Post by gmcanucks on Oct 12, 2014 17:07:34 GMT -5
Vancouver (AP) - After a busy off-season that featured an amazing 33 trades, the Vancouver Canucks and GM Joe MacDonald completely remade their roster, setting themselves up for a return to the playoffs after three seasons and, hopefully, a return to contender status in the near future.
The focus of the off-season was the acquisition of "young veterans" who would help right away and still be around for possible title runs in 2015-2016 and beyond. As a result some, some prime assets were sacrificed to acquire proven JGHL talent like Anze Kopitar, Ryan Suter, Logan Couture, Zack Parise, Mark Giordano, Jeff Skinner and Matt Niskanen.
Added to a young core that includes goalie Semyon Varlamov, defenseman Jacob Trouba and forwards Kyle Okposo, Nino Niederreiter and Carl Hagelin, GM MacDonald feels he has a club that can compete with anyone.
"We may still be a little behind teams like Montreal, San Jose and Calgary, but we're getting closer", said MacDonald. "We'll be a tough game for anyone and our goal is to make the playoffs. We feel we have a chance against anyone in a seven-game series."
The contrast between the team's line-up at the end of last season to the start of this season is staggering, especially on defense.
Canucks Line-up Game 82, 2013-2014
Forwards
Zajac - O'Reilly - Okposo
Kesler - Hagelin - Kassian
Z. Smith - Roussel - Shore
Desjardins - Upshall - Galiardi
Defense
Faulk - Lovejoy
B. Smith - Kundratek
Brennan - Engelland
Goal
Quick - Varlamov
Canucks Line-up, Game 1 - 2014-2015
Forwards
Kopitar - Parise - Stafford
Couture - Skinner - Okposo
Arcobello - Hagelin - Niederreiter
Z. Smith - Hall - Roussel
Defense
Suter - Niskanen
Giordano - Garrison
Trouba - Muzzin
Goal
Varlamov - Halak
In addition to the improved on-ice product, the long-term future of the club is still solid, despite the sacrifice of several young talents in off-season trades. The prospect list still includes goalies Andrei Vasilevski, Darcy Kuemper and Eddie Lack; defenseman Michael Matheson, Brandon Gormley and Brendan Smith; centres Teuvo Teravainen, Sam Bennett and Bo Horvat; and wingers Matt Nieto, Hunter Shinkaruk, Brett Ritchie and Ty Rattie.
Add to that three first round picks in each of the next two draft years (2015 and 2016) and the Canucks' future looks bright.
"We traded a lot of great young talents in the off-season", said MacDonald. "Guys we feel could be stars. But we added several players who have already established themselves as stars and we still have an impressive group of young talent on the way. Overall we are more than pleased with the direction this club is heading."
Fans will get their first look at the new club tomorrow when they host co-western conference favorites Calgary Flames and then travel to Nashville for game two against the 2012-2013 champion Nashville Predators.
"We'll get an early indication of how competitive we'll be, playing two quality opponents to start the season", said the GM. "Hopefully we'll reward our fans for their patience over the past few seasons with a playoff appearance this year and a championship in the not too distant future."
The focus of the off-season was the acquisition of "young veterans" who would help right away and still be around for possible title runs in 2015-2016 and beyond. As a result some, some prime assets were sacrificed to acquire proven JGHL talent like Anze Kopitar, Ryan Suter, Logan Couture, Zack Parise, Mark Giordano, Jeff Skinner and Matt Niskanen.
Added to a young core that includes goalie Semyon Varlamov, defenseman Jacob Trouba and forwards Kyle Okposo, Nino Niederreiter and Carl Hagelin, GM MacDonald feels he has a club that can compete with anyone.
"We may still be a little behind teams like Montreal, San Jose and Calgary, but we're getting closer", said MacDonald. "We'll be a tough game for anyone and our goal is to make the playoffs. We feel we have a chance against anyone in a seven-game series."
The contrast between the team's line-up at the end of last season to the start of this season is staggering, especially on defense.
Canucks Line-up Game 82, 2013-2014
Forwards
Zajac - O'Reilly - Okposo
Kesler - Hagelin - Kassian
Z. Smith - Roussel - Shore
Desjardins - Upshall - Galiardi
Defense
Faulk - Lovejoy
B. Smith - Kundratek
Brennan - Engelland
Goal
Quick - Varlamov
Canucks Line-up, Game 1 - 2014-2015
Forwards
Kopitar - Parise - Stafford
Couture - Skinner - Okposo
Arcobello - Hagelin - Niederreiter
Z. Smith - Hall - Roussel
Defense
Suter - Niskanen
Giordano - Garrison
Trouba - Muzzin
Goal
Varlamov - Halak
In addition to the improved on-ice product, the long-term future of the club is still solid, despite the sacrifice of several young talents in off-season trades. The prospect list still includes goalies Andrei Vasilevski, Darcy Kuemper and Eddie Lack; defenseman Michael Matheson, Brandon Gormley and Brendan Smith; centres Teuvo Teravainen, Sam Bennett and Bo Horvat; and wingers Matt Nieto, Hunter Shinkaruk, Brett Ritchie and Ty Rattie.
Add to that three first round picks in each of the next two draft years (2015 and 2016) and the Canucks' future looks bright.
"We traded a lot of great young talents in the off-season", said MacDonald. "Guys we feel could be stars. But we added several players who have already established themselves as stars and we still have an impressive group of young talent on the way. Overall we are more than pleased with the direction this club is heading."
Fans will get their first look at the new club tomorrow when they host co-western conference favorites Calgary Flames and then travel to Nashville for game two against the 2012-2013 champion Nashville Predators.
"We'll get an early indication of how competitive we'll be, playing two quality opponents to start the season", said the GM. "Hopefully we'll reward our fans for their patience over the past few seasons with a playoff appearance this year and a championship in the not too distant future."