Under Further Review – Douglas Smith with Editor Bill Morphy. Special thanks to our regular contributors including Jordan Moss, Ian MacPhee, Dave Kittle, Ted Tait, Frank Sullivan, Peter Hucul, Glen and Bill Myles, Howard Steiss, Rob Wagner and Iqbal Grewall.

Spanning the digital ether to bring you the constant variety of sport… the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat… the human drama of athletic competition… This is Under Further Review.

Missed Deadline – Who’s kidding who? It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the Vancouver Canucks were serious Cup contenders. Through this season of injuries and dysfunction, the team has clearly taken a big step back. It’s time for some serious self-analysis because the foundation appears to be crumbling from within.

Since the arrival of Jimmy Rutherford and Patrik Allvin, it’s been all about the here and now. Short-term thinking. Worry about the future later. Well, here’s a news flash. The focus has to change to asset accumulation. The core group is no longer good enough. You need a deeper roster.

What resulted at the trade deadline was complete paralysis. At first glance, it looked like the New York Rangers underpaid to acquire defenceman Carson Soucy. However, the third-round pick acquired by the Canucks originally belonged to San Jose so the selection should actually land in the 65 range. OK deal but not great.

Was it worth keeping Brock Boeser as an ‘own rental’ just to try and wrestle a wildcard playoff spot? According to Allvin, “If I told you what I was offered for Brock, I think I would have to run out of here because you would not believe me.” The market for Pius Suter was also soft. The market for Derek Forbert was non-existent. So be it. It’s hard to believe the market was that soft when Washington gave up a second-round pick for Anthony Beauvillier and the L.A. Kings tossed out a third-round pick for Andrei Kuzmenko.

In today’s hockey universe, cap space is everything. Letting Boeser walk this summer for nothing would be a huge misstep but the Canucks would also gain $6.65 million in cap room. Trouble is, finding a high value replacement on the free agent market is next to impossible. If you go the trade route to replace him, now you are using additional assets and draft capital. Bottom line, there’s no way you can grade the Canucks trade deadline as anything other than a missed opportunity.

Let’s all agree. It’s been a nightmare season in Vancouver. Why toll cap space all season and not use it at the deadline? The Canucks surrendered a third-round pick to Colorado at the start of the season in order to dump Tucker Poolman’s contract for the purpose of tolling cap space. It seems irresponsible not to salvage more from a season that’s gone so wrong.

What do you do? You chart a new course. The Canucks are staring at a first-round exit and that’s even if they qualify for the post-season. Whether they recognize it or not, the Canucks are entering a transitional phase (again) and they need to act accordingly.

The Canucks will head into the off-season in relatively good shape from a cap standpoint. Right now, they have $81,423,000 committed to 20 players. With the cap set at $95.5 million, they will have about $14 million to play with. If they choose to re-sign Boeser, a good chunk of it will go out the door immediately. It will then be hard to find a top centre.

There’s still the question of what to do about Elias Pettersson? No team would touch that contract right now. All the team can do is hope he suddenly starts playing better. Maybe find a taker in the summer before his no-trade clicks in. Pettersson finally scored his first goal since the calendar turned to 2025. Hey, he’s caught up to Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin. Pettersson hasn’t done himself any favours by blaming the ‘annoying’ media. It’s funny how Pettersson didn’t have any issue with the media when he won rookie-of-the-year. Nor the year he scored 102 points. What’s to complain about? There are fewer media covering the team than ever before and access is closely controlled. Just this week, Pettersson finally took control of the narrative and admitted he needs to perform better for the chatter to end. Duh!

NHL Trade Deadline Takeaways – The NHL trade deadline produced 26 trades involving 52 players and 29 draft picks. It blew the door off last year’s deadline when 33 players were moved. Crazy as it seems, after all the movement, several contending teams will be out after the first round. There’s a scenario where Dallas and Colorado and Florida and Tampa could meet in the opening round. Doesn’t seem right. The NHL needs to change the playoff system to prevent top teams from exiting so quickly.

It does seem like the rich get richer every year at the deadline. Dallas, Colorado, Florida and Tampa all came away winners. Depth wins in the playoffs and all four have it in abundance. Add in Washington and there’s your top five playoff contenders. Here’s a few notes from all the trade activity starting with a cross-Canada checkup.

• The Edmonton Oilers made a couple of nice additions with trades for Trent Frederic and Jake Walman. Giving up a first-round pick for Walman was an overpay. He can be mistake-prone. The Oilers have been hemorrhaging goals of late so the failure to acquire a goalie will prove costly. There are 34 goalies in the NHL with a better save percentage than Stu Skinner. Zero chance the Oilers return to the Final.
• The deadline was quiet in Calgary and Montreal. Both teams are hoping they can slip into the playoffs and gain some unexpected, yet valuable, playoff experience. The Flames get a failing grade for their inability to weaponize $18 million in cap space.
• The Winnipeg Jets made a couple of nice deadline additions in Brandon Tanev and Luke Schenn. However, the Jets failed to keep pace with the other giants in their division. The failure to land a second-line centre will hurt come playoff time when either Dallas and Colorado are lying in wait. We still have reservations about the Jets lack of speed up front and overall toughness on defence. They sure can roll four good lines though.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs pretty much shot their wad at the deadline in acquiring centre Scott Laughton and right-shot defenceman Brandon Carlo. Both players fill big needs but will they really move the needle enough for the Leafs to advance past the first round? It’s doubtful if the matchup is Tampa or Florida. Worst yet, the cupboard is now completely bare. The Leafs are without a first-round pick for the next three years. Their only pick in the first four rounds in 2026 is a third-rounder. Prospects Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin were dealt as well. (Like a little kitten, they’ve lost their Minten) Even with the additions, the Leafs are a longshot at best. They can’t handle heavy teams. Witness what happened this week. The Leafs got spanked around by Vegas and for good measure, blew a 4-2 lead on Saturday night vs. Colorado, surrendering 4 goals in the third period. Guess they’re warming up for the playoffs! Only gave up a dirty dozen over the past two games. You might think the Leafs best shot would be meeting Ottawa in the first round. Sorry, the Sens are 3-0 vs. the Leafs this season.
• It was expected to be a quiet deadline in Ottawa. Instead, the Senators came away big winners, landing a pair of controllable top-six forwards? Wow! They sent Josh Norris to Buffalo for Dylan Cozens and in the process, got out from under the final three years of Norris’ deal at nearly $8 million per. The absolute shocker was the Sens also extracted a second-round pick out of the Sabres. Norris misses more time than a government worker. In the four seasons prior to this one, Norris missed 148 games. That’s 55% of the schedule. Cozens, meanwhile, has played every game this season and has missed only seven games in the last three years. Cozens paid immediate dividends as the Sens overcame a two-goal third period deficit on Saturday to post a huge OT win over the Rangers. Right-shot centres are hard to find and the Sens now have two good ones in Cozens and Shane Pinto. This deal has all the same hallmarks of the Eichel and Reinhart trades that backfired for the Sabres. Adding Fabian Zetterlund to the top-six forward group was a huge bonus. Zetterlund is a tank at 5-11 and 220 pounds. He’ll add scoring punch up front. Awesome work by Steve Staios.
• The Boston Bruins hold the NHL’s all-time playoff streak of 29 years which stretched from the 1967-68 season until 1995-96. Their current string of consecutive playoff appearances stands at eight but is now sure to end. Reality finally struck at this year’s deadline. The Bruins dealt away from than 2,500 games of NHL experience including hardened vet Brad Marchand. End of an era for sure.
• The Bruins dealt Charlie Coyle to the Avs for Casey Mittelstadt which was questionable. Never been a fan of Mittelstadt. Poor skater and soft. Colorado GM Chris MacFarland has remade the team overnight. The Avs started the season with Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen in goal. They were replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. Down the middle, the Avs can now roll out Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Coyle and Jack Drury. Huge upgrade. Add in Martin Necas on the top line and Ryan Lindgren on the second pairing on defense and you have a completely remodeled team. Let’s see if all the changes gel. Getting Gabriel Landeskog back for the playoffs would be icing on the cake.
• The Washington Capitals sit atop the Eastern Conference yet chose to stand pat. We’ll see if the lack of activity bites them in the playoffs.
• When you are rebuilding, it’s all about asset accumulation. That’s what’s happening in San Jose where the Sharks could have eight selections in the first and second rounds over the next two drafts. A year ago, the Sharks acquired a second rounder from Detroit when they took Jake Walman as part of a salary dump. A year later, he was moved to Edmonton for a first-rounder. Nice bit of work there.
• Mikko Rantanen landed in Dallas and immediately signed an eight-year deal for $96 million which is reportedly less than what was offered by both Carolina and Colorado. Once again, is there any doubt teams in tax-free states have an inherent advantage over the rest of the league?
• The Stars look loaded with the addition of Rantanen. Like the Leafs, the Stars are without a first-round pick for the next three years. Miro Heiskanen and Tyler Seguin will be back for the playoffs. Look out! Is this the Stars year, finally?
• No team took a bigger hit at the deadline than the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes have gone from contender to also-ran. Logan Stankoven and a bevy of draft picks doesn’t help them much now. It’s obvious many players don’t want to play for the Canes meddling owner Tom Dundon.
• The Florida Panthers look poised for another Cup run with the additions of Seth Jones and Brad Marchand. Panthers GM Bill Zito always seems to pull the right strings. How about a second line featuring The Rat, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk? The Panthers also added centre Nico Sturm and a pair of back-up goalies for insurance. The Cup runs through Florida.
• Are the lights on in Los Angeles? The Kings only move was acquiring the mercurial Andrei Kuzmenko from the Flyers. Kuzmenko is turning into this era’s version of Mike Sillinger. What a waste of a third-round pick!
• If anyone can explain what Barry Trotz is doing in Nashville, please step forward. Trotz was an outstanding bench boss but he’s out to lunch as a GM.
• Injuries have derailed the New Jersey Devils season. Sometimes you just have to retreat and look ahead. The Devils were smart to resist giving up any prime draft capital with their playoff hopes out the window.
• The Seattle Kraken netted some big returns as they look to the future. The Kraken stockpiled two first-round picks and two second-round picks for Brandon Tanev, Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Very solid haul. Let’s see if they can do anything with it.
• The Tampa Lightning have quietly been playing some very good hockey for a while now. Gourde and Bjorkstrand really solidify their top-nine forward group. The market price was steep. The contention window will eventually close but why not keep knocking on the door? The Bolts may not be done yet.

Countdown to 2026 – As we jokingly mentioned last time around, it probably wasn’t going to take Canadian hockey fans long to start making their selections for Team Canada for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Never too early, apparently. Two things to remember. The hockey competition will be played on an NHL-sized ice surface, not on the old Olympic-sized rink. Each team will be allowed to carry 25 players, unlike the Four Nations Face-Off where the rosters were limited to 23. Of course, fighting is not allowed so it’s doubtful the Tkachuk brothers will be jumping anyone off the opening face-off. Fighting results in an immediate game misconduct.

As much as hockey insiders are pumping Tom Wilson, Zach Hyman and Mark Scheifele as potential additions to the Team Canada roster in Italy, the one name that keeps coming up from our perspective is Adam Fantilli. He’s got everything. Size, speed and power. He can move up and down the lineup. Don’t see any way you can keep Fantilli off the roster. Yet, his name rarely comes up in conversations around potential additions. Wyatt Johnston, Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard should also make a push. Brad Marchand, Anthony Cirelli, Travis Konecny and Seth Jarvis may find themselves on the bubble. On defence, Thomas Harley certainly made a huge impression. There were doubters around Travis Sanheim and Colton Parayko but not anymore. The aging curve may have caught up to Drew Doughty. Sid the Kid will probably return for one last dance. In goal, you have to figure Logan Thompson will land one of the backup jobs and potentially, a more prominent role.

Shakeup in Seattle – What’s going on? Did the Seahawks finally get a wakeup call? Readers of Under Further Review are no doubt aware we’ve been screaming for a roster shakeup in Seattle for years now. Are the Seahawks finally ready to reallocate money to build the trenches?

Just two weeks ago, the Seahawks were more than $25 million over the projected salary cap for next season. Out came the carving knife and suddenly the team has $60 million to spend with free agency opening on Monday. The boldest move was sending quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders for a third-round pick, a move that saved $31 million. D.K. Metcalf, the showboating receiver, may be the next domino to fall. He wants a contract number the Seahawks are unwilling to meet and Metcalf could be shipped out before the draft. That would open another $11 million in cap space. For Metcalf, it’s all about the money. There’s still a chance he could return. Last year, the 49’ers had a similar situation with Brandon Aiyuk before he settled on a new deal.

Where does this leave the Seahawks? They are reportedly interested in Vikings free agent QB Sam Darnold. At 28, he’s younger than Geno but if you saw how he performed in the Vikings final game of the regular season and in their playoff loss, you might have other thoughts. Darnold might serve as a decent placeholder. Hard to nitpick when he was part of a 14-win season in Minnesota. Darnold ranked 14th per QBR. Smith was 21st. Regardless of how this goes, it’s surely time for the Seahawks to try and land a developmental quarterback in this year’s draft.

With the sudden opportunity to splurge in free agency, look for the Seahawks to target offensive linemen. Center Drew Dalman would be a huge addition. The position has been a sore spot for years. Indianapolis guard Will Fries should be the other main target. He’s an excellent zone blocker and would fit into the Seahawks system seamlessly. Find a way to land one of them. Teven Jenkins of the Bears would be a decent fallback option.

The Seahawks have long resisted a full rebuild. Call it what you want. A retool. A reset. It’s long overdue. The front office may finally be tired of the nine-win seasons. The fans certainly are. You don’t win in the NFL without being dominant up front, something that hasn’t happened in Seattle since the Super Bowl years. Time to take a page from the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and build a team that can win at the line of scrimmage.

Random Leftovers – Is there a better job in all of sports than being a back-up quarterback in the NFL? Chase Daniel played 14 seasons as a back-up. He started only five games in his entire career. Never got injured. No concussions. Stood on the sidelines with a clipboard. Daniel’s career earnings were nearly $42 million. Best job on the planet.

The Kansas City Chiefs have a reputation as a fine organization but no team has had more players in handcuffs. It seems every off-season the Chiefs have to deal with serious charges to someone on the roster. It started with Kareem Hunt. He was released by the Chiefs after brutalizing a woman on video. Tyreek Hill’s history of domestic violence started in college. With the Chiefs, he was accused of breaking the arm of his three-year-old son. A child abuse probe resulted in no charges. Defensive end Charles Omenihu was suspended for the first six games of the 2023 season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy following an alleged domestic violence incident. Rashee Rice, the Chiefs top receiver, is facing multiple civil suits and criminal charges after he was involved in an automobile accident that occurred during an alleged street racing incident in Dallas in March, 2024. Rice is facing a suspension at the start of next season. The latest to hit the police blotter is receiver Xavier Worthy, the Chiefs top 2024 draft pick. He was arrested on a felony domestic violence charge but police now say no charges will be laid. Funny how these players always seem to avoid jail time. Still, what an embarrassment to a fine organization.

It will be interesting to see where Canadian Elic Ayomanor is selected in April’s NFL Draft. The six-foot-two, 210-pound Stanford receiver hails from Medicine Hat, Alberta. He’s likely to be a mid-round pick. Ayomanor turned heads in 2023 when he recorded 13 catches for a school-record 294 yards and three TDs in rallying the Cardinal to a stunning 46-43 overtime win over the Colorado Buffaloes. Ayomanor could turn out to be a draft steal.

How can you not be a fan of Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic? On Friday night, he became the first player in NBA history to record 30 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists in a game. Jokic is a three-time MVP for a reason. The MVP frontrunner this season is still Canada’s sensational Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

In case you missed it, you have to listen to Canadian national soccer team coach Jesse Marsch reacting to the “51st State” rhetoric from Donald Trump. Marsch pulled no punches saying “as an American, I’m ashamed of the arrogance and disregard that we’ve shown one of our oldest, strongest and most loyal allies.” Marsch is now tops on our list. Click on the link for his full comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS-4gHRlJ-c

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