That Hodgson may have fallen out of favor with Canuck's Head Coach Alain Vigneault was reported by The Vancouver Province. The article by Tony Gallagher states the obvious, that Hodgson is way down the depth chart for 'Nucks centers behind Henrik Sendin, Ryan Kessler and Manny Malhotra.
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| Canucks center Cody Hodgson was the 10th-overall pick in 2008. It seems as if he's having a tough time in Vancouver with Head Coach Alain Vigneault. |
But Gallagher adds this zinger, that "it’s abundantly clear coach Alain Vigneault is not one of his big fans as the youngster was always the last possible option and was repeatedly slotted into situations seemingly designed to make him fail."
Ouch!
Whether there's a problem with Vigneault and his players in general remains to be seen, but, according to the article, Vigneault couldn't trust Hodgson and Hodgson played like he was afraid to make a mistake. The kid is in the second year of his three-year entry-level contract that has him at $1.7M/year. His AHL salary would be $65K.
One could bring up the tale of former Canuck's #1 pick Michael Grabner (14th-overall, 2006) as a parallel to the Hodgson situation, but a direct parallel seems to be a bit far-fetched. For now. After all, could lightning menacingly strike Vancouver GM Mike Gillis twice?
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| Former Canucks winger Michael Grabner is playing as if he's really happy to be out of Vancouver. He just signed a five-year, $15M contract extension with the NY Islanders. |
Grabner, if you recall, was part of the Vancouver/Florida trade that sent Keith Ballard and Victor Oreskovich to the 'Nucks for Steve Bernier, Grabner and a 2010 #1 pick (Quinton Howden.) For some unknown reason the Panthers waived Grabner in October, 2010 and he was picked up by the NY Islanders.
He had a banner season (34 goals, 18 assists) and was re-signed to a five-year contract in May, 2011.
Seems as if all he needed was to get into a situation where he was set-up for success and not to fail.
What the Sabres would need to give up to get Hodgson remains to be seen, but it sounds as if he could be had at a very reasonable price.
Hodgson had only 52 games of AHL seasoning last year. Another year in the AHL, or even two, would be extremely beneficial for the kid. We're talking about a center who scored 243 points in 197 games for his OHL career.
With the lack of quality forward-prospects in the Sabres' system, especially at center, adding Hodgson would be a plus. He would immediately be one of the top-two centers for their AHL club should current #1 center Luke Adam make the jump to the Sabres next season.
And getting him out of the tumult that may be Vancouver this season could be just what the kid needs to regain his confidence and reach his 10th-overall pick potential.
Couldn't hurt.
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Also from Puckdaddy: Ryan Lambert's What We Learned, column. His take on the recently released Bodog.com odds to win the 2012 Stanley Cup, "Buffalo Sabres--If you have some money you'd like to like to throw down the toilet, the Sabres are getting 25-to-1 odds they win the Stanley Cup next year. Bruins at 8-to-1? Might wanna take a run at that."
Ouch! That's cold.
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