NHL PRE-DRAFT INTRIGUE
Canucks’ Tanev remains available
The Canucks believe it will be “near impossible” to move up in this weekend’s draft.
The same could apply this week for any Chris Tanev trade.
It’s not entirely because Vegas selected Luca Sbisa, a replaceable left-handed, third-pairing defenceman, although Vancouver is making it a significant factor.
It’s also because a market for Tanev has yet to materialize, even though it’s been a healthy topic on the insiders’ circuit in a league where an overwhelming number of teams are seeking top-four defencemen while staring down an incoming free-agent class that’s thin and weather-beaten.
The Canucks have not been aggressively shopping Tanev, which plays into it, but anyone paying attention has understood there was potential the Canucks’ top-pairing defenceman, who is among the league’s best at suppressing shot attempts, was in play.
I mean, the Canucks just finished 29th; anyone older than 26 years old should be in play.
“There hasn’t been a lot of interest in him, quite honestly,” GM Jim Benning said. “Maybe not like we would think. For whatever reason that is. But I think people know he’s a good defenceman and maybe we haven’t had calls on him because he’s an important guy on our blue-line too.”
The Canucks see him as an even more important piece after losing Sbisa, the big-but-slow blue-liner whose style of game looked increasingly outdated as the post-season went along. They will still entertain offers for Tanev, but now suggest they will be unwilling move him for draft picks this weekend.
“We did talk to some teams about Chris, he’s conceivably our best defenceman,” Benning said. “He’s the type of defenceman we’re talking about where he gets back and he transitions the puck up the ice fast.
“But we don’t have the depth on our defence now to start moving any other pieces unless we get a good young defenceman back.”
That scenario seems pretty unlikely.
Of course, all of this could change after free agency, and the Canucks have a ton of cap space ($19.5 million) to bring in depth. Interestingly on that front, the Canucks are not entirely focused on acquiring blue-liners with similar skill sets to the two big guys they recently lost, Sbisa and Nikita Tryamkin.
“I think the game has got so fast the last couple of years, you need guys who can get back there and get the puck going the other way fast,” Benning said. “As far as size-strength defencemen, a few months ago we had some depth, but now we don’t have the same depth, but we do still have Erik Gudbranson. (In free agency), we’ll be looking for a quick transition defenceman.”
It is troubling the Canucks have struggled to manufacture a market for Tanev, but truthfully there’s no urgency in trading him, and Benning ’s two best veteran-for-future moves were done at the deadline.
Tanev has a limited no-trade clause which is triggered in July. It does not appear to be overly prohibitive, as he can list eight teams he won’t accept a trade to.
If Tanev is healthy and productive, it’s at least plausible he could have more value before next season’s deadline than he has currently. But that’s not going to help the Canucks acquire more picks this weekend or to trade up.
“We are happy drafting at five. We like the players who will be sitting there when we pick. We do have some things to look at, so it should be an interesting fun week.”
Just not for the “Trade Tanev Club.”