TRADER JIM?
The NHL entry draft is today, and it’s a litmus test for the Jim Benning era. Will he trade up? Down? Stand pat? Take a centre? The speculation is endless, writes Ben Kuzma
At one point, Jim Benning provided some needed comic relief Thursday. Peppered with a plethora of possibilities that could play out Friday night in opening round of the National Hockey League draft, the Vancouver Canucks general manager asked if the reporter in question (me) was trying to predict who Benning could or should select fifth overall.
“I know you’re trying hard, but we have to see how the draft plays out,” Benning said, chuckling over the endless speculation.
With pursuit of the third-overall selection from Dallas gaining little traction — trading Chris Tanev was expected to be the chip Benning could play — the GM is still going to get exactly what he hoped for with his first pick. He’s going to acquire a good player and also fill a positional need. But who will it be? Centres Gabriel Vilardi, Cody Glass and Elias Petterssen top the wish-list. But what if projected top-pairing defenceman Cale Makar somehow slips to the fivehole should Dallas take blueliner Miro Heiskanen and Colorado at No. 4 sees Vilardi as a future fit with the expected departure of Matt Duchene?
Makar is a coveted puck-moving, power-play quarterback blueliner, and that’s supposed to trump any centre who may be a second-line guy by the time he makes the NHL.
“Any time you can get a high-end offensive defenceman in today’s game who drives the play for your team, that’s something we’re going to look at,” added Benning.
However, with an organizational need for depth down the middle, Benning could also trade down in the first round in hopes of doubling up. Getting two centres and then picking a puck-moving defenceman at No.33 would satisfy two crucial needs. The only concern would be moving down and seeing a targeted player selected ahead of the Canucks.
“We’d only do that (move down) if we were going to get a player we targeted,” said Benning.
Another option is to dangle the No. 55 pick and something else to move into the latter half of the first round. Some players are expected to slip and some the Canucks have also targeted could still be there.
“We’ve identified players from No. 20-30 that if they’re there — and there’s a way back into the first round — we’ll look at,” said Benning.
If Dallas can’t find a veteran defensive fit and chooses Heiskanen and Colorado takes Vilardi, then Glass could be the pick at No. 5. He checks all the boxes. The 6-foot-2, 178-pound Winnipeg native plays a 200-foot game, scored 70 per cent of his 94 points (32-62) at even strength and 40 per cent of his pro
Imagine grinding it out at both ends of the ice. It’s why Glass has tried to pattern his game after Jonathan Toews and Patrice Bergeron and why he looks at Ryan Johansen and Mark Scheifele as centres he can hopefully resemble one day.
The Canucks are also high on Petterssen for obvious reasons.
Smooth and intelligent with the puck, there’s no panic in his game, and the teammate of Canucks prospect Jonathan Dahlen has already drawn early comparisons to a budding Nicklas Backstrom. However, being slight in stature at 6-foot-2 and just 165 pounds, two more seasons playing with men in Sweden could work wonders for the playmaking pivot.
“We have three or four who we feel fit that playmaking need, and Vilardi is that group, too, because he’s strong on the puck and makes plays from the top of the circle down,” said Benning.
Vilardi had 29 goals and 32 points in 49 Ontario Hockey League games with the Windsor Spitfires en route to capturing the Memorial Cup. The Canucks like his 6-foot-3, 201-pound frame and the fact he can play centre or wing. He was moved to the wall this season with the Spitfires having ample middle men.
“I’m a physical player,” said Vilardi. “I’m not going to go and try to kill guys — or line up big hit or anything like that — but if I’m on the forecheck, I going to finish my hit. And if I’m working down low, I use my body well to play a physical game the right way — in my opinion.”
Vilardi missed six weeks at the outset of this season when a magnetic resonance image (MRI) revealed damage from a knee-on-knee collision during Hockey Canada’s under-18 camp last summer for the annual Ivan Hlinka Tournament.
“I didn’t have surgery and it hasn’t bothered me at all,” said Vilardi.
OF NOTE: The Canucks have the No. 5, 33, 55, 64, 95, 112 (Jannik Hansen trade to San Jose), and 188 picks. Their fifth-round pick (No. 120) went to Edmonton as a conditional for Philip Larsen and their sixth-rounder (No. 157) went to the Rangers in the Emerson Etem trade.