Benning looking for long-term help
Don’t expect Canucks general manager to be acquiring rentals before next week’s deadline
It’s easy to lose your way on NHL trade-deadline day.
Going into sticker shock for the quick fix is like those American television medical commercials: Take this pill and you’ll instantly feel better, but the long-term side effects may feel like a heart attack.
The quickest fix for Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning in advance of the Feb. 25 deadline would be offensive support for Bo Horvat. It would help a club riddled by six injuries remain relevant in a Western Conference wild-card playoff push.
However, a 2-5-1 slide, in which the Canucks lost four games by one goal and have dropped to 26th in goals per game and 27th on the power play, is sobering. So is the simple math that 59 points after 60 games means the Canucks could need a 14-8-0 run in their remaining games to reach 87 points, if that proves to be the playoff bar. If it’s higher, they may require a 15-7-0 streak to hit 89 points. Their longest win streak this season is three games.
It’s why surrendering a high draft pick or prime prospect for a proven 20-goal scorer like pending unrestricted free agent Jakob Silfverberg — who has also flourished in a shutdown role — would actually slow the rebuild. The Anaheim Ducks right-winger is not only on an expiring US$3.75-million contract, he’ll command a sizable raise if he hits the open market and will be 29 in October.
“If we had another goalscorer, that would be a big help to our group, but that’s easier said than done,” Benning said Sunday, acknowledging that fix may come via a reasonable free-agency move. “I’m not necessarily looking at rentals. If we’re going to do trades, it’s going to be players who can be pieces of the puzzle moving forward.”
It’s what Benning did Saturday in landing well-travelled forward Ryan Spooner, 27, from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Sam Gagner. It’s what he did last trade deadline in shipping Thomas Vanek to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a multi-player deal that landed Tyler Motte, 23. He had untapped potential and another year left on his palatable contract.
As for Spooner, the New York Rangers are retaining $900,000 of the $4 million remaining on his salary next season. And with Gagner having $3.15 million left on his deal to make the transaction a financial wash, the Ottawa native could help steady the rebuild here, but he won’t hurt it.
Spooner is effective at centre because he’s smart, a good playmaker and good in lower matchups. Spooner struggles at wing because he becomes a perimeter player, but his versatility helps.
“He was a centre through junior, but in Boston. because we had good centres. he learned to play the wing and played with (Patrice) Bergeron and (Brad) Marchand at times,” said Benning, a former Bruins assistant GM, said of Spooner, who hit career highs of 13 goals and 36 assists with Boston in 201516, but has struggled with his offensive game this season.
“He can transport the puck through the neutral zone and is good on the second power play on the half-wall. For whatever reasons, things haven’t worked out for him. This is a fresh start.”
One option for Benning would be to take a harder look at left wing.
The most pleasant surprise has been grinder Antoine Roussel, who has 25 points and will easily top the careerhigh 29 he reached twice with the Dallas Stars. The most disappointing development is Nikolay Goldobin. He also has 25 points, but has just one goal in his last 21 games and the pending restricted free agent continues to confound coaches and management.
You don’t want to give up on a skilled 23-year-old who has no contract leverage. A player-for-player swap doesn’t sound realistic at the deadline, but the off-season might be different. Then again, in Sven Baertschi (concussion), Markus Granlund (pending UFA), Loui Eriksson, Tim Schaller (scratched 24 times) and Spooner there are a lot of questions on the left side.
Goldobin does things you can’t teach and infuriates because he’s not grasping what’s being taught. Turnovers caused by an extra move at the offensive blue-line or failing to get a puck out of the defensive zone are too repetitive.
“It’s in Goldy’s hands,” Benning said of the winger’s future. “He has the head and the hockey sense and the skill to be a good player, but it’s up to him and how hard he wants to work to get there. He can’t do the stuff he’s doing to be an NHL player. He has to learn.
“When the puck is at our blue-line, it has to get out. And when it’s at their blueline, it’s got to get in. When he gets it in, he has the freedom to create. But there have to be rules to be successful and he has to be able to follow those.
“But with his offensive skill set, we don’t have anybody to replace him.”