On the Vancouver Canucks …
Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province: There are several mid- to late-round draft picks who are on the smaller size that are having some success in the NHL.
The Canucks haven’t so far have been trying stockpile mid- to late-round draft picks are part of their rebuilding plan. They’ve had some success in the past with them, so it’s a bit confusing why they haven’t.
The Canucks moved out Thomas Vanek at the deadline but didn’t get the pick they wanted.
Teams could be interested in defenseman Chris Tanev at the draft. Tanev has battled a variety of injuries because of his style of play but he still does have a lot of value.
The Canucks also have Ben Hutton who could be a good buy-low option for a team. Hutton has a year left at $2.8 million.
Up front, the Canucks have Sven Baertschi who they could consider moving as they may have a Nikolay Goldobin as a top-six replacement.
On the Columbus Blue Jackets Pending UFA Matt Calvert …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Darren Dreger was on WGR 550 and was asked about Matt Calvert’s future. Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said that pending UFA was inconsistent this season. Dreger doesn’t think that Calvert will be back with the Blue Jackets next year and there should be a good free agent market for him.
“… There’s going to be a strong market for Matt Calvert. He’s going to get paid. He’s going to get a decent increase in his salary. And if he’s not good enough for John Tortorella, off the top of my head I can probably name 15 teams that would have an interest in the type of game that Matt Calvert brings to the table.”
Calvert could be viewed by a team similar to the Jets Matt Hendricks.