Date Posted: July 9, 2011
Print Edition: July 8, 2011
By Joel Smart (The Cascade) – Email
Mike Gillis did not have much time to mourn after his team failed to show up in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. After acquiring Nicklas Jensen, Alexandre Grenier, and a couple others in the NHL Entry Draft, Gillis had to quickly deal with an impending free agency period.
Kevin Bieksa got a well deserved raise after playing (by far) his best season. Unfortunately the five-year, $23-million deal meant it would be near impossible to keep Christian Ehrhoff. When Gillis couldn’t strike a deal, he made something out of nothing by opting to trade Ehrhoff’s rights to the New York Islanders for a fourth-round draft pick next year. The Canucks also lost tough-guys Raffi Torres, Tanner Glass, and Rick Rypien. With the Canucks struggling to keep players after such an impressive run, Gillis was forced to look elsewhere to fill his roster. Perhaps the most impressive signing of that variety so far would be his signing of a speedy left winger, 32-year-old Marco Sturm. The one-year deal will cost the Canucks a reasonable $2.25 million in cap space.
Although Sturm has had some injury problems lately, he has the potential to be a huge asset for the team if he can return to form. “As long as I’m healthy and especially now getting back into the shape I was before, I am really confident I really can help the team out and also score a lot of goals,” Sturm told The Vancouver Sun. While he had offers from other teams, he admitted that for him and his family, Vancouver was the best choice. “I still think it’s the best team in the league and for me there [were] no other choices.”
Sturm is a left-shooting German with seven 20-goal seasons under his belt (eight including the season he played for ERC Ingolstadt in Germany during the NHL lockout). He was drafted in 1996 by the San Jose Sharks in the first round, 21 overall, and played his first game in the 97-98 season. He continued playing for the Sharks until the 05-06 season, a total of eight NHL seasons. However, midway into that season he was traded to the Boston Bruins as part of the deal that sent Joe Thornton to San Jose. It would prove to be his most productive season to date, with 29 goals and 59 points.
Following two more really great seasons with the Bruins, Sturm found himself with serious injury troubles in the 08-09 season. He missed 12 games with a concussion in mid-November, and then in December, after just 19 games played on the year, he was sidelined with a knee injury that would require surgery.
He returned to the lineup for the 09-10 season, picking up 37 points in the regular season, enough to lead the Bruins in scoring. Unfortunately, he reinjured his knee in the first game of the Conference Semifinals. With his second knee injury in three years, Sturm took until late December to return to the NHL – this time with a new team.
While Sturm played only 35 games last season, split between the Los Angeles Kings and the Washington Capitals, he managed five goals and 16 points. Extrapolated to a full season, he would have had 12 goals and 38 points. It’s possible that if his health and condition further improves over the off-season, Sturm could be putting up even better numbers playing with the Canucks.
