Team’s refusal to trade veterans is puzzling
But why wouldn’t Canucks look to deal veterans to begin rebuild?
Jannik Hansen’s response to the query was as quick as his stride.
Asked what it meant to the team’s veterans when Canucks general manager Jim Benning recently declared that he won’t ask anyone to waive a no-trade clause, the winger applauded the commitment.
“It prevents you (media) guys from coming to us and asking when we’re going to get traded this year — so it’s nice,” Hansen said with a chuckle. “I want to play here. I love being around the guys. I love the city and I want to win here. And I’ve been here for a very long time (nine seasons).
“It’s nice that you don’t have to speculate as to whether they’re going to come in five days or five weeks to ask you for a list of teams (for a possible trade).”
To those in the room, it was the ultimate vote of confidence. To those on the outside, it was confusing.
Benning also said in the same breath that he wants to add draft picks and the best way to acquire them is at the NHL trade deadline.
Alex Burrows and Hansen would command considerable interest from Stanley Cup contenders because of their versatility, experience and low financial risk, as an unrestricted free agent rental and attractive 2017-18 contract addition, respectively.
It’s not a stretch to suggest that the healthy and rejuvenated 35-year-old Burrows could be reunited with Alain Vigneault in New York or land closer to home in Montreal. And who wouldn’t want Hansen?
The 30-year-old Dane does everything any contender would covet — play up or down the lineup and kill penalties — and he has another year left on his contract at a US$2.5-million cap hit and $3 million in actual salary.
Those are bargain numbers for a guy who scored a career-high 22 goals last season — after being aligned with Henrik and Daniel Sedin — and does his damage at even strength.
Burrows is free of hip issues and skating like he has turned back the career clock.
However, it now means the onus is on the players to approach management if they want to waive their NTCs for a shot at a championship. And that brings its own set of fuzzy optics about team loyalty versus personal agendas.
In a polarizing market where public opinion is divided about whether to retool on the fly or tear apart the roster for the sake of even more youth, it’s another layer of potential angst.
“Stuff that matters to us is when there’s some substance behind it (trades),” said Hansen.
“Rumours are part of the game and stuff gets said all the time. When it’s more than rumours, that’s when you can see it on guys. It weighs on them.”
Leadership and mentorship are often referenced when the Canucks talk core. But factor in key injuries to Alex Edler and Chris Tanev, and a tumble down the statistical ladder — 29th in goals per game, 30th in first-period goals and 28th on the power play — and the prospect of already having to leapfrog four teams just to claim the final conference wild-card spot is beyond daunting. It’s unrealistic. That’s why there’s confusion. Last year, it was pending unrestricted free agents Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata who agreed to waive their NTCs for the betterment of the club. What now? Talk to Burrows and Hansen and they mention family in the same breath as chasing the Cup somewhere else.
And you know there’s some substance to the home-front concern when Hansen knows what it would mean to relocate his twin boys, who turn four in March.
“It’s peace of mind for them not having to worry about uprooting everything and finding new schools or a new place to live,” he said. “More goes into it. It’s easy for me
to pack my bag and go to a different dressing room.
“It’s a lot harder on the family and definitely something that weighs on your mind — when you hear there may be a possibility. Not so much hockey-wise, but for the family. It’s not easy.”
It appears easier for the Canucks to see the current value in Hansen rather than the long-term return on what he could fetch at the deadline. If you’re looking for glue to keep it together in the room and on the ice, a guy who has become a greater voice of reason and leads by example is hard to part with.
Then again, it’s a Catch-22 because of what he would bring via a trade. At least the Canucks know what they have in Hansen. There’s no mystery there.
“A lot of different dimensions with his game,” said Canucks coach Willie Desjardins. “His speed is good, he adds a little life in the dressing room and he’s so good on the PK (penalty kill). And he’s getting better as he goes and more effective because he pushes the defence back and can jump on them.
“He has come a long way. Two years ago, he wasn’t a guy you would think of on that (top) line. Now, he’s a pretty good fit.”
A reduction in clutch-and-grab hockey has suited Hansen. So has a career path that purposely placed him in Portland of the WHL for one season. The 287th pick in the 2004 draft — back when there were nine rounds — needed to see where the game could take him.
“The hockey was one part,” recalled Hansen, who had 24 goals and 40 assists in 64 games with the Winterhawks in 2005-06.
“It was more about getting away from home (Rodovre, Denmark) and travelling. And I was only used to playing 36 games in a season. The grind of it (WHL), the backto-backs, three-in-three nights and the life was as close to this (NHL) as you could come.”
Not that Hansen knew much about the league growing up. He saw just one NHL game on TV.
“We had hockey cards,” he said. “We traded. We knew (Wayne) Gretzky and (Joe) Sakic, and if somebody asked me how they played, I could look (at the cards) and tell them.”
Rumours are part of the game and stuff gets said all the time. When it’s more than rumours, that’s when you can see it on guys. It weighs on them.