Post by gmcanucks on Aug 31, 2015 8:57:57 GMT -5
Canucks Ready for Title Defense
After another busy off-season, the defending JGHL champion Vancouver Canucks look poised for another run at the league's Holy Grail.
GM Joe MacDonald refused to stand pat, making several significant changes to his club that won the franchise's first league championship in 2014-2015. In total 14 of the players on the club's 23 man roster when the club lifted their first championship trophy, are no longer wearing Canucks' colours, but MacDonald says this type of change is necessary if the team wants to stay competitive.
"You can't fall in love with your players, even if the win you a title", said the reigning JGHL Manager of the Year. "We owe it to the fans and the whole organization to ice the best product possible and to do that changes had to be made. We think we have a club that has a chance to contend again this year and we're excited about the opportunity to defend our title."
Among the players leaving Vancouver were centres Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Travis Zajac and Paul Gaustad; wingers Andrew Ladd, Jeff Skinner, Nino Niederreiter and Adam Hall; defensemen Andrej Sekera, James Wisniewski, Alec Martinez and Anton Volchenkov; and goalies Eddie Lack and James Reimer. Also dealt were top young prospects Alekander Barkov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Hunter Shinkaruk, Pontus Aberg and Jake Muzzin.
"Some of those deals were hard to make", said MacDonald. "Especially the ones that involved the kids. But we're trying to take advantage of the window we have and win another championship, so tough decisions are sometimes required."
Here's a look at the projected roster for the 2015-2016 Vancouver Canucks:
The Forwards:
Rick Nash - Ryan Getzlaf - T.J. Oshie
Zach Parise - Anze Kopitar - Kyle Okposo
Cody Eakin - Brandon Dubinsky - Gustav Nyquist
Antoine Roussel - Bo Horvat - Matt Nieto
Ryan Getzlaf assumes the role of the #1 centre with Anze Kopitar sliding down to second line duties. The Canucks are hopeful Getzlaf and Rick Nash will form a lethal partnership. Dubinsky and Eakin give the club versatility and could switch between centre and wing if a veteran 3rd or 4th line centre is found between now and the trade deadline. Rookie Bo Horvat is penciled in as the club's 4th line centre at this point, but GM MacDonald has made it clear that his preference is to allow the youngster to develop at the AHL level, if there are other options.
The Defensemen
John Carlson - Mark Giordano
Matt Niskanen - Kris Russell
Dmitri Kulikov - Mark Methot
Michael Stone - Andrej Sustr
The top pairing is as good as any in the league with veteran Mark Giordano and youngster John Carlson both expected to play big minutes in all situations. Matt Niskanen and Kris Russell round out an elite Top 4, with Mark Methot and Dmitri Kulikov also expected to play regular minutes. Stone and Sustr give the club good organizational depth and two potential top six contributors in the not too distant future.
The Goaltenders
Ben Bishop
Semyon Varlamov
Mike Smith
The post-draft acquisition of Ben Bishop gives the Canucks one of the best goalie tandems in the league, made even better by the fact that both are signed for two more years to cap friendly deals (Bishop - $1 million, Varlamov - $2.5 million). Mike Smith provides organizational depth in case of injury or trade.
The Future
Top Ten Prospects
1 Zach Werenski, D
2 Lawson Crouse, LW
3 Brett Ritchie, RW
4 Pavel Buchnevich, LW
5 Andrej Sustr, D
6 Michael Matheson, D
7 Brandon Gormley, D
8 Mason MacDonald, G
9 Anders Nilsson, G
10 Zach Senyshyn, RW
Despite the many deals and the "win-now" attitude, the club still has some great prospects in the system, led by 2015 draftees Zach Werenski and Lawson Crouse. Among the wildcards in the organizational depth chart are defenseman Brandon Gormley, who's been a little slower to develop than expected; Goalie Anders Nilsson, who returns to the JGHL after a couple of successful seasons in the KHL and winger Zach Senyshyn, a potential high end forward who will require a couple of years to truly assess his potential.
MacDonald hasn't ruled out further changes before the start of the season, but the general feeling is the club will start the campaign with the players on hand and see what adjustments are needed. But The wheeler-dealer in the GM was kind of hedging his bets. "We are always looking to improve our club, and if an opportunity comes up now or before the trade deadline, we won't hesitate to pull the trigger."