With the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota Wild now all on the brink of second-round elimination from the playoffs, the possibilities just increased that we might see more player movement over the summer.
The Habs and Rangers were my picks for the Eastern Conference Final—and those are two fan bases with sky-high expectations for their teams.
On the day that he was nominated for the 2015 Jack Adams Award, Alain Vigneault looked a lot like he was being out-coached by Washington's Barry Trotz, didn't he? I know the Rangers came back from a 3-1 second-round deficit last season; It seems highly unlikely they could pull that off for two years in a row.
Meanwhile, after a crushing last-second defeat by Tampa Bay last night, Montreal has just 24 hours to regroup. They'll be looking to avoid a sweep when they line up for Game 4 tonight.
Wild fans are also going to be dissatisfied if they end up getting swept by Chicago tonight. That's a step backwards from their six-game defeat last season, and Devan Dubnyk is getting out-goaltended by the pariah of the last series, Corey Crawford. I wonder, now, if the Wild will re-sign Dubnyk or if they'll venture into the free-agent market instead to look at a guy like Antti Niemi?
It looks like the Blackhawks are the one team on the brink of salary-cap hell that is getting the most out of its lineup before it gets dismantled.
Which players do you think could end up on the block if the Canadiens, Rangers and Wild go down? Any particularly great fits for the Canucks??
Last season, the Canucks didn't introduce their "Change is Coming" slogan until June 24—the day of the NHL Awards.
Click here for a reminder. The team followed through in subsequent days, with the Ryan Kesler trade kicking things off on June 27.
This year, it seems like the marketing campaign is already quietly in progress. Season-ticket holders will have been issued their renewals for next season when they received their playoff packages and the Canucks website has just
added a banner announcing that less than 100 season-ticket memberships for the upper bowl are currently available for purchase.
Those expensive lower-bowl tickets are a tougher sell, but they're making it sound like the sales team is getting things done.
Comets Second Round Starts Tonight
The Canucks prospects will be hitting the ice in Utica tonight as their second-round series against the Oklahoma City Barons gets underway. Puck drop is at 4 p.m. PT.
Local writer Cam Tucker has a nice breakdown of the key players in this Metro article:
It's unlikely that Jake Virtanen or Jared McCann will draw into the lineup tonight when Travis Green is already deep at forward. Virtanen has made an early impression, however.
This year marks the last run for the Edmonton Oilers' farm team in Oklahoma City. They'll be relocating to Bakersfield, California next season as part of the AHL's shift out west. The Barons' forward lines are short on familiar names but the defense will include part-time NHLers like David Musil, Martin Marincin and Brad Hunt as well as highly-touted first-round prospect Darnell Nurse.
Richard Bachman will get the start for OKC against Utica's Jacob Markstrom.
To wrap up today, a couple of quick hits from the News1130 sports department, which continues to look for info on Vancouver's upcoming roster plans.
First—a prospect:
Smith's listed at 6'2" and 212 pounds. He had 38 points and was a plus-11 with the Thunderbirds this year.
Finally—a non-update on Shawn Matthias.
No surprise to me here. Though Matthias had some moments over the course of the season, he disappeared in the late going. I don't think his physical game was strong enough to make him an invaluable part of the Canucks moving forward. I'd rather see his roster spot used to make room for a young player next season.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»