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Daniel & Henrik Sedin could get called to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday

June 26, 2022, 2:48 PM ET [450 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Monday's announcement of the 2022 induction class for the Hockey Hall of Fame could be historic for the Vancouver Canucks.

Daniel and Henrik Sedin are eligible for selection for the first time, as is Roberto Luongo.

If the twins get in, they'd be the first players ever inducted who spent their entire careers in Canucks colours.

With his two stops in Florida, Luongo did end up playing more games for the Panthers — 572, vs. 448 with the Canucks and 24 with the New York Islanders. And he finished with an identical .919 save percentage in both Florida and Vancouver, although his goals-against average was 2.36 with the Canucks compared to 2.65 with the Panthers.

And of course, there's a world of difference in his playoff numbers: 64 postseason games with the Canucks compared to six with the Panthers — although he did post a .934 save percentage in that wild first-round series between Florida and the Islanders in 2015-16.

Goalies tend to be underrepresented in the Hockey Hall of Fame — and Luongo doesn't have a Stanley Cup or a Vezina Trophy. He did reach Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and he finished second in Vezina voting in 2006-07 — and was also second in voting for the Hart, losing out to 19-year-old Sidney Crosby. And he has those two Olympic gold medals in his trophy case.

The list of one-time Canucks who are in the Hall of Fame includes Pavel Bure, Igor Larionov, Cam Neely, Mark Messier and Mats Sundin. Of that list, only Bure played the majority of his games in Canucks colours — 428 out of a total of 702 and, almost exactly like Luongo, 60 of his 64 playoff games, with four games played in Florida.

Bure won his two Rocket Richard Trophies while he was with the Panthers, with 58 and 59 goals. But he never matched his back-to-back 60-goal seasons with the Canucks, and he also won the Calder Trophy in Vancouver as rookie of the year in 1992.

Vancouver is better represented on the builder side of the Hall. Former owner Frank Griffiths is enshrined there, along with coach Roger Neilson and general managers Bud Poile, Jake Milford and Pat Quinn. Current team president Jim Rutherford was also inducted in the builder category in 2019, for his Stanley Cup-winning work in Carolina and Pittsburgh.

Right now, one of Rutherford's biggest challenges is charting a path forward regarding J.T. Miller. On Friday, he spoke with Patrick Johnston from The Province on this very subject.

“With J.T. Miller, we’ve suggested we would like to keep him. He’s been a good player for the Canucks," Rutherford said. "(But) it may not make sense for both sides. This is a time that he’s earned, going into free agency. We’d like to do it but we’ve got to be careful."

Coupled with Rick Dhaliwal's reporting that the Canucks have made it known that they're willing to listen to trade proposals on Miller, it's looking more and more like it's a matter of when a deal will be made, not if a deal happens. Elliotte Friedman echoed a similar sentiment in his latest '32 Thoughts' podcast last week, and Luke Fox of Sportsnet started spitballing on how the Toronto Maple Leafs might be able to acquire him.

Stylistically, Miller's high compete level and versatility might appeal to fans in Toronto. I'm not sure another high-priced forward is what their salary structure would support — although I guess his $5.25 million for next season makes him appealing in the short term.

Fox had the audacity to suggest that the Canucks might be willing to toss Luke Schenn into his hypothetical trade. And when it comes to a return, here are the names that he proposed:

"Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren at the NHL level, Nick Robertson and some other prospects on the rise. Vancouver native Alexander Kerfoot and Justin Holl would be candidates to help balance the books."

Sandin and Liljegren are interesting suggestions — both defensemen who were late first-round draft picks and are on the cusp of being NHL regulars. Both are now through their entry-level contracts and are restricted free agents without arbitration rights this summer, but I'm not sure that either is a true blue-chip prospect.

Liljegren, 23, is a righty who has been in North America ever since he was drafted 17th overall by the Leafs in 2017. He finally became a near-regular this season, putting up 23 points in 61 regular-season games and averaging 16:24 of ice time. But after suiting up for the Leafs' first two playoff games against the Lightning this spring, he was scratched in favour of Justin Holl for the remaining five games.

He's not especially big, listed at 6'0" and 198 pounds. But he did log a respectable 87 hits and 60 blocked shots this season.

Sandin, 22, was drafted 29th overall in 2018. He checks in at 5'111" and 183 pounds. He's listed as a lefty and while he got an earlier start than Liljegren in the NHL, playing 28 games in the 2019-20 season, his development since then has been a bit rocky.

Last season, he was limited to 51 games. He missed some time due to injury and illness early in the season, then a knee injury in late March took him out for the rest of the year, although he was officially 'available' for the final five games of the playoffs.

Sandin had 16 points last season to go along with 88 hits and 39 blocked shots.

I've heard talk previously that the Leafs are in a bit of a tough spot with him as he hits RFA status. His camp is looking for assurances that he'll get a full-time role which will give him an opportunity to boost his numbers and his pay grade, but Toronto doesn't seem excited about making this commitment. So I think he's a player that the Leafs would be happy to part with if they can bring back a good asset in return.

Nick Robertson is another tweener: an offensive-minded winger who was selected in the second round in 2019. He doesn't turn 21 until September, but at 5'9" and 164 pounds, he doesn't have the same size as his brother Jason, who's 6'3" and 200 pounds. That being said, Jason is two years older and didn't have his NHL breakthrough until his age-21 year, when he put up 45 points in 51 games for the Dallas Stars and followed up with 41 goals and 79 points this year.

So far, Nick has just one goal and one assist in 16 NHL games. He has produced at nearly a point-a-game level in the AHL over the past two seasons, but hasn't played much: 21 games in the 2020-21 season and 28 games last year.

Robertson has two years remaining on his entry-level contract, and is waiver exempt.

As far as the 'balance the books' players go...

Justin Holl is a righty with size, listed at 6'4" and 210 pounds. He's 30, and is signed for one more year at a cap hit of $2 million. Originally drafted in the second round by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, he was signed as a free agent by the Leafs in 2016, two years after he completed his NCAA program, and made his NHL debut in the 2017-18 season. For the last two years, he has averaged more than 20 minutes a game on the Toronto blue line and recorded 129 hits and 104 blocked shots this season. I think of him as kind of a throwback defenseman, who's perhaps a bit limited when it comes to dealing with the skilled forwards in this generation of the NHL.

As for Alex Kerfoot — yes, he's from here, but he also spurned the Canucks to sign as a free agent with Colorado when he completed his four years of college at Harvard. Now 27, he has a 10-team no-trade list for the 2022-23 season and it wouldn't surprise me if Vancouver is on that list.

Kerfoot also has one year remaining on his current deal, at $3.5 million. Given that he was the centre who came back to Toronto in the Nazem Kadri trade and what Kadri has done since, he isn't exactly beloved by Leafs fans, despite hitting a career high with 51 points last season. He's also on the small side — listed at 5'10" and 181 pounds.

The way Fox has drawn up this deal underscores why Miller would be an appealing acquisition for teams that are trying to go for it next season. The fact that he's signed for one more year at a palatable $5.25 million makes him much easier to fit into a tight cap structure than one of the hot-shot impending UFAs like Kadri, Johnny Gaudreau or Filip Forsberg, who will be getting paid right away.

The downside, of course, is that Miller will need to be paid eventually if a team hopes to retain him. It's always risky to ink a player to a big-money extension before he has even played a game on a new squad, but that may also be something that an acquiring team is looking to do.

According to CapFriendly, Miller's modified no-trade clause was voided when he was traded from Tampa Bay to Vancouver. The Canucks are under no obligation to deal him to a preferred destination — although they'd almost certainly get a bigger return from a club that believes he can be locked up for the long term.
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