Turn veterans into draft diamonds
There are plenty of moves Canucks can make if they want to stockpile mid- to lower-round picks
The Toronto Marlies are on the verge of sweeping the Canucks’ farm team, the Utica Comets, right out of the AHL Calder Cup playoffs, and they’re doing it without their best player.
That would be Andreas Johnsson, the 23-year-old who is currently busy playing for coach Mike Babcock, and who has played a role in turning around the Toronto Maple Leafs’ first-round series.
Johnsson’s storyline should have legs in Vancouver for a couple of reasons. One, he’s a small, skilled Swedish forward who had success in North America immediately after dominating Sweden’s top league. This seems relevant for the Canucks, no?
Plus, Babcock has shown significant trust in him in the playoffs. Johnsson has Toronto’s lowest percentage of five-on-five offensive zone starts (18.52, which ranks 315th of the 321 players in the post-season). This, despite having played in only nine regular season games. Oh, and he may get the start in Game 7 over now-healthy veteran Leo Komarov. At least, he should.
The second reason feels even more critical in Vancouver these days. Johnsson was a seventh-round draft pick. He’s fast, highly skilled, and was passed over round after round in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft because, in part, he was too small. He still is, at 180 pounds.
Stories like his, mid- to late-round draft picks having an impact in these playoffs, are all over the teams that remain. Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel, a former third-round pick, is tied for the lead in points with 13. Tampa’s Brayden Point, a third-round pick, is averaging 18 minutes a game. Nashville’s Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm, both fourth-round picks, are massive contributors.
San Jose’s Kevin Labanc is helping drive the Sharks’ third line. He put up two points in four games and wasn’t on the ice for a goal against. He was a sixth rounder in 2014.
Up until now, stockpiling mid- to late-round draft picks hasn’t been a priority for the Canucks’ rebuilding program. It’s been viewed as counter-intuitive because, duh, the Canucks hired a former scout to be their general manager. In addition, they’ve made some nice value selections in the years since, adding centre Adam Gaudette (a fifth rounder) and goalie Thatcher Demko (second round), both of whom are expected to be critical components of the next core.
The Canucks have uncovered a host of others outside of their firstround marquee picks who have NHL upside, including defenceman Guillaume Brisebois, forwards Lukas Jasek and Kole Lind, plus netminder Michael DiPietro. Meanwhile, blueliners Gustav Forsling and Nikita Tryamkin, who had potential to be the best pick of them all, have already played NHL games.
In other words, the team has had some success with its draft picks. So it’s confusing that the strategy hasn’t been to play to these strengths. Instead, since Vancouver GM Jim Benning was hired in 2014, the Canucks have had a significant deficit in terms of the value of picks they have traded and the selections they have acquired.
The good news is that things appear to be changing. The Canucks were adamant they wanted to get a draft pick for Thomas Vanek.N one was offered, but it’s the thought that counts.
Vanek wasn’t seen as having much value because too often he’s disappeared in playoff games. And guess what? It happened again this year in Columbus.
But the Canucks do have valuable players they can move heading into the 2018 NHL Entry Draft in Dallas. You can start with Chris Tanev, the valuable shutdown defenceman. The only knock on him is the number of freak injuries he’s suffered in the past few years, something that has kept his games played under 70 for three straight seasons.
Tanev is still valuable and it’s a good bet his luck would change on a team that had the puck a lot.
The idea of trading Tanev has become the stuff of legends in Vancouver, and so far the Canucks have avoided the temptation. But with the Erik Gudbranson contract extension, it feels more likely than ever before that Vancouver will pull the trigger.
There’s also Ben Hutton, who could be a good buy-low candidate for a team looking for a defenceman who could really benefit from a change of scenery.
Hutton’s salary is problematic at US$2.8 million, but he did play well when paired with any defenceman not named Gudbranson.
Finally, there’s Sven Baertschi, a productive winger who would be a lock to score 20 goals if he could stay healthy for an entire season. His three-year shooting percentage of 15.5 per cent is top 20 in the NHL.
The Canucks have lots of wingers who could replace Baertschi in the top six, including Nikolay Goldobin. Does that mean they should trade Baertschi for draft picks?
They should consider it.