WWYDW: A Hockey Trade?
By J.D. Burke
6 years agoWith the Ottawa Senators and Los Angeles Kings kicking off trade season last night with a swap of Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson for Nick Shore and Marian Gaborik, the hope is that more deals start coming together in short order.
In Vancouver, the expectation — or the hope, rather — is that the Canucks will move on from Thomas Vanek and Erik Gudbranson, parting with both for a bouquet of futures. Other than that, there aren’t any obvious rental pieces on the Canucks roster. That’s where things get interesting.
Rumours abound that the Canucks are listening to offers for Ben Hutton, though they aren’t actively shopping him. I’ve heard that they’ve been trying to find someone to take on Anders Nilsson. Otherwise, there isn’t a lot going on in Vancouver.
So, what would you do if you were in Canucks general manager Jim Benning’s shoes? Is there anything you would do to shake things up? Basically, what type of hockey trade would you make with this roster. Try and steer clear of the obvious sell-off deals, too — get creative!
Last week I asked: what would you do with Thomas Vanek?
RobsNNAccount:
I have been a Vanek fan for years and I’ve been really happy with how he has p[played this year. That being said, I think the Canucks have to trade him at the TDL. Vanek has some value and the Canucks need to capitalize on it. This team needs draft picks to accelerate the rebuild and Vanek just doesn’t fit in the teams long term plans.
North Van Halen:
As someone that has defended Benning & Linden, let me say, if they think keeping Vanek (or Gudbranson for that matter) is a good idea, I’m going to be next on the fire everyone band wagon.
He’s not core piece of any possible future championship here, he’s a stop gap fill-in that you can find any time you need one in the off season or at the trade deadline for a 3rd or a 4th. A flooded market may make him hard to move but all efforts should be made to flip him at this point. If the best you can get from him is a 5th or 6th you sign him after the trade deadline.
He’s not core piece of any possible future championship here, he’s a stop gap fill-in that you can find any time you need one in the off season or at the trade deadline for a 3rd or a 4th. A flooded market may make him hard to move but all efforts should be made to flip him at this point. If the best you can get from him is a 5th or 6th you sign him after the trade deadline.
I’d likely take the 5th though.
Goon:
As NVH says, keeping Vanek should be considered a fireable offense. There is *no* reason to keep him. If the Canucks want him back, they can resign him as a UFA in the off-season. They are not making the playoffs this year and there is literally no advantage to keeping him on the team. The Canucks *must* move UFAs for picks if they’re serious about improving the long-term outlook of the franchise.
Ser Jaime Lannister:
They shouldve been doing this years ago signing “stop gap” vets to 1-2 max and dealing for what ever you can. Vanek has benefited greatly from playing with Boeser as will anyone who plays with an elite talent like him. On his own hes been below average imo, 17 goals on the PP, defensive liability with his 5on5 play and the minus 14 isnt helping his case. Canucks will have minimum two forward prospects make the team next year and are desperately needed. Youth, speed, and skill! Time to see this team make some improvements, these bottom finishes are embarrassing for the fans and players.
Roland:
No don’t keep him, he needs to be moved at the TDL. I really like what he brings and hope he can be resigned
when he’s finished his gunslinger role. Hopefully he’d like to come back. One can’t ignore the points he has put up.
He’s done so most of his career. Another one year deal. He’s probably looking for a golden parachute though.
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