As you are undoubtedly aware by now, the Sedin twins have signed identical five year contracts worth a combined 61 million dollars. It was major relief for me and losing the Canucks greatest offensive weapon would have had major implications for the present and future. Lets be honest, if they hadn’t signed long term deals the Canucks would basically be going into rebuild mode. Without an actual first line player going into free agency the team could have been falling on hard times. Perhaps Mike Gillis would have been able to put something together for the likes of Cammalleri or Gaborik, but that’s clearly not something to bank on.
Now the question is, where do the Canucks go from here? They haven’t gotten any better while the other Canadian teams in their division arguably have. The Flames added Jay Bouwmeester, but now lack depth up front with the departure of Cammalleri. The Oilers are definitely in better shape if they land Dany Heatley. Nikolai Khabibulin is also an upgrade over Dwayne Roloson in goal. Minnesota has not been very active today, but you can never count them out. Colorado is destined for another year as the doormat of the Western Conference. So where does that leave the Canucks are this point looking ahead to 09-10. They overtook Calgary for top spot in the Northwest largely due to the ineptitude of the Flames in the final month of the season. The Canucks will compete again for first place, but do they have enough to push themselves over the top?
Signing the Sedins was Gillis’ top priority this offseason and now he’ll need to ideally add another top six forward and a defenseman to replace Mattias Ohlund. It was sad to see Ohlund sign with Tampa Bay today, but I have made my peace with the fact he was not going to be back quite a while ago. The addition of another top forward would help bridge the gap between now and the future as Cody Hodgson and Michael Grabner and sure to challenge for roster spots this fall.
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