Photo credit: Vancouver Sun

It’s probably not a coincidence that, on the same day Willie Mitchell signed with the Los Angeles Kings, Jason Botchford (Vancouver Province) had a piece on the increasing possibility of Kevin Bieksa staying with the Vancouver Canucks (more on that thought in a separate post later). On some level, I think most of us knew (and Mike Gillis as well) that there was a market for Mitchell – concussion history be damned – and unless he was willing to leave a lot of money on the table, the chance of him re-signing with the Canucks was extremely slim. $7 million over two years is a lot of money, and given their cap situation, there was simply no way for the Canucks to offer him anything remotely close to that.

I’m going to miss Willie. As those of you who’ve followed this blog for a while will know, I have a soft spot for players from BC and Willie is no exception. I’ve loved him since his Minnesota days – even when he was going head-to-head with Todd Bertuzzi – and I got his jersey almost as soon as he signed here.

More importantly, the Canucks are going to miss Willie. In him, the Canucks had a true shutdown defenseman would could log 25-plus minutes against the likes of Crosby, Ovechkin, Iginla, Thornton, etc. – in the last four years, no one else on this team played tougher minutes against the opposing teams’ best players and did so on a nightly basis. They had a veteran leader who was a calming influence on the ice and a positive influence off it. He was good with the media and active in the community. The Canucks really couldn’t have asked more from him as a player and it’ll be interesting to see who among the new core of defensemen – Hamhuis, Ballard, Edler and Ehrhoff – can step in (or step up) to that role.

Good on the Kings for ponying up for Willie. As much as I hate to admit it, adding Willie to a group that already includes Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Rob Scuderi and a healthy Matt Greene gives them a damn deep defense. Certainly, having Willie back there rather than Randy Jones makes them a much harder group to play against.

Good luck in LA, Willie. And PS – tell that Doughty kid you want his #8.

Photo credit: Vancouver Sun

Mitchell’s off to the LA Kings and I can honestly say the first thing I thought when I read about that was “I hope he has a long career and plays out longer than the two years the LA Kings gave him”. When looking at him after the Malkin hit and seeing the state he was in when he first emerged to the media in the post season I felt sorry for him. Not because he looked terrible, not so much because I was worried he’d never play in the NHL again, but more so because the head injury he sustained playing for a living looked like it had the potential to affect his day to day life for the rest of it on top of ending his hockey career.

Mitchell got offered $3.5 million per year for two years and I’m happy for him. I’m not sure what convinced the LA Kings to make that deal but at the end of the day Mike Gillis wasn’t going to pay that price. Realistically I’m sure his talks with Mitchell were a formality more than anything else. I truly felt that Mitchell would take a pay cut and sign with the Canucks to stay in Vancouver but I can also see why such a good deal would be so attractive. He’ll get a chance to impact the development of a sure to be (even more than he already is) studly Doughty and the weather down there isn’t half bad either.

Why am I not crushed we lost Mitchell? The Canucks run into enough injury problem come different points in the season as it is, do they really need to start with a handicap and the uncertainty of Mitchell’s head? There’s nothing that has been seen to convince us or the Kings for that matter that Mitchell’s head is 100% okay. In fact, I don’t think his head will ever be 100%. I think he’ll reach 99%, but after sustaining an injury as devastating as the one he did after his hit from Malkin on January 16th, it’s safe to say it changed his life. Gambling $7 million on a player that could have his career end on day one of his new contract as easily as he could play out it’s two years is simply not something that I’d do when I’m already over the cap and have a plethora of defenseman on one-way contracts.

If Mitchell was to sign cheaply with an incentive laden contract, there was also the possibility of Bieksa getting dealt. That said, I firmly believe a large part of our collapse last year (amongst other issues) was a hole on defence we had in part due to Mitchell being out but also because our intended replacements were out as well. Schneider cried his way out of Vancouver and Lukowich opted for season ending surgery. I’m just not convinced Willie would last on the ice, especially in the hard hitting Western Conference. With Salo out till December, I think Bieksa’s job is safe. With the solid additions of Hamhuis and Ballard, the Canucks have nothing to worry about after losing Willie Mitchell.

Happy trails Willie Mitchell. You bled, played and sacrificed as much as many other Canucks and you will be remembered only for good. I will always remember you for the first thing you said to Vancouver media when you were signed. I paraphrase, but the important part is there, you’ll see:

Reporter: “Willie, what is it that you bring to the team?”
Willie: “I’m a 30 goal scorer”
Reporter has a puzzled look
Willie: “I’m like a 30 goal scorer. I don’t score 30 goals in a season but I can prevent 30 goals from being scored”

There are reports out there that Willie Mitchell, who is still looking for a contract for the upcoming season, has already worked out for the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings, and is supposed to be working out with the Washington Capitals as we speak. There are also reports that the Kings are ready to offer (or have already offered) him a two-year deal, but Willie, a good ol’ BC boy, is hoping to stay in Vancouver and is waiting to see Mike Gillis’ offer first.

The rumored two-year term may be the key to Willie’s future. The fact is, Willie is one bad hit away from a career-ending concussion and a two-year deal – or any multi-year deal for that matter – gives him and his family some additional security. It’s also a term I’m not sure the Canucks are willing to commit.

Given the Canucks’ current cap situation, I would imagine their preference is to sign Willie to a one-year contract with a relatively-lower base salary (and thus cap hit) and performance bonuses (the cap hit of which they can defer to the following season); they can’t structure the contract similarly on a multi-year deal. If Willie re-signs with the Canucks, he will have most likely foregone more dollars and/or more term from another team.

Also, while it’s clear that having a Willie Mitchell on this year’s roster will do nothing but help this team contend, I’m not sure his roster spot will be available next year. Contractually, the Canucks have three of their top-four defensemen (Hamhuis, Ballard and Edler) signed for the 2011/2012 season, and I’m sure Gillis will make every effort to extend a fourth (Ehrhoff). Rome is also signed; Salo, Bieksa (if he somehow finishes this season with the team) and SOB are UFAs. That’s potentially five defensemen signed for next season. Does Gillis see Willie as part of this group next season or does he want to save a roster spot for a Kevin Connauton, Yann Sauve or Chris Tanev? Or if the kids aren’t ready for full-time NHL duty, does Gillis bide time with another year with Willie or does he make a pitch for a Zdeno Chara, Andrei Markov, Tomas Kaberle or Mark Giordano, all of whom are scheduled to be UFAs?

I don’t think it’s any secret that Willie wants to stay in Vancouver and I think Gillis has at least indicated to him that the Canucks are interested in re-signing him. The question is whether the lure of playing at home and helping to bring a first Stanley Cup to his home province outweighs the financial benefits of doing the same somewhere else.

Hidey ho folks! It’s bee a long, long time since you last saw me grace these pages. Much has happened since. The Blackhawks apparently won the Stanley Cup – I refuse to believe it happened. And I noticed that the design changed some – apparently we all like Shane O’Brien (it’s not like, but love with me.. love to hate him). Anyhoo, lets talk about what I stopped by for – Willie Mitchell’s role with the Canucks.

Now before you run me out of town, I completely understand that he’s an unrestricted free agent who is (depending on which reports you believe) still answering imaginary doorbells. I also understand that the Canucks blueline is so deep that many of you probably think that the best Willie could hope for (assuming he is re-signed) is to be the stick guy so he could get close to the bench. But I have a reasonable theory and I want you to hear me out.

Currently the Canucks have nine defensemen under contract – Dan Hamhuis ($4.5M), Keith Ballard ($4.2M), Kevin Bieksa ($3.75M), Sami Salo ($3.5M), Alex Edler ($3.25M), Christian Ehrhoff ($3.1M), Shane O’Brien ($1.6M), Andrew Alberts ($1.05M), and Aaron Rome ($750k). Right away, we can likely assume that Alberts is either going to need to find a good real estate agent in Winnipeg or make sure his passport is up-to-date. I’m also thinking that Bieksa is trade bait (even with Salo’s injury) as his dollars don’t make sense for someone who plays with dangerously sharp things. And with Salo gone, the Canucks lose what has been their veteran stalwart.

So where does Mitchell fit in?

If he is healthy (and that’s still a might big IF), I’d find it hard to believe that Mitchell wouldn’t want a shot to return to a cup contender. Furthermore, Willie would likely understand that he’d need a one year term to prove he’s still NHL-worthy and therefore carries low risk. Lastly, the fact he is an unknown entity means his dollar value will likely be significantly more affordable than his previous contract demanded. All-in-all, I figure Mitchell could easily be had for Alberts dollars on a “proving that I still have it” style contract.

In fact, I figure that Willie will be what the Canucks thought Mathieu Schneider was going to be last season – a reliable veteran defenseman who will do whatever it takes for the good of the team and bring added depth when the going gets tough. Someone you know you can count on. A good ol’ boy.

So there you have it. Am I crazy? Or should I be expecting a call from Gillis to discuss my ideas further?

(Editor’s note: Because Mitchell has appeared in more than 400 NHL games and spent more than 100 days on injured reserve last season, he is eligible to sign a contract containing performance bonuses, as long as it is only a one-year contract. – J.J.)

Willie Mitchell talked to the media today, the first time he has done so since Evgeni Malkin rammed him into the boards, gave him a concussion and finished his season.

You’ll notice just after the six-minute mark, Willie starts ripping into Colin Campbell:

I’m not happy with the hit I took. We’re taught from a young age that you don’t hit from behind and I had my numbers facing a player and in a dangerous zone, in a dangerous spot, and he hit me.

More than that, I’m disappointed in the league. I’m disappointed in Colin Campbell. Disappointed that he didn’t rule down anything on the play. That’s his job. As we’ve seen, he’s been very inconsistent with how he’s handled himself in those situations. I think a lot of times he hands down suspensions and fines on the result and I totally think that’s the wrong thing to do. You rob a bank and there’s $50 million dollars in there, you rob a bank and there’s $5 bucks in there, you’re going to jail for the same amount of time. And, you know, he saw me get up off the ice and so he didn’t make a ruling on it.

I want to make this very clear too. I’m not saying this for me. What’s this going to do for me right now? It’s not going to do a thing for me. No one’s going to take back the last four-and-a-half months that I’ve endured and my family’s endured. No one’s going to take that back. Why I’m saying this right now is because my friends in the league and my peers in the league… I don’t want anyone to go through what I just did.

Like I said, the league needs to, along with our player’s union, needs to take a look at how we run discipline in the league. I know Colin Campbell has a lot of relationships with general managers and ownership and stuff like that. Very tough to hand down decisions on matters like this when you’re friends with people. It’s like saying that I’ve got to discipline my teammates. It’s too emotional. You can’t make the right decision all the time. So I think it’s something the league and the players need to look at is to have an outside party handle the discipline in the league, and therefore it’s consistent. As we’ve all seen it hasn’t been very consistent.

Back in the day, players regulated that. That’s changed. We all know that’s changed. Society doesn’t want it, players don’t want it, and it’s not just going to happen anymore. So who has to regulate it? Well, it’s Colin Campbell and he has to regulate it. If he doesn’t do a good job, it’s going to be where the hell it’s been.

I’m glad Willie Mitchell spoke out on this issue. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you already know what I think of the NHL’s standards on officiating and discipline – that is, I don’t believe that there any standards. If more players speak out – remember Mark Recchi also made it pretty obvious after the Matt Cooke/Marc Savard fiasco that he didn’t care much for Colin Campbell – then perhaps the league will start paying more attention. But then again, they could also just keep burying their heads in the sand like they always do.