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Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan
I have a good friend who is a Canucks fan and he says the team has not been the same since they lost Christian Ehrhoff.
Malhotra was another big loss. Sometimes guys like this are not appreciated until they are gone. Look at the Colorado Avalanche. Something was missing after they traded Stephane Yelle.
I still think this is a good team (bias aside). IF Hansen did hit the EN, the narrative would be totally different right now.
They need to sort out the goalie situation though. This can't drag on another summer.
Kesler needs a full off season to get better. His demise is a bit premature.
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I live in Vancouver and unfortunately see far more Canucks games than I'd like, and I have to agree with the Erhoff loss. He really was the central cog in their defence.
A major issue is that the Sedins and Kelser just aren't playing as well as they were 2 years ago. Secondary scoring like Samuelsson, Malhotra, Torres, etc.. just isn't there this year. So I'm not sure that giving Erhoff that massive contract he was looking for would have been the solution. If anything, Vancouver has put themselves in the Flames trap with too many "core" players signed long term. Already, the Burrows, Higgins, and Edler contracts are looking like potential mistakes.
Burrows, especially, is going to backfire. He's 32 now and looks to be on the decline (and honestly wasnt that great to begin with). Signing him for 4 more years at 4.5 was a big mistake.
The simple fact of the matter is that they expected their core to play at a top level for longer than they did. They look very much like Calgary did 2-3 years ago. Aging core, little prospects, and obviously not an elite team. It'll be interesting to see what they do here. They have a few more tradeable assets than Calgary did. Most notably Mr.Schneider.