The Oilers loved the kid the Canucks took at No. 9, centre Bo Horvat who played in for Dale Hunter, but were likely deciding on defenceman Darnell Nurse or Russian winger Valeri Nichuskin. They opted for Nurse, a very good pick, but again, they also wanted Schneider.
The Devils, who have had Brodeur for 20 years, have needed a successor for the last three or four years but haven’t had one. Lamoriello always said he’d get somebody, not to worry, and getting Schneider when the draft is in the home rink was a Jose Bautista type homerun. The fans loved it–they would always rather have a ready-to-play guy than a kid who is a few years from the NHL), and the smile on Lamoriello’s face was as big as it was when he somehow got Zach Parise in the draft 10 years ago.
He’s got a ready successor for Brodeur, who still has some game left. The question is how many games Marty, the winningest goalie in hockey, ‘plays now. Schneider is used to sharing duties with Luongo, so he won’t complain if he only plays 40 with Brodeur, but I feel Schneider will play at least 50.
The Canucks couldn’t get anybody to take Luongo’s big-gulp contract, and changed gears to move Schneider, needing a third-line centre to play behind Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler. Horvat, who plays like Avs’ Ryan O’Reilly, is a real gamer. “Roberto has gone through an ordeal,” admitted Gillis, who couldn’t trade him at the deadline a few m onths back, with large talk of a compliance buyout. Now, he’s back to being the starter. Strange stuff.
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