WWYDW: Trading A Defenseman

The Canucks signed Swedish defenseman Philip Holm this week, increasing speculation about the future of the Canucks’ D core. Talk of trading Chris Tanev in particular has intensified, but Ben Hutton and Alex Edler have also been bandied about as possible trade chips. The rumour is that the Canucks would like help at forward, but they could also use to accumulate other assets as well, so it’s easy to make the case for moving one of their defensemen.

So, this week’s question is multi-layered. Would you trade one of the Canucks defensemen? If so, whom? And what would you like to see in return? Try to keep returns within the realm of reality. Ben Hutton isn’t landing you the third overall pick.

I’d only re-sign Miller if there was trade for Marky.

If there is no trade to be made – due to rebuild gotta let Markstrom take over next year and let Miller sign in California.

I see 3 choices:
1) Try to get an asset to pickup one of Dallas’ goalies.
2) If you think Markstrom is ready then sign a cheaper goaler to a two years contract like a Elliot, Mason, Ward, Bernier..etc
3) If they don’t think Markstrom is ready re-up Miller for two years.

I’d like to see option 2 if option 1 doesn’t work out.

It’s time to move on from Miller. Find a decent and reasonably priced backup for Markstrom and use the salary to find a decent center for some depth.

You need to play Markstrom for two years to figure out if he is a stater or a backup which then gives Demko time to develop.

If Markstrom turns out to be a dud — then you have another contract to bury, buyout or hope to trade for a late-late round pick.

If he turns out to be good then play him.

Miller has been a good asset for three years, but paying him another 5-6 mil for another 1-2 seasons makes little sense when you’re already paying nearly for mil to Markstrom to be a backup.

I think Condon (late of Ottawa) should be in the conversation as well here. He’s an UFA, of an age with Markstrom, and, if the pro scouts & the goaltending coaches think that he could be a fit, might be an excellent pick-up if offered Markstrom’s contract & term.

The other option, as noted by Mbossy, would be to take one of Dallas’ goalies back in a trade for #3 as a salary dump. Lehtonen’s limited NTC could affect this, obviously; but we might be able to get around that if we sent Anaheim Miller’s rights for a 6th, say, and he signs for anything north of $3.5 mill. If that could fall into place, we might be able to sell Lehtonen on Vancouver as a stepping stone to his last good contract in a year. As per what we send over, I thnk he’s right to choose Edler. Edler partnered with Klingberg at Worlds, and that worked out well. Klingberg raved on record about Edler’s game. If the owners can keep their egos out of it, that could be a good deal for both teams.

Step 1: Don’t re-sign Miller.
Step 2: Anything else, so long as it’s cheaper than re-signing Miller, and lets Markström play.