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Guillaume Desbiens

The only real news the past few days to come out of Vancouver is that the Canucks have signed Guillaume Desbiens to a two-way contract. The contract will pay Desbiens 600K at the NHL level and 105K at the AHL level.

This signing is a real head scratcher to me. I know Vancouver has been saying that they want to get bigger, tougher, and younger, but there has to be someone out there with more upside than Desbiens. At 27, I have to figure his development has pretty much stalled. I like the heart that Desbiens played with during his cup of coffee in the bigs, but how a player gets a 75K raise for producing zero points, 37 penalty minutes, in 33 career games is beyond me.

I have to believe the money and contract spot could have been better used to get a Scott Parse, Jeremy Colliton, Ryan O'Marra (I know he signed in Finland a few days ago), Eric Fehr, Andrew Rowe, or even, dare I say, Zack Stortini. At least all of the above players have a track record of producing a bit at the NHL and AHL level. At this pace, I'm guessing we hear about the Victor Oreskovich signing in another few days.


Corey Potter

The other day I was reading Richard's Blog and he mentioned that Corey Potter could be had for a seventh round pick. Now I don't really think that Richard has inside info that the Oilers are shopping Potter, but if they were, and the price was that low, I would not mind seeing him in Vancouver.

Potter would make an excellent 5,6,7 defenceman in Vancouver. While he has some work to do in his own end still, I was impressed with his play on the power-play. I could see his big right-handed shot working well on the Canucks power-play. Potter is reasonably physical and can played 20 minutes a game last year for the Oilers.

I honestly doubt that Potter is on the block at all and if he was, he's worth a lot more than a seventh round pick. I would venture to guess that the Oilers could get at least a third round pick (likely 2nd) for him. Potter is not a salary dump. NHL players, who play 20 minutes a night and do it for 775,000 a year are an asset to teams.

If Potter truly is in the doghouse in Edmonton, I wonder if the Oilers would have any interest in swapping D for D. Ballard for Potter, what do you think?


Doan in Vancouver

Yesterday Shane Doan continued his tour by checking out the Vancouver Canucks. I'm not sure how the meeting went, but I would guess that the longer Shane waits, the more possible it is he becomes a Canuck. My impression of Shane Doan based on the interviews I've seen is that Shane is about family first. His wife is from Kamloops and I believe they spend their summers there as well.

This likely means that his kids have friends in the Kamloops area and a transition from Phoenix to Kamloops would be the easiest transition because they already have friends in the area. If Shane Doan becomes a member of the Canucks, I'm thinking his wife and family would likely live in Kamloops where they have friends and family. Shane would commute the few hours back and forth when he can.

While he'll likely have to leave a bit of money on the table to sign in Vancouver, after Phoenix, it is likely the easiest transition for his family. Right now, I would have…
Coyotes- 45%
Canucks- 30%
Rest of the NHL- 25%

That’s a wrap.

Ian

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