CrashingTheGoalie

by desertdawg
Step back from the ledge folks. A couple of you are just a little to close to jump…I mean, falling over. Besides, we need the room at the edge of the abyss. The Washington Capital fans have reservations and are booked to come through at any moment.
So, Roberto has feet of clay.

See that’s always the problem with creating a god. I remember reading Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King as a kid (okay, maybe it was just the Cole’s Notes version) and realized that when your tribe sets you up as a god among men…you’d better deliver.
So Roberto went from king of the world to trade bait in about a 96 hour period. But like I said, step back from the ledge. I was one of the bloggers who said openly that Roberto did not close the door when we needed him to in game six.

Hey, agree or disagree.

But I’ll bet you that Roberto realizes the same thing.

He is an elite athlete and a smart guy. He knows, he knows.
But that doesn’t mean we should trade him. Hell, he got us there. The fact is, winning a Stanley Cup is as much a learning process as anything. There are lucky runs to the cup…we’ve been part of that delirious scene. But ask the Red Wings how difficult it can be to win it all. They had more than a couple of misfires on the way. Ask Stevie Y. The guy who won a cup on one leg.
Roberto will learn, and the team will learn and we will get better.

I believe Gillis will demand that.

There will be a couple of guys who will probably not be back…but then again, you never know.

If Ohlund can get a big paycheck out there then more power to him. But Ohly may find that there aren’t a lot of teams willing to shell out big bucks to a D-man who would be hard pressed to beat the likes of Jason Smith in a foot race. And Smith, by the way, is getting $2.1 million from Ottawa and they are trying to dump him.

So what does Gillis need to do?

Well, sign the Sedins for one. These guys went to war down the stretch and produced at a fair level in the playoffs. They didn’t lead us past the second round, but then neither did Ovechkin take his team deeper. Do you think the Caps will dump him?
As well as signing the twins, there is certainly talk that Gillis will look to get Roberto inked to a long term deal.

I see two scenarios here. I think that Gillis could sign both Roberto and the twins to one of those weird long term deals where a ton of money is front end loaded and the last few years pays something like a million a year when they pass retirement age. This will reduce the cap hit and allow the team an out if they fade later in their careers. Detroit is doing this with their established core now. Gillis and Lawrence Gillman may well follow suit.
The second scenario sees Roberto particularly taking a more cautious approach and signing a shorter extension to monitor the Canucks development towards winning.
Of the two I’d rather see the long term deals, both parties making the commitment to win and (much like Alex Burrows) leaving some dough on the table so that the team can put together a legitimate contender every year.
And if signing our core to extensions is a priority, so is going after the one big fish in the UFA market that is really worth while.

Of course I speak of Jay Bouwmeester. My friend Gord Kerster has been touting this guy for years. Big, strong, skates like the wind and is smart with the puck. If we are truly going to build a champion, then we need a stud wheelman back there. Jaybo is that guy.
He will command the big dollars but again, look at the flexibility long term deals provide in terms of cap relief. The kid wants to play in a hockey mad, winning environment. I’d say we more than qualify.
As far as trades go, I don’t see much on the horizon that would actually improve the team (like the ridiculous Vinny LeCav for Luongo rumours). I think that Gillis and Co could unearth an unsigned free agent here and there, but mostly it will be left to developmental issues after free agency and extensions are done.
Every fan hungrily awaits the arrival of Cody Hodgson and he certainly looks to be the real deal. Perhaps the best combination of skill and character to come to the Canuck organization since Trevor was drafted by Quinn. But making the leap to the Show from the junior leagues is not an easy one (ask Stamkos) and our organization seems rightly committed to bring him along slowly. Look to Hodgson to be on the roster in the fall, but he will still need development time.
As far as the fabulous Manitoba Moose are concerned, we do seem to have some bona fides there. Grabner could make the jump next year and even young Schneider could make the leap (although the truth is, I see one more year in the AHL for the kid). Plus we have guys like Jannik Hansen coming along nicely.
And what about Mats Sundin? Well, he could be back, but it will be at a drastically reduced salary if he is. I think the enigmatic Swede will make his decision a little earlier this time. He could help in Hodgson’s development.
So like I said. Step back from the ledge folks.

Tomorrow’s another day. Life is worth living and all that stuff.

The Canucks really do seem to be making the right steps in building a winner.

It’s just not built.
Yet.