Sportsnet.ca http://sportsnet.ca/author/thomas-drance/feed/ Fri, 29 Mar 2024 01:04:32 EDT en-US hourly 1 Darryl Dyck/CP canucks Improved defence inspires well-placed optimism for Canucks Wed, 28 Sep 2016 15:57:35 EDT Wed, 28 Sep 2016 15:57:35 EDT Thomas Drance The Canucks may seem overly optimistic by setting the playoffs as their goal. But if you look at the areas they should improve on defence this year, it’s reasonable to expect a bounce back year.

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Talking like a playoff team in late September is one thing. Performing like one for seven months from October to April is another entirely.

The Vancouver Canucks have projected a sense of optimism throughout training camp. At every level – from the players, to the coaches, to management – the organization has made it plain that the goal is the playoffs. Those are lofty aspirations for a team that finished with just 75 points a year ago, the third-fewest in hockey.

If the Canucks are going to improve enough to keep up in the competitive Pacific Division, improving their overall defensive play will be crucial. Though quality goaltending performances from the tandem of Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom served to disguise the extent of the issue at times, the Canucks were truly one of the NHL’s most permissive defensive teams last season. Only the Colorado Avalanche allowed scoring chances at a higher rate.

It’s totally reasonable to expect the club’s defensive play to be sturdier. Brandon Sutter is healthy, which should at least help relax some of the Sisyphean deployments Bo Horvat struggled under last season. And with Erik Gudbranson in the fold, it’s possible – even likely – that the Canucks could ice two defensive pairings capable of controlling the run of play.

It’s to Willie Desjardins and assistant coach Doug Lidster’s credit that in their two years behind the bench in Vancouver, they’ve rolled consistently with Chris Tanev and Alex Edler as their top defensive pair. Perhaps Vancouver’s coaches could be more disciplined in how they use Edler and Tanev as a matchup pair, but even still, Vancouver’s top-two defencemen can be counted on to soak up north of 20 minutes of ice time per game. With Tanev and Edler on the ice over the past two seasons, the Canucks have controlled better than 52 per cent of unblocked shot attempts at even-strength and have reliably outscored the top-end of the opponent’s rosters.

The problem for the Canucks in the Desjardins era has been what’s occurred when Edler and Tanev take a breather. With Tanev and Edler on the ice at even-strength since October 2014, the Canucks have outscored their opponents by five goals. With any other pairing on the ice, the Canucks have been outscored by 44.

Fixing this issue was a priority for the club this summer, obviously, as the Canucks paid a significant price to acquire Gudbranson in a trade with the Florida Panthers. Gudbranson isn’t a defender who moves the river on his own, but he’s a dependable, durable, physical blue liner who has improved his two-way game appreciably as he’s matured over the past couple of seasons.

Much has been made of Gudbranson’s underlying numbers, which on a superficial level have been found wanting by many in the public sphere of hockey’s burgeoning analytics community. In fact, when you get into the weeds, it seems more likely that Gudbranson’s two-way impact has generally been fine.

The 24-year-old stay-at-home defenceman’s team-relative numbers look poor on first glance, but they’re sewered in part by Gudbranson’s territorially challenged partnership with Willie Mitchell and how rarely Gudbranson was tasked with playing with ace play-driving defenceman Brian Campbell until this past year. Gudbranson has also genuinely fared well paired with the sort of left-handed partner – whether Campbell or Dylan Olson – that mirrors Ben Hutton’s puck-moving profile.

“I think (Ben Hutton) complements my game really well,” Gudbranson said last week. “The perfect example is Campbell, whenever (we) got an opportunity to play together we played really quick. We played together with speed, we attacked people at the blue line, our gaps were strong and we defended skating forward a lot of the time, which is a huge plus in terms of matching speed and creating turnovers.”

Hutton isn’t Campbell, but if a Gudbranson-Hutton partnership proves as well calibrated as expected – the two defencemen have been paired throughout training camp and are familiar with each other from a Kingston Frontenac’s training camp nearly a decade ago – the Canucks might have a second pair capable of controlling play for the first time since 2014.

That would represent a solid defensive foundation for the Canucks, the magnitude of which shouldn’t be understated. And Gudbranson doesn’t have a high bar to leap over in his effort to improve Vancouver’s second pair. Matt Bartkowski, after all, logged the third-most ice time among all Canucks defenders last season.

Significant questions linger for the Canucks. Most expect – even management worries – that this iteration of the Canucks will struggle to produce goals. A variety of hopeful wagers – continued improvement across the board from a host of young Vancouver forwards; Philip Larsen and Anton Rodin making meaningful contributions – are going to have to pay out for Vancouver if the Canucks are going to ice an average offensive attack.

The composition and quality of the Canucks’ third pair is also an open question. Luca Sbisa and Larson are seen as having an inside track to open the season on the third pair, which seems suboptimal. Even if one or two of Alex Biega, Andrei Pedan, Nikita Tryamkin or rookie Troy Stecher steal a third-pairing job, the Canucks could give some of the gains from their improved second-pair back at the bottom end of their defence corps.

Still the Canucks have a group of top-four defencemen with enough overall quality to make it more difficult for opponents to pepper Miller and Markstrom with scoring chances this season. If that isn’t enough to justify all of the pre-season optimism in Vancouver at the moment, at least it’s a start.

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Heikki Saukkomaa/AP Finland-Belarus Puljujarvi, Juolevi among young players shaping Finland’s rise Wed, 21 Sep 2016 09:44:05 EDT Wed, 21 Sep 2016 09:44:05 EDT Thomas Drance Jesse Puljujarvi and Olli Juolevi are among two young Finns that are turning heads and could help lift a small Scandinavian nation from perpetual bronze medal contenders to the apex of men’s hockey.

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PENTICTON, B.C. – They’re touted as Finland’s ‘golden generation’ — a group of young players that might be talented enough to lift a small Scandinavian nation from perpetual bronze medal contenders to the apex of men’s hockey.

Even though Patrik Laine is busy throwing highlight reel hits while representing ‘Suomi’ at the World Cup of Hockey, the Young Stars tournament still featured some of the best young hockey talent Finland has to offer.

Man-child and two-way winger Jesse Puljujarvi put in one of the most dominant individual performances in the tournament’s short history, while Olli Juolevi turned heads with a polished and sophisticated game from the blue line. Even a less highly regarded prospect like Markus Niemelainen, a third-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers at the 2016 NHL Draft, flashed high-end potential.

“I think it’s a great thing,” Juolevi said of the steady outflow of Finnish talent in recent years. “I hope some young guys in Finland can watch us and see that it’s possible and be here one day. It’s awesome for a small country like Finland.”

Finland’s status as an ascendant hockey nation might not manifest itself at the World Cup of Hockey, but the future is bright.

Laine (Winnipeg No. 2), Puljujärvi (Edmonton No. 4) and Juolevi (Vancouver No. 5) were three of the top-five picks at the most recent NHL draft and helped lead Finland to gold at the 2014 and 2016 world junior hockey championships.

In terms of population, Finland is smaller than the Greater Toronto Area. For a generation, though, Finland has punched well above its weight in best-on-best international competition.

Multiple bronze medals and a silver medal at the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino is impressive considering Finland’s size relative to hockey’s other major powers. What comes next – as Finnish players like Puljujarvi, Laine and Juolevi develop along with other hotshot young NHLers like Aleksander Barkov – could be even greater.

Puljujarvi, for example, is listed at six foot three and 203 pounds while only turning 18-years-old in May. He powered through prospect defencemen easily in Pentincton, flashing a gorgeous quick wrist shot and dissected opposing penalty kills with pinpoint cross-seam passes. He has the skill level of a crafty centreman, in the body of an imposing power winger.

As good as Puljujarvi’s offensive game was in Penticton, it was his uncanny defensive awareness that stood out to scouts in attendance. His defensive positioning on the ice and the unusual depth to which he supported Oilers defenders suggested a level of two-way wisdom well beyond his years.

“I think I’m a good up and down player,” Puljujarvi told Sportsnet on Monday. “I work hard.”

Part of what Puljujarvi is working hard on lately is his English. It’s still a work in progress, but he’s eager to learn.

“He’s improved a lot,” Juolevi said of his training partner. “He was pretty bad, but it’s coming along a little bit which is good for him.”

At Oilers development camp this past summer, Niemeläinen would speak on Puljujärvi’s behalf. Puljujärvi has insisted of late on working through English-language interviews himself.

“When I don’t know what I say, he helps me,” Puljujärvi said of Niemeläinen’s help.

“I listen and I speak and I think it’s getting better. After three months, I’m speaking good.”

Puljujärvi was easily able to translate high praise for Juolevi, pegging him as a special player because of his good vision and awareness.

Vancouver’s AHL head coach Travis Green, who was coaching the Canucks’ Young Stars entry this weekend, described Juolevi as having “premium hockey sense.”

“His game is going to be a lot more suited for an NHL game where everybody’s timing is on and it’s not as scrambly,” Green said. “He’s going to be a hell of a defenceman.”

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Nathan Denette/CP puljarvvii_1280 Young Stars Tournament Notebook: Oilers’ Puljujarvi dominates Tue, 20 Sep 2016 11:36:21 EDT Tue, 20 Sep 2016 11:36:21 EDT Thomas Drance Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi and Vancouver’s Olli Juolevi were among several prospects that stood out over the weekend at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, B.C. Here’s notes, conversations and spare thoughts from the event:

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PENTICTON, B.C. – While the best in the world play at the World Cup of Hockey, some of the best prospects in the sport convened for the annual Young Stars tournament.

Edmonton Oilers prospect Jesse Puljujarvi dominated, Vancouver’s Olli Juolevi was polished, Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk rattled everybody he played against and Winnipeg’s Jack Roslovic and Kyle Connor managed moments of brilliance despite an immobile corps of Jets defencemen who struggled to move the puck.

Here’s notes, conversations and spare thoughts from the Young Stars event:

Matthew Tkachuk: super pest

Tkachuk plays such an agitating, inhospitable brand of hockey that Flames president Brian Burke might need a bigger thesaurus.

“Those are the games I like to play, where I flirt with the line,” Tkachuk said after he was thrown out of the tournament’s opening game on Friday following a line brawl. “I guess I went over it a couple times.”

Tkachuk pushed his limits during the next game too, earning a double minor and drawing three penalties. He seemed to get under the skin of any and every opponent he faced this weekend.

Even on Monday, in a game where Tkachuk was relatively restrained and was only assessed a minor penalty, the American-born forward caused havoc. In a first period scrum, he skated slowly towards the Canucks net, elbowed Vancouver prospect Cole Cassels in the back, then made sure to lose his balance and used that opportunity to grab Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko’s mask and fall on top of him. No penalty was assessed on the sequence.

“I just know the game, kind of,” Tkachuk explained of how he picks his spots. “I’m smart with some things I do and some things I take a risk, but hopefully I can get away with some (things).”

Though the pest-type scoring forward certainly racked up the penalty minutes – 22 minutes in three games – he also demonstrated a relatively mature understanding of how to play that style.

“He can’t lose that side of him – that’s what makes him a special player and an elite player,” said Calgary’s AHL coach Ryan Huska, who was running the Flames’ bench this weekend. “Learning that fine line and how to cross… how to stay on it, I should say, and not cross it, is hard for young players. It’s important that they know kind of where they can and can’t go.

“You don’t want to create a reputation for yourself as someone who is already over on the other side, because then referees won’t give you the benefit of the doubt. In time he’s really going to learn how to use it to his advantage.”

Roslovic and Connor

Connor was easily the fastest player at the Young Stars tournament and Roslovic looked like the best distributor aside from Puljujarvi.

“I’m definitely a pass-first kind of guy,” Roslovic said prior to the tournament. “I can shoot it but I look for the pass first.”

Ten of Roslovic’s 26 points for the Univeristy of Miami (Ohio) last season came on the power play and he was tasked with manning the half wall in Penticton where he looked mature and polished doing so.

“It’s my vision, I’m able to think the game and think the game fast,” Roslovic said. “It wasn’t all me (in Miami) last season, it’s a lot about what my teammates can do to get open. I can find them when they do.”

Roslovic spent the entire tournament on a line with Connor and the duo were able find a good level of chemistry. They combined for a goal on Monday that was as good as any scored at the tournament.

Connor seems likely to open the season in the NHL and if Roslovic doesn’t join him then he’ll either be assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL or the defending Memorial Cup champion London Knights.

Puljujarvi

There was Puljujarvi and then there was everybody else at the Young Stars tournament.

The fourth-overall pick at the 2016 NHL Draft dominated throughout. His two-way game looked mature, his passing looked top-end, and his ability to stickhandle in traffic and beat goaltenders with a quick release was uncanny.

At one point during the weekend, an NHL scout suggested to me that Roslovic had been the best forward in Penticton. When I asked credulously, “not Puljujarvi?” he responded: “I mean, among the mortals.”

Impingement

Jon Gillies and Thatcher Demko are friends, fellow collegiate athletes and were the two best goaltenders in Penticton this weekend. Both are also coming off hip impingement surgery.

As the physical demands of the goaltending position – and the demands on the hip joint in particular – have increased as a result of technical innovations like the butterfly and reverse-vh (among other post-integration techniques), hip impingement surgery has become commonplace for young goaltenders. It is for goalies what Tommy John surgery is for pitchers.

“I leaned on Thatcher Demko,” Gillies said of his lengthy recovery. “He had double hip surgery and he’s one of my good friends, so, the thing he said was that it just feels crappy and then all of a sudden you’ll just feel better after surgery.

“It was still stiff and clicking and catching throughout the summer. One day it locked up in early August and I was skating on it the next day and it just felt amazing. Everything on the post felt so much better.”

Prior to the procedure, Demko couldn’t even use post-integration techniques in his first two years at Boston College due to the pain it cause. Though his recovery went more smoothly than Gillies’ – Gillies sustained a setback at Flames development camp in July – it still wasn’t easy.

“I remember when I was on crutches, I fell a couple of times,” Demko said. “You can’t really help yourself (when you fall) because you’re not allowed to walk, so you just have to eat it.”

As for the advice that Demko gave Gillies when he went down this past fall, Demko simply insisted that the procedure was worthwhile.

“Get it,” Demko recalls telling Gillies. “Sooner rather than later.”

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Nathan Denette/AP NHL Draft Hockey Eight players to watch at the Penticton Young Stars Tournament Thu, 15 Sep 2016 11:32:13 EDT Thu, 15 Sep 2016 11:32:13 EDT Thomas Drance The Penticton Prospects Tournament will showcase some of the best young talent in the Jets, Flames, Canucks and Oilers organizations. Here are eight players to keep a close eye on as they make a push for an NHL roster this season.

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It’s hard to imagine a better pre-season event than the annual Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, B.C.

Hosted in the middle of wine country on a weekend where the temperature is still reliably in the mid-to-high 20s, the setting is picturesque. The hockey has traditionally been pretty interesting, too, and it helps that the South Okanagan Events Centre is a modern arena that nicely accommodates a relatively even cross-section of boisterous Albertan and British Columbian hockey fans.

This year’s tournament, involving the Canucks, Jets, Flames and Oilers, will feature three of the top six picks from the 2016 NHL Draft, the top scorer in the NCAA last season and a variety of other significant prospects who are hoping to force their clubs into making some difficult decisions at training camp over the next four weeks.

Here are eight players to watch for at the 2016 Young Stars Tournament.

Jesse Puljujarvi: F, Edmonton Oilers
At the 2016 draft the Edmonton Oilers were prepared to select a defenceman. That arithmetic quickly changed when Jesse Puljujarvi fell out of the top three and into the Oilers’ lap.

Puljujarvi underwent minor knee surgery last spring, but he’s fully recovered and will be making his debut in an Oilers jersey in Penticton this weekend. Despite playing in a tough men’s league as a 17-year-old last season, the gargantuan 6-foot-4 Finnish-born winger was an ace two-way player. He’s the rare 18-year-old forward who genuinely has a polished defensive game to go along with high-end offensive potential.

Top prospects with a realistic shot of making an NHL opening night roster – a label that absolutely applies to Puljujarvi – don’t generally play in all three contests at the Young Stars Tournament. So make sure to tune into his game Friday evening.

Olli Juolevi: D, Vancouver Canucks
Juolevi won the Memorial Cup with the London Knights and the gold medal at the World Junior Championship with Finland last season. He has elite hockey sense in all three zones and had about as successful a draft year as you could.

So can a player who won basically everything last year now win a roster spot with the Canucks?

“We’re not going to rush him,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning told Sportsnet.

The odds are long, but with a lights-out performance at the Young Stars Tournament and into the pre-season, Juolevi could make it hard for the Canucks to cut him.

Matthew Tkachuk: F, Calgary Flames
Riding shotgun with Mitch Marner and Christian Dvorak on the most potent line in junior hockey, Tkachuk was a dominant force last season. His 107 points in 57 games was impressive and his 20 goals in 18 playoff games was jaw dropping.

There are some questions about Tkachuk’s skating and ability to drive offence without dynamic linemates – he played with Auston Matthews the year before – but there are no concerns about Tkachuk’s overall skill level and his well-rounded game.

If Tkachuk is going to break camp with the Flames as an 18-year-old, it might be his physical play and uncanny ability to play an agitator role that punches his NHL ticket. If he brings that edge to the Young Stars Tournament, he could be the most exciting player in Penticton.

Kyle Connor: F, Winnipeg Jets
Connor put up an incredible 71 points in 38 games with the University of Michigan Wolverines last season. Connor’s production led all NCAA skaters by a wide margin; in fact, the only player who finished the season within 10 points of him was linemate J.T. Compher.

Even though Jets top prospect Patrik Laine, who is playing for Finland at the World Cup of Hockey, will miss the Young Stars Tournament, Winnipeg will have an NHL-ready blue chip talent in Penticton with Connor playing his first games in a Jets 2.0 sweater.

Jon Gillies: G, Calgary Flames
Now just 22, Gillies looked like a gigantic puck-stopping robot at the 2015 Young Stars Tournament. The 6-foot-6 netminder is more than just size, he’s technically proficient beyond his years and is expected to be among the best goaltenders in the American League this season.

He may have to shake off some rust first though. In early December last winter, Gillies underwent hip surgery to clear up a common cartilage issue. The procedure is so widespread these days that for high-end young goaltenders it’s the equivalent of what Tommy John surgery is for young pitchers in baseball.

For the first time this calendar year, Gillies will get back into game situations against high-level competition in Penticton.

Jordan Subban: D, Vancouver Canucks
Though Subban wasn’t a fixture on the first power play unit for the Utica Comets last season, he still finished third among all rookie AHL defencemen in goal scoring.

A ridiculously talented puck mover who uses an extremely long stick that gives him a deceptive right-handed blast from the point, Subban is in a fascinating spot going into his sophomore season as a pro. For now, Subban is expected to be a top player for the Comets, but one shouldn’t ignore that the Canucks have a particular need for right-handed defencemen who can contribute on the power play.

The key for the 5-foot-8 blueliner is to prove that he can defend against oversized competition at the NHL level.

A photo posted by subbs95 (@subbs95) on

Tyler Benson: F, Edmonton Oilers
Over the past decade the Oilers have struggled to find meaningful contributors in the second round, despite consistently owning picks in the low-30s. Can Benson – the 32nd overall pick at the 2016 NHL Draft – buck that trend?

The versatile Edmonton native possesses a mature all-around game and rarely seems to make a mistake with or without the puck. He’s also due for some luck after an injury plagued campaign last season.

How unlucky was Benson in his draft year? His season-ending injury stemmed from an ingrown hair on his buttocks that became infected and led to more serious lower-body issues. In the hall of gross hockey injuries, Benson’s might deservedly hold a special place of honour.

Hopefully for Benson, a first-round talent by any measure, his luck will begin to change in Penticton.

Brendan Lemieux: F, Winnipeg Jets
It’s often the hardscrabble forwards who make the most noise in Penticton. From Jake Virtanen to Antoine Roussel, big hitters have tended to make indelible first impressions in past Young Stars Tournaments. Those sorts of impressions can jump-start NHL careers.

Lemieux is worth keeping an eye on this weekend because he’s cut from that type of inhospitable cloth.

It’s a testament to his skill level and irascibility that he managed better than a point per game and better than a penalty minute per game for both the Windsor Spitfires and Barrie Colts in the OHL last season.

The son of Claude was one of Winnipeg’s final training camp cuts last fall and his physical game was a major reason why. In Penticton this weekend expect a motivated Lemieux to leave his opponents black and blue, and the fans hoarse.

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John Locher/AP foley_1280 Las Vegas roster could be stealth winner of 2016 free agency Wed, 06 Jul 2016 10:07:20 EDT Wed, 06 Jul 2016 10:10:34 EDT Thomas Drance Can an NHL team be considered a “winner” in free agency without signing a single player? In an odd quirk, it sure seems like one of the stealth winners of the 2016 free agent signing season is the Las Vegas-based NHL expansion franchise, which is still without a name, a logo, or an official front office staffer.

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Can an NHL team be considered a “winner” in free agency without signing a single player?

It seems they can. All the top players get overpaid when free agency opens anyway, the theory goes, and at least a team that elects to sit on its hands hasn’t made any expensive, long-term errors.

Now, how about an NHL team that is yet to play a single game?

In an odd quirk, it sure seems like one of the stealth winners of the 2016 free agent signing season is the Las Vegas-based NHL expansion franchise, which is still without a name, a logo, or an official front office staffer. Based on what’s been made public concerning the NHL’s rules for the 2017 expansion draft, it seems that few teams benefitted as much from the flurry of free agent signing activity as did the yet-to-be-named Sin City franchise.


READ: NHL signing tracker


The rules for the 2017 NHL expansion draft are the most generous in NHL history. First- and second-year professionals and unsigned draft choices are exempt — as they were in the last round of NHL expansion — but teams can protect far fewer roster players this time around.

In the last series of NHL expansion drafts – which stretched from 1998 through to 2000 – clubs could elect to protect either nine forwards, five defencemen and one goaltender, or protect two goaltenders, three defencemen and seven forwards. This time around, no team will be permitted to protect two goaltenders, and can instead elect to protect either seven forwards and three defencemen, or four forwards and four defencemen.

Intuitively, it should be apparent that the expansion system is set up to provide the newest NHL club with decent goaltending and relatively significant defensive assets right off the bat. It’s a sensible approach. Goaltending is the great equalizer, and if you want to create a reasonably competitive team quickly, it helps to allow the new club to build from the net out.

The superior pool of blue-line talent likely to be available in the expansion process could have other competitive benefits. Forwards are easier to find as they’re generally the more plentiful asset in free agency. Defencemen, as this offseason has proven, are a more marketable commodity on the trade market.

Only a team with four above-average defenders – like the Nashville Predators – is likely to elect to protect only four forwards, and some clubs – such as the New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild – are sure to expose good pieces no matter what protection structure they opt for, barring something dramatic.

The crucial thing to remember is that the 2017 NHL expansion draft has protection rules built around the concept of player volume. So we can understand why some of the most aggressive clubs in free agency made decisions this past weekend that may reverberate into next June.

For example, even as the Florida Panthers jettisoned Dmitri Kulikov and Erik Gudbranson in off-season trades, they also added high-quality unrestricted free agent defencemen in Jason Demers and Keith Yandle.

Protecting franchise cornerstone Aaron Ekblad in the expansion draft is a no-brainer and Yandle has a no-movement clause, so he will automatically be protected. From there, the Panthers will likely elect to protect only one of Mark Pysyk, Alex Petrovic and Demers – all relatively youthful and effective NHL-level blue liners.

“Expansion is unpredictable,” Panthers assistant general manager Steve Werier told Sportsnet this week. “If the thought process is that you’re a team that wants to win, do you mortgage your ability to do so on the off chance that a player you like might catch the eye of the expansion club next summer? If you think you have a chance to win, you take the bumps down the line and try to mitigate the risk when you get there.”

Though Florida aggressively re-made their blue line over the past eight weeks, even quieter teams will have their protected lists impacted by this summer’s free agent signings.

The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Frans Nielsen to a contract that carries a no-move clause on July 1, so he’ll be automatically protected in an expansion draft. Once Detroit also protects the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Riley Sheahan, the Red Wings will only be able to protect two of the following forwards: Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Jurco, Teemu Pulkkinen and hotshot prospect Andreas Athanasiou.

Either way, Las Vegas will be adding a talented player.

The Islanders, who were already in a probable expansion draft bind because of their deep defence corps, similarly added a no-movement contract on July 1 in Andrew Ladd. With Ladd and John Tavares automatically joining likely no-brainers such as Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and Ryan Strome on New York’s probable protected list, the club will only be able to protect two of the following forwards: Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, Casey Cizikas, Josh Bailey, Cal Clutterbuck, Jason Chimera, Shane Prince and young playoff hero Alan Quine.

And on and on it goes. Loui Eriksson looks like a good fit for the Vancouver Canucks, but his no-movement clause could force the club to make a difficult decision to protect only one of Jannik Hansen, Anton Rodin, Emerson Etem or Markus Granlund next June.

Mikkel Boedker and David Schlemko will add needed speed in San Jose, but adding Boedker likely means that the Sharks may need to decide which one of Tommy Wingels, Melker Karlsson, Joel Ward or Chris Tierney to protect in expansion.

As for Schlemko, he joins a relatively large group of unrestricted players that signed with new teams this past week, but could still be made available in next June’s expansion draft. We’ve already noted Chimera and Demers, but Dan Hamhuis could be another candidate, as could new Wild forwards Eric Staal and Chris Stewart.

With the 2017 expansion draft less than 12 months away, the majority of NHL teams still appear to be biding their time. Only a precious few moves appear to have been directly motivated by expansion so far – the Frederik Andersen trade is the standout – and it seems that the vast majority of teams with obvious expansion liabilities aren’t intent on behaving like motivated sellers on the trade market at this point.

In free agency, similarly, most NHL teams seemed to focus on building and improving for next season. Managing expansion-related risk will surely come a bit later.

It’s a reasonable approach for teams to take. It’s also one that could benefit the Las Vegas expansion franchise.

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Charles Krupa/AP Loui Eriksson Loui Eriksson makes Canucks better, but for how long? Fri, 01 Jul 2016 20:11:01 EDT Sat, 02 Jul 2016 09:24:00 EDT Thomas Drance Short-term, there should be no doubt that Loui Eriksson makes the Canucks a more potent offensive team and a more formidable opponent overall. Whether he can sustain that level of play throughout the life of his deal, well, that’s the $36 million question.

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It isn’t a question of whether or not you’re going to overpay to land a top player on July 1. It really comes down to, “by how much?”

On the first day of free agency, the Vancouver Canucks landed one of the three top-line calibre forwards available, signing Loui Eriksson to a six-year contract valued at $36 million. Six million per year for an ace two-way winger with the ability to score 30 goals isn’t a price that should cause anyone reasonable to recoil in sticker shock. That’s just the market price for a credible first-line piece in unrestricted free agency.

If the treasure the Canucks allocated to Eriksson on Friday isn’t an overpayment — and at the very least it isn’t a significant overpayment — then the term involved is a different story. Hockey at the NHL level is a young man’s game, perhaps now more than ever, and Eriksson will turn 31 before the puck drops on his first Canucks campaign.

Without going long on term, though, it’s likely that the Canucks wouldn’t have been the frontrunner to land Eriksson.

“I wanted to get five or six years,” the Swedish forward admitted on Friday, alluding to the fact that the Boston Bruins reportedly never offered him more than four. “I have a big family and I’ve worked really hard through all the years playing in the NHL.”

For a team intent on competing for a playoff spot, landing the player is better than not. But history, aging curves and recent experience suggests that long-term contracts for unrestricted free agents on the wrong side of 30 can – and often do – get dicey on the back end. In deciding whether or not to buy out the contracts of Chris Higgins and Alex Burrows, the Canucks spent the past week coping with precisely this issue.

Vancouver was desperate to add scoring from the wings, and they’re comfortable betting that Eriksson can beat the odds and remain effective into his mid- and late-30s.

“He always keeps himself in great shape,” Canucks general manager said of Eriksson on Friday. “He looks after himself.

“Maybe with other players that would’ve been more of a worry, but having known him in the past, I don’t think that’s something we have to worry about going forward.”

The Canucks aren’t just paying lip service when they insist that they were more comfortable committing long-term to Eriksson than they were to some of the brawnier options on their shopping list.

Taking on risk is an inherent part of shopping on the unrestricted free agent market, and while the Canucks have certainly taken on a decent helping in signing Eriksson, they’ve also added a superb piece to the to top of their lineup.

Eriksson has shown consistent production, good overall defensive utility and an ability to drive plays. (Ten of the 13 players with whom he’s spent at least 300 minutes at even-strength over the past three seasons have fared better by shot-attempt differential with Eriksson than without him.) Plus, as we’ve seen in international competition, his game has proven a nice complement for the Sedin twins. There’s a built-in familiarity between Eriksson and the Sedins, so much so that Daniel even played a role in pitching the unrestricted free agent on Vancouver and the Canucks organization.

“If you look through the years,” Benning said, “his history with the twins at the Olympics, at the World Championships, it seems like it works and they play well together. So we looked at that and it was a good fit.”

There’s always been a lot of chatter in the Vancouver market about what sort of linemate is best suited to playing with Henrik and Daniel. It was thought for years that they needed a right-handed shot — a notion that was dispelled when Alex Burrows, a left-handed defensive specialist, became a consistent 30-goal scorer on their right wing.

The key, really, is to be clever enough to find the soft areas on the cycle and to win enough battles to keep that cycle going. That’s partly why checking-type players like Burrows and Jannik Hansen have excelled in that spot, while the experiment with Radim Vrbata, a right-handed sniper, fizzled.

For a variety of reasons, Eriksson has the attributes that might make him a uniquely good fit on Vancouver’s top line.

Last season the 30-year-old winger was the fourth best among all Bruins forwards at recovering loose pucks in the offensive zone, behind Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, according to Sportlogiq. Among Canucks forwards, only Jake Virtanen and Daniel Sedin have a better record by this metric.

Eriksson’s overall hockey sense and his abilities on the cycle are genuinely elite. He posted the third highest passing success rate in the offensive zone among all NHL forwards last season, behind ace playmakers Aleksander Barkov and Anze Kopitar, based on Sportlogiq’s tracking data.

That’s not to say that it’s a given that Eriksson will play with the twins every night. He didn’t insist on occupying that plum role during contract negotiations, and his overall versatility makes him an option for any of Vancouver’s evenly-deployed top three forward lines.

“He’s a versatile player and he’ll kill penalties,” Benning said. “He’ll be on our first power play, he can play left or right wing and he can play with all different types of players.”

Short-term, there should be no doubt that Eriksson makes the Canucks a more potent offensive team and a more formidable opponent overall. Whether he can sustain that level of play throughout the life of his deal, well, that’s the $36 million question.

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Jason Franson/CP kings_lucic Who the Canucks are targeting in free agency, and why Wed, 29 Jun 2016 16:23:36 EDT Wed, 29 Jun 2016 16:57:45 EDT Thomas Drance The Vancouver Canucks have waited a year for this free agent season and now that it has arrived, what’s the plan?

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For at least 12 months the Vancouver Canucks have been keeping their eye on this week.

When the club was relatively quiet during the 2015 free agent frenzy, general manager Jim Benning specifically noted that next summer his club would have the cap space to do more significant renovations to the roster. And now ‘next summer’ has arrived.

Vancouver has the salary cap space to be major players when the market opens on July 1. Having bought out depth forward Chris Higgins this week, the Canucks have more than $10 million in available cap space under the upper limit and the flexibility to shop for luxury items on the unrestricted free agent market.

With 12 NHL-level forwards, six NHL-level defencemen and two NHL-level goaltenders under contract for next year, the Canucks won’t be scrambling to fill roster spots. They’ll be looking primarily for high-end wingers who can add a sorely needed dynamic to the club’s lackluster offensive attack.

“If we could add one or two scoring wingers, that’s what we’re looking to do,” Benning said during draft week.

The identity of those scoring wingers isn’t much of a mystery at this point. The club has eyes for Milan Lucic in particular, who is not only East Vancouver’s favourite son, but is probably the NHL’s premiere power forward not named Alexander Ovechkin. Lucic visited with the club on Monday in Vancouver and was wined and dined by president Trevor Linden, Benning and owner Francesco Aquilini.

“He’s an intriguing person,” Linden said of Lucic. “Not only what he brings to your group on the ice, but the way he approaches the game from an off-ice (perspective) – his professionalism and from a competitive standpoint – so he ticks a lot of boxes, for sure.”

Lucic is a student of the game, known to follow the league with a level of attention that dwarfs most players and even many hockey pundits. There has been some suggestion that he might flinch at the prospect of playing for a struggling team in a city that has, all too often, been something of a thorn in his side.

If the Canucks can convince Lucic to sign up though, he’d be an excellent fit in the short-term. An underrated playmaker, Lucic has generally made a mammoth impact on his club’s ability to generate chances and zonetime in the offensive end.

Lucic’s most valuable attribute though is his unmatched ability to plant himself in the slot and beat goaltenders from 15 feet. Of the NHL forwards who have taken at least 400 shots on goal at even-strength over the past four seasons, only the super elite (John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Toews, Joe Pavelski, Corey Perry) have capitalized on a higher percentage of looks.

There are risks involved in chasing Lucic of course. The apex predator-type power winger is said to have deep interest from 10 teams and the Edmonton Oilers are widely considered front-runners for his services at this point. To land him, the Canucks may have to invest heavily and long-term in a 28-year-old forward who relies on youthful attributes like brute force to produce at a first-line rate.

No matter how things play out with Lucic, the Canucks are also expected to chase another former Boston Bruins winger in Loui Eriksson. Eriksson has been a mainstay on a line with the Sedin twins in international play, is a high-end defensive winger and has remained a credible second-line point producer into his early-30s.

“Loui is the kind of guy who has a really good all around game,” Linden said. “The details (in his game) are solid and he’s got a great shot, he can score. I think at the end of the day there has to be the right fit and we recognize that.”

The Canucks have kicked the tires on a variety of other free agents – they’ve reportedly reached out to the likes of Andrew Ladd, Mikkel Boedker, Darren Helm and Troy Brouwer, among others – even meeting with a few in Vancouver this week. It seems that Lucic and Eriksson are the primary targets though.

“We’ve targeted certain guys and we’re going to work through that process, then we have another group that we’ll look at, at a later date,” Linden said.

“You want to be very clear about what your needs are and what will be the best fit with your group. So you want to explore those opportunities and that’s kind of where we are and we’ll see how things play out over the next few days.”

There’s one other name that has surfaced in connection with Vancouver in the lower-end of the free agent market this week and is worth keeping an eye on: Thomas Vanek, who was bought out by the Minnesota Wild.

Vanek was drafted by Benning during his time as the Buffalo Sabres’ head scout and though his two-way impact and production rates have atrophied in recent seasons, he’s a right-handed shot who could help offset the loss of Radim Vrbata on the power play.

“You go down the path of (selling) opportunity – not specifically with Vanek – but with anybody,” Linden told Sportsnet. “Potentially playing with the Sedins or playing in the right spot, players can look at that as an opportunity…

“When you have players like Daniel and Henrik, that’s a great asset and a good fit. Because (players) know they’ll get an opportunity and an opportunity to score and that’s important especially when it’s in a short-term situation.”

Expect the Canucks to be aggressive and, in particular, to chase scoring on the wing when the market opens. The optics of that aggression may look a bit odd for a team that finished third-last in the NHL last season, but the club believes they’ve made themselves younger and faster over the past few seasons. And they are intent on qualifying for the playoffs.

“In our opening night lineup we could have 14 players who are 26 and under, 11 guys who are 25 and under, so we’re getting younger and faster,” Linden said of his club’s posture.

“The term ‘blowing it up’ isn’t realistic sometimes. We’ve tried to transition this group and I think we’ve done that and we’ve done it in a way that preserves our ability to stay competitive, to stay in the fight. That’s our plan and we feel comfortable on that basis.”

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Terry Wilson/OHL Images Olli Juolevi of the London Knights. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Olli Juolevi; London Knights; OHL; CHL; Finland; 2016 NHL Draft; OHL Playoffs; Sportsnet Canucks add ‘top-pairing’ blue liner with Juolevi 5th overall Sat, 25 Jun 2016 01:01:44 EDT Sat, 25 Jun 2016 01:01:44 EDT Thomas Drance The Vancouver Canucks coveted elite forwards at the top of the draft, but Jim Benning and Co. snagged a potential elite blue liner by taking Olli Juolevi fifth overall in Friday night’s NHL Draft.

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The Vancouver Canucks were hoping to land a stud scoring forward near the top of the 2016 NHL Draft. Ultimately, it didn’t break their way.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, the apple of the Canucks’ eye, was off the board unexpectedly early — snagged by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the third-overall pick. With Jesse Puljujarvi shockingly available with the fourth pick, the Edmonton Oilers, who were thought to be targeting a defenceman, made the easiest decision any club made on draft night and promptly selected the talented 6-foot-3 winger.

“We liked the players that went ahead (of the fifth-overall pick),” Canucks general manager Jim Benning said on Friday, confirming that Vancouver’s draft list looked similar to the final draft order. “But we felt that all things being equal if we could get a high-end defenceman; a guy that we think is going to be a top-pairing defenceman, it served us to keep adding to our depth on the back end.”

That high-end defenceman is Olli Juolevi, who won everything he possibly could’ve won as a 17-year-old. If Juolevi isn’t – because of his position – the heir apparent to the Sedin twins that the club might’ve been hoping to land on Friday, he certainly isn’t a consolation prize either.

The Finnish-born import joined the OHL’s London Knights this past fall and shot up draft lists with a stunning campaign. He played in all situations for the best team in the OHL, he quarterbacked a buzzsaw Finnish power play at the 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship, winning gold, and he anchored the blue line for a Knights team that won the Memorial Cup.

As the Canucks were building their draft list over the past 10 months, Juolevi began to cement himself at the top of the order. His performance at the World Junior Championships made a particular impression on Benning, who saw Juolevi play live on six occasions, but didn’t make the trip to the Memorial Cup tournament in May.

“We thought he had an exceptional tournament for a 17-year-old kid,” Benning recalled on Friday. “To step in and help lead his team to a championship… In all my years of scouting, I don’t think I remember a 17-year-old who did what he did this year.”

“We just felt of all the defencemen, we liked his all-around game the best,” Benning later added.

The 17-year-old Juolevi excels in transition and seems to fit the mold of the evolutionary puck-rushing defenceman that’s in vogue at the moment. He’s also supremely confident – he was confident he’d be the first defenceman off the board – and hopes to play professional hockey this upcoming season.

“That’s my goal (to play pro next year),” Juolevi said Friday. “Everybody who is going in the top-10 or so has to work so hard over the summer. And that’s what I want to do, I want to come to training camp and show what I’ve got.”

Usually those sorts of draft night comments are boilerplate, but in Juolevi’s case, it’ll be genuinely interesting to see where he plays next season. Even if he’s too slight of frame to contribute at the NHL level next season, it’s possible – because he’s an import player like Texas Stars blue liner Julius Honka – that Juolevi is eligible to play in the American League even though he’s an 18-year-old player drafted out of the CHL.

“We haven’t got to that yet,” Benning said, before adding, “I think if he was to play another year of junior it’s not going to hurt him.”

Wherever Juolevi plays, he represents the best defensive prospect that the Canucks have had in their system in, perhaps, a generation. Vancouver hasn’t selected a defenceman in the first round in over a decade and in the franchise’s 45-year history have arguably never employed a super elite No. 1 defenceman. They have tried to trade for a player of that ilk though.

Benning even landed himself in some hot water this week by admitting during a radio appearance that he called the Montreal Canadiens to talk about P.K. Subban. The NHL is investigating whether his comments violated the tampering bylaw and discussed the matter with Benning on Friday.

While Benning was guarded in discussing the specifics of his conversation with the league, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin was forthcoming.

“I was not happy and I’m still not happy about that,” Bergevin said on Friday. “The league is looking into it.

“He crossed the line,” continued the Canadiens executive. “I don’t know where the line was crossed, but he definitely crossed the line.”

It’s an unfortunate episode from a Canucks perspective, but underscores the relative impossibility teams interested in acquiring high-end defencemen on the trade market or through free agency face. As Benning emphasized at length on Saturday, the rarity with which top-pairing defencemen change teams impacted Vancouver’s decision to take Juolevi with their fifth-overall pick.

“We want to build from the back-end through the middle of the ice,” Benning said. “He had an exceptional season, an exceptional playoff, but we felt that to get a high-end defenceman served us well going forward.

“This was a player that we really liked. We felt that to get a top-pairing defenceman, it’s hard to get these guys in trades. You have to draft and develop them.”

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Larry MacDougal/CP 1704050871_4322696868001_brad-treliving Expect Flames to be aggressive in search for starting goalie Thu, 23 Jun 2016 15:49:44 EDT Thu, 23 Jun 2016 15:49:44 EDT Thomas Drance As the Flames explore the trade market and their options, expect them to be aggressive. That’s been standard practice for Treliving and Flames president Brian Burke and the organization would like to solidify their goaltending in short order.

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The Calgary Flames need a goaltender. That’s not a secret — not even a poorly-kept one. It’s simple fact.

And it’s not a fact that Flames general manager Brad Treliving is shying away from in the lead up to the 2016 NHL Draft and free agency.

“They tell me it’s good to have one!” Treliving quipped on Thursday when asked about his organization’s critical need for a goaltender. “So we’re in a bunch of different markets on that, and we’ll see how it goes.”

Treliving’s joking tone underscored an unusual and uncomfortable reality that his club is currently grappling with. Flames goaltenders Joni Ortio and Karri Ramo are unsigned. For the moment, Calgary doesn’t have a single NHL-level goaltender under contract.

It’s a double-edged sword for an upstart club that’s otherwise loaded with young talent. On the one hand, the Flames’ glaring organizational need in net paints them into a corner and necessitates bold, prompt action. Everyone in the industry knows that Calgary needs goaltending, and NHL GMs aren’t famous for throwing needy rivals a lifeline.

“Got lots of guys wanting to do us favours,” Treliving said, joking again. “They’re dying to help us out. They wake up every day saying, ‘How can we help the Calgary Flames?

“You talk to teams, you have a sense of what needs may be for different teams,” Treliving continued. “Obviously for us it’s goaltending, so I don’t think that’s a real big surprise or shock to anyone. So you talk to those teams and you may have an opportunity you can do something with, see if there’s something that fits, and try your best not to be taken advantage of.”

On the other hand, the fact that Ramo and Ortio are bound for free agency lends the Flames an enormous level of flexibility in seeking to upgrade an obvious Achilles heel. Their situation is fraught with uncertainty, sure, but it’s better than being committed to a tandem that, along with Jonas Hiller, combined to stop the fewest percentage of shots faced in the NHL last season.

Even if Calgary is the only club in hockey that’s obviously in the market for a starting goaltender, the Flames aren’t without leverage. The particular dynamics imposed by the upcoming expansion draft – the rules, released on Wednesday evening, stipulate that teams can only protect one netminder – would seem to break in Calgary’s favour.

For teams with two high-quality goaltenders, like the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins, there could be an incentive to liquidate a goaltending asset before being forced to expose it to a Las Vegas-based expansion team for nothing. Arguably we’ve already seen a team – the Anaheim Ducks – behave in precisely this manner already this off-season.

“The expansion piece is new, so it creates a little wrinkle,” Treliving said on Thursday. “You’re modeling in terms of your own team, you’re modeling what opportunities may be out for you now.”

Though the expansion draft rules will have an impact on Treliving’s search for saves, the Flames don’t seem to be counting on expansion alone to hastily provide them salvation in goal. Just because Anaheim moved quickly to clear out a surplus goaltender when they sent Frederik Andersen to Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, other organizations shouldn’t necessarily be expected to act now.

“It’s a year away,” Treliving said of the expansion draft. “That idea that now there’s expansion so everybody’s going to be just dying to just give you players – that’s not quite the case…

“Whether that means that something’s going to happen today, tomorrow, or it might be something that happens at the deadline, it might be something that happens next year this time,” Treliving continued. “I think there is obviously a…knowledge of what may happen and people are trying to see if they can be aggressive or if that’s something that’s going to take some time.”

“It’s a balancing act of timing, it’s a balancing act of acquisition costs, it’s all those types of things. You’ve seen it in the market so far: there (have been) deals that have been done because of expansion coming. I expect there to be more. When those happen, we’ll see.”

As the Flames explore the trade market and their options, expect them to be aggressive. That’s been standard practice for Treliving and Flames president Brian Burke and the organization would like to solidify their goaltending in short order.

“This is the time,” the Flames general manager said. “You need a dance partner, that’s how it works. You’d like to get that taken care of and that’s sort of our preference right now.”

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Francois Laplante/Getty Pierre-Luc Dubois Pierre-Luc Dubois; QMJHL; Cape Bretton Screaming Eagles; 2016 NHL Draft; CHL; QMJHL Playoffs; Sportsnet NHL Draft Decisions: Vancouver Canucks Sat, 18 Jun 2016 15:56:47 EDT Sat, 18 Jun 2016 15:56:47 EDT Thomas Drance The Vancouver Canucks didn’t expect to end up with the No. 5 pick when this season started, but now that they have it, GM Jim Benning has a difficult decision to make. What will the Canucks use that pick for?

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This is the fourth instalment of our Draft Decisions series, which takes an in-depth look at some of the biggest decisions facing each of the seven Canadian NHL franchises as we approach the NHL Draft on June 24.

Montreal | Ottawa | Toronto | Winnipeg | Calgary | Edmonton | Vancouver

For the first time this century, the Vancouver Canucks own a top-five pick at the NHL Draft.

Though general manager Jim Benning has been fielding calls and listening to offers on the pick, the club is comfortable at five and seems to be excited about adding a new top prospect to the pipeline. Barring a Godfather offer – the sort that one ‘can’t refuse’ – the club isn’t eager to move down.

“We’ve got the fifth pick and we really like the players available at five,” Benning told Sportsnet this week. “We think it’s going to be a first line player as a forward or a first pair player as a defenceman.

“There are two forwards we really like and a defenceman, or a couple defencemen, who we really like and we’re getting one of those players,” Benning continued, while emphasizing that he didn’t expect to be able to move up in the draft order.

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Assuming the Canucks use the fifth overall pick, the club will have some intriguing options. And there are a number of players they’re considering.

“There’s still some uncertainty as to who is going to be there and not, so we go through different scenarios,” said Canucks director of amateur scouting Judd Brackett. “We’ve identified five or six different players that we’d be thrilled to get. We think they’re going to be fundamental, cornerstone pieces of our franchise going forward.”

Who are some of the players that could be available the Canucks are strongly considering? Here are four top contenders.

Matthew Tkachuk
The American-born power forward won the Memorial Cup with the London Knights this past season and scored the championship-winning overtime goal.

Tkachuk has the raw offensive instincts and the sort of physical strength and speed that generally appeals to NHL teams at the top of the draft. He also managed a whopping 107 points in 57 games in the OHL regular season, before scoring better than a goal per game in the OHL playoffs in his draft season.

If any questions linger about Tkachuk’s suitability as a bluechip prospect – and talking to people in the industry, it seems most of those questions were answered by his playoff performance – it relates to his having spent the season with top-end linemates, including Christian Dvorak and top Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Mitch Marner.

The Canucks, it seems, aren’t concerned by the possibility that Tkachuk’s offensive totals were inflated by the players he skated with.

“We’ve watched him now for three years, he played on a good line (this year), the year before he played on a good line with the US Development Program,” Benning told Sportsnet. “In each instance, part of that line being good was because of him…

“I know he played on a good line this year, but the last three years he’s been on good lines, and a big part of those lines’ success has been his play.”

Pierre-Luc Dubois
The Canucks heavily scouted Dubois over the course of this season, with Benning even making a special trip to watch Dubois’ Cape Breton Screaming Eagles play live in the playoffs.

Dubois won’t turn 18 until draft day and he led all first-time draft eligible players in the QMJHL in scoring by a decent margin. He has a rare combination of size, speed and offensive skills and projects as the sort of two-way piece that can stick at centre in the NHL.

Just how rare is Dubois’ combination of size, speed and skill? You have to go back a decade – to Jakub Voracek in 2006 – to find a QMJHL prospect whose performance in their draft eligible season closely compares with Dubois’ height, relative youth and production.

Though there’s always a chance the Canucks might pass on Tkachuk or Dubois, at least one of whom will surely still be on the board by the time they pick, the smart money is on the club selecting whichever one of these two is left over.

Logan Brown
If there’s one forward who might change that calculus, it’s 6-foot-6 Logan Brown of the Windsor Spitfires.

The American-born son of former Canucks defenceman Jeff Brown, Logan is blessed with a massive frame and a solid offensive toolkit. Among first-time draft-eligible skaters in the OHL, only Tkachuk, Alex DeBrincat and Alex Nylander manufactured a higher points per game rate. And none of those other players are 6-foot-6.

Brown stands out to the Canucks for a variety of reasons, all of which make sense. After all he’s a natural centre, he’s massive and he’s shown enormous improvement over the past 10 months.

“Over the course of last season, out of all the players in this draft, from the start of the season to the way he played in Grand Forks (at the U18 tournament), there was a huge jump in his progression,” Benning said of Brown.

“A 6-foot-6 guy who protects the puck and handles the puck like he can and make plays, that’s an attractive package. To say he’s a dark horse, I don’t know about that. He’s really improved, but he’s always been a skilled, talented player.”

Olli Juolevi
The Canucks are high on several defencemen in this draft – they’re believed to like Jake Bean, Jakob Chychrun and Charlie McAvoy in particular.

London Knights blueliner Juolevi has emerged as the consensus ‘best defenceman available’ and Benning has praised the Finn’s game in recent months, so we’ll use him as our example of what the Canucks would do if they decide to take a defenceman.

Before the floor fell out from under the Canucks in mid-February, the club seemed to be telegraphing their desire to select a defenceman in the first round. Now that they’re picking in the top-five though, they can’t afford to consider positional need.

“When you’re at five, you have to look for best overall ability,” Brackett said. “If it happens to coincide with a depth need or an organizational need that’s the cherry on top, but when you’re picking this high you just take the best available. You can’t be influenced by positional need at this point.”

Also consider that in May Benning said he wasn’t convinced that a true No. 1 defenceman existed in this draft class and it seems likely the club will use the fifth-overall pick on a forward. That said, Benning did seem to moderate those comments in an extended discussion with Sportsnet this week.

“I think there’s a couple of defencemen that have a chance to grow into (a No. 1) in this year’s draft, and I think there’s some defencemen that have some special skills that will transform to the way that the game is being played now,” Benning said.

If the Canucks opt to hold the fifth-overall pick, expect them to take a forward. If they find a trading partner and move back in the first-round though, expect them to select a defenceman.

“In the course of the top 15 picks, there are five or six defencemen that we really like, who we think can be top-four defencemen in the NHL,” Benning said.

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Darryl Dyck/CP DesjardinsBenning How Benning is trying to reverse Canucks’ poor draft history Thu, 16 Jun 2016 21:02:05 EDT Fri, 17 Jun 2016 13:30:12 EDT Thomas Drance Vancouver’s draft performance in the Benning era is seemingly off to a good start, but this upcoming draft in Buffalo will be the first in which the Canucks’ amateur scouting operation will really bear his stamp.

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In contrast with a brisk pamphlet that could exhaustively cover a history of great Vancouver Canucks draft picks, the history of the franchise’s missed opportunities at the draft table is a sordid tome.

There have been glimmers of excellence, of course, the highlight being the flurry of draft-day deals that then-general manager Brian Burke completed to land both Henrik and Daniel Sedin in 1999. A decade earlier, the Canucks stole Pavel Bure, who was widely believed to be ineligible, in the sixth round. That was pretty good, too.

Still, amateur scouting and the club’s draft performance has rightly been an area of concern and frustration for multiple generations of Vancouver hockey fans. In the 10-year period from 2002 to 2012, for example, only 10 players drafted by the Canucks managed to appear in at least 100 NHL games. No other NHL team managed to draft fewer than 15 credible NHL players over the same period.

When the Canucks hired general manager Jim Benning – the author of an enormously successful run at the draft table during his time as the Buffalo Sabres’ head scout at the turn of the century – his ability to identify talent in the amateur draft was a major reason. So can Benning help the Canucks reverse their long history of poor drafting?

As the 2016 NHL Draft in Buffalo approaches, it’s the biggest question facing the organization. In addition to the necessity of nailing the fifth-overall pick, the Canucks have to find value throughout the draft if they hope to accomplish Benning’s stated goal of manufacturing an environment that fosters “sustainable winning.”

“We look at the draft as a tool where we can add, depending on how many picks, five to seven players every year that can turn out to be, with development, NHL players,” Benning told Sportsnet this week. “So the draft is very important.

“We look at our late round picks, we spent a lot of time (on those),” he continued. “My philosophy is you have to make sure to hit on your first and second round picks and then we want to try and find two more players from the third to the seventh round. I think that’s what distinguishes between teams that do a really good job and teams that just do a good job.”

It’s too early yet in Benning’s tenure to judge his Canucks selection record with any objectivity or fairness, though the early returns appear reasonably auspicious.

Three of the players Benning picked in the 2014 Draft have already played NHL games and two others – goaltender Thatcher Demko and defenceman Gustav Forsling (since traded to the Chicago Blackhawks) – have shown significant promise. In addition, the club’s first-round pick in 2015, Brock Boeser, was the best player on the best team in college hockey in his draft plus-one season.

Vancouver’s draft performance in the Benning era is seemingly off to a good start, but this upcoming draft in Buffalo will be the first in which the Canucks’ amateur scouting operation will really bear his stamp. The club relieved director of amateur scouting Eric Crawford of his duties last summer, promoting Judd Brackett in his stead.

Brackett, 39, is young, well spoken and has a progressive reputation. Hired by the previous Canucks regime to bring new blood and a fresh perspective to the club’s amateur scouting department, he spent six years with the organization as an area scout focused on the USHL prior to this season.

“We saw his potential to be a head scout — with his communication skills, his work ethic, his ability to get on the road and that desire to know all the players — and gave him the head scouting job,” Benning said of Brackett. “He’s just completing his first year and we think he’s done an excellent job for us.”

With his first draft as director approaching, Vancouver’s new head scout isn’t daunted by the club’s history of whiffs on draft day.

“It’s a challenge I welcome,” Brackett told Sportsnet this week. “The draft is subject to revisionist history. You’re going to look back a few years later and maybe wish you’d gone in a different direction. And you can learn from that.

“The draft for us is a huge vehicle though,” he said. “Every year you get to add five, six, seven players to your organization — add depth and identify players that have the criteria or the player type that you want. It’s as vital as free agency or trades, or even more vital. And we know it’s an area where we need to improve and I think we will. The last couple of years we’ve hit on some players and the plan is to do it every single year. That’s what’s most important: our consistency.”

Brackett is active on social media and comes off as conversant when asked about some of the data-driven, comparative approaches making inroads in the scouting community. He is quick to credit Benning with changing the dynamic of how the club’s amateur scouting department functions.

“Jim has a tremendous scouting background and he and (assistant GM John Weisbrod) have been together before and built teams,” Brackett said. “What they’ve really done for us as a scouting staff has been to really outline what types of players we’re looking for, what we’re looking to build and really given us a sound direction when we’re out at games: what types of players we’d identify as ‘a Canuck.’ So that’s been the most refreshing part.

“Jim is out seeing games as well and we just had our amateur meetings last week and he’s a big part of the dialogue and encourages a healthy discussion about players. Giving us direction and being heavily involved in the process has been the biggest change (during my time with the club),” he said.

It will take years to properly evaluate whether the club’s approach to amateur scouting under Benning’s leadership has paid dividends. For an organization desperate for a wholesale infusion of youth and hockey talent, both now and down the road, it’s crucial that it does.

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Chris O'Meara/AP Gudbranson Gudbranson trade shows Canucks aren’t ready to rebuild Thu, 26 May 2016 15:05:37 EDT Thu, 26 May 2016 15:05:37 EDT Thomas Drance Moving forward, the Canucks’ most pressing need is dynamic, young talent — and lots of it. In a traditional sort of ‘tear-it-down rebuilding effort,’ Jared McCann fits that bill better than Erik Gudbranson, but tearing down has never been the Canucks’ plan.

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The Vancouver Canucks’ uneasy straddling of short- and long-term interests was in evidence again on Wednesday night when the club completed a trade sending promising 19-year-old forward Jared McCann to the Florida Panthers in exchange for 24-year-old defenceman Erik Gudbranson.

It’s a curious deal. The Panthers weren’t actively shopping Gudbranson, but thought that perhaps McCann might be available. So they gave Vancouver a call. The Canucks weren’t actively shopping McCann, either, but were aggressively pursuing a second-pairing defenceman on the trade market. They were willing to listen – particularly when the Panthers didn’t balk outright when Vancouver asked about Gudbranson.

Assistant general managers from the two teams engaged in discussions this week and worked out, on a preliminary level, a mutual fit. The Canucks wanted an NHL-ready right-handed defenceman and while the Panthers valued Gudbranson as a person and a player, they’re staring down the barrel of long-term extensions for players like Reilly Smith, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad as early as this summer. Gudbranson’s long-term fit in Florida was in question.

Once the primary pieces were agreed to, the trade rapidly came together.

“When this came up, we had to make a quick decision,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning told Sportsnet. “I think it’s going to help our group next year.”

The two sides agreed to sweeten the deal with draft picks. Vancouver dealt an early second- and fourth-round pick to Florida, who were eager to offset the bounty of mid-round picks they spent fruitlessly on deadline acquisitions Teddy Purcell and Jiri Hudler and received a fifth-round pick in return. And the deal was done.

The reaction to the trade has been polarized. Old school types are sure the Canucks fleeced Florida, while the analytics crowd is confident the Panthers hit a home run. We’ll see.

“Transitional defencemen” are in vogue at the moment and Gudbranson — who can hit and defend and skate and makes a decent first pass — isn’t likely to be confused for a puck mover. He has one of the lowest primary assist rates among regular NHL defencemen over the past three years and while Sportlogiq’s player-tracking data indicates that his outlet and stretch passing ability is above average, he’s not an active puck carrier.

McCann, meanwhile, is only 19 and though he chafed under limited usage during his rookie campaign in Vancouver, he’s on trajectory to be an impactful forward at the NHL level. On this, both sides of the trade agree.

“Trading Jared McCann was hard, because I believe in the player,” Benning said. “He made good strides through the year and I think he’s going to turn out to be a top-six forward and a productive player.”

There is a pressing need in Vancouver for good, young talent and goal-scoring ability. In that context, the club’s willingness to deal McCann justifiably causes eyebrows to furrow.

Benning, though, sees Gudbranson as a piece that better links the club’s dual objectives of winning now and building for later.

“You have to walk the fine line of being competitive and building for the future and I think with Erik we’ve checked both boxes,” Benning told Sportsnet.

“He’s 24-years-old, so he’s a young player,” Benning continued. “He’s ready now, he’s improved every year and I think last year he made a big step. You get a ready-made player who can step into your lineup that can help you compete now, but he fills that need for the 22-to-26-year-old player that we’re void of.”

Gudbranson, the third-overall pick at the 2010 NHL Draft, has improved as a defensive piece in recent seasons. He logged over 20 minutes a game for a Panthers team that permitted scoring chances against at the lowest rate in the NHL last season, according to war-on-ice.com. (Though it should be noted, the club fared relatively worse by this metric with Gudbranson on the ice.)

While goal scoring was a significant issue for Vancouver during a nightmare 2015-16 campaign, their defensive play was too often a tire fire also. Based on the rate at which the Canucks permitted scoring chances against, only the Colorado Avalanche were a more permissive defensive team. On this front, Gudbranson should help.

He’ll particularly help in this area if he’s paired with the right player. In past seasons, Gudbranson has been at his best when paired with a puck-moving partner like Brian Campbell or Dylan Olsen and the Canucks are hopeful that he can hold down a second-pair role alongside sophomore Ben Hutton.

“We think he’s going to be a good fit playing with Hutton,” Benning said. “Hutton can skate with the puck, move the puck up ice, so when you try to create a fit among your defence group you want one guy that can skate the puck up ice and one guy that’s more of a stay-at-home guy.”

Ultimately the Canucks felt that their needs on the blue line were glaring enough to warrant the expenditure of draft picks and a promising young forward. That the organization is convinced that they’ll be able to land a top-six caliber forward with the fifth overall pick in the upcoming draft helped cushion that blow.

It’s a steep price to pay, but the options to upgrade at right defence this off-season are limited.

“With the precedent that’s been set on the market for defencemen last summer, if you want to get a good young defenceman who can play now, that’s the price,” Benning explained.

Gudbranson signed a one-year, $3.5 million extension with the Panthers earlier this off-season and will be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent when the deal expires. The two sides aren’t free to agree to an extension until the New Year and the Canucks will take their time before engaging him and his Newport Sports representatives in contract talks.

“We’re going to see how he does here,” Benning said of opening up talks with his team’s newest rearguard. “That’ll be down the road.”

Adding Gudbranson to the equation provides the Canucks with an immediate upgrade to their blue line. In a prescribed role and with the right partner, he could be an effective defensive contributor.

However, moving forward, the Canucks’ most pressing need is dynamic, young talent — and lots of it. In a traditional sort of ‘tear-it-down rebuilding effort,’ McCann fits that bill better than Gudbranson, but tearing down has never been the Canucks’ plan. And it isn’t now, clearly, despite this season’s 28th place finish.

The Gudbranson trade unmistakably signals that the organization remains intent on raging against the dying of the light.

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Francois Laplante/Getty Pierre-Luc Dubois Pierre-Luc Dubois; QMJHL; Cape Bretton Screaming Eagles; 2016 NHL Draft; CHL; QMJHL Playoffs; Sportsnet Canucks will have plenty of promising options with pick No. 5 Sun, 01 May 2016 12:14:50 EDT Mon, 02 May 2016 08:13:16 EDT Thomas Drance The Canucks didn’t get their bounce on Saturday night, but drafting fifth overall shouldn’t be seen as a setback to their sometimes-stilted rebuilding project. It’s still just the start.

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You don’t really lose a lottery. It’s not a competitive enterprise; no one has any control over the outcome. Either your number comes up and you win it, or it doesn’t and you don’t.

On Saturday night, the Vancouver Canucks didn’t win the NHL draft lottery for the first overall pick. They didn’t win the lottery for the second overall pick either, or the third. The Canucks ended up with the fifth overall pick, which was always their most likely draft slot based on their finish.

For even the league’s most tortured fan base — and Canucks fans can make a compelling case — falling two slots down the draft order is tough to swallow.

Pick No. 5 is a decent consolation prize though. When the Canucks take the stage in Buffalo on June 24 they’ll still enjoy pretty good odds of landing an impactful NHL asset.

The 2016 NHL draft class is generally thought to be strong. It’s highlighted by three big forwards – Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Jesse Puljujärvi – all of whom played in Europe this past season. They were the big prizes on lottery night, and there’s little doubt about the order in which those players will be selected.

Once the ‘big three’ are off the board, all bets are off. And the team picking one spot ahead of the Canucks, the Edmonton Oilers, are shaping up to be the league’s most fascinating draft day wildcard.

Edmonton has significant needs and a mandate to improve quickly. It wouldn’t be surprising for the Oilers to do literally anything at all with the fourth overall selection – trade it, select a defenceman, take a forward, go off the board a bit – except for trade up. No team with a top-three pick is parting with it this year.

Regardless of how Edmonton uses its pick, when the dust settles and the Canucks are on the clock they’ll have some good options.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, for example, has seen his stock skyrocket in recent months. He’s a massive forward who played centre and wing in the QMJHL this season, scoring at a stupendous pace for a 17-year-old. Canucks general manager Jim Benning made a point of seeing some of Dubois’ playoff games before taking in the U18s in Grand Forks last month, and he came away impressed.

There’s also Matthew Tkachuk, the scion of an elite power forward, who spent his first-time draft-eligible season setting the Ontario Hockey League on fire. Tkachuk surely benefited from riding shotgun with Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Mitch Marner in London, but if you put his stat line up against the likes of Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin and Steven Stamkos from their respective final OHL campaigns, you won’t see much daylight.

If there were any remaining doubters pointing to Tkachuk’s ‘Sam Gagner potential’ at the conclusion of the OHL’s regular season, Tkachuk has mostly shut them up in the playoffs. He has scored better than a goal per game for the past six weeks.

Upgrading the quality and depth of the back-end prospect pool is also a significant priority for the Canucks. London Knights defenceman Olli Juolevi is thought to be the apple of Vancouver’s eye, but Jake Bean, Jakob Chychrun, Charles McAvoy and Mikhail Sergachev are all high-end prospects. It’s a draft class deep on gifted, young defencemen.

In the aftermath of the lottery balls’ unfriendly bounces on Saturday night, Canucks president Trevor Linden insisted that he’s still confident his club can find a foundational piece at the 2016 NHL Draft. That isn’t just bluster.

“The top three guys will probably get you the instant (gratification) this fall,” Linden told a Vancouver radio station following the lottery. “But we’re at five and we’re going to get a really good player. We might have to wait a year or two, but nonetheless, it’s a marathon and not a sprint…”

Patience, like luck, is something that’s often been in short supply in the Vancouver hockey market. It’s something the organization will require – and have to earn – from its fans going forward, and not just in the context of the development time required by the club’s prospects.

If one looks over the composition of this Canucks team, it seems likely that Saturday night’s lottery won’t be the last one the organization will attend over the next several seasons. This is a team facing an uphill climb, caught between the past and the future while dealing with waning interest and a significant talent deficit. It’s a massive job and the shrewdness with which they restock is likely to prove more important over the long haul than the instant gratification of a draft lottery win.

Vancouver’s management team will need to be discerning if they hope to reverse their downward trajectory. This is an organization that simply needs a lot more talent and a lot more youth. At some point, yes, they’ll require a dose of good fortune too.

The Canucks didn’t get their bounce on Saturday night, but drafting fifth overall shouldn’t be seen as a setback to their sometimes-stilted rebuilding project. It’s still just the start.

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THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff Bassett jordan subban Vancouver Canucks prospect report: April Fri, 29 Apr 2016 17:45:51 EDT Fri, 29 Apr 2016 17:45:51 EDT Thomas Drance Jordan Subban has had a very strong, unheralded, season of professional hockey, his first.

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Every month throughout the NHL season we’ll be updating you on the development of key Vancouver Canucks prospects with up-to-date stats, videos, analysis and scouting reports.

Jordan Subban: D, Utica Comets (AHL)
Drafted: Fourth round, 115th overall, 2013
Season: 67 GP | 11G | 25A | 36P | -5

It’s no secret that the Vancouver Canucks are concerned about a lack of high-end prospect depth along their blue line. It’s partly why they went after back-end free agents like Troy Stecher and Lukas Bengtsson, signing the former.

Considering the severity of the organizational need at his position, it’s a bit odd that 21-year-old defenceman Jordan Subban is so infrequently talked about in the Vancouver market.

Subban just capped off his rookie season of professional hockey by leading the recently eliminated Utica Comets in playoff scoring. Not only did he go from a regular healthy scratch early in the year to a key contributor as the season went along, but Subban finished the year third among all AHL rookie defenceman in goals scored.

Concerns about Subban’s size – and whether it will inhibit his ability to carve out a niche at the NHL level – linger, but his rookie campaign was enormously impressive.

Brendan Gaunce: F, Utica Comets (AHL)
Drafted: First round, 26th overall, 2012
Season: 46 GP | 17G | 21A | 38P | +16

Though Brendan Gaunce, 22, was held scoreless in the American League playoffs, his performance throughout the course of the season put him definitively back on the map as a prospect with a probable NHL future.

The versatile forward played wing and centre at both the AHL and the NHL level this season and acquitted himself well. While it’s worth noting that the offence wasn’t there for Gaunce in 20 NHL games, it’s a promising sign that his speed wasn’t an issue and that he didn’t look out of place against NHL competition.

Gaunce will need to put together a big summer, particularly because the Canucks are facing something of a logjam in their bottom-six forward group. And he’ll probably have to win a job outright at training camp, since he’ll be waiver exempt again next season.

Travis Green: Head coach, Utica Comets (AHL)

Now that Thatcher Demko, Nikita Tryamkin and Anton Rodin have signed contracts with the club, the Canucks prospect with the most intrigue surrounding their future isn’t actually a player. It’s Utica Comets head coach Travis Green.

Green took over an expansion team in Utica three years ago and has done the sort of stellar work likely to earn him extended consideration for an NHL job this summer. Under Green’s leadership, the Comets have controlled play like an elite club, even in seasons – like this one – when they didn’t have elite AHL-level talent.

In guiding a Comets team that didn’t have a true AHL first-line centre, sustained significant injuries on the back end and was often composed of tryout players to a playoff spot, Green may have put together an even more impressive season this year than he did when the Comets made the Calder Cup Final last season. And he did it all without the benefit of stellar goaltending, which is usually the hallmark of an overachieving sides.

“When I got sent down I thought (Green) was fantastic,” Canucks veteran Chris Higgins said of Green’s abilities earlier this month. “Very, very smart. He’s hard on players, he’s hard on the bench, but in the video room he’s really good. He teaches well. They play a pretty structured game, even with a lot of guys coming and going in and out of the lineup down there and I think it’s difficult to keep a sense of identity for the team, but he was able to do that.”

Thatcher Demko: G, Boston College (NCAA)
Drafted: Second round, 36th overall, 2014
Season: 39 GP | 27W | 8L | 1.88 GAA | .935 SV% | 10 SO

The Canucks were never really worried about their ability to get top prospect Thatcher Demko signed. Perhaps it’s because they had an intimate knowledge of just how generous their offer was (check out the performance bonuses in particular):

demko contract
(Courtesy: Generalfanager.com)

If you want to understand what leverage looks like in an entry-level system, that’s it right there.

Effectively the Canucks approached Demko – who in April won the Mike Richter Award as the best goaltender in the NCAA – like he was an unrestricted free agent, rather than an unsigned draft pick. It worked and they got their player.

Brock Boeser: RW, University of North Dakota (NCAA)
Drafted: First round, 23rd overall, 2015
Season: 42 GP | 27G | 33A | 60P | +45

Brock Boeser led the University of North Dakota to the national championship and saved his most dominant performance for the final. On the big stage, Boeser was dominant. In truth, he was dominant for much of the year.

Though the talented winger opted not to turn professional following his freshman season and will return to UND in the hopes of making another title run, Canucks brass met with his parents when they were in Tampa Bay, Fla. earlier this month for the Frozen Four and are confident that they’ll get him signed when the time comes.

“We went out with Duke and Lorie Boeser and we talked to them and got their thoughts on Brock, what they thought was best for him, and expressed what we thought was best for him,” Benning said in answer to a direct question about how to mitigate risk when dealing with drafted players in the NCAA system.

“It’s about developing relationships with these players so they have a trust level in what they’re getting into when they turn pro,” Benning continued.

Expect that time to come sooner rather than later. Based on what Boeser showed in his freshman campaign, he’s probably already close to being a professional-quality goal scorer.

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Kathy Willens/AP Tavares Tavares Hockey gods side with Tavares in Islanders’ long-awaited win Mon, 25 Apr 2016 01:27:06 EDT Mon, 25 Apr 2016 11:27:58 EDT Thomas Drance The hockey gods were cruel to the Panthers, it’s true, but you can’t exactly blame them for favouring the team with John Tavares, who played as if he were their representative on earth.

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BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Over the course of a thrilling, extraordinary six-game series, the Florida Panthers carried the play and often outplayed their opponent. And in the end it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter because hockey is a weird game. In a fast, free-flowing sport where players change on the fly and ugly bounces or strange deflections are so often meaningful, individuals rarely exhibit any firm control over outcomes. That’s particularly true when half of the games in a playoff series are decided in sudden death overtime.

“In overtime in the playoffs anything can happen,” said Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck. “Anyone can score at any minute. It just sucks that it wasn’t us.”

Throughout the series, the New York Islanders didn’t seem to be able to consistently hit Florida’s fastball at 5-on-5. The territorial matchup was lopsided. New York needed more than their fair share of breaks, stellar goaltending, potent special teams and three overtime victories to overcome Florida’s edge in the run of play.

“I thought were were in control of the series most nights,” Panthers coach Gerrard Gallant said after the game. “I thought we were the better team most nights.

“And I don’t think the hockey gods were with us at all,” he added.

The Hockey Gods were cruel to the Panthers, it’s true, but you can’t exactly blame them for favouring the team with John Tavares, who played as if he were their representative on earth.

The 25-year-old Islanders captain scored both of his club’s goals in Sunday night’s 2-1 double-overtime victory. He had nine points in the six-game series. He effectively carried an otherwise overmatched team to victory.

“It’s hard to even believe it’s over,” Tavares told the media following the first playoff series win of his career. “Hard fought. Give Florida a lot of credit. That was a heck of a series.

“Every game was tight, and obviously to get over that hump, we’re looking forward to the next one,” continued Tavares. “Great to reward our fans, I know they’ve been waiting a long time. A lot of us have been here a while.”

It was certainly a long-time coming for the Islanders. The club drafted Tavares seven years ago, in the midst of an extended rebuilding phase. It’s been a generation – 23 years – since the club last won a playoff series. History was made on Sunday night in Brooklyn.

“That’s what you’re proud of: the guys,” Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said of his club in his post-game press conference. “We went through a rebuilding stage, as a young hockey club we went through some tough times.

“We knew eventually we’d get to this point,” he continued. “For them just to stay with it, I can’t be more proud of the group, led by our captain. It is fitting that he gets the tying goal and then just a great individual play off the rebound in overtime.”

Tavares’ two goals were marvels of hockey awareness and good fortune. The game-tying goal in particular seemed like a gift from the hockey gods.

Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo, who would’ve stolen the game had Florida come out on top, made a stunning, lunging save off of Islanders forward Nikolai Kulemin. Luongo was sure the puck was beneath him. His defencemen were sure the puck was beneath him.

The Barclays Center crowd was sure the puck was beneath him.

In a building filled with over 15,000, Tavares was perhaps the only soul that didn’t assume the play was dead. He found the puck in the blue and tied the game.

Tavares’ preternatural awareness made for a great play and a big moment. And it set up an even bigger goal 30 overtime minutes later, when the Islanders captain got a handle on his own rebound and used his league-best edge work to tuck the puck into the net on a wraparound.

It was a goal that Islanders fans won’t soon forget. And it was timely, because the Islanders captain could feel himself fading by that point.

“If that didn’t go in, my legs started cramping pretty hard in that pile,” Tavares said.

“When he went to shoot the first one I took a step out (to) challenge more and I think it ricocheted off our guy’s stick,” said Luongo of how the game-winner unfolded. “(I) kind of made the save but I was off balance so I wasn’t able to recover for the wraparound so you have to give him credit.

“He’s a hell of a player,” Luongo continued, addressing Tavares’ excellence. “And he pretty much won that series by himself.”

Luongo has been around a long time. He’s seen it all. And in this case, he’s absolutely right.

In a series in which no team recorded a single ‘clear victory’ and both goaltenders were superb, the Islanders won this series because they employ John Tavares and the Panthers don’t. Or at least they don’t yet.

Florida has some key young pieces who acquitted themselves very well this season. In Aleksander Barkov, 20, and Aaron Ekblad, 19, the Panthers have core pieces at crucial positions. They’re already formidable and their best days are ahead of them.

“I think anybody that knows hockey and knows our team, knows how good our young players are, and knows how good we’re going to be for the next number of years,” Gallant said.

At some point in the future, perhaps Ekblad and Barkov will have their Tavares moment. Tavares though, his time is now. He knows it and he delivered.

“I’m only 25, but I’ve been in the league seven years now, and we want to take advantage of this,” Tavares said of moving on to the second round. “I’m just trying to play my game and play hard, and when you get an opportunity, you want to put it in.”

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(AP Photo/Joel Auerbach) willie_mitchell Florida Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo (1) is congratulated by forward Derek MacKenzie (17) and defenseman Willie Mitchell (33) at the end of an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers defeated the Blue Jackets 3-2. (AP Photo/Joel Auerbach) Willie Mitchell trying to help young Panthers any way he can Sun, 24 Apr 2016 14:51:37 EDT Sun, 24 Apr 2016 14:58:31 EDT Thomas Drance It’s an unusual situation. It’s rare for an injured player to continue to be engaged with their teammates like Mitchell has been.

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BROOKLYN, N.Y. – In the third act of his successful NHL journey, Florida Panthers defenceman Willie Mitchell – who, it seems, will not be cleared to play this post-season – still wants to win.

“I’m not a quitter,” Mitchell told reporters on Sunday afternoon at Barclays Center. “I’ve never quit on anything in my life. Just with my situation, I’m trying to see it through I guess you could say.

“Trying to be a good teammate behind the scenes, take a lot of pressure off of these guys and doing things they otherwise might have to do themselves. It’s a young organization, they’ve never been here before, so some things just on a hockey ops, day-to-day (level) that they don’t know about how it should be at this time of year. Just trying to organize all that and trying to take some pressure off these guys so they can just go out and play a game for the real deal. Lord Stanley…”

Mitchell sustained a concussion in mid-season and hasn’t played since. The Panthers have publicly said that they would allow the 39-year-old defenceman to make up his own mind about his playing future, but it’s clear at this point that he won’t return this post-season.

That hasn’t stopped the veteran defender from being a full participant in Panthers game-day skates and practices throughout their first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders.

It’s an unusual situation. It’s rare for an injured player to continue to be engaged with their teammates like Mitchell has been.

“He’s our captain, and he’s been a good leader on our team,” head coach Gerard Gallant said of Mitchell. “Definitely when you have those veteran players – and Willie hasn’t played a game in quite a while – but being on the ice and being around those young players is important. He’s done a good job of that.”

Even though Mitchell has been out of the lineup, he’s been functioning as a resource for a blue line that is extremely young. Three of the six blue-liners who will dress for Game 6 are under the age of 25, including 19-year-old star Aaron Ekblad who moved in with Mitchell’s family last year.

A two-time Stanley Cup winner, Mitchell has done his best to impart what wisdom he can to his younger teammates.

“You’ve got to will it home because there’s another team over there doing the same thing,” Mitchell explained. “You have to break their will. That’s the main thing at this time of year. You have to want it so far inside that no one else can grab it and you just keep running with it.

“As a group that’s what we’re trying to do. Trying to teach the young guys a little bit. Some have it and some are learning it. It’s going to take that to be a good hockey club.”

Mitchell’s efforts aren’t going unnoticed. If you watch the Panthers practise, you’ll notice him often speaking with Alex Petrovic, 24, Michael Matheson, 22, and Ekblad. When Florida’s extras do drills at the other end of the rink while the club works on special teams, Mitchell is often working with the club’s penalty killers.

“He’s huge, he’s doing everything he can,” Petrovic said of Mitchell’s influence. “He hasn’t been playing, but we’re always out for dinners with him and he’s always teaching us new things every time.

“Every time we talk to him, even at the rink, he’s been helping out with the PK and he’s a huge guy to have around,” Petrovic continued. “He’s been there, he’s won the Cup twice, I don’t know, he’s just a huge presence in here. Throughout the whole year he’s always been with us, you want to rally around the guy. He brings everyone together and I think that’s a huge part of our success. Even last year he kind of just started to mold that. He’s a great guy to have around.”

Petrovic has struggled at times this season and certainly had a tough defensive outing in Game 1. Lately though, the physical defenceman has come up huge. He scored the game-winning goal in Game 4 and set up Aleksander Barkov with a beautiful backdoor pass to tie the contest in Game 5.

“Couldn’t be more proud and happy for him,” Mitchell said of how Petrovic has adjusted to the post-season.

“Petrovic has had an up-and-down year at times, but he’s… 23 or 24 or whatever the heck he is, young anyways.

“I remember cracking into the league when I was 22 and you make mistakes,” Mitchell continued. “Especially as a D-man it’s more glaring. Forwards can make mistakes and everyone just doesn’t notice it and it’s a 3-on-2 and if Petrovic doesn’t have his stick in the right position it’s his fault. Well no, the guy (up front) made the mistake.

“We were actually sitting around the house talking about the playoffs,” Mitchell continued of Petrovic, “and I was like ‘You’re going to score a big goal this playoffs,’ that’s how it works right?

“And sure enough he scored a big goal for our hockey club. So he was tickled pink.”

Mitchell didn’t want to discuss his status on Sunday, out of respect for his teammates and the gravity of the situation they’re facing – a do-or-die Game 6 on the road. It’s clear that not playing is difficult for him, particularly at this time of year.

Still, the 39-year-old defender with the long reach and two rings is working hard, trying to push his teammates, finding ways to contribute. He doesn’t want to be “a passenger” out there. He’s motivated by the good fortune he’s had in his career and he wants the same for his teammates.

“I’ve been lucky. I’ve got the big skate, I’ve had the big summer. Twice!” Mitchell said.

“And there’s a couple guys in here and that’s what it’s about. Roberto (Luongo), I look into his eyes and I know how much he wants that and I’m a good friend of his. That’s my motivation: to see that guy win…

“There’s nothing more that that guy wants than to win a Stanley Cup.”

As much as Mitchell would prefer to be hard-matched against the opposition’s best, the way he was for decades, there’s another side to the game. There’s knowledge, wisdom and X’s and O’s. In these areas, as anyone on the Panthers will tell you, their captain has been valuable.

“I’m trying to do everything that’s possible,” Mitchell said. “I’m sure I’ve done a lot of things wrong, but I’m trying to make sure I pass on some knowledge I’ve had from great teachers – whether it’s (Jacques) Lemaire, (Larry) Robinson, (Brent) Sutter is a pretty great coach. Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer I’ve played with, Sergei Zubov. Great leaders and winners and (I try to) pass on their experiences, just like it got passed on to me.

“And also learn. S—, I learned so much from an 18-year-old who lived with me just about how to play the game. Not how to eat, with his sweet tooth, but how to shoot the puck and stuff like that.

“I’m trying to stay engaged that way with these guys” Mitchell said. “And really, I’m trying to win.”

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(Alan Diaz/AP) greiss_thomas Unlikely heroes the difference in Islanders-Panthers series Sat, 23 Apr 2016 02:23:18 EDT Sat, 23 Apr 2016 02:23:18 EDT Thomas Drance In the most closely contested series in the Stanley Cup playoffs so far, between the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers, it came down Friday to key contributions from unlikely sources.

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SUNRISE, Fla. – Bushed, battered and punch-drunk, the Florida Panthers and the New York Islanders trudged late into the South Florida night in an epic Game 5.

In the most closely contested series in the Stanley Cup playoffs so far, a war of attrition even before Friday night’s epic double-overtime contest, it came down to key contributions from a few unlikely sources. Islanders defenceman Marek Zidlicky, who was making his first appearance of the postseason, made a nice fake from the point on a power-play opportunity. Zidlicky created some space and dished the puck to rookie Alan Quine – who was standing at the right circle.

For Quine, 23, he was playing in just his seventh career NHL game. He made his NHL debut less than two weeks ago. Asked after the game how many power-play shifts he’s played in his NHL career, he responded that he could count them on one hand.

That lack of experience didn’t stop the rookie forward from unleashing a bar-down slap shot that beat Roberto Luongo glove-side high. The goal gave the Islanders a 2-1 victory in Game 5 and a 3-2 series lead over a Panthers team that, frankly, has outplayed New York for most of the series.

As the series shifts back to Brooklyn for Game 6, the Islanders are going home – or are going back to their newly adopted home – with a chance to win their first Stanley Cup playoff series in a generation.

“I like the fact that he’s a reserved guy,” Jack Capuano said of Quine, whom he tasked with playing on the wing alongside John Tavares and Kyle Okposo in Game 5. “He’s a confident guy, he’s not nervous at all. And he’s not playing safe. That’s big for me.”

Quine is certainly confident. As his teammate Travis Hamonic poked his head into a post-game media scrum and jokingly described Quine as “the sniper”, Quine called the right circle from where he shot the game-winning goal his ‘wheelhouse’. His story was already unlikely, but now it has an exclamation point.

“It’s all been pretty fast, I’m trying to enjoy it,” Quine said of the past two weeks. “I haven’t really sat down to process it, but I’m just trying to play. Go every day, work, be ready.”

In some ways, Game 5 was a microcosm of this series. The Panthers out shot, out chanced and out possessed the Islanders at 5-on-5 and did so rather handily. Once again, video review played a crucial role in the outcome of the game. Once again, New York’s defensive layers were pulverized shift after shift by Florida’s top two forward lines.

And once again, Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss was somehow up to the task. The 30-year-old career backup had never started a playoff game going into this series. Now, after five games, Greiss has almost single-handedly carried the Islanders to the brink of advancing to the second round.

He’s managed this without ever seeming to have his heart rate elevate above the mid-70s. Even when he’s facing down an overtime penalty shot in the postseason, one gets the sense that Greiss is laid back. He’s as placid as a brick wall, and about as hard to put a puck through.

“I was surprised they called it there,” Greiss said of the referees awarding Aleksander Barkov an overtime penalty shot. “I always stick with the same gameplan on a penalty shot. And, I got it.”

The Islanders netminder said he wasn’t fazed at all by the stakes of an overtime penalty shot. Never mind that it was just the third overtime playoff penalty shot in NHL history, Greiss figures that he faces a couple of those every year in the regular season.

“You just try to read the play, be ready, get over there and be in good positions,” Greiss said of a particular save – an outstanding one – that he made off of Aaron Ekblad on a two-on-one.

Really, that’s the recipe that may yet power the Islanders past a Panthers side that genuinely seems to be more formidable. Greiss has been spectacular, the Islanders power play has delivered key goals, unlikely players like Quine and Thomas Hickey have stepped up in key moments and John Tavares has, when the chips are down, performed.

Though New York’s captain was held off of the score sheet for the first time in this series Friday, he drew two penalties during the two overtime periods. Drawing multiple penalties in overtime – where the officials may as well ritualistically swallow their whistles beforehand – is even more impressive, in some ways, than recording a hat trick.

It’s easy to overreact to the results of a high-leverage game, particularly a Game 5 in a tied series. The Panthers have performed well enough to advance though. It won’t take a lot of good fortune for them to force a Game 7 on home ice and they know it.

“Hopefully sooner or later we’re going to get some breaks,” said Panthers coach Gerard Gallant, who reiterated once again that he thought his team played well. “Greiss has been outstanding… He’s played solid, he’s got some breaks and they played hard tonight. The series has been unbelievably close and I think he’s played real good.

“There wasn’t much to give between the two teams.”

That’s been true all series and it has made for compelling hockey.

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AP Photo/Joel Auerbach vincent trocheck Florida Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck (21) attempts to pass the puck in front of Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Curtis McElhinney (30) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers defeated the Blue Jackets 3-2. (AP Photo/Joel Auerbach) Return of Vincent Trocheck could be key for Panthers Fri, 22 Apr 2016 14:02:30 EDT Fri, 22 Apr 2016 14:02:30 EDT Thomas Drance The return of Vincent Trocheck gives the Panthers a much-needed third-line centre.

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SUNRISE, Fla. — By the time the fifth game of an NHL playoff series rolls around, particularly if that series seems poised to go the distance, it becomes a bit of a grind. There’s an attrition factor that sets in and more often than not, it’s the healthier or the more well-rested team that prevails.

The Florida Panthers and the New York Islanders, tied 2-2 with Game 5 going on Friday evening, have reached that point. And the Panthers seem to be getting healthier with Vincent Trocheck poised to make an imminent return, while the Islanders have sustained another key injury, this one to defenceman Ryan Pulock.

“I’m not saying he’s playing tonight, but he’s going to be a game-time decision,” Gallant said of Trocheck on Friday. “He’s skating real well, he’s feeling good, so we’ll make that decision tonight.”

Trocheck, 22, is a talented two-way centre who broke out for the Panthers this season. He recorded 53 points in 76 games before sustaining a fractured fibula in late March. That he’s nearing a return is impressive – Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Anton Stralman sustained the same injury a week earlier, and hasn’t returned yet – and it should give the Panthers a massive boost, even if their young pivot isn’t close to 100 per cent.

“Trocheck was, if not our best forward before he got hurt, then he played great hockey,” Gallant said on Wednesday.

“I don’t think anybody knew what a good player he was before this season,” added Panthers forward Jussi Jokinen. “He’s been really consistent, he’s getting much better in terms of his defensive game and he had 25 goals. He’s been really good, he can make plays, and probably his biggest thing is how well he skates and how hard he competes.”

If Trocheck is able to return on Friday, he’ll play on a line with Jiri Hudler and Teddy Purcell. It’s a line that has struggled enormously through four games, to the point where you might reasonably describe them as a liability.

Gallant put it more politely when asked what Trocheck can bring to Florida’s tertiary forward group on Friday.

“They haven’t generated as much as the top two lines,” Gallant said, “but they’ve been okay for us.”

In this case, actions speak louder than words. Gallant was worried enough about his third line that he took the unusual step of effective recreating a third-line centre in the aggregate in Game 4. The head coach cycled Jokinen, Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad through the third line for much of the game, double shifting his most important two-way forwards. Towards the end of the game, as the Islanders protected a one-goal lead, Derek MacKenzie took a key draw with that line.

“Yeah I haven’t seen that happen too often before too,” Jokinen said of Gallant’s approach to creating a third-line centre out of other parts, as if he were a young Dr. Frankenstein.

Jokinen insisted that he didn’t change his game because he was playing more than 20 minutes, a sentiment that was echoed by Barkov after Game 4. He indicated that the two games off between Game 3 and Game 4 helped.

“I think everyone is feeling good,” Jokinen said. “So if we decide to (double shift guys) that’s good.”

It seems likely that if Trocheck isn’t ready to come back, that’s precisely what Gallant will do.

“If Trocheck goes in that spot that’s great, he’s a skilled player who can play with skilled guys and if not then we can move guys in and out of that spot for sure,” Gallant said.

However the Panthers opt to do it, they need more from their bottom-six forward group. The top end of the Panthers roster has been throwing fireballs throughout this series and to this point, the Islanders have had no answer.

Through four games, the Panthers are controlling 58.3 per cent of shot attempts, are outshooting the Islanders by an average of six shots per contest and have outscored the Islanders 7-3 with one of Bjugstad or Barkov on the ice at 5-on-5. That margin could be even more dramatic were it not for two goals that were disallowed on video review.

Florida’s bottom-six forward group, however, has been giving some of that margin back. When Florida’s third or fourth lines are on the ice at 5-on-5, New York is outshooting, outscoring and out-attempting Florida. You combine the struggles of Florida’s bottom-six with their issues killing penalties and the fact that they’re facing a hot goaltender and you have a recipe for a club that could be sabotaged over a small sample of games even if they’re controlling play.

Even if Trocheck isn’t at top form – and considering the nature of his injury, it’s impossible to imagine that he would be – he doesn’t have the highest bar to hop over to be a positive contributor. Even at 60 per cent, he should be able to help Florida significantly. Even at 10 per cent, his presence will at least help keep players like Barkov, Jokinen and Bjugstad fresh.

“On the other side there might some guys who are tired,” Jagr said of the difficulty Trocheck will face if he does return. “So he might look good!”

As for the Islanders, the potency of their power play has been a key factor in allowing them to weather Florida’s even-strength dominance. And moving Pulock over to the left side point and bumping him onto the first unit seemed to be key in galvanizing their effectiveness with the man advantage. Even when Pulock wasn’t directly creating, the threat of his heavy point shot created a ton of space for the Islanders to operate down low.

“It’s tough to lose another guy,” Capuano said of losing Pulock. “I thought (Pulock) was really playing well for us as a young guy. He’s really coming into his own and helped us on the power play as well.”

Anything can happen in the playoffs, of course. There are a lot of variables over the course of a short series and this one is now a best-of-three. When it coms to teams this evenly matched, every marginal edge becomes higher leverage.

Ahead of Game 5, that would seem to favour the Panthers.

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Julie Jacobson/AP Panthers Panthers reach deep into bag of tricks to gain edge in Game 4 Thu, 21 Apr 2016 01:21:17 EDT Thu, 21 Apr 2016 01:21:17 EDT Thomas Drance This first-round series between the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders has been as tight as it gets. In a series this close, it’s the little things that matter when it comes to gaining an edge.

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BROOKLYN – Had this series unfolded in any other way, it would’ve been unfair and unreasonable.

On Wednesday evening the Florida Panthers executed a textbook road game. Playing arguably their highest-stakes game in a generation, the Panthers double-shifted their best players and pulled out every trick in the book in a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders.

The series will shift back to Sunrise, Fla., for Game 5 tied at two wins apiece. It’s the only way this series could unfold, really. These games have been as tight as it gets.

“They got one in our barn, and we got one in their barn,” said Panthers forward Nick Bjugstad. “We’re looking forward to going back to South Florida.”

So are hockey fans who enjoy their playoff hockey with a generous helping of drama and more than a sprinkling of offence. There have been no clear victories in this series. The Panthers are carrying play a bit better at 5-on-5, but the Islanders have been more formidable in all other situations.

If any first round series deserves to go the distance, this is it.

“Listen, these are two teams evenly matched,” said Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo. “Every game has been tight. You guys see it, there’s a really fine line between winning and losing every game.”

The margin for error in this series has been so tight that in two post-game availabilities in Brooklyn this week, the two respective head coaches have invoked their video guy. This series has, on multiple occasions, hinged on video review. That’s how wildly the momentum has swung from one moment to the next.

In a series this tight, it’s the little things that matter. The Islanders moved John Tavares from the left circle on the power play to the right half-wall midway through Game 3. In five periods since, the Islanders’ insanely-skilled captain has picked up two power-play assists and a goal from that spot. It’s not a huge change, but in a series this close, every little edge add ups.

Similarly, Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant reached deep into his bag of tricks in Game 4 in a desperate effort to shore up a third forward line that has, frankly, been a bit of a liability at times in this series.

The Panthers dressed seven defenceman on Wednesday, effectively operating without a third-line centre. And instead of playing a designated replacement-level player in that third-line centre slot, the Panthers double-shifted Bjugstad, Aleksander Barkov and Jussi Jokinen between wingers Teddy Purcell and Jiri Hudler. Late in the game, fourth-line centre Derek MacKenzie bumped up and took a key draw as a pivot on that line.

“When you can put some really skilled players in that area, I mean, nothing against the other players on our team, they’re solid guys but they’re sort of defensive guys, we had Bjugstad going there, we had Barkov going there and we had Jokinen going there at times,” Gallant explained. “They can all play centre very well.

“My plan was just to rotate those forwards in there,” Gallant later added, “and get something going.”

By the end of the game, Florida’s third line had still been out-shot, but by a smaller margin than in past games. And in the first period, when the likes of Barkov, Bjugstad and Jokinen were fresher, Gallant’s decision to lean heavily on his Franken-third-line-centre approach paid off.

“Get your wind on the bench between shifts and try to find it when you’re out there,” summarized Bjugstad of the experience playing nearly 19 minutes.

Barkov, meanwhile, who played nearly 25 minutes, insisted that his wind was unaffected by the extra couple of shifts every period.

“I had energy all game,” Barkov said. “I’m having fun, so I just try to play smart and don’t try to waste energy on stupid things.”

Florida’s biggest edge over New York in this series, by far, has been the play of their top-six forward group. Both Florida’s first- and second-lines have consistently found ways to dissect New York’s defensive layers and generate chances in bunches. It’s been a dominant showing, even if the Panthers’ top line has been frustrated by the superb play of Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss.

If Florida can find a way to press that advantage a bit further down their forward ranks, that could fundamentally alter one of the underlying factors that has made this series so tight. With Panthers centre Vincent Trocheck seeming a bit further away from returning to action then it was hoped – it’s believed he was targeting Game 5, but that seems optimistic considering he hasn’t practiced or taken a full skate with the team yet – Gallant’s double-shifting seems like the Panthers’ best bet.

“Usually in the playoffs the top couple of lines cancel each other out, the horses go head-to-head, and then it’s the depth players that make the difference,” summarized Purcell, who admitted he’s been frustrated by his line’s performance in the post-season. “Every year it seems like an unsung hero steps up and makes the difference. That’s why they brought guys like us here.”

In a series in which Florida’s splashy trade deadline acquisitions have mostly been non-factors – Jakub Kindl literally played zero seconds in Game 4, though he was in the lineup as an insurance policy – it’s the young core, players like Barkov and Bjugstad, that are picking up the slack. That bodes well for Florida’s future, but for the next week and possibly more, this Panthers team isn’t a future-forward team.

They’re a team that’s two wins from advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 20 years. And they hold the hammer of home-ice advantage.

And as we know: in a series that has been this closely contested, every edge matters.

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Michael Dwyer/AP Thatcher-Demko Thatcher Demko the crown jewel of Canucks’ goalie succession plan Wed, 20 Apr 2016 19:40:28 EDT Wed, 20 Apr 2016 20:43:38 EDT Thomas Drance Getting Thatcher Demko signed required patience and finesse on the part of Canucks management. And an abundance of patience will still be required now that the ink is drying on Demko’s contract.

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Exhale, Vancouver. The Canucks got their man.

On Wednesday, the Vancouver Canucks came to an agreement with Boston College goaltender Thatcher Demko. The club signed the highly-regarded 20-year-old puck stopper — a second-round pick in 2014 — to a three-year entry-level contract. According to Sportsnet’s John Shannon, the deal is worth the maximum amount allowable under the entry-level system.

Though Canucks management maintained a confident posture regarding their ability to get a deal done with Demko, eyebrows across the Lower Mainland were furrowed when one of the top goaltending prospects in the sport didn’t sign promptly upon the conclusion of his NCAA season. In the age of Jimmy Vesey and Justin Schultz, hardcore hockey fans know that things can get dicey when a top prospect returns for his senior year of college hockey.

The Canucks understand that, too. It’s why they’d been preparing to put on a full-court press to get Demko signed for months now.

Though hands were wrung as the process was somewhat delayed, there wasn’t anything sinister going on. Demko just wanted to take his time, reflect and consider his decision. The organization respected his request.

While the Demko news vacuum unnerved some fans over the past two weeks, the Canucks believe that appreciating the process in full helped them land a player many believe is now the organization’s top prospect.

“First of all, he’s a really competitive kid,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning told Sportsnet on Wednesday. “He was mad when his team lost out (in the Frozen Four) so he needed some time to decompress. From there he needed time to figure out what the next step was.

“We talked to the family and then gave him his space. He’s the type of kid that when it’s time to make the decision, he’ll make the decision… We wanted him to feel comfortable and make the decision that was right for him and his family.”

In addition to being one of the most highly-rated netminders to come through the college system over the past few years, Demko appears to be a bit of an individualist. That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, considering his nontraditional background. It takes a certain type of cat to grow up on the beaches of San Diego, Calif., and spend their youth at the rink working tirelessly to become an elite goaltending prospect.

Part of that process involved accelerating through high school so that he could play NCAA hockey as a 17-year-old first-time draft-eligible player. There’s a lot of evidence that suggests Demko is a considered, measured personality.

“He’s a real thoughtful guy,” Benning said. “With every decision he’s made — whether it was playing in the USHL, going to Boston College, or turning pro — he’s really deliberate in his decision making. This decision to sign with us was no different.”

Demko’s contract will begin next season, when he’s expected to play (and play often) in Utica. He won’t be reporting to Vancouver’s American Hockey League affiliate for this year’s post-season, as he’ll be too busy finishing school and representing Team USA’s senior men’s team at the 2016 World Ice Hockey Championship in Russia.

This has been a core part of Benning’s plan. The Canucks general manager cut his teeth in the industry as a Buffalo Sabres scout during an era in which that club developed and transitioned between Dominik Hasek and Marty Biron and Ryan Miller. That teams should be built from the net out is one of Benning’s core convictions.

Effectively, Demko is the crown jewel of Benning’s goaltending succession plan in Vancouver. That plan will involve having Demko at the AHL level working with a minor league goalie coach (most likely Dan Cloutier) and a veteran goalie – either pricey third-stringer Richard Bachman or Group VI unrestricted free agent Joe Cannata – next season.

“We’ve set ourselves up well,” Benning said. “The goaltending position is a tough position and if these young goalies have somebody they look up to — a mentor type — that helps them along in their development.”

At Boston College, Demko was dominant. He broke Cory Schneider’s shutout record and posted the second-best regular season save percentage in the nation behind only Yale’s Alex Lyon, who is three years Demko’s senior. As a professional though, Demko is a project. He’s likely to take at least a few years to arrive as an NHL regular.

That’s just the way it’s trending with NHL goaltenders. Of the 47 netminders who played more than 25 games this season, only five were under the age of 25. That number would’ve been even smaller were it not for injuries to Mike Smith, Ondrej Pavelec and Sergei Bobrovsky.

Getting Demko signed required patience and finesse on the part of Canucks management. And an abundance of patience will still be required now that the ink is drying on Demko’s contract.

Luckily, patience is a luxury the Canucks can afford — at least when it comes to their goaltending situation.

With Jacob Markstrom showing promise in his first full season with the team, the Canucks seem well-prepared to let Demko slow cook in the American League. And though it’s extraordinarily difficult to project the development of goaltenders, Demko seems to have the skillset, athleticism and personality to be worth the wait.

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