The month ahead could be the biggest in the Canucks off-season history

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1 In June, will it be reset or ruin? Jason Botchford The Province The month ahead could be the biggest in the Canucks off-season history You knew the second he said it, Vancouver GM Mike Gillis would wear his reset buzzword like the arc reactor in the middle of Iron Man s chest. That phraseology will glow from Rogers Arena in a way that will be impossible to ignore for most of the summer. Much like its predecessor, bold moves. But it will never be brighter or more telling than this month, which promises to be the most important since Gillis s first back in The Canucks are a team in transition, and the choices made in the next 30 days will go a long way in determining whether this is a reboot, or a ruining. Not much at stake then. Just the entire future. The June calendar already has the draft at the end of the month. There s another deadline in two weeks at which time the Canucks will either have a home for their AHL affiliate to play or it goes dormant. They wouldn t be the first team to have that happen. The last was the Ducks farm club. It has some ugly aftershocks as they will need to splatter their prospects across North America. Other teams forced into this corner even had to place some AHL players, who they couldn t find a home for, on ECHL teams. Well, that is not ideal. Neither is having your prospects playing different systems for different coaches.

2 Speaking of coaches, it s this month which should see the Canucks pick their next skipper, the most important hire in the Gillis era. The Province had the two favourites as Dallas Eakins and John Stevens when the search started. Not much has changed. But if Stevens is going to be the guy, the Canucks have to wait until the Kings are done. At least this management team has never been short on patience. Of course, the Canucks could use some rather significant upgrades soon, but they are already over next year s salary cap and that s with at least six more players to sign, including at least one rock-solid centre. That s pretty much a cap crisis. And it doesn t paint a promising picture for the July 5 start of free agency, does it? The math sort of makes the ideas of having Roberto Luongo and Keith Ballard around for training camp absurd. The buyout period begins 48 hours after the Stanley Cup final ends. The Canucks will try avoiding using one on any of their current players, including Ballard, Luongo and David Booth, who likely won t be medically cleared by then anyway. Injured players cannot be bought out. The Luongo saga, which has always been rooted in the choice to retool the team around Cory Schneider, remains Gillis s boldest move. It s also his messiest. It s dragged on for a year now, and needs to be resolved long before it gets pulled through all of the offseason mud when speculation about Luongo refusing to report for training camp will actually become meaningful. If the Canucks have any leverage left, it s all gone by July. There are two days which seem to spur deals around the NHL. One is the trade deadline, the other is the draft.

3 If the Luongo situation isn t resolved by the end of June, I don t like their chances of ending this in a way anyone can spin favourably. Ballard is another messy spill which needs the Cleaner, once and for all. The idea he could flourish with a new coach is not necessarily a bad one. The Canucks just don t have a big enough stack to make the bet. Like Luongo, they will look to trade Ballard. Their contracts add up to $9.5 million in cap space, which would give the Canucks some breathing room to try and get what they really need a centre. They have to hope there s as many people outside of Vancouver as there are in this city who seem convinced a new coach can rehabilitate Ballard s game. Either that or they have to make him a low-risk play for a trading partner by agreeing to pay a good chunk of his contract. Whatever it is, they ll be keeping the cap hit, too. The biggest decision, however, remains what to do with the Canucks so-called core. Both Gillis and assistant general manager Laurence Gilman have publicly backed the core. That doesn t seem to line up with the roster adjustments Gillis suggested would be coming in a letter to season-ticket holders. You say that, and people expect more than trading the backup goalie and the No. 7 defenceman. minds. If that s all their planning right now, at least they have a month to change their Off-season outlook: Can Gillis reshape declining Canucks? Jeff Simmons Sportsnet.ca

4 Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis has the most challenging off-season of his career ahead of him. After two straight first-round exits, the Canucks fired head coach Alain Vigneault and are expected to make several changes across the roster. Vancouver has become a stale group in recent seasons. With a bleak salary cap situation and a lack of high-end prospects in the system, the time is now for Gillis to retool the organization and make his legitimate mark on the team. The Canucks have essentially no cap room coming into the summer so it s easy to understand why Gillis has openly discussed the likelihood of a Roberto Luongo trade. Clearing up Luongo s salary cap hit of $5.33 million would help kick-start things for the Canucks, who are in dire need of size and younger players up front. With the Sedin brothers aging and contracts set to expire after next season, the time is now for Gillis to get the Canucks back in order and if not, he could soon find himself following in Vigneault s footsteps. WHO SHOULD RE-SIGN Projected cap room: -$102,778 (via capgeek.com) Here s where it gets tricky for Gillis and the Canucks. Coming into the off-season, the team is already projected to be over the salary cap and have almost no flexibility to make moves in free agency. That is why a Luongo trade becomes a clear move for Gillis as the Canucks could look to restock their system with some high-end prospects. The problem Vancouver may run into is getting fair market value in a trade when everyone is aware the Canucks are desperate to move a goalie. Other than a Luongo deal, an option Vancouver could look into is using their available two compliance buyouts to create more salary cap space. The Canucks would have several possible candidates with a group of players in their lineup who are not living up their contract value, including forward David Booth ($4.25 million cap hit) defenceman Keith Ballard ($4.25 million). Even if Gillis is able to create the necessary cap space, it s hard to imagine the Canucks bringing back most of their free agents with the franchise looking to get younger and shape a new identity across the board.

5 And with the Sedin brothers contracts coming up after next season, they shouldn t be looking to shell out too much money this summer. UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS Derek Roy, centre Failed to make an impact after late-season trade scored only three goals in 16 games. Mason Raymond, left wing Speedy winger has never quite lived up to his potential. One of the few players who could be brought back for the right price. Maxim Lapierre, centre Canucks should look to upgrade on a player who scored just four goals last season. Manny Malhotra, centre Both sides appear to be moving in a different direction. Andrew Alberts, defence Decent depth player for Canucks that could be re-signed on the cheap. Fits role as a seventh defenceman. Cam Barker, defence See ya! Canucks got little value out of the former high Blackhawks pick. RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS Chris Tanev, defence Solid defender that the Canucks should certainly hope to keep on their roster. Dale Weise, forward Canucks need to improve their bottom-six and Weise may be considered expendable at the position. Derek Joslin, defence Fringe NHLer will not be a priority. Doesn t offer much upside but could be kept to serve as depth on the back end. FREE AGENT FITS Note: The Canucks won t be able to afford the below players without clearing significant cap space. Ryane Clowe, left wing Clowe would add needed size and toughness to their second line. With his decline last season, the veteran forward could be a cost-friendly addition for Vancouver. Tyler Bozak, centre The Canucks were rumoured to show some interest in Bozak during trade talks with the Leafs last year. Bozak is the ideal age (27) for a player Vancouver should be looking to add up the middle. Bryan Bickell, left wing Bickell could be out of their price range after a breakout season but the Blackhawks forward would add a much-needed boost to the Canucks declining forward group.

6 Andrew Ference, defence A bit long in the teeth but Ference is tough as nails and is a proven playoff defender for a team that could buy out one of their overpriced blueliners. Luongo s potential move to Isles makes sense Patrick Hoffman TSN.ca With Vancouver out of the playoffs and the true off-season right around the corner, it s once again time to start wondering what the Canucks are going to do with goaltender Roberto Luongo. During the shortened-nhl season, there were a plethora of rumors about where Luongo was going to be traded. Potential destinations such as Toronto, Florida, and Philadelphia as well as a few other club were floated around. Unfortunately for both Luongo and the Canucks, nothing came to fruition and that was largely because of his terrible contract. Fast forward to now and the rumors are back. This time around, however, one of them seems plausible as it appears that the team that originally drafted Luongo, the New York Islanders, are interested in dealing for the 34-year-old goalie. Reportedly, the Canucks would buy out Islanders often-injured goaltender Rick DiPietro s contract for $24 million while also sending a package of prospects for Luongo. While it may not seem like much, it may actually end up being the best thing for Luongo. For starters, there is no doubt that Luongo would be the starting goaltender. While goaltender Evegni Nabokov was a trooper and consistent this past season, he has yet to negotiate a new contract with the club and as of now, is set to become an unrestricted free agent once July 1 hits. Luongo would be an instant upgrade and could be counted on to play a ton of games. Luongo has played close to 750 games in the NHL (747), has been consistent in posting solid GAA s, save percentages and shutout totals. Despite his age, the former all-star is still considered one of the best goaltenders in the league. Luongo would also give New York a goaltender they could rely on in the postseason. While the Islanders were able to take the Pittsburgh Penguins to six games in their first-round matchup this year, had the club got better netminding, they might have been able to pull off a huge upset. Although Luongo has yet to win a Stanley Cup, he has certainly played in a lot of playoff games over the last several seasons. In Vancouver, Luongo helped the Canucks win several rounds and brought them within one victory of a championship in 2011, when they lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games. Luongo has also posted solid numbers in his post-season career. He has 32 wins, a 2.54 GAA, a.916 save percentage to go along with five shutouts. There is no doubt that the Islanders have a lot of young talent up front with the likes of John Tavares, Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo, Michael Grabner, Casey Cizikas, and up-and-coming Ryan Strome. Luongo would be the perfect veteran presence to have between the pipes for a young hockey club.

7 In his 13 years in the NHL, Luongo has dealt with it all. He has been a top-five pick in the NHL Entry Draft, has been traded a few times, played in the playoffs and Stanley Cup final. Not to mention, he has endured his fair share of criticism. With all of his experience, Luongo could become a big leader in the Islanders locker room. By being able to provide leadership off the ice, the team would grow to trust him and play even harder for him on the ice. Lastly, playing for the Islanders would bring Luongo s career full circle. He was taken by the Islanders with the fourth-overall pick in the 1997 draft and played the first 24 games of his NHL career with the club. The logistics of a potential deal of this magnitude may require lots of tweaking but if Luongo does end up coming back to Long Island, it might just end up being the perfect fit. Checking in on coaching hearsay and other notable bench- marks Iain MacIntyre Vancouver Sun Ten days AV ( after Vigneault) we ve accumulated some deep thoughts on the Vancouver Canucks 2013 summer tour of coaching candidates. Maybe some thoughts aren t so deep, but they re thoughts, OK? COFFEE WITH JUICE: The rumour this week that Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa had coffee with coaching candidate Dallas Eakins makes perfect sense. It also makes you wonder if John Stevens will eventually have, say, bubble tea with Henrik Sedin when he makes it in to interview with Vancouver general manager Mike Gillis. Eakins and his wife, actress Ingrid Kavelaars, reportedly spend time in Vancouver. And Eakins and Bieksa were briefly teammates with the Manitoba Moose in 2004 as Eakins playing career was ending. Plus, who wouldn t want to have coffee with Bieksa? Eakins is easily the hottest coaching candidate without National Hockey League coaching experience, which would have disqualified him as a candidate to replace Alain Vigneault in Vancouver except Eakins minor- league experience is with the Marlies in the Toronto hockey- media cauldron. Eakins, who has a negotiating window in his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, could get multiple NHL coaching offers if he waits long enough. But he s not the one waiting at the moment.

8 The Dallas Stars, who fired Glen Gulutzan on May 14, seem in even less of a hurry than the Canucks to hire a new coach, probably because they re waiting to see what Dave Tippett does in Phoenix. Tippett is this spring s biggest coaching domino, but he can t fall in any team s direction until his contract with the Phoenix Coyotes expires on June 30 or until he signs an extension. Tippett s excellent work in Phoenix after the coaching disaster that was Wayne Gretzky could make him as coveted as any freeagent player in July. But Coyote general manager Don Maloney wants to re- sign his coach and chances are he ll succeed. In the meantime, everyone waits. The Canucks are likely also waiting to talk to Stevens, the Los Angeles Kings assistant currently occupied trying to help his team defend its Stanley Cup. Stevens checks off a lot of favourable boxes: NHL head coaching experience in Philadelphia, experience in a rabid hockey market, winning pedigree, respected by players and management, patient ( if understated) with the media. Until he can contact Stevens, Gillis is expected to talk to Gulutzan, John Tortorella, Scott Arniel and others. BIG D: Even without NHL head coaching experience, Eakins is a serious candidate for the Vancouver job. Thinking ahead, the Canucks apparently had their eye on American Hockey League coach Jon Cooper, who also had no NHL experience, until the Tampa Bay Lightning promoted him in March to replace Guy Boucher. Eakins would bring some excitement to the Canucks, who need to market more than Pavel Bure s jersey retirement next season. NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Which will happen first: Gillis hires a coach or another general manager hires Vigneault? The smart money s on Vigneault if it s true that Glen Sather was interested in Vigneault a decade ago before the Rangers GM hired Bryan Trottier. Sather

9 somehow survived that fiasco in 2002 and subsequently promoted Ranger assistant Tom Renney in midseason. Renney held the job for five years and by the time he was fired in 2009 another questionable Sather decision Vigneault had won the Jack Adams Award in Vancouver and was on his way to becoming the most successful coach in Canucks history. Vigneault s resumé is a lot more impressive now than it was a decade ago. EYE OF BEHOLDER: Todd McLellan probably would have jumped to the top of Gillis s wish list had the San Jose Sharks coach not saved his job by sweeping the Canucks in the playoffs first round, then orchestrating a robust challenge to the Kings in the second. McLellan is an excellent coach and one of the best in the league at dealing with the media. But it s interesting that so many people who would criticize Vigneault for his playoff record in Vancouver ( 33-35) are smitten with McLellan ( 27-27). I m not big on math, but a coach with a.500 playoff record averages a secondround appearance, which puts his team in the final eight out of 30. PRETTY CITY. THE TEAM? With an aging roster, a market that is Jack Nicholson short of a cuckoo s nest, and a GM and owner who think this team should win the Stanley Cup now, the Canucks probably won t be the most- appealing option for a coaching candidate who has more than one. The Rangers, for instance, have a younger core and Manhattan in their favour. The Stars have young players and patience to offer a new coach. As hostile and angry as a lot of people here are about the Canucks first- round playoff exit, these could be the good ol days in two or three years.

10 BIG BIRD NESTING: Yes, San Jose associate coach Larry Robinson would be an intriguing choice to take over the Canucks. And no, he s not coming. Robinson, the rare Hall- offamer who became nearly as good a coach as he was a player ( so there is hope for Patrick Roy, but not much), made it clear during a chat with a couple of reporters during the Sharks series against the Canucks that at 61 he s probably done with head coaching. Suffering stress- related headaches, Robinson quit in 2005 as head coach of the New Jersey Devils, the team he led to the Stanley Cup in He agreed last summer to become McLellan s associate coach in order to be near his daughter and grandchildren in Los Angeles. I did it and I think I cared too much and was too emotional and couldn t turn it off, Robinson said of being a head coach in the NHL. And it just ended up making me sick. I ended up with stress related diseases and I m not in this to die. Doesn t sound like Vancouver is the place for him.