The Dog Days of Summer

“The Dog Days of Summer.” I have used the phrase a few times in my life and never really knew what it meant, until today. The internet is a glorious thing. including some useful knowledge. The phrase had nothing to do with real dogs, but instead the constellation Sirius (which is supposed to look like a dog....I don’t see it). Usually the constellation is visible in the summer months only to those in the northern hemisphere.

Now some may ask why I am writing about this instead of hockey, well it’s do to the fact that there really isn’t any Canucks news out there. There is this little tidbit out there:

I wonder if this guy will play for the next 8 years at $5 million/yr? I would give him more but it seems that the Canucks have too many forwards making money this year. I know we would all like to jettison Sutter or Loui but the market for these guys is hard to see. There was a lot of talk of moving Loui to Edm for Lucic, but that fat ship has sailed to Calgary in exchange for James Neal.

Think about that for a second. Edmonton would rather deal with Calgary, its hated rival, than deal with Loui. Oh you could say that Neal provides more of a scoring touch than Loui does, but that wouldn’t be true last year. Loui outscored Neal by 4 goals and 6 assists. A Loui trade anywhere that brings back a guy making the same amount, is not really a win in my books.

You which team is really low on forwards and high on cap space....Winnipeg. I’m not sure Loui would be a fit for that team, but Sutter might be. Unfortunately the Jets have a limited amount of picks to give in return unless you can wait until 2022.

Here is a Brock intermission:

That throw should knock $500,000 a year of his next contract.

There are still a lot of RFA’s who are not signed right now. Of course there won’t be any more offer sheets this summer as owners and GM’s really don’t want to “win at all costs”. They like the player contract system the way it is and while there are ways to get better players now, it would really lead to a cutthroat league which no owner wants.

Most contracts won’t be finalized until September, so the dog days will continue. Maybe we can rename them, “The Final Days of GMJB.” Whether you like GMJB or not, this year is the make or break for him. And by chance the Canucks make the playoffs, it still might not save him. If Loui or Sutter have to go play in Utica, Francesco Aquilini should be pissed that millions are being spent on that player being in the minor league. That’s a lot of berries to pick.

capfriendly.com

So many forwards...and yet it may be enough by time the injury fairies come to visit.

Enjoy the summer.