VANCOUVER – A trade-deadline seller for most of his time in charge of the Vancouver Canucks, general manager Jim Benning couldn’t wait to be a buyer this season. Seriously, he couldn’t wait.
Benning made his big move on Monday when he acquired winger Tyler Toffoli and his expiring contract from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for college star Tyler Madden and a second-round draft pick. The trade came after a weekend in which Canucks winger Micheal Ferland’s aborted comeback from a concussion coincided with medical news that sniper Brock Boeser was likely done for the regular season with a rib injury.
Benning told Sportsnet in December that he wanted to add another top-six winger, but Toffoli is more of a replacement than an add. He became a necessity, not a luxury, which is why Benning paid a steep price to get the 27-year-old former Stanley Cup winner who has been in excellent form the last two months.
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Since Toffoli essentially replaces Boeser on the top line, it stands to reason the Canucks could still use another winger. But Benning has now spent the most valuable assets he’s probably willing to give up, which makes another impactful move before Monday’s trade deadline highly unlikely.
The GM sent a first-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning last June to land winger J.T. Miller, although Vancouver can defer payment until the 2021 draft if the Canucks miss the playoffs in April for a fifth-straight season.
They’ve also been looking for a defenceman to strengthen the bottom half of their blue line, and the Toffoli trade means Benning will have to shop for that in the clearance bins.
“We’re going to continue to work the phones and look at the market,” Benning told reporters on Tuesday. “We could be done. We don’t have our first- and second-round pick right now for the draft, so I don’t foresee us trading any more picks. But if something makes sense maybe with one of the young players (in the system) where we feel we have enough depth at that position, we’d maybe look to do something like that.”
The Canucks need to be careful there. They’ve got some excellent young players working their way towards the National Hockey League, but the franchise isn’t at the point where it can afford to sacrifice more prospects like Madden for short-term help.
Pending Free Agents
UFAs Tyler Toffoli, RW, 27, $4.6 million
Chris Tanev, D, 30, $4.45 million
Jacob Markstrom, G, 30, $3.67 million
Oscar Fantenberg, D, 28, $850,000
RFAs Troy Stecher, D, 25, $2.33 million
Jake Virtanen, RW, 23, $1.25 million
Tyler Motte, LW, 24, $975,000
Adam Gaudette, C, 23, $917,000
Zack MacEwen, RW, 23, $848,000
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Potential Assets to Move
Nikita Trymakin, D, 25 The six-foot-seven blueliner had an NHL career laid out for him by the Canucks, but bolted home to Russia after his 2016-17 rookie season. Now he’s unhappy there, too, and wants to return. The Canucks still like him, but have a couple of defence prospects ahead of Tryamkin and may be able to leverage a draft pick in exchange for his NHL rights.
Troy Stecher, D, 25 Now in his fourth NHL season, Stecher has shown he is a solid defenceman with enough skill to perhaps earn a bigger role somewhere else. The Canucks aren’t looking to trade Stecher, but may not qualify him in June at $2.33 million with their salary-cap issues and so risk losing him for nothing, as they did last summer with Ben Hutton. Better to get something than nothing. But Stecher is a lineup regular on a team trying to make the playoffs, and trading him could be a toxic blow to the dressing-room environment.
Draft picks (See Benning above). Already without first- and second-round picks, it is hard to imagine the Canucks further handicapping themselves at the 2020 draft. Unless they can acquire more picks, the team is down to four selections in June because its seventh-rounder went to Anaheim last season in the rental of defenceman Luke Schenn.
The Canucks will soon be the next up-and-coming team faced with difficult choices about which young stars to keep, and Boeser looks to be in an uncertain spot long-term with Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat and Quinn Hughes ahead of him. A trade involving Boeser, who comes with the cost certainty of two more seasons at $5.88 million ahead of restricted free agency, would be a blockbuster. But Boeser is injured, which removes the trade deadline as a pressure point, and the Canucks hope the winger who scored 55 goals his first two seasons may yet be able to help them in the playoffs this spring. Given the ramifications of trading one of the NHL’s top young scorers, the Canucks are far more likely to contemplate this kind of blockbuster in the off-season.
I Think the Team Should Not…
… sacrifice an asset for Wayne Simmonds. After Toffoli, Simmonds is the player who has been most linked to the Canucks in trade conjecture because Vancouver could use more toughness and playoff experience in its lineup. But the hard miles Simmonds has logged as an NHL warrior is evident in his sharp decline by age 31. He scored once in 17 games after a deadline trade to Nashville last season, and has seven goals in 59 games this season for New Jersey after signing a one-year, $5-million contract. Seriously, how is Simmonds supposed to help?
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
