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

Vancouver Canucks to lose Luca Sbisa or Brendan Guance in expansion draft

June 21, 2017, 3:09 PM ET [440 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Today's the big day. The NHL Awards and Expansion Draft show goes down at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, tonight at 5 p.m. PT, with television coverage on Sportsnet.

Word is that the player the Canucks will lose is one of the names we're expecting.




There was some talk on Tuesday that George McPhee was considering a couple of "throwaway picks," where he'd choose a restricted free agent but not issue a qualifying offer to the player, thus freeing up some cap space and limiting his commitment.

For the record, Gaunce, 23, is an RFA. Sbisa, 27, has one year left on his current contract with a cap hit of $3.6 million before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

I heard that the Canucks were one of the last teams that George McPhee chose from—presumably because none of the available players was a 'must get' for him. By the time he turned his attention to Vancouver, he was just fitting a player in around the rest of his selections.

I will say—our reaction to Vancouver's exposed list would be a lot different right now if Jim Benning hadn't moved Jannik Hansen to San Jose at the trade deadline. If Hansen was still on the Canucks, either he or Markus Granlund would have been exposed—and that would have led to a lot more concern.

The Canucks also re-upped goaltender Richard Bachman last summer in order to ensure that they'd have a goalie on the roster that met the qualifications to be exposed.

Benning and company deserve some credit for prepping early to minimize the damage from today's draft but, admittedly, that's an easier task to accomplish when you're well out of the playoff picture. Teams in the playoff hunt had much stronger incentives to hang onto all their assets for the rest of the year. Also, the more talented players a team has on its roster, the greater the likelihood that one or more of those players can't fit under the protection umbrella.

Even after tonight's announcements, we still won't have a clear picture of everything that has happened. Vegas can announce the trades it has made with other teams for its own purposes tonight, but players that are being selected by Vegas with the intention of being flipped to other teams will stay on the roster during this evening's ceremony—those deals will be announced after the trade freeze lifts early on Thursday morning.




In my imagination, I'm picturing all the players who are selected coming onstage tonight in their new Golden Knights jerseys, so we can literally "get a look" at the team. But of course that won't be the case. George McPhee's final selection list was only submitted this morning—practically, there isn't time to gather everybody and additionally, a lot of these guys are going to be less-than-happy about the sudden turn their career has just taken.

Expansion can provide players with opportunities. I always fixate on how Scott Walker went from a fourth-liner with the Canucks to an important player on the Nashville Predators when he was chosen as one of the inaugural Preds in the 1998 expansion draft. In 197 games in Vancouver, Walker had 10 goals, 44 points and 466 penalty minutes. His role shifted when he went to Nashville, where he racked up 96 goals, 247 points and 465 minutes over 410 games.

Here's some perspective from Walker and several other players who were expansion fodder a generation ago.




One player who is expected to be on hand tonight is goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who has embraced this fresh start after 13 seasons in Pittsburgh.




In order to squeeze all this action into a two-hour show, the NHL pre-announced some of its award winners on Tuesday night, in the community-service categories:

Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno was named the winner of both the King Clancy Trophy (following Henrik Sedin's win last season) and the Mark Messier Leadership Award, while New York Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic received the NHL Foundation Player Award.

To close today, a couple of non-expansion draft notes:




Worth noting, because he Russian defenseman had a good season last year in Chicoutimi, putting up 65 points in the regular season and another 21 points in the playoffs. But not a problem at this time—because Zhukenov was drafted out of Russia, the Canucks retain his rights until June 1, 2019.

There have been rumours that Zhukenov will return to Russia to play next season.

In other news from the Q:




D'Aoust was invited to the Canucks camp last year, so the organization has had an eye on him for awhile. He had 98 points in his 2015-16 season but slipped back to 60 points in 50 games last year. The contract is a one-year AHL deal—he'll be earmarked for Utica.

Speaking of Utica...




As soon as the Expansion Draft wraps tonight in Vegas, attention will shift immediately to Chicago, where the Entry Draft goes down on Friday.
Join the Discussion: » 440 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