Canucks top defence prospect Chris Tanev can't get in the
lineup these days as Vancouver looks at newly arrived defenceman.
Chris Tanev is apparently stuck in no man’s land
while the Canucks get a look at their new acquisition on defence – Marc-Andre
Gragnani – who the team must get into 12 more NHL games to avoid him
becoming a Group 6 unrestricted free agent on July 1. The Canucks have 16
regular-season games left. If he plays the 80 games, Gragnani becomes a
restricted free agent instead, making him much easier for the Canucks to
re-sign. More…
Shacks’
Take: I may be in the minority here
but I think the Canucks are sending the wrong message using Gragnani instead of
Tanev. There’s little chance Gragnani
will start ahead of Tanev in the playoffs and players notice when management
makes decisions based on businesss and not what’s best for the team. If Gragnani deserved to start that would be
one thing, but starting him to prevent him from becoming a free-agent might serve to create a rift with players who believe winning is more important
than the status of a free-agent.
I also believe Tanev should be a big part of the Canucks’
playoff push as he is definitely one of their six best defenders. The Canucks would be better served giving him
more quality minutes now to get him ready for the playoffs than sitting him in
the press box. Seriously, does anyone
really think Gragnani is going to man the number one power play ahead of Salo
in the playoffs? I hope this decision
doesn’t come back to bite them.
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