definitely play at the NHL level and help a lot of teams that are out there. Hopefully Gillis is working on getting a contract done because Duco should be on Vancouver's fourth line next year.
Marc-Andre Gragnani- Smooth skating, offensive D. MAG has shown he vcan put up points and would be an asset to a lot of teams PP.
That's a wrap.
Ian
b>Five Hole For Food
Five Hole For Food is coming to a town near you this summer. For those of you that don't know, the concept was brought forward by some friends in Vancouver, who decided they would travel the country setting up street hockey games. The price to play in the game is a can of food or donation to the local food bank.
To date Five Hole for Food has raised over 70,000 pounds of food for food banks and is continuing the fight against hunger all over North America!
2012 Tour Dates
St. John’s – July 3rd
Halifax – July 5th
Charlottetown – July 6th
Saint John – July 7th
Montreal – July 9th
Ottawa – July 10th
Toronto – July 12th
Winnipeg – July 14th
Regina – July 15th
Calgary – July 17th
Edmonton – July 18th
Victoria – July 20th
Vancouver – July 21st
So get out and support this great cause this summer. For more information on Five Hole For Food CLICK HERE
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