The Vancouver Canucks 2017 NHL Trade Deadline; The Rebuild Will be Televised

Photo Credit: Darryl Dyck – CP

Younger. Faster. More skilled. Vancouver’s been begging to hear Canucks general manager Jim Benning deliver that message and see moves materialize in accordance for almost as long as he’s had the job.

For two-plus seasons the Canucks have been a symbol of Sisyphean struggle, attempting to stay the inevitable fall from atop the hill. They gave ground, but never let go of the possibility, however faint, that they could combat the inertia of time with enough half-measures to bide them through to another wave of talent not yet determined.

Never would that cold reality hit Canucks fans with more force than at each deadline. The futility of the Canucks’ playoff vision a foregone conclusion everywhere but Pat Quinn Way, Vancouver somehow left each deadline with fewer picks or prospects than they brought into the season, only to watch the hypothetical nothing Benning surrendered turn to nothing months later as they dispatched of that ‘certainty’.

As the dust settles on the most successful Canucks’ deadline this side of the 2010-11 season, fans can take solace in knowing the status quo’s changed. Benning didn’t just accept the reality he had to move Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen for the betterment of his club’s long-term health — he dealt them.

While Benning’s roster continues to shrink in quality and volume, the temptation to trade a lottery ticket prospect or pick for a piece of low risk for low reward NHL talent was surely every bit as palpable as it was in deadlines prior. But he didn’t pull the trigger on one such trade. This is Benning’s first deadline where he’ll leave the week without divesting himself of a single draft pick or prospect.

There is no band-aid solution to this club’s present. By ripping the one left since the Stanley Cup run, though, Benning’s positioned this organization to take the time to necessary to let old wounds heal and regenerate anew.

It seems difficult to believe. Just a year the ago the theme leaving the deadline wasn’t one of hope, but instead the sinking feeling of confidence shattered. And with good reason, too.

Though Benning entered the deadline with two premier assets at his disposal in Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata, the hallmark of that February wasn’t the gains made towards a better tomorrow but the fumbling indecisiveness that left Vancouver empty-handed with players they would lose regardless months later with nothing to show.

Asset management became the rallying cry for a fanbase disenchanted with the way the Canucks operated last season. This year, it’s the guiding principle.

Whether the Canucks wanted to part with Hansen or otherwise, the reality of the Expansion Draft meant the decision wasn’t theirs to make — they could lose Hansen to Vegas or find a desirable exchange at the deadline. For Burrows, a 36-year-old facing unrestricted free agency, there wasn’t likely to be a future in Vancouver beyond these next mostly fruitless weeks.

Instead of needlessly keeping two veteran players whose services should be in high-demand at this time of the year, the Canucks monetized each to great effect.

By acquiring Goldobin, the Canucks added a player that can take the top off. Over 50% of statistical and stature based comparable players to Goldobin went on to have successful NHL careers. For context, one expects a player taken in the 20-30 range of any given draft to carry a rate of success around the 30% mark.

In Dahlen, the Canucks acquired a player that, in the right (or wrong, I’d suppose) draft class is a first round talent. That much reflects itself in the fact that about 34% of Dahlen’s statistically similar comparable players went on to have successful NHL careers.

Neither player represents NHL certainty. Goldobin is 21-years-old and Dahlen is 19. We’re years from being able to determine what exactly the Canucks gained regarding impact players, but the process remains sound.

This week marks a step in the right direction, which in and of itself is a revelation for a fan base quickly ceding into ambivalence. Being bad is one thing. It’s when a team is wholly uncompelling, or compelling for all the wrong reasons as the Canucks arguably have been, that things are at their absolute worst.

I don’t know if I can say with any confidence whether this is a flash in the pan of brilliance or the first step towards being a voracious asset accumulating franchise on par with the league’s upper echelon of young, up and coming franchises. We’re months away from being able to come to any conclusions in that sense.

For now, it’s just hope. When the Canucks divested themselves of veterans for futures, that’s what they sold. The purchasing party was the fans, and they’re keeping receipts.