After many hurdles, it appears Nikita Tryamkin is close to joining the Vancouver Canucks.
#Canucks confirm Edler went on LTI this week. Lots of cap space for Tryamkin. Deal close. Team working on KHL release and visa.
— Iain MacIntyre (@imacSportsnet) March 6, 2016
“There’s a player we drafted, Nikita Tryamkin, that we’re in negotiation with his team to bring him over as soon as we can,” Vancouver GM Jim Benning told Sportsnet Friday.
The Canucks were keen on bringing the Russian defenseman who they drafted in the third round in 2014 to North America, following his KHL team being eliminated from the playoffs, but the organization reportedly ran into problems with cap issues which temporarily prevented them from doing so.
https://twitter.com/NEWS1130Sports/status/705459882787524608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The Canucks have been hilariously mismanaged by general manager Jim Benning, who for whatever reason didn’t make any salary moving deals at the trade deadline, leaving the mediocre Canucks capped-crunch. Benning finally figured things out, deciding to move defenseman Alex Edler to the LTI to make cap space for the defender.
You can see why Benning would want to create room for Tryamkin as the Canucks defense is currently depleted with injuries, and the 21-year-old has some interesting tools. According to Hockey’s Future, the Russian defenseman is a massive 6’7″ with a booming shot.
“..he is a late bloomer and must continue to work on his skating and positional play. Tryamkin is a team leader and has good intangibles.
Long-term Tryamkin projects as a traditional stay-at-home defenseman with the size and reach to take away passing lanes and prevent scoring opportunities.”
Zdeno Chara he is not, but Tryamkin can contribute and become an effective bottom-pairing defenseman for Vancouver. At the very least he should be an upgrade over Alex Biega and Lucas Sbisa.
