Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
NHL Power Rankings #23: Vancouver Canucks
The first 365 days of Jim Benning’s tenure as Vancouver’s general manager went about as pleasantly as anyone could have imagined. The days since then, however, have been equally unpleasant. The Canucks were a team that lucked into the NHL playoffs last season. They did absolutely nothing to upgrade their team, in my opinion.
They wanted to trade a goalie. Understandable. However, if teams were actually interested in Ryan Miller, they chose the wrong goalie to trade (Eddie Lack). Miller is an overpaid veteran who is declining. Lack is a young goaltender who is constantly improving. I’ll give you one guess which one is the best to keep.
Trading for Brandon Sutter (and extending him for five years) was a horrible move. especially since they gave up Nick Bonino (among others) to get him. I wouldn’t do Bonino for Sutter straight up, so you can guess what my opinion is of giving of Bonino and more for Sutter.
Even with bad moves, Vancouver still has a contending team thanks to Alexander Edler, Daniel Sedin, Radim Vrbata, and Henrik Sedin. Want to count the Sedins out? I sure as heck don’t.
Next: #22