Free washer | Now what in Vancouver?

By refusing a contract extension, Bo Horvat may have done the Canucks a favor.

With the same core for five years, Vancouver will miss the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years, despite captain Horvat’s extraordinary season, 54 points, including 31 goals, in 49 games.

Horvat, 27, would become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Instead of losing him for nothing in July, the Canucks traded him to the New York Islanders on Monday for Anthony Beauvillier, 20-year-old prospect Aatu Räty, 15 points in 27 AHL games this season, and a 2023 first-round pick, located between the 12^e and the 20^e rank according to the final position of the Islanders in the standings.

This decision will serve the Canucks well in the long run if GM Patrik Alvin and his president Jim Rutherford have a definite plan in mind.

Let’s see if this duo of managers, over whom hangs the shadow of an omnipotent owner, will have the courage to continue the wave of rejuvenation.

The Canucks don’t have to wipe the slate clean like the Blackhawks or the Coyotes. They already have two extraordinary young players under the age of 24 or under, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, to build around.

Vancouver adds a first-round pick to their own pick, arguably a top six. Brock Boeser, 25, productive offensively but lazy defensively, could be the next to leave.

On the other hand, the others will be difficult to exchange. Do we already regret having signed a seven-year contract for 56 million to JT Miller, 29, knowing today the context of the team? Miller is still producing, as evidenced by his 44 points in 49 games, but his performance is declining and he will enter the first of seven seasons at an annual salary of 8 million starting at age 30.

It will be almost impossible to trade and we will no doubt want to articulate a strategy so as to make the most of its contribution over the next few years. Terrible trap.

Otherwise, Alvin and Rutherford are stuck with Conor Garland, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and their monstrous contracts running until 2026 and 2027 respectively.

Owner Francesco Aquilini is unlikely to allow a more aggressive rejuvenation phase anyway. Didn’t he kick out a president, Trevor Linden, who wanted to do it four years ago?

Already, Vancouver has reportedly probed the Bruins about their defensive-minded defenseman Brandon Carlo, 26. A rather strong indication of their desire not to attempt an overly aggressive recovery. Unless it is in return for Boeser, of roughly the same age.

If Rutherford and Allvin are a little stuck on the reset front, it’s still going to be about avoiding shortcuts to quick success like their predecessors did.

Räty, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound center drafted midway through the second round in 2021, would be the centerpiece of the trade, Allvin claims. At only 19 years old, he amassed 40 points in 41 games in the Finnish first division, a rather mind-blowing production. He had the opportunity to play twelve games with the Islanders this winter, no doubt to showcase it. He scored two goals.

“For a young player to transition from Europe and play so well with the Islanders is impressive,” Allvin told reporters Monday. It’s up to us to develop him into a full-time player in the NHL. »

Do the Canucks have the coach to do it? Newly hired, Rick Tocchet has the reputation of an ultra-defensive coach, more interested in saving the furniture than letting his youngsters flourish. Will he change his approach from his years in Arizona?

In Beauvillier, Vancouver gets its hands on a mid-training forward, 26 years old in June, still looking for a first 40-point season in seven years in the NHL. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2023-2024 season.

The Canucks don’t seem out of the woods just yet…

A risk for Lamoriello

On the side of the Islanders, DG Lou Lamoriello takes a certain risk. He still does not have a contract extension signed with Horvat and his club risks missing the playoffs. His club finds itself two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and the last place giving access to the playoffs, but has three games less to play. The Islanders must also edge out Buffalo, who have three games in hand over rivals like Pittsburgh.

But the strategy of this experienced GM has a certain logic if he manages to get along with his new center of 27 years. Team stalwarts Brock Nelson, Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield are all between the ages of 25 and 31.

Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov, already essential members of the defense, especially Dobson with his 27 points, are both 23 years old. The new number one goalkeeper, Ilya Sorokin, smoking this season, is 27 years old.

This club, with substantially the same nucleus, reached the four of aces two years in a row, in 2020 and 2022. The Islanders’ favorable window of success is therefore still open for several years and a leading striker from 27 years old. Lou must now make sure to retain his services.

Nick Suzuki: don’t panic!

Memory is a faculty that forgets. Nick Suzuki has only had one point in his last six games and his status is questioned. Some even dare to say that he could be relegated to the position of third center next year, behind Kirby Dach and the center that will be fished out of the top six. What a lack of respect!

We should not be surprised by such a drop in speed in the middle of winter. A lot has been asked of the 23-year-old. He ranks seventh in the NHL in average rushing time at 21:21. Only Mikko Rantanen, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, Aleksander Barkov and, surprisingly, Artturi Lehkonen are used more.

The Canadian was a one-line club for a good portion of the season. Suzuki continually faced top opposing players with constant pressure to produce since no one but him and Caufield were doing it. They still have 42 of CH’s 126 goals this season despite Caufield’s retirement and Suzuki’s slump, or a third of the team’s total production.

Suzuki no doubt also has some health issues. He missed a few practices recently to undergo treatment. Despite everything, he amassed 38 points, including 16 goals in 50 games. But don’t expect an offensive explosion with Rem Pitlick, still a member of the Laval Rocket recently, and Josh Anderson, a 30, 40 points per season winger.