Spitballin’ (or Super Pass It To Bulis: All In, if you love adventurous acronymizing) is a feature that allows us to touch on a multitude of things really fast, because in the world of hockey, there are always lots of things to find and colour. Here are a few quick topics.
Several Canucks named to unnecessary tournament
A dozen years after the last one, the World Cup of Hockey returns next September, and I, for one, couldn't care less. This is a gimmicky garbage tournament.
Case in point: two of the eight countries involved in the World Cup aren't countries at all, but rather the continents of North America and Europe. (Rumour has it that, if either of these "countries" win, every applicable anthem will be played at once in a grand cacophony.)
Seriously. Team North America. Team Europe. Because this isn't an international tournament at all -- it's an NHL tournament, and the league thinks no one will mind this vain attempt to shoehorn in more NHLers who otherwise wouldn't be invited. But I mind. This isn't the World Cup if there are filler teams. Why not just name them Team Red Bull and Team Fantasy Kings?
And seriously, you couldn't handle a six-team tournament? Have you ever watched the CFL playoffs? It can be done.
I hope this tournament fails. I expect it to. The Olympic hockey tournament is perfect. We don't need this. (Although I'll admit I do like the NHL's recent antagonism towards geographical boundaries. Between Team Hemisphere and the equally vague and stupid "Metropolitan Division", it's clear that Gary Bettman's NHL is thinking beyond counties, regions and nation-states. Very 2016, Gary.
Anyway. Some Canucks were named to this dumb tournament, so let's get to that: Daniel and Henrik Sedin will be on Team Sweden, along with Jacob Markstrom, who will back up Henrik Lundqvist in goal. And Jannik Hansen was named to Team Europe.
Unfortunately, Hansen has a rib injury and it hurts to talk, so he wasn't able to feign excitement for this crap.
Sometimes you just have to say no
Like everyone else, I'm both annoyed and flabbergasted that the Canucks couldn't get a single thing done on trade deadline day. But I feel like I might be in the minority when I also say that I'm glad they rejected any lowball last-minute deals.
You've got to stick to your asking price in hockey, or at least stay in the ballpark. If the Canucks are asking for, say, three assets -- a couple prospects and a pick, maybe -- then that's the price. Teams can circle around, haggle, and try to poke logical holes in your ask, but at the end of the day, you need to stick to your guns. If a team threatens to walk away because you're asking too much and you don't think you are, let them go. The only other option is to bend to their will, and that's hardly ideal, since it sets a dangerous precedent for your next phone call.
The Stars knew, just like the Blackhawks knew, just like every team knew, that if the Canucks didn't make a deal, they'd be excoriated by the fanbase. So they backed Jim Benning into a corner, then called him again just as the walls were closing in, hoping he'd give in. He didn't flinch.
In other words, while I can and will blame the Canucks for doing nothing, I'm also giving them full marks for refusing to get fleeced just to have done something.
Here comes Nikita Tryamkin
Now that the Canucks have admitted to themselves that they're not a playoff team, the rest of the season becomes about prospect assessment. Expect them to take long, hard looks at Sven Baertschi, Emerston Etem, Linden Vey and Markus Granlund, all of whom are restricted free agents in need of new deals this summer. Expect teens Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen to get a lot of icetime. And expect Vancouver to make room for Utican prospects like Alex Grenier and Brendan Gaunce, who's up with the team now, and will slot in ahead of Radim Vrbata on Thursday night. (At 35, Vrbata no longer requires assessment.)
In short, the prospects are the reason to watch the Canucks now. But the thing about these prospects is that they're all forwards. Where's the defence?
Glad you asked, hypothetical reader. 6'8" defenceman Nikita Tryamkin, the Canucks' second pick in the 2014 draft, just finished both his KHL season and his KHL contract, so the time is now to bring him to North America. From Canucks Army:
From Tryamkin's standpoint, it makes sense to make the move now. He would likely be able to secure a signing bonus, and add some more money through salary for the remainder of this season. Also, he would be able burn off that first year of the entry level contract.
From a Canucks standpoint, there really isn't a reason not to sign him now. They currently have 45 contracts, so there is no issue with adding Tryamkin now, as it would still allow them to add a few NCAA free agents. It would also allow them to see how Tryamkin will handle an NHL game this season, and thus aid their planning for next season. They will also be able to add Tryamkin to the Utica roster for the Calder Cup Playoffs.
And according to to another report, if and when Tryamkin arrives, he'll report directly to Vancouver.
Hearing the plan if signed is to have Tryamkin report to the #Canucks - not the Comets in Utica.
— NEWS 1130 Sports (@NEWS1130Sports) March 3, 2016
I'm okay with this. If Tryamkin is in over his head -- which seems unlikely, since, again, he's almost seven feet tall -- it won't have much bearing on the Canucks' playoff push, since there isn't one. Plus it gives us a defensive prospect to watch. Make this happen, Vancouver.
I'm just gonna complain about Luca Sbisa for a minute
If the Canucks can get Tryamkin over here (and they should, provided the cap issues raised by keeping all their damn players at the deadline don't interfere), that gives them quite a few bodies for the left side. Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, Luca Sbisa, Ben Hutton and prom prospect Andrey Pedan are all left-siders.
Sort of makes one wonder why the Canucks have Sbisa, who's fourth on the depth chart at best, signed for two more years at $3.6 million. What the heck, Canucks.
Blue streak
Finally, speaking of reasons to watch the Canucks, I've got another one: as they play out the string, keep in mind Vancouver still has yet to mount a real winning streak, which we believe begins at three straight victories. They've won two in a row seven times this season; a loss follows in every instance. That's nuts.
This doesn't happen often. It's like losing four straight games 5-2. And it's worth taking a stance, I think. When it comes to the Canucks, which rare occurrence do you want to see? A three-game win streak or an entire season without one?
