Is trading Tanev in the Stars?
Big D needs blue-line help and Canucks could draft a centre with coveted No. 3 pick
In snooker, it’s not the shot you make, it’s the one you leave.
The Vancouver Canucks have a shot at the third overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft which the Dallas Stars are dangling. So do many others.
The Stars need an established Top 4, right-shot defensive defenceman to turn around the gong show in their own zone — 29th in goals against per game (3.17) and last on the penalty kill (73.9 per cent) — and help get the National Hockey League team back to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The return of coach Ken Hitchcock and his defence-first mantra — and the arrival of Ben Bishop to finally give them a true starting goaltender — will certainly help the Big Dilemma in Big D. So would 27-year-old Chris Tanev. He would also make fiscal sense to the Stars with a salary cap hit of US$4.45 million for the next three seasons because Dallas has three restricted free agents to re-sign after next season.
And if the Canucks are concerned about Tanev’s modified no-trade clause that kicks in July 1 — a list of eight teams he can’t be moved to — that window to act is narrowing.
Even though Tanev’s departure would leave a considerable void in the Canucks’ diminished back end with the KHL departure of Nikita Tryamkin, uncertainty of how RFA Erik Gudbranson will respond after wrist surgery and the possibility of losing Luca Sbisa in the expansion draft, it’s a concept worth exploring.
The Canucks still have their top pair of Alex Edler and Troy Stecher. Ben Hutton and Gudbranson could be reunited and have nowhere to go but up after off seasons.
Philip Holm, 25, has signed a oneyear, show-us deal after a strong season in Sweden and playing in the world championships.
Olli Juolevi, 19, could be fasttracked and everybody is anxious to know if Jordan Subban, 22, can play at this level and if Andrey Pedan, 23, is more than just organizational depth.
General manager Jim Benning could satisfy two pressing needs — a playmaking centre and puck-moving, power play blueliner — by shipping Tanev and the club’s 2017 second pick in the fourth round (No. 55) to the Stars.
It was reported that Benning has reached out to Stars GM Jim Nill, but the Canucks GM said Friday that wasn’t the case.
“That’s not true, but I will inquire at some point. But I haven’t yet,” he said.
He should. The Canucks need to go well beyond tire-kicking and if Benning goes into sticker shock, there’s always room for negotiation.
Acquiring the coveted third pick would ensure Benning will land his targeted centre — Gabriel Valardi, Casey Mittelstadt or Cody Glass — because Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick will already be off the draft board.
Selecting again at No. 5 would mean defencemen Timothy Liljegren or Cale Makar will also be available, even though Miro Heiskanen is rated higher by many, though maybe not by the Canucks.
Then again, Benning could do nothing, which would be something. Bringing back Ryan Miller and not moving Tanev would help the team remain somewhat competitive because Benning is concerned about how a losing environment would affect his young players.
That’s why moving Tanev was always considered a non-starter for Benning — until now — because he has to make sure there’s more than just pre-draft smoke coming out of Dallas.
“It’s hard to find good defencemen, especially defencemen who are mobile and move the puck,” Benning said earlier this week. “Unless it would make sense for our future, I’m not trading Chris. He means so much to our team.”
And he would mean so much to the Stars.
In a more controlled system, Tanev would be comfortable and so would 34-year-old Dan Hamhuis, who will be entering the final year of his contract. OF NOTE: On Wednesday, Benning wouldn’t comment on whether former assistant Newell Brown was being considered for an assistant’s position here. He is being considered. Brown was let go by the Arizona Coyotes in April and was the architect of high-powered Canuck power plays — No. 1 overall in 201011 and No. 2 in 2011-12 — during this three seasons in Vancouver. The Canucks power play was ranked 22nd in Brown’s final season here in 2012-13. This season, the Canucks were 29th on the power play and the Coyotes 26th. The entire Canucks staff is expected to be announced next week. Also as earlier reported, the Canucks have considerable interest in Memorial Cup champion coach Rocky Thompson of the Windsor Spitfires to run the AHL bench in Utica.