Sundin apartment-hunting / Ohlund open to being traded

SUNDIN UPDATE
While the Canucks travelled to Nashville, Sundin practiced hard at GM Place and looked for an apartment, according to HockeyExpressen. His girlfriend Josephine will be coming to Vancouver soon to check out the place and perhaps live here.
Not sure if he partied with Ryan Johnson at all on New Years, but he said it was a possibility.

OHLUND MAY BE ON THE MOVE

You'll have to translate this Sportbladet article about Ohlund. He said that there is no progress in contract talks and that if the Canucks won't meet his demands he will try somewhere new.
If Ohlund seeks about $7 million per season I am pretty sure management will let him go by the trade deadline. Ohlund is not worth that much, I don't care how long he's been here. The return for Ohlund in a trade would be sweet I'm sure.
The article also mentions that the Sedins do not want to leave Vancouver, but they could demand $6-7 million each.

T Tags: Sundin+update apartment+shopping Ohlund+may+be+traded Sedins+contract+talks

Raymond and Demitra get promotions

From Canucks Nation:

In the Canucks case, that looks like it means the the end of the Steve Bernier-on-the-first line experiment.It was flawed from the start as Bernier's style never meshed with the Sedin twins. Now, the twins get something they desperately need — speed. Mason Raymond skated with the Sedins Wednesday and is expected to join the first line Thursday in L.A. But that's not all. Kyle Wellwood is expected to play with the twins on the power play with Jason Krog dropping out of the lineup in favour of Mike Brown. Raymond is expected to run the half wall on the team's No. 2 PP unit. He had been playing the point but that job will go to Sami Salo who was taken off the first unit.

Oh for f**k's sake. The third Sedin saga continues. Do the Sedins really need speed on their line? Bernier had that. Bernier also never really got open enough to receive passes or capitalize on his chances when he got them. Raymond is worth a shot, but I really like the idea of Kyle Wellwood playing with them on the PP for starters, yet think he could be given a shot full time with the enigmatic twins as well.
So the last player that really clicked with the Sedins for any elongated period of time was Anson Carter. What type of player was he? Fast? No. From my recollection he was a a big body presence who could create open space in front of the net and bury the puck when given the chance. Well, see for yourself:


How is Raymond going to create open space with his puny size? How would Wellwood for that matter?
Another scenario: Maybe the Sedins need a few more tricks in their hats than cycling the puck along the boards and then putting the puck out front. You can see that teams are defending against it most of the time. Maybe Carter would be less effective now because of the other teams doing their homework.

It's a tricky scenario, and it has been going on for too long now. Who is going to be the third Sedin? Are we ever going to find him?
Without sounding like I'm panicking, because I'm not, it is a strange time for the twins to dry up offensively while their contract negotiations are ongoing. Shouldn't they be exceeding expectations to earn a raise? At least their effort is there.
Is Mike Gillis going to believe enough in these 2 guys to keep them around and build the team around them?
Even if he doesn't, who could take on their 2 contracts after this season? A trade route would be mandatory.
We'll see. Like I said, I'm not panicking with these guys, because they'll start scoring eventually. But I really am tired of the parade of players getting their shot as the 3rd guy and failing.

Sedins feeling good after meeting with Gillis

"I felt good after the meeting," Daniel said. "I talked to Henrik in the car after and it felt good. Mike is a nice man. I like his ideas on the team. He wants to play a more exciting style of game. We had an open dialogue."

"We didn't talk too much about the contract," Daniel said. "We talked to J.P. and he knows what we want and now Mike knows what we want, too. It's up to them now. J.P. is going to call us when something is close.
"I've always been optimistic."

The rest is up to JP Barry and Gillis to iron out. The Sedins will now focus on hockey.
The rest of the story is here.

T Tags: Sedins+happy Mike+Gillis+meeting contract+extension

Clarification on the Sedins-Gillis meeting

Isn't it great talking about something other than Mats Sundin in Canuckland?
The meeting between Gillis, the Sedins, and JP Barry is more of a "GM getting to know his players" dinner. The Sedins will hear what plans Gillis has for them.

"We're just going to have dinner," JP Barry explained. "It's just an initial dinner. There are no plans for a negotiating session. Mike needs to sit down with Daniel and Henrik, introduce himself, get to know them and talk about the future.
That's probably the best way for all of us to start."

Obviously the twins don't want to go their separate ways either. Does anyone even consider that a possibility? Maybe Gillis does. Maybe. But that is the wrong decision, period. These 2 share are eerliy inseparable.

"No, not for us," Henrik replied to a large scrum of reporters at Burnaby 8-Rinks. "It's not about us being twins. If you look at other tandems in the league that play on the same team, I don't think people are talking that way for them.

"We like it here. We've never been players to take the last dollar to stay here. If it's a little bit less, then we'll take it."

Remember what I said about what agents want and what the players they represent say? The agents want to get their players lucrative deals. Hank Sedin had said they would take a paycut to stay in Vancouver together and remain here longer. Barry of course had to clarify that:

"That's just Henrik being straightforward," Barry said. "Obviously, they know it's a priority to stay together and it's my job to find out for them what's appropriate in that context."

Yeah, you're worse than a blood-sucking lawyer aren't you?
Don't ask Gillis to tip his hat on the matter because he is remaining tight-lipped.

"We're going to have dinner and we'll see where it takes us," said the GM. "I really don't want to say too much about it because I'd like to speak to these guys first-hand and tell them what I'm thinking. I'm not going to do it through the media."

We'll see what both parties have to say after a few rum and cokes, swedish meatballs and chit chat.

Check out the Sun article for more on the story.

T Tags: Sedins+dinner+with+Mike+Gillis JP+Barry contract Canucks

Sedins let the cat out of the bag before the meeting with Gillis

A no-trade clause. The Sedins want to stay in Vancouver. From Ben Kuzma of the Province:

The trade-off is a no-trade clause.
In return for less than market value in the first year of multi-year contract extensions, Henrik Sedin wants the professionalism and production that he and twin brother Daniel have provided the Vancouver Canucks to be rewarded with peace of mind.
And while money and term are important, a no-trade clause is imperative.
"We would like to have that for sure," Henrik stressed Tuesday in advance of today's dinner meeting with general manager Mike Gillis and agent J.P. Barry.

"We want to be here long-term. Our families love it here, and we like it here, so that's something we really want to have.

"We'll never be players who'll take the last dollar to stay here. If it's a little bit less, we'll take it."

And then JP Barry, the Swedes' agent piped in:

"There's no question, if you look at all these deals with free agents of this magnitude, no-trade clauses are a really important part of the discussion," Barry said of the twins, who can become unrestricted free agents July 1.

"Generally, in these deals you see a pretty standard term ... in the range of four to seven years. We'll look across the spectrum of comparables, and they're from $5 to $7 million (US) if the player is staying with his team or going to another."

I'm cool with each making somewhere between $5-7 million. But the big question now will be what Gillis has in mind. Does he want to build the team around Hank and Dank? Will he risk allowing a no-trade-clause? God, those clauses are tricky. It's fair to say that the Sedins have been consistent offensively most of the time. Just not in the playoffs. Daniel only has 5 goals and 18 points in 43 playoff games. Hank has played the same number of playoff games and only has 10 goals and 20 points. I think I just talked myself out of agreeing they should have a no trade clause. Where are these guys when we need them the most? They need to shed their image as lackluster playoff performers. After all, they are our top line.
Stay tuned. This could get really interesting in a hurry. Or....nothing will happen in the meeting and this will drag out all season.

T Tags: Sedins+want+no+trade+clause meeting+with+Gillis Canucks

If JP Barry has his way, the Sedins are in for a huge raise **UPDATED**

From TSN: JP Barry told Team 1040 today:

"We just finished an extension negotiation for Shawn Horcoff, who did almost a carbon copy deal of the Sedins last time, and since that was done two years ago, Daniel and Henrik have outpaced him quite a bit offensively," Barry told the Team 1040. "So, we're going to see deals like that in the marketplace – the Gomez, Drury deal - for players who go free. They've outpaced both Gomez and Drury over the last three years. You know, they've outscored those players, and those players went free, so I think the question is 'What's the price to stay, and what's the price to go?'"

Shawn Horcoff's extension will see him get paid $7 million in 2009-10 and $6.5 million in 2010-11 and it slowly descends drom there. Scott Gomez makes $8 million per season over the next 3 seasons and Chris Drury makes $7.1 million this season and $8.05 million next season. So you get what kind of money Barry and the Sedins are going for here: somewhere between $7-8 million for each sister.
Barry had also mentioned that the deal would probably have been done already had Dave Nonis still been the GM, as he had been in management with the Sedins since they were 18. Well isn't that special?
If Gillis doesn't acquire anyone else in the near future, he can barely absorb the Sedins' potential raise. But it will be close. But you have to keep in mind that Lukas Krajicek, Alex Edler, Mattias Ohlund, and probably even Steve Bernier will all become free agents next summer and will be wanting a raise. The near future doesn't look so damned rosey does it?
If the Sedins don't get the $8 million here, they'll get it somewhere else. Then the questions become: does Gillis want to build the team around them? If yes, then who does he trade away to save salary? Bieksa or Ohlund?
If he chooses NOT to extend the Sedins and a deal falls through, would it not be wise to flog the twins and get some value in return? If they leave next summer and we save all that money, what is it going to matter? Vancouver cannot attract big name players anyways.
Well, this will get interesting. Look for the Swedish twins to really step it up this year to boost their market value.

**UPDATE- Sept. 9**
From the Province today: Dan Sedin said:

"We're not looking for the last amount of dollar. It's about our family being happy and us being happy -- that's the most important thing. But we haven't talked about anything, so we'll see what happens."

If the Twins aren't looking for the last amount of dollar, JP Barry IS. If the Sedins took any kind of discount I would be impressed. I just have a hard time believing any player who says that it's not about the money. Heard that one many times before.
The Swedes, along with Barry, are going to meet with Mike Gillis tomorrow to see what Gillis thinks about having them in the Canucks' plans going forward.
NOTE: Back in April, Gillis said of the Twins:

"I don't think the group of forwards right now are ready to compete. I don't know if they [the Sedins] are players the team will be built around moving forward. That evaluation process will go on."

A statement he later retracted. The Sedins were taken aback by that statement but stated that they have been used to that kind of criticism since Day 1.



T Tags: JP+Barry+Canucks+negotiating+Sedins+extension

Sedins to finish their careers in Modo

From HockeyExpressen.se: (roughly translated)

They have probably four five seasons left in North America before it bears homewards to Z-fold.
First, they want to defend Olympic gold at home in Vancouver in 2010.
- The fact that there will be games in Modo is, of course, and we want to come home while we are fresh, but first it will be a few years in the NHL," said Daniel Sedin.

First of all, I am drunk.
Secondly, what does this say about the Swede sisters' desire to succeed in the NHL?
I say not much. Gold medal for their country BEFORE a Cup. What is your opinion?
They had better perform better this season, or their integrity is gone, in my opinion.

**SOBER EDIT** In the end, they can do whatever they want. This is nothing to be overly concerned about yet because ANYTHING can happen.
But I still want to see more from the Twins this season. No more excuses.

T Tags: Sedins+loyal+to+Sweden Canucks Modo

Verbal Wars: The Sedins Strike Back

The Sedins have come under fire lately for their lack of offensive output and looking 'soft' during the playoffs. Daniel had 5 points and was a -5 in 12 games. Hank had 4 points and was a -8. It was revealed after the Ducks series that both Sedins were suffering from stomach illnesses. Regardless, I think that generally the media and perhaps a lot of fans like myself expected more out of them regardless.
Very recently the Sedins dropped their usual passive image and their dance moves, retaliating in a sense to all the bad press they have received.

"I've heard it all before, it doesn't bother me at all. But it's just wrong," Daniel said. "We played two playoff series against two tough teams, really tough teams. But there was no hitting on us. I don't think I got hit once in the playoffs. How are we soft then? I don't know.
But I know how far we've come. I know how we were in the first two years and I know where we are now. We've come a long way."

True. They have come a long way. The first question that comes to my mind is: "If they weren't hitting you, then why did you still look so awkward and ineffective out there?"

Henrik was a little more harsh with his words.

"A lot of these 'experts' come out and say we're perimeter players," Henrik said. "They're the same people who said we'd be nothing more than decent third-line forwards.
We're not perimeter players. We like to cycle, we like to hold on to the puck, but once there's a chance to go to the net, we're right there going to the hard areas.
We're confident we're playoff players and this result is only going to make us work harder this summer to come back stronger."

Who said they would only end up being 3rd line players? I think the expectations were always higher. I hate to be the ass, but I thought the Sedins were perimeter for most of those 2 rounds against Anaheim and Dallas. Oh well. They were sick, right? That doesn't make me feel much better. Steve Yzerman won a Cup on one leg....so.....

"We had a lot of quality scoring chances in tight, but they weren't going in," said Daniel.
"Then, we started worrying about things and changing things and we started doing things we don't normally do.
"I think we should have stuck with it, but when the pucks don't go in, it's tough."

Chalk it up as a learning curve to the Twins. Hopefully next time around the virus doesn't hit and they can fight through adversity regardless. We need these guys to be our leading scorers in the playoffs, because, to be honest, their futility more or less put us out of the playoffs.

Ah, life playing in front of Canucks fans and Canucks media. We don't miss anything, and we demand accountability. I guess we got that from the Sedins this time didn't we?

Hang in there Hank and Danny Boy. We still believe in you.

Quotes from the Vancouver Province.

T Tags: Canucks Virus Dan+ Sedin Henrik+Sedin