Tag Archives: Draft

Canucks prospect Frankie Corrado a shock cut by Team Canada

Posted on December 13, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

The disappointment that engulfs the final cuts at Team Canada’s world junior selection camp can seem so cruel.

Take one of Canada’s final cuts, Frankie Corrado, who had a compelling underdog story that captured the hopes of despondent Vancouver Canucks fans for a day, or three.

He was a 2011 fifth-round draft pick of the Canucks who conquered long odds just to get an invite to the camp.

He knew it. He joked in one interview leading into the tryout about how out of place his tagline — fifth-round pick — looked amidst the draft day studs who lined the list of Team Canada’s 37 hopefuls.

In other words, just being there was something special.

But Corrado did what any one of us would dream of doing. The defenceman took his opportunity and he made something of it.

He flexed his steady, all-around defensive play, the stuff that got him there, and added offensive flair, scoring two goals in two exhibition games....

Canucks prospect Frank Corrado in heady company on Team Canada world juniors list

Posted on December 3, 2012 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — On a Team Canada world junior roster filled with high-end NHL draft picks, Frank Corrado's name almost seems like a misprint.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Morgan Rielly and Griffin Reinhart, all first-rounders, are on the invited list and you would expect nothing less. But Frank Corrado, fifth-rounder? What's he doing here?

Corrado is an intriguing invitee mostly because he is property of the Vancouver Canucks, who selected him with the 150th pick in the 2011 entry draft. Over the years, the Canucks have had some success in the mid-to-late rounds with players like Kevin Bieksa and Jannik Hansen eventually making an impact. Perhaps Corrado will, too.

“It makes me very happy for our scouting staff that a player selected in that portion of the draft has come so far so fast,” Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman commented Monday after the selections were announced. “It's really a testament to all the hard work Frank has put in since he was drafted. We...

Former Canuck McCarthy comes clean

Posted on October 21, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

ABBOTSFORD — It wasn’t a one-man intervention or some scene from Dr. Phil’s television therapy stage.

When Steve McCarthy was asked about his unremarkable 51 games with the Vancouver Canucks in the 2005-06 season, the defenceman could have continued to point a finger and place the blame elsewhere.

After all, he demanded to be traded in December of that season after being acquired in the summer from the Chicago Blackhawks. He questioned the atmosphere of a Vancouver dressing room and was moved at the trade deadline to the Atlanta Thrashers for a conditional fourth-round draft choice. For their part, the Canucks failed to make the playoffs.

So much for a happy homecoming for the 1999 first-round draft choice from Trail. However, there’s a silver lining to those dark West Coast career clouds.

At 31, McCarthy is on a professional tryout with the Flames after a season in Zurich where he captured a Swiss league championship with new Calgary coach Bob Hartley.

More importantly,...

Giants move out Niebrandt in favour of Zalitach as part of team’s youth movement

Posted on October 11, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Cue the Vancouver Giants’ youth movement.

The club released defenceman John Niebrandt in time for Thursday’s overage waiver draft and didn’t pick up a player in his place, meaning that they’ll compete one under the three 20-year-old maximum for the time being, at the very least.

General manager Scott Bonner said the decision was easily as much about moving Reid Zalitach, 16, into the regular rotation as it was moving out Niebrandt.

Zalitach has a chance to be a shifty, risk-taking, jump-into-the-rush type, much like the Kelowna Rockets had a few years back with Tyson Barrie. He only dressed for two of the first seven games, though, and it was getting to the point where they needed to get him into the lineup regularly or re-assign him to a lower level where he could play frequently.

Niebrandt became the casualty. He wasn’t pegged as a physical guy, despite his 6-foot-5, 196-pound frame, but he was touted as a steady, stay-at-home blueliner, and...

Canucks sign top pick Brendan Gaunce

Posted on August 13, 2012 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks announced Monday they have signed Brendan Gaunce, their first-round selection, in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft.

Gaunce chalked up 68 points (28-40-68) and added 68 penalty minutes in 68 games with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League last season. The 6-2, 205-pound centre led the Bulls in goals, assists and points in the 2011-12 season.

The Markham, Ont., native represented Team Canada at the 2011 Under-18 world junior championship where he collected four points (1-3-4) in seven games, helping Canada win the bronze medal.

Gaunce was selected in the first round, 26th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the June draft.

vancouversun.com

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Jason Arnott available because Blues want to get younger

Posted on August 2, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

The Blues haven’t specifically addressed why they have apparently decided not to offer a new contract to last season’s third-line centre Jason Arnott.

But according to observers in St. Louis, it appears the NHL club is looking to fill his position from within with a player younger than Arnott, 37.

The Blues re-signed winger Jamie Langerbruner, 36, and fourth-line centre Scott Nichol, 37, in the off-season, possibly using up their “quota” of 35-plus players.

But there’s no question the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Arnott could be the short-term answer for the Canucks, who will be without second-line centre Ryan Kesler until December and didn’t re-sign No. 3 centre Samuel Pahlsson. He distinguished himself as one of the top conditioned players on the Blues last season and still possesses a very good shot so can contribute on the power play — as demonstrated with his six PP goals in St. Louis.

Arnott, who’s at the stage of his career where he’s willing to sign a...

Canucks well positioned in Justin Schultz sweepstakes

Posted on June 27, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Justin Schultz is badly wanted in Vancouver, and the Canucks are doing everything they can to woo him.

With the Canucks positioned as shortlisters in the Justin Schultz sweepstakes, guaranteed playing time can't be too critical for the coveted free agent defenceman.

The Canucks brass, GM Mike Gillis and assistant GM Laurence Gilman, are in Toronto preparing to pitch the highly touted prospect and you can be sure part of their sell job is not promises he will play on the No. 1 power play unit; or even assurances he'll be in Vancouver's top-six to start the season.

If it was all about playing time, the Canucks wouldn't even get a call back.

With a reported 26 teams expressing interest, there's little doubt some general managers are willing to commit "time on ice" to Schultz before he even signs a contract.

And you can understand why that's tempting. Acquiring Schultz is a boon. He'd be a top-five draft pick, and he's ready now to step into an NHL lineup. He makes your team younger and your organization deeper and...

Gaunce and Jensen to join other Canucks prospects at camp this week

Posted on June 26, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

The Canucks’ first-round draft picks from the last two seasons -- Brendan Gaunce and Nicklas Jensen -- will be participating in the NHL club’s Prospect Development Camp, beginning Thursday and running through Monday.

Thirty-five players will attend the camp, which begins with fitness testing at UBC on Thursday, followed by four days of on-ice work at Rogers Arena.

Also attending will be three of the Canucks’ other four draft picks from last weekend: centre Alexandre Mallet (57th overall), defenceman Ben Hutton (147th overall) and centre Matthew Beattie (207th overall).

The camp is about familiarizing prospects with the Canucks organization and allowing the team to get a handle on their fitness levels. Some of the activities showcase the city of Vancouver, including hiking the Grouse Grind and dragon boating at False Creek.

...

Iain MacIntyre: Trying to match a price to Luongo’s value

Posted on June 24, 2012 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

PITTSBURGH — The problem with making the Roberto Luongo trade is that each side wants the other to beg.

The Vancouver Canucks see their deposed starter as a National Hockey League star who is a three-time Vezina Trophy finalist and remains one of only a handful of netminders who guarantees his employer 30-40 wins a season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers – and probably others – see Luongo as a 33-year-old, $53.3-million account payable.

So you can imagine there might be a fair amount of indignation when potential deals are discussed. How dare you demand our best prospect for Luongo? How dare you offer flotsam for Luongo?

Whatever Toronto Maple Leaf general manager Brian Burke pitched to Gillis at the NHL entry draft landed well short of acquiring Luongo, so the Canucks left Pittsburgh with both their No. 1 goalies in the organization and five newly-drafted prospects. The four chosen Saturday are all of a certain type: big, older,...

Draft notes: Canucks surprise with second pick

Posted on June 24, 2012 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

PITTSBURGH — The Vancouver Canucks noticed something NHL Central Scouting didn’t: Rimouski Oceanic centre Alexandre Mallet.

Unrated by the league’s scouting department, Mallet was the Canucks’ first choice Saturday on the second day of the entry draft.

The abrasive, two-way centre with 81 points and 132 penalty minutes this season was also the last Canuck draft pick before the fifth round and embodied management’s weekend draft strategy of going older, as the National Hockey League team took more developed players with its final four selections.

Mallet is already 20 years old, two years older than most of the teenagers claimed here, and will probably play in the American Hockey League next season after being ignored in last year’s draft.

“I didn’t even think about the second round,” Mallet, the son of a veterinarian in Amqui, Que., said in accented English after the Canucks chose him 57th. “Probably [round] five or six ... was what I suspect. It’s really nice. I cannot describe...

Vancouver Canucks gamble on late bloomers in 2012 NHL draft

Posted on June 23, 2012 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

PITTSBURGH – The Vancouver Canucks gambled on a classic late-bloomer Saturday morning, but not the one right under their noses.

With the 58th pick of the National Hockey League entry draft, the Canucks selected Rimouski Oceanic left winger Alexandre Mallet, one spot before the Phoenix Coyotes claimed Vancouver Giants' left winger Jordan Martinook.

It was a recurring theme for the Canucks, whose final four picks were all players overlooked in their first year of draft eligibility. Three of them are headed to U.S. colleges, giving the players and the Canucks additional development time.

“They're late-bloomers, but we know what we're getting,” Canuck general manager Mike Gillis said after netting five prospects, including Friday first-rounder Brendan Gaunce, at hockey's annual talent lottery. “We're trying to get players who are ready [for professional hockey] and if they're not ready. . . are going to college.”

The Canucks' pick included sixth-rounder Wesley Myron, a 19-year-old high-scoring winger from the Victoria Grizzlies who is the first...

Vancouver Canucks pick big physical centre Mallet in second round

Posted on June 23, 2012 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

With their first pick on day two of the NHL Draft, the Vancouver Canucks selected 20 year old forward Alexandre Mallet with the 57th overall pick. Alexandre Mallet is an over age draft eligible prospect, he's a forward who weighs over two-hundred pounds and he plys his trade in the QMJHL - so the pick continues several trends exhibited by the Canucks in their drafting since Mike Gillis took over as General Manager before the 2008 draft.

It's mostly a coincidence, says Assistant General Manager Laurence Gilman. "The way we run the draft, we've taken the most skilled player, the highest guy on our list, in the first two rounds," Gilman tells the Sun, "In the case of [Alexandre Mallet] we had him ranked high, and one of the reasons we liked him is that he's a big physical center who is going through a rapid development path at this point."

The pick remained a surprise to many mock drafters,...

Many moves, few improvements at NHL Draft

Posted on June 22, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

It seemed like optics were the watchword at the NHL draft Friday with a lot of teams making moves but few really improving their chances for next season other than the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Take the blockbuster on the evening which was Jordan Staal going to Carolina for Brandon Sutter, a first round pick with whom the Pittsburgh Penguins turned into Derrick Pouliot and another young defenceman Ryan Dumoulin.

This move will really drive enthusiasm in the Carolina market and perhaps sell some tickets but looking at the deal and the way coach Kirk Muller had them going towards the end of the season, you have to wonder what the Canes management was thinking. Sutter is already just the kind of centre many teams are looking for and given he's going in behind Evgeny Malkin and Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh, he fits the Pens need perfectly. His salary demands won't be anywhere near as high as Staal's and he's already a...

Canucks’ Gillis and Leafs’ Burke not blinking on Luongo deal

Posted on June 22, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Canucks' Gillis and Leafs' Burke refuse to blink on Luongo deal.

PITTSBURGH — A day that started with some flirtation ended with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks positioning themselves in something of a standoff in Roberto Luongo talks.

Let's just say, they're not taking the Ray Shero approach.

First, Toronto GM Brian Burke told reporters he liked his goalies, claiming he was in no rush to improve the position and certainly wasn't going to pay too much. Then, Vancouver GM Mike Gillis countered with this:

"We're in no hurry either. We're listening to a number of different situations. I haven't made my mind up yet about what direction we're going to go. I think it's more prudent to be patient and make sure we're doing the right thing for our organization."

Gillis said he's not looking for draft picks so the deal does not have to come together at the draft. Shero, the hometown general manager, meanwhile became the story of the draft by trading Jordan Staal just 24 hours...