Cancucks Deal O’Brien for Parent, Waive Him

  It comes as no surprise the Vacnouver Canucks have begun to shed salary. The trade took place Tuesday, just one day before the NHL’s cut-off time of 3:00p.m. that requires all teams to be under the salary cap of $59.4 million.

  Vancouver sent defenseman Shane O’Brien and right winger Dan Gendur to the Nashville Predators for defenseman Ryan Parent and forward Jonas Andersson.

  Following the trade, USA today has reported that Vancouver has waived Ryan Parent.

  While every trade out of Vancouver from day one encompasses salary cap implementations, GM Mike Gillis’ words regarding the deal hung in the air for a bit, stating that salary wasn’t the deriving factor.

"The deal was prompted by who was best in camp," Gillis said.  "We had to make a decision at some point on who were the best players and Shane was behind a couple of other guys.  Getting Dan Hamhuis and Keith Ballard obviously impacted his situation here. 

It wasn't really a cap decision but more of a playing decision that led to helping us out with our salary cap situation."

  O’Brien’s exit lies somewhere between understandable, and questionable. The hard hitting 6’3 230lbs. defenseman had his fair share of troubles with head coach Alain Vigneault last year for weight infractions, discipline issues, and his publicly socialized party life. His on-ice play, though, yielded a somewhat defensively responsible hard-hitting steamroller of a defenseman. His play over 65 regular season saw him tally a 2-6-8 record with a +15 rating and 79 penalty minutes. His plus/minus was 2nd among Canucks defensemen, while his time on ice was 6th.

  Despite the problems posed, his slightly above average play would get him a contract renewal in July at one year, worth $1.6 million. This contract came before Sami Salo’s injury, when the full intentions and expectations of management was to deal the whopping $3.75 million contract of Kevin Bieksa. Since Salo’s injury, Bieksa has remained a Canuck.

  O’Brien will provide Nashville with some more grit and muscle on the back end, in a division that has a focal point for defensive success. O’Brien comes in as a third pairing defenseman 2nd tallest in height, but pound for pound versus weight and muscle is arguably one of the most powerful hitters within the top six.

  Along with O’Brien went forward Dan Gendur. Gendur, 23, was drafted by the Canucks in 2007, 206th overall. Gendur is a speedy winger with decent size (5’11 195lbs.) that broke out over the course of two years spent with Everett of the WHL. In 108 games for Everett, Gendur notched 49 goals and 77 assists with a +39 ranking from 2006 to 2008.

  Unfortunately for Gendur and the Canucks, his speed has not translated into production as his first season in Victoria of the ECHL in 2008-09 would be by far his best to date. Over the course of three years with Victoria (81 games) Gendur has scored 11 goals for 50 points with a -7 rating. He played in 10 games for Manitoba of the AHL notching one goal with a -4 rating.

  Gendur doesn’t bring a lot in return to the Predators in terms of promise, but he does have more North American experience than the player given up.

  Jonas Andersson, 29, was drafted by the Predators 33rd overall in 1999, but hasn’t played on North American soil since 2002-03. The Stockholm, Sweden born forward played well in the Swedish junior ranks, and even better in his one year in the OHL recording 67 points in as many games in 1999-00. His entrance into Milwaukee (Nashville’s AHL affiliate) was never to be at all productive, as in his total 120 games he only accounted for 20 goals and 41 points. Following an entire season off from injury in 2002-03, he played one lackluster year in Swedish Elite, followed by four lackluster years in Finish Elite.

  He seemed to find his stride in 2008-09 with Karpat of the Finish Elite League notching 24 goals and 57 points in 55 games with a +16 rating. He would spent last year with Dynamo Minsk of the KHL, tallying 7 goals and 20 points in 30 games with a -5 rating, but the highlight of his year definitely came in the World Championships for Sweden as he posted 6 goals in 9 games with a +4 rating. His goals tally was good for 2nd best in the tournament, two of which were game winners, and played a large part in winning bronze for his countrymen.

  The real loser in this whole deal is defenseman Ryan Parent. Parent’s arrival in Vancouver was short-lived as the team immediately waived him to clear more cap dollars from their books. A necessary move is a beyond frustrating one for the 23 year-old Price Albert, Saskatchewan native.

  His woes were echoed throughout the post season as he took to the ice for the Flyers in a career high 48 games in the regular season and 17 in the playoffs. His average time on ice was 6th among defensemen in the regular season (14:46) but trailed off significantly to almost nil at a lowly 7:28, with only three players taking to the ice less than he did.

  Things were looking up for Parent as the Nashville Predators signed the unrestricted free-agent to a two year deal worth $1.85 million. The welcome home was stripped from him as he was traded just two months later.

  Ryan Parent was originally drafted in the first round, 18th overall, by the Predators in 2005. He was a part of the Peter Forsberg deal in 2007, and has spent his entire pro career in Philadelphia.

  Though he was never projected to be an offensive force, Parent showed promise defensively and Philadelphia seemed keen on growing him into a full-time NHL defenseman. Despite still being so young, his development has been slow, and the Flyers have never given him much time on NHL ice. Not counting his single game played in 2006-07 which yielded just one shot, in the past four years Parent has only taken to the ice 101 times for the Flyers and accounted for just one goal and 7 points with a -15 rating.

  Parent’s future is up in the air as his numbers haven’t impressed many. His chance at an NHL roster spot isn’t over as teams will have until tomorrow afternoon to claim him, but the probability is he will be re-assigned to Manitoba of the AHL, voiding his $925,000 cap hit with two years remaining against the Vancouver Canucks. His highest chance of a return to the NHL will likely be on re-entry waivers if someone can scoop him up for half his cost. But that will unfortunately require Vancouver to have enough free space both in terms of a roster spot and money to attempt it.

  Regardless of GM Mike Gillis’ performance imposed logic, the real truth of the matter is that the Canucks have to shed cap space, and they have to do it fast. The 3:00p.m. Wednesday deadline is approaching rapidly, and the Canucks still sit $1,823,333 over the cap. The saving grace for them is also equally a disaster as when Sami Salo is placed on long-term injured reserve (likely out at least half of the year), his giant $3.5 million contract will be off of the books until his return.

  In the dealings with the Predators on Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks shed $1.518 million in total. Should Parent not be claimed until re-entry waivers, they will lose $462,500 for two years of that saved cap space.

- Kendall Grubbs