Vancouver Canucks owner on Lombardi speculation
Francesco Aquilini: “I want to correct erroneous media reports that I tried to hire Dean Lombardi. In fact, I’ve never spoken to Dean Lombardi in my life.”
The Canucks could have some options this offseason
TSN Radio Vancouver: Jason Botchford on the Canucks offseason: “I think there’s lots of moves to be made right now, starting now, where you can get difference-makers. Sutter gone, Beagle gone, build a good third line, a good fourth line, find free agents, weaponize the cap space and find players with high upside”
- TSN Radio Vancouver: Botchford on the Canucks using their cap space: “The can go an aggressively take on (contracts)…take on James Neal from Calgary. What would Calgary give you? I think they would give you significant assets in return. And he was good not so long ago. The year before this season he was legitimately good.”
- TSN Radio Vancouver: Botchford continues: “To me, if I’m Calgary and they have to pay Tkachuk, I’m thinking it’s a first and prospect. And a good one, like a Dillon Dube. And then, you call Nashville and you go, we’ve got this guy and Calgary’s first. We’ll give you that, and a sweetener for PK Subban”
Keys to the Vegas Golden Knights offseason
Greg Wyshynski and Chris Peters of ESPN: Looking at the keys to the Vegas Golden Knights offseason.
Re-sign William Karlsson – The pending RFA has arbitration rights. His scoring dropped from 43 to 24 goals, but his defensive game was still Selke Trophy level.
Add a big piece on defense – Most Stanley Cup winners have that “foundational defenseman.” They have a nice collection of defenseman, but not a main guy. They went after Erik Karlsson last season, will they do so again?
Address the bottom six – Their top two lines are set but could use a tweak to their bottom six. Recently signed Nikita Gusev is a wild card.
