Tough D means tough decisions
Canucks have too many rearguards, but it’s too early to say who will stay and who will go
There’s a logjam on the Canucks’ blue-line.
It’s another one of those juggling acts that GM Jim Benning must manage as the Canucks try to tread that tricky line between getting younger on the fly while remaining relevant as a playoff contender.
While the latter task appears even tougher next season, the numbers on his defence suggest something will have to give.
Currently, the Canucks have five defencemen signed to contracts for next season. They also have the rights to four pending restricted free agents who played games for the NHL club last season: Yannick Weber, Ryan Stanton, Adam Clendening and Frank Corrado. Nine defencemen is one more than the usual working number carried by NHL teams. In the Canucks’ case, all are subject to waivers, so one, presumably, could be lost to another team if sent to the minors as rosters are reduced to a maximum of 23 players before the start of next season.
Benning says it’s too early to say what personnel decisions will be made until the management group gets together with its pro scouts in Vancouver following the NHL Scouting Combine, June 1-6 in Buffalo, where 120 draft prospects are expected to attend.
“If we have to make a decision on a player, that’s what we’ll do,” said Benning, who’s been in the East attending AHL playoff games, including some of the Canucks’ Utica Comets farm club.
“We’ll do our meetings and figure it out. We’ll start with eight defencemen, but we want to have 11 D capable of playing in the NHL. That’s something I learned this year from being in the West. The travel wears the team down a bit and it seems to take a toll on your defence.”
Considering the way the Canucks’ defence broke down at times against the Flames in the six-game playoff loss, it should be a lively conversation.
Benning said following the team’s first-round ouster from the playoffs that he intended to re-sign Weber, 26, who was solid in a top-four role with Dan Hamhuis when injuries hit the blue line hard in parts of February and March. The GM confirmed that is still the plan.
Corrado and Clendening, both 22, are valued prospects by the Canucks and it appears both will need to be among the expected eight D-men on the roster next season. Sending either to the minors would risk losing them to another NHL team on waivers. Benning gave up highly regarded prospect Gustav Forsling (a fifth-round pick in the 2014 draft) to the Hawks for Clendening in late January. Corrado has spent the last two seasons in the AHL and, based on his play in 10 NHL games this past season, appears ready to make the jump.
Clendening is more of an offensive, power play quarterback type of player, while Corrado has a twoway game.
Corrado, Clendening and Weber are all right-hand shots, but Corrado is one of those right-handers who is also comfortable playing on the left side — where he spent much of his junior career.
Stanton, 25, was claimed off waivers from the Blackhawks just before the 2013-14 season. He had a good first season as a solid third-pairing D-man, but found himself back-sliding into more of a depth role this past season under new coach Willie Desjardins.
Weber and newly acquired Luca Sbisa clearly have passed him on the depth chart.
Could Stanton be the odd man out? Sure, he could be the guy the Canucks try to sneak through waivers and stash in the minors as injury insurance. But the Canucks could also look a lot different next season, depending on off-season moves.
Asked if he’d be comfortable going into next season with the same defence corps, Benning cautioned against projecting too far ahead. A lot of things will be kicked around at the team meetings. Benning added it’s hard to say right now how, exactly, the defence is going to look next season.
“The season doesn’t start for four months,” he said. “If we want to add a certain type of player by trade, it’s something we’d look at. Like, say, a better transition defenceman.”
Benning said the Canucks would also look at the free agent market.
“If there’s a player out there who could benefit our team and be a good fit,” he said. “But we won’t be in the high end of the market, the $5 million or $6 million guys.”