Vancouver Canucks pull off trade at the buzzer, just not the one we were waiting for

We waited all the way up until the final buzzer – nay, even a few minutes past it – to hear about a Vancouver Canucks trade today. And then we finally did. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the one many people around these parts were hoping to hear about on this day.

We’re referring to the Ryan Kesler trade, which was never made and will now be talked about ad nauseam all the way through to the Draft this Summer. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss why it didn’t happen in depth, as the truth slowly but surely trickles out.

But for now all we can do is talk about the stuff that *did* happen, and that’s that Raphael Diaz is off to New York, as he’ll be given a chance to contribute for a playoff bound team (assuming he manages to stay out of Alain Vigneault’s doghouse..).

The return was a 5th round pick. That seems like an asset that isn’t exactly worth all that much – which ironically seems like a totally fair return for one Dale Weise – but keep in mind that Diaz is an impending UFA, and a player that saw his ice-time go from 21:03 to 14:38 to 6:54 in the span of three games. With all of the blueliners returning from injury, he had quickly become an afterthought exactly a month after people had been excited about the thievery Mike Gillis had managed to pull on the Habs. 

His final line as a Canuck reads: 6 GP, 1 goal, 1 assist, 15:58 ATOI, and an impressive 59.7 corsi for % (with the 2nd highest offensively skewed zone start ratio on the team, just 0.1% behind Daniel Sedin, it should be mentioned).

It’s not what you were hoping for, and I don’t blame you. There’s reason to be frustrated with what’s going on in Vancouver these days. But don’t make the mistake of taking out your pent up anger on this particular trade. The Canucks did well to at least get some sort of asset for one that was going to leave in a few months anyways.

Hey, you never know.. maybe this’ll lead to them stumbling upon the next Kevin Bieksa! Or maybe the next Frankie Corrado! But realistically, more likely something closer to the next Prab Rai.