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WWHAD?
by Alanah McGinley on 06/16/08 at 03:04 PM ET
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The other day we had a discussion around here about the possibility of the Vancouver Canucks ditching their #10 draft pick in favor of picking up an established offensive player.
Today, Jeff Sargeant at BC Sports Beat has something to say on the topic:
Now managing a club that has one of the worst draft histories in the league, Gillis has options many of his 29 adversaries could dream of. The team has a large amount of salary cap dollars to play with since the likes of Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison, Aaron Miller, and Brad Isbister are set to become unrestricted free agents July 1st.
Keeping that in mind, Gillis must decide whether trading his high draft pick for immediate offensive help is in the team’s best interest. Many Canuck fans would no doubt be pleased to see a solid draft year. Instead of using the Toronto Maple Leafs book titled “Trading the Future”, perhaps Gillis should pay attention to the methodology of the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, who built the league’s most dominant team throughout the past dozen years through the draft. I hear the Wings have been slightly more successful than that Toronto club.
All things considered, the best choice for Gillis is to keep his current hand and select what is likely to be one of the best 10th picks in years. There’s still likely to be plenty of free agents available once Canada Day comes by, and with all that cash in the bank, why not spread his options around?
Fair enough. It’s not like the Canucks are going to be able to use that draft pick to steal away Henrik Zetterberg or something.
On the other hand, some offensive skills certainly wouldn’t hurt. (And god knows, if there’s a dud in that first round, I trust the Canucks to find him and accidentally draft him...)
So my advice: drop about $50K on equipment at U Spy Store over on Broadway in Vancouver, and use every sleezy, invasive technique you can to steal whoever-it-is that Ken Holland plans on drafting, courtesy of Hakan Andersson.
Really, all the focus should be on one thing: WWHAD? Always a reliable plan.
Note: Kukla’s Korner is covering the entry Draft live again this year with help from a couple of pros. I hope you’ll join us!
Update 1:30pm PT: Incidentally, today happens to be Kevin Bieksa’s 27th birthday. He was actually a smart draft pick—the Canucks snagged him 151st overall in the 2001 Entry Draft.
Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: hakan+andersson, mike+gillis, nhl+entry+draft,
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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