Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning is a desperate man.
His team has been brutal lately. The Canucls are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games and are 14th in the Western Conference standings.
The Canucks are 19-23-6 and have just 44 points in 48 games played. The Canucks find themselves 13 points out of a playoff spot. Benning will be a seller at the February 26 NHL trade deadline. His team is in need of a miracle as they sit at this crossroads.
Should Benning sell? Or, should be make a blockbuster move now to acquire more even strength goal scoring?
The latter would give rookie head coach Travis Green one last shot at earning a playoff berth.
The Canucks struggle to score goal. They are -28 in goal differential and head into Thursday night’s game with the Buffalo Sabres ranked 14th in the West with only 127 goals scored while allowing 155 goals against. Rookie Brock Boeser leads the Canucks with 24 goals. Former Sabres sniper and pending UFA Thomas Vanek has 14 goals. Daniel Sedin has 11 goals. Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi have 10 goals apiece. The Canucks get very little secondary and tertiary scoring. Horvat recenty returned from a injury that kept him out of the lineup for 18 games, The Canucks won only four of those 18 games. Horvat's absence put a huge crimp in the Vancouver offense.
With 76 scored at 5v5, the Canucks are 29th in the NHL in even strength goal scoring. To compound their scoring troubles, Canucks goaltenders are allowing an average of 3.17 goals per game, which is 27th in the NHL (NY Islander are dead last at 3.63 GA/GP).
Like many teams, the Canucks have been scouting the Buffalo Sabres this season. Jason Botterill will be a seller at the deadline and he is open for business.
Jim Benning would be wise to turn to the Sabres for solutions in power forward Evander Kane and Robin Lehner. Who knows. Making a trading with Buffalo during teh NHL All Star break might be the panacea that heals all that ills the Canucks.
Kane knows his days are numbered in Buffalo. He embraces the idea of moving on. He's not distracted by the thought of being traded. He has said he will deal with it when it eventually happens For now, he works for the Buffalo Sabres, who are in Vancouver tonight. It wouldn't surprise me if Kane packed extra designer suits, shirts, ties and shoes in the event he is dealt away this weekend. Its now a matter of "when" Kane gets traded not "if" he is going to be dealt away.
As many as a dozen teams, including the Canucks, have been scouting Kane this season. Kane will be looking for a seven year deal with $7M AAV. He's earned it.
Its appearing more and more likely that the Canucks will be moving on from Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Subtracting soon-to-be UFA twins would create $14 million in salary cap space moving forward. Kane was asked Thursday morning about unrestricted free agency. The thinking is that moving forward the Canucks will belong to the young nucleus of players Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, Olli Juolevi, Ben Hutton, Jake Virtanen, Sven Baertschi, Troy Stecher, and Derrick Pouliot.
Evander Kane is only 26 years of age and would fit seamlessly into the fabric of Vancouver's young roster. Adding Kane now would infuse much needed 5v5 and PP scoring that would help the Canucks to win the one goal games they have been routinely losing this season.
The Vancouver kid might eventually end up in his hometown playing for the Canucks. Kane was a rock star when he broke a club record by scoring 48 goals (and 48 assists) in 61 games for the 2008-09 Vancouver Giants. Ty Ronning has 42 goals in 48 games this season for the Giants. Kane scored an additional 7 goals and 8 assists in the playoffs that season. The Giants won the 2007 Memorial Cup with Kane at the helm. Vancouver knew Evander Kane long before the hockey world met him. Its only fitting that the hometown kid moves home to help restore teh Canucks to past glory.
"I'm from here, so I understand the question," Kane told the Vancouver Province. "But for me, it's not something I'm thinking about right now. When and if that time comes, we'll make those decisions.
"Vancouver is obviously a town that loves hockey, and that's fun to be part of."
Kane coy about a future with Canucks https://t.co/61oq5k29YS #Sabres
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) January 26, 2018
Kane was also asked about his off-ice habits.
"I think I've got great character, to be honest," Kane said. "I think I show that on and off the ice on a day-to-day basis."
Kane will play on the third line tonight with Johan Larsson and Jason Pominville. The sniper has just one goal in his last 11 games. He has a solution to his goal scoring conundrum.
"I've had some bad puck luck there," Kane said. "I've got to keep shooting the puck, and things will start to turn around for sure."
Kane has scored 16 goals and 20 assists in 48 games this season. He's on pace for a career high 61 points. Fourteen of Kane’s goals have been scored at even strength. Kane never met a shot he didn’t like. The Vancouver native has landed 188 shots on enemy goals and is averaging 19:29 TOI. Kane has delivered 96 hits. He has 24 takeaways and has blocked 20 shots.
Lehner, a pending RFA, has started 34 games and is 10-18-6 with a 2.96 GAA and .910 save percentage. Lehner has faced 1050 shot attempts and has made 955 saves (95 goals against). Lehner has earned two shutouts.
Botterill can afford to move on from Lehner now because he has talented Swede tendy Linus Ullmark warning up in AHL Rochester. Ullmark is a two-time AHL all star has earned himself a job in the NHL. Ullmark will get his chance to compete for an NHL job next season.
So, what will it take for Benning to do a deal with Botterill that will deliver Kane and Lehner to Vancouver?
Botterill is looking for three pieces in exchange for Kane.
Sabres GM Jason Botterill was highly impressed with Canucks prospect Elias Pettersson at the recently completed IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo earlier this month. Pettersson helped Team Sweden win the silver medal at the 2018 WJC tourney. He scored 5 goals and added 2 assists in seven games played. Pettersson is a left shot center/winger who can do it all. He scores, skates, hits, creates and is a tireless worker. His game is perfectly suited for today’s NHL. Pettersson skated on a power trio with Sabres 2016 first rounder Alex Nylander and NY Rangers 2017 first rounder Lias Andersson.
Pettersson alone won’t get a deal done for Kane and Lehner. Benning would have to have assurance that Botterill would pick up a portion of the tab that remains on Kane’s contract. Benning would also have to include defenseman Chris Tanev, plus, a 2018 first round draft choice and a 2019 second round pick.