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Tuesday, June 13, 2000 GM says Messier had to be exposedVANCOUVER (CP) -- Leaving Mark Messier exposed in the NHL expansion draft is a risk Brian Burke said he had little choice but to take.The Vancouver Canucks GM knows the team can't afford to pay Messier the $6 million US he's scheduled to make next year. Burke also knows if he protected the 39-year-old Canucks captain in the June 23 draft, Vancouver could lose a young player with future potential. "It doesn't change our hope to sign him, it doesn't change our desire to get him back," Burke said Tuesday. "But I don't think it was logical to protect him and lose a player that we would have lost in the expansion draft." Besides Messier, the Canucks also chose to make goaltender Garth Snow, forwards Brad May and Darby Hendrickson plus defencemen Brent Sopel and Greg Hawgood available. Snow and May have both rejected contract offers from the Canucks for amounts significantly less than what they played for last season. Hendrickson and Hawgood just recently signed new contracts. In the expansion draft, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild will pick two players off the rosters of 26 other teams. Nashville and Atlanta are exempt. Messier's name and leadership qualities might be attractive to a new franchise eager to sell tickets. But besides his big price tag, he also carries a no-trade clause in his contract, which would discourage a team from taking him in hopes of dealing him away. Columbus GM Doug MacLean said the future Hall of Famer doesn't fit into his plans. "We'd only own the rights to a player like that for six days," he said. Messier becomes a free agent without compensation after July 1, available to the highest bidder. There's already speculation he might go to the New York Rangers to be reunited with Glen Sather, his former coach and general manager in Edmonton. Still, at the end of last season, Messier left the door open to return to Vancouver, even if it means less money. "I wouldn't rule Vancouver out because they don't have the budget some of the other U.S. teams do," he said at the time. Burke said Messier could have asked to be dealt to a Stanley Cup contender at the NHL trading deadline but chose to remain in Vancouver while the Canucks made an unsuccessful bid for a playoff spot. "I think the fact he did not ask for a trade at the deadline is a telling thing, that he does like the progress being made here and the role he has," he said. "I've talked to Mark about what Mark would like to do in his last seasons. He's made it clear money isn't going to drive it alone. Going to a Stanley Cup contender alone isn't going to do it. He wants the right situation." Having said that, Burke also isn't naive. "I don't know what the market is going to be like July 1, if somebody is going to step up and blow away what we think is fair," he said. "There's two personnel changes that might make a difference. One is the new GM in New York with a seemingly unlimited budget for players. The other is a new ownership group in New Jersey." Messier couldn't be reached for comment. Of the players the Canucks have left exposed, Hendrickson, a Minnesota native, might be attractive to the Wild. Both Snow and Hawgood are proven veterans a team can build around. 
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