It's interesting that Canucks.com has gone so far as to start speculating about trading up in the draft, with a tag called "Sam Reinhart" for their story.
Click here if you didn't catch the link in yesterday's comments.
I saw oldest brother Max Reinhart play his first-ever NHL game the Canucks a couple of years ago. Like Sam, he's a center who played for the Kootenay Ice, but he didn't go into the draft with the same buzz that Sam has generated. Max was chosen 64th overall in 2010 and, while he still hasn't stuck in Calgary, I thought he was a buzz-saw that night.
Sam and Max have similar builds: Both are listed at 6'1" and about 185 pounds. But Sam certainly has been treated as a blue-chip prospect: he was one of only two draft-eligible players to earn a spot on Team Canada at this year's World Juniors. Reinhart had five points in the first three games of that tournament but didn't add anything after that—though it's always tough for the young players on the World Junior teams to earn ice time over their older teammates.
Drafting a local player would be a solid PR move for the Canucks, who now seem to want to develop a west coast identity for the team. Reinhart might not be Connor MacDavid—and might not even be Nathan MacKinnon—but I can see why he's tempting if that first pick can be acquired for the right price.
Dale Tallon seems to be playing the game. He was hyping up the overall quality of this year's draft class yesterday. “This draft is better than people said it was going to be,… Tallon said. “I think the first 30 are really solid players.… Click here for the whole story, in which he now sounds like he wants to use the pick himself. It could be a situation where he's just trying to raise its value.
I don't love the idea of including Horvat in a potential deal. If the team is trying to get deeper at center, I don't think we should exchange one prospect for another, younger one, even if he is a better player.
I'm intrigued by the idea of trying to send Jason Garrison back to Florida. They could use a top-four defenseman, and he had good success previously with the Panthers and knows the lay of the land. Do we have any evidence that he'd be interested in being reunited with Roberto Luongo? Would that be enough to convince him to waive his no-trade clause?
The other important item to note in the Dale Tallon story is his palpable enthusiasm about the prospect of hiring Dan Bylsma:
“We’re giving it a good shot,… Tallon continued. “We still have other guys that we’re talking to. We started interviewing 12 coaches and now we’ve narrowed it down to a handful. Dan coming into the mix has probably changed some of it a little bit, but we’re going to give it our best shot and get the best possible coach.…
The word is that Tallon and Bylsma will meet in New York today. Tallon's there for the general manager's meetings—as is Jim Benning—while Bylsma's doing some Stanley Cup commentary for the NHL Network.
If the Canucks do want to be in the mix for Bylsma, it sounds like they'll need to move quickly.
Really, though, the scuttlebutt surrounding Willie Desjardins carries much the same tone as the Jim Benning gossip did before he was hired. Perhaps he is the foregone conclusion.
Here's the link to the latest backgrounder on Desjardins, from Stephen Whyno of the Canadian Press.
Desjardins' Texas Stars dropped Game 2 of their Calder Cup Final by a score of 2-1, so the series is now tied 1-1. Game 3 goes today from St. John's, Newfoundland. With a start time of 7:30 Newfoundland time, that's 3 p.m. here on the west coast.
Glass Half Full?
To finish today, a little free agent speculation from News1130:
Would the #Canucks go after Tanner Glass if he hits the free agent market July 1st.
— News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) June 11, 2014Glass still lives here in Vancouver in the offseason, but I don't see him being the kind of player that Vancouver needs to fill out their bottom six at this time. His hit totals were good this year—238 hits in 67 games—but Pittsburgh only used him in eight playoff games due to his defensive lapses. He was a minus-eight during the regular season and has only been a plus player once in his career—with the Canucks back in 2009-10.
I'm not excited about this idea. Are you?