On Friday, I posted a poll asking who you'd like to see as the next coach of the Vancouver Canucks.
As I write this on Monday morning, Dan Bylsma got a 52 percent approval rating—more than twice as many votes as any of the other candidates.
Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun quoted Jim Benning on Saturday as saying about Bylsma:
He’s an interesting name, for sure. We’re going to wait until the NHL is done and the AHL is done. We’re going to do our due diligence on this. We want to make sure we pick the right guy that’s right for this group. So we’re going to take our time and do the work. It has gone good so far and I expect it to keep going good.
Benning, Linden and all the Canucks' scouts are scheduled to be up at Whistler this week, preparing for the draft. Here's how MacIntyre says the meetings will work:
Amateur scouting meetings will fill the first three days in Whistler, Benning said. He and his staff will assign a numerical rating to every draft prospect from Canada, the U.S. and Europe, then compile a master draft list. Thursday and Friday will be devoted to pro scouting. Every NHL player will be rated, and Benning said his group will determine which players to target in free agency or in trade.
I like this refreshing transparency, with concrete details and an organized plan. If they stop by our comment boards during their due diligence, they'll see that their perfect deals have already been neatly laid out and analyzed from every possible angle!
In the MacIntyre story, Benning says that they'll explore every possible angle, including trying to trade up. Not sure how that fits in with this statement from Mark Spector:
Jim Benning guarantee on Vancouver's No, 6 pick. "We're going to be using that pick." You can bet he won't trade No. 36 either.
— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) June 9, 2014I'll assume this is related more directly to the idea of possibly trading the pick for a player, rather than changing position in the draft order. I guess these will be the decisions that will start to come into focus in Whistler this week.
A couple of other notes on the coaching front:
• Willie Desjardins' Texas Stars are off to a good start in the Calder Cup championship. They beat St. John's 6-3 on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven series. Game 2 goes tonight in Cedar Park, Texas.
• Sounds like the Canucks need to decide soon what they're going to do with Utica Comets coach Travis Green. It seems like Green did a good job making the best of a challenging situation with the first-year AHL squad last season, but given the disconnect between Green and John Tortorella last season, I could also understand if the Canucks would like to give their new head coach some input into the Utica hiring decision.
Travis Green is still on the #WHLGiants wish list for new coach. Green's status for Utica still unknown.
#Canucks
— News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) June 9, 2014No Go in Seattle?
When I heard that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had stepped up to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers, I was hopeful that could be the first step towards putting an NBA team back in Seattle—the puzzle piece that would get an arena deal in place and pave the way for an NHL franchise. But it sounds like that is not to be.
According to ESPN, Ballmer broke away from the Seattle group to make the Clippers purchase, and they'll stay in L.A. Lead investor Chris Hansen will now need to find another money man to replace Ballmer—and another team to target.
An NBA commitment to Seattle would likely fast-track the development of a new arena but at this point, nothing is imminent.
Seattle's a great sports town these days, while hockey is thriving on the west coast. I'd love to see an NHL team for our neighbours to the south.
The Value of Kesler
In the comments yesterday, Dan&Bob asked why I feel disappointed about the prospect of Ryan Kesler moving on.
I know he's a very good trade chip, but I feel like the reasons why he'd be valuable to other teams are the same reasons he's valuable if we keep him here.
To me, Kesler's most important trait is that he's a big game player. He always plays hard, is willing to play through injuries, eats up big minutes in all situations and can find that extra gear when it matters most. Based on the logic that the team that gets the best player will win the trade, I'm pretty sure Kesler will be that "best player" in almost any deal.
Kesler's not without his flaws: his playing style makes him injury-prone, he's cranky, he doesn't use his linemates well and he has trouble hitting the net with his shot. But he bounced back well from all his surgeries and was one of the few Canucks whose season wasn't a disaster in 2013-14.
In my ideal parallel universe, Kesler would be the money guy that the Canucks would build around as they head into the new era. But it is not to be, and that's OK too.