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Team competitiveness key to Nazzy's return
Two other teams matched Vancouver's three-year, $18-million-US offer

Tony Gallagher
The Province


Wednesday, August 03, 2005

In the end, it seems Vancouver general manager Dave Nonis was extremely successful in selling the take-less, compete-more theory to his Swedish superstar Markus Naslund, the pitch evidently falling on receptive ears Tuesday night.

Naslund opted to return to the Canucks late in the evening because he wanted to play here and because the other two high-revenue teams which matched the offer of $18 million US over three years he will receive from Vancouver weren't, in his view, quite as ready to compete now as is the local club.

The agreement comes as great relief to the ownership and management of the Canucks, who were looking at restructuring their team had Naslund decided to take his skills elsewhere -- not really what you want to do from a marketing point of view given the NHL is returning from a tiresome lockout.

Naslund's re-signing allows them to hit the ice in much the same shape as they were when the lockout began, which is far more than most teams can boast. It puts them in what should be excellent shape for a good start to the season Oct 5.

"We evaluated every element to this and in the end it all pointed to the market being what it is and Markus' desire to return to Vancouver," said Naslund's exhausted Kingston, Ont. agent Mike Gillis, who had a long day also signing clients Tony Amonte (Calgary), Bobby Holik (Atlanta) and Pavol Demitra (Los Angeles).

"There's no doubt that competitiveness played a huge part in his decision and maybe the way it is now, you really do have to sacrifice a little to be on a winner.

"I mean, there's a reason why Martin Brodeur took less to stay playing in New Jersey. Obviously, money was not the overriding factor in Markus' final decision."

The return certainly blows away all the nonsense about Naslund being bothered by the personal attention he receives in this city, and the burden of being the captain and having to speak to the media every day during the season, as has been suggested publicly over the last two weeks.

Had he been troubled by these factors, the other cities in the running would surely have been given more consideration.

The locking up of Naslund comes just as the league appears set to make an announcement on the reinstatement of the Swede's longtime linemate Todd Bertuzzi, who will certainly be heartened to hear that when he does return to the ice the chemistry the pair generates should still be very much intact.

Bertuzzi is said to be in the best shape of his life, tipping the scales at 238 pounds, roughly 10 pounds lighter than when he was suspended by the league in March 2004.

Naslund went to bed late Tuesday night in Sweden and was not answering his phone, but his decision now allows Nonis to go about the business of actually improving the team that left disappointed after losing Game 7 to the Calgary Flames last year.

Word is he has made inquiries about Paul Kariya and at least two other players about the possibility of joining the Canucks, whose image around the league certainly gets a lift with Naslund's return.

That's great news," said Ed Jovanovski from Florida, where he was trying to contact his departing defensive partner of last year, Marek Malik, to congratulate him on his big-money deal.

"Obviously Markus is a big part of our team, the captain, and he brings a lot with his presence. With the new rules, I expect he'll really be something special this year. The rules will help him ... they should help us all. I just hope they find a guy for me to play with soon."

Jovanovski will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next year, so he presents the next big challenge toward keeping this team together (the market for Scott Niedermayer likely to be a good indicator of where he'll come in next year at just 30 years of age).