Cheers & Jeers: February 27th

Well, yesterday sure was eventful. There was no shortage of movement on the February 26th trade deadline, and some it involved well-established names and players with term left on their contract. No, it was no ordinary deadline.

For the Canucks part, they contributed to the irregularity of it all, completing two hockey trades of their own. First, they moved on from defenceman Philip Holm, acquiring Brendan Leipsic from the Vegas Golden Knights for the trouble. Next, they completed the most anticipated move of the day, dealing Thomas Vanek to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Tyler Motte and Jussi Jokinen.

Fan reception in Vancouver? Yeah, for the most part, it hasn’t exactly been ripe with enthusiasm. Best-case scenario, most are resigned to being okay with the Canucks work at the deadline; worst-case, they’re throwing in the towel on this management group.

Where do I stand? Well, I’ve written a fair amount about the deadline over the last day-plus, but for those who haven’t seen that stuff, here’s the February 27th edition of the Cheers & Jeers on CanucksArmy.

Cheers to the Canucks acquisition of Brendan Leipsic. I thought that was an excellent move by the Canucks, all things being relative. When I looked at Leipsic’s work to date, the one thing that stuck out is that his struggles at the NHL level are more borne of a lack of opportunity and bad luck than anything inherently wrong with his game. His prolific track record in the WHL and AHL speak to that as well, as Leipsic’s been a goal-scorer at every level save the NHL.

My expectations aren’t that high for Leipsic. I think that he can be a 35-40 point player who gets under the opposition’s skin on a nightly basis and contributes on the penalty kill. That said, Leipsic has a ways to go to get there.

Jeers to the Canucks acquisition of Tyler Motte. The Canucks had to get something for Thomas Vanek, and this was the best they could do. Whether that’s the market’s fault or their own, it’s not an inspiring move on their part by any stretch of the imagination. Motte’s going to turn 23-years-old in a few weeks time and isn’t even a half a point per game player at the AHL level.

I keep hearing that Motte is a known quantity, but I disagree wholeheartedly with that assessment. What has Motte done to date to prove he’s a full-time NHL’er? When the Canucks acquired him, Motte was in the AHL, and the Blue Jackets had essentially given up on trying to make him work in their lineup this season.

Getting Motte is better than nothing, granted. I just don’t think the Canucks are any better off for having made this acquisition. If Motte becomes a bottom-six forward, are they any further along in their rebuild? And that’s the optimistic outlook. First, he has to prove he can be an effective fourth-liner.

Cheers to Darren Archibald, who just keeps on rolling at the NHL level. With his goal against the Arizona Coyotes in the Canucks last game, Archibald now has three points (two goals and one assist) in nine games since getting an NHL contract and making the jump from the AHL. Archibald’s underlying metrics could stand to improve, but I think that has more to do with Canucks head coach Travis Green using him in a role he’s so very ill-equipped to handle more than anything.

Jeers to the notion that the fans of the Canucks and the media are the reason that this team is in this bad spot. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman put this forward in an interview with Sportsnet 650, and I just couldn’t disagree more. I have all the time in the world for Friedman, and I think he’s the golden standard for hockey media, but this is just so, so, so far off the mark.

I won’t be so bold as to pretend I speak for the Canucks fanbase at large, but I’m in touch with them often enough that I think I have an idea of what makes them tick. By large, all they want is a measured, patient approach with long-term thinking and a clearly communicated plan of attack. This front office hasn’t offered that.

Instead, fans have been told for four years that the only way to rebuild this team is to remain competitive and in the playoff chase throughout. Meanwhile, the team has the 29th best record in the last three seasons, and they’ve spent a wealth of assets and cash to that end. Whatever the Canucks vision is, and it’s not clear, they’re not succeeding by any stretch of the imagination.

You know what else? Rogers Arena is averaging 95% capacity this season, en route to a third straight bottom-three finish. There’s no way the fans are to blame. As for the media, what are we supposed to report? We’re every bit as bullish on the Canucks prospects as we should be, but other than that, what’s the good news I’m supposed to be reporting?