Sportsnet 590 The FAN: Satiar Shah on the Kyper and Bourne show on what’s next for the Vancouver Canucks, if they are done making moves for now or are they still looking to add.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Kypreos: “Where did the Vancouver Canucks go from here? Is this, can you see this roster settling in at a certain point or are they still looking?”
Shah: “I think they’re very much still looking. The guy on the back end that they’re trying to get done is Ethan Bear. Whenever he’s willing to sign. We’ll see if they are able to get that over the finish line.
I wouldn’t be shocked guys, that if they are able to clear a little bit of more cap space, that they’re still kind of in the market around some defenseman. I know Chris Tanev is going to be really hard to pull off. We know that a team like Cal, LA, I mean, sorry, Toronto has obviously been interested in him as well. I know Elliott mentioned how both Zadorov and Tanev were kind of guys they were after to get. If the Canucks can clear cap space, I wouldn’t be shocked and we started hearing them maybe sniffing around Tanev to shore up the defense even more.
And even if they do all those things, guys, let’s say they are able to get another defenseman and sign Ethan Bear, I still think they’re gonna be open-minded to doing some stuff up front. Because it’s good as this Canucks team has been offensively, I think the goal-scoring is somewhat misleading. They lead the league and goal-scoring but they don’t generate consistent chances for that to really stay on top of the league the entire season. I think there’ll be a time where if they can add another top-six guy that can fit in I think they would look at that as well.
Because right now they have players like Sam Lafferty, Phil Di Giuseppe for a while was playing with JT Miller. So when you’re using guys for more third-line players, fourth-line players filling in that F1 spot on the top-six line, it means there’s still some room for improvement.
Clearly, the defense is a priority. But you guys know Jim Rutherford, Patrick Allvin, obviously making more trades than anybody ever since being named the Canucks GM over a year and a half ago, that they’re still gonna be very active on the trade front.
I don’t think even if they add a couple of defensemen, they feel like this team is a finished product. I still think they would love to add some more talent upfront as possible.”