What hockey moves should the Canucks make?
With the trade deadline quickly approaching rumors are at a season high. But with Dave Nonis already stating he would NOT be trading away the Canucks future for rental players, what moves will he be making? First off, these are not rumors simply ideas. There are a few moves that I believe would help Vancouver, not only for the rest of this season but also for years to come. With the surprise emergence of Alex Edler this year on the Canucks blueline, some are saying that highly touted prospect Luc Bourdon has now become expendable for trade. But instead of trading Bourdon for some scoring help upfront, why not use him to fill overlooked holes on the back end.
In my opinion every team should have 3 right handed shots and 3 left handed shots on the blueline, for making adequate pairings. With the Canucks current lineup loaded with left handed shots as well as ALL left handed shots with their current prospects, why not trade Bourdon for another right handed shot on the blueline. The team that I think would be most compatible for trade would be the Nashville Predators. There are two players that would be highly touted, Shae Weber and Cody Franson. Now I know that Nashville won’t just give these players away, but dangling Bourdon as compensation might just get the job done. Since Nashville’s defensive prospects are all right handed, they may find the trade ideal. You may ask why Weber or Franson? Well first off, they are both B.C. boys, they are both right handed shots, they are both bigger than 6’3″ 210 lbs, and they are both awesome hockey players. At 22 and 20 years of age neither player is a sure thing, but they are well on their way.
Secondly, a top six forward would be a much welcomed sight but at what price? Another piece of the puzzle that Vancouver has to dangle is Cory Schneider. A goalie prospect that is ranked as the 31st ranked prospect in the NHL as per Hockey Future, and the 6th ranked goalie, Schneider is a valuable commodity that other teams would love to have. Teams with weak goaltending prospects such as Chicago, Edmonton as Florida might be willing trading partners. Personally I believe that Chicago would be the best fit, since I believe that they have a deep crop of up and coming young forwards. A list of players that they might be willing to trade include: Tuomo Ruutu, prospects Troy Brouwer or Jake Skille.
So with these two potential moves, the Canucks lineup could look like this:
Sedin Sedin Pyatt
Ruutu Morrison Naslund
Cooke Kesler Raymond
Cowan Ritchie Burrows
Mitchell Bieksa
Ohlund Weber
Edler Salo
Krajicek
Luongo
Sanford
I know that it doesn’t look major, but with those two moves the Canucks would improve their team for years to come.