Canucks Add Scoring Punch

Many question the status of goaltending when it comes to the Canucks, but not necessarily the quality, but rather who they how the door continues to revolve like a turnstile.

Not that long ago they were dealt with solid “tending” with the likes of Luongo and Schneider, which evolved to the likes of Lack and not with the movement of Miller to Anaheim.

The salary cap is getting increased and given the fact that they signed a winger to a one year contract for $36 million who  scored 11 goals last season, we now see the addition of five players for what they consider a “steal.”

They now bring in  27-year old Anders Nilsson to replace the departed Ryan Miller, along with forwards Sam Gagner and defencemen Michael  Del Zotto and Patrick Wiercioch for $22 million, which should add more punch that what Loui Eriksson gave them.

Nilsson played 26 games with the Sabres last season managing a 10-10-4 record with a SV% of .923 along with a GAA of 2.67

In total he has played 78 career NHL games with Buffalo, St. Louis, Edmonton and the Islanders posting a record of 29-32-8 with a SV% of .908.

The depth added to the Canucks come with no “tie-downs” or “extra baggage” such as  a trade restrictions, so one can only assume that these will only add to the scoring depth.

All players acquired are younger than 27, so it’s obvious that there is room for the organization to grow and add additional punch heading forward.

Gagner’s three-year deal is $9.45 million and is longer than two seasons so there is obviously room to grow and with the additions it will only mean that some of the up-and-comers such as Boeser, Virtanen, Goldobin and Dahlen could end up in the AHL with the Comets.

Given that some of the players recently arrived for their development camp it does appear that some of the youngsters will have to prove they belong, rather than just make the early jump.

We are hearing that Benning is still open to offers should one come open and one that was turned down was one in where he tried to return Gudbranson (25) to Florida, but this was quickly shot down by Panthers D-man Jason Demers who refused a trade to the Canucks.

Gudbranson is one year from being a UFA and could attract an increase on his current $3.5-million paycheck.

Nilsson was the backup “tender” for the Sabres’ last season and signed a two year deal for $2.5 million with Vancouver.

He will compete with Jacob Markstrom for the starting position following the move of Ryan Miller who headed south to Anaheim for less money and apparently a better family situation.

He may have been a top notch “tender” a couple of seasons ago, or even at the Olympics, but many questioned his signing bringing him to the Canucks organization, which never seemed to be a good fit from the start.

Benning mentioned to the media “Our goal was to have more depth in our whole organization, and from a building standpoint, I like where we’re at.”

Seems ironic or downright strange that an organization such as the Canucks held on for two years continuing to mention the word “transition” and recently mentioned at the conclusion of last season that it was actually on a “rebuild.”

Finally – something positive out of Canuckville!!

Thanks to the Canucks for the photo.