Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Time for the Vancouver Canucks to make their move as 2018 Draft Day is here

June 22, 2018, 1:10 PM ET [1385 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
It's draft day!

Not long now before we get the answers to our questions. Who will the Canucks pick at seven—and will they pick at seven?

Jim Benning didn't rule out a trade when he spoke with Jason Botchford of The Province on Thursday.

“If we decided we were going to go down that road, it would have to be a young player that fits into our mould … a player in that 20- to 23-range,” Benning said.

“We’ll talk to teams and do our due diligence on all the players. It would have to be a player that matches up in the age group of our good, young players. I’m taking calls. I’m listening.

“But at seven, I’m going to get a real good player.”

Benning also gave a list of untouchables: "...the Horvats, the Petterssons, the Boesers and Juolevis. We’re not moving those players. They are the future of our team.”

One other note from Botchford: "Benning said there are nine players in this draft the Canucks 'really like' and admitted he’s leaning toward defence."

Presumably, eight of the nine are in this photo from Dallas:




Botchford also floats the idea that the Canucks' best opportunity to add another pick could come from trading down in the first round.

If things go bonkers in the early stages of the draft and a player like Filip Zadina, Brady Tkachuk or even Quinn Hughes is available at seven, I could see the Canucks keeping their pick and making the selection. If we get into the grey area where there are still several defensemen available, perhaps they could move down a spot or two—although I'm not sure what Chicago (8th) or NYR (9th) would get out of such a deal from their point of view. If they don't want the player that the Canucks want, then he'll still be available after the Canucks pick—just like Cody Glass was for Vegas last year.

Edmonton is said to be aggressively shopping the 10th pick. They're looking for blue line help. If Benning could work a deal that includes Chris Tanev (and does not include Milan Lucic), maybe there's a fit there?

With so much uncertainty in the top 10 alone, I have barely taken a moment to think about what happens after the first round. As things stand right now, the Canucks have six picks in total:

1st Round - 7th
2nd Round - 37th
3rd Round - 68th
5th Round - 130th
6th Round - 161st
7th Round - 192nd

Elsewhere around the league, I picked out five teams in addition to Vancouver that should be worth watching this weekend:




In other news, the NHL officially announced that the 2018-19 salary cap ceiling will be set at $79.5 million. That's up $4.5 million from last season—the biggest jump since the current CBA went into effect for 2012-13. I'll dig into this in more detail next week, once we get deep into free-agent talk, but the snapshot from CapFriendly shows the Canucks with 17 players currently signed next year at $52.8 million, leaving them with $26.7 million in cap space.

In typical Canuck fashion, their opportunity to leverage cap space comes just as all the other teams in the league also get some relief from cap pressure with this year's big increase. I fear the biggest side effect—not for the Canucks, necessarily, but all around the league—will be some staggering contracts handed out over the next couple of weeks. It's a good year to be a UFA.

The Canucks have five RFAs to sign, but I don't see any of them breaking the bank: Jake Virtanen, Markus Granlund, Sven Baertschi, Derrick Pouliot and Troy Stecher. All but Virtanen do have arbitration rights.

The 2018-19 schedule was also released on Thursday. I'll take a closer look at that in the days to come, also.

And finally, one last bit of news on Thursday:




One name to keep an eye on: Ian Clark. He's from Vancouver and worked with the Canucks from 2002-2010. From NHL.com, "The list of goaltenders he has worked with includes Roberto Luongo, Cam Ward, Marc-Andre Fleury, Cory Schneider, Andrew Raycroft, Johan Hedberg and Mathieu Garon."

Clark has been the goalie coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets since 2011—where Sergei Bobrovsky has won two Vezina Trophies under his watch. Elliotte Friedman reported in May that Clark will be moving on when his contract retires at the end of this month.

"This is not a negative story,” Clark said. "I’m ready to move on, take on some new challenges. It’s time. Sometimes change is good."

With any luck, Clark's ready to come home!
Join the Discussion: » 1385 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Carol Schram
» Winning Canucks send down Podkolzin, Rathbone as homestand begins
» Power-play fuels big win in Vegas as Canucks look to sweep 3-game road trip
» The Canucks' position at U.S. Thanksgiving, following a big win in Denver
» Trade winds blow as the Canucks kick off road trip against the Avalanche
» Podkolzin returns as Canucks host Vegas amidst Horvat, Myers trade rumours