VAN-FLA

[Hamhuis2]

Addresses our needs.

To VAN: Weiss+Ellerby+Clemmenson

To FLA: Luongo+Schroeder(who it was rumoured Florida wanted)+2nd

Why Vancouver does this:

We get a very good player in Weiss with great vision. He's a consistent 55+ point contributor on a offensively starved Florida team (57 points last year). He also has good speed so he can keep up with our speedsters on the 2nd line, either playing him at wing or moving Kesler to the wing.

We also get Ellerby, a young, physical d man who has played in BC before (Kelowna Rockets). He is currently a bottom pairing guy, but is projected to become a solid top-4 guy in the future.

We're giving up Luongo, a great goalie despite all of the haters, who appears to be on his way out anyways, and Florida seems to be his preferred destination. We are also giving up Schroeder, who is a good, not great, prospect. We also throw in a 2nd round pick. In return we receive a solid top-6 playmaker and young, hulking d man with upside. We also get a veteran goalie to backup Schneider.

Why Florida does NOT do this:

All signs point to Markstrom being their goalie of the near future. If they were to acquire Luongo, a situation similar to what has happened with Schneider could arise there. Weiss has also been consistently a/the star of their team, and like most teams, an offence is usually built around the #1 centre. Ellerby is also already NHL ready, while Schroeder is not a sure thing by any means. They also lose Clemmenson.

Overall:

I think Florida might do this, as although they have Markstrom, Luongo might retire before Markstrom is ready to become an NHL starter. If Markstrom does surpass Lu before he retires, Lu could always mentor him for a year or two, splitting starts. I also think Florida would be happy getting Schroeder, who they apparently wanted in any Bjugstad deal. Ellerby would be tough for them to give up, since he is NHL ready, but with young d men such as Petrovic in their system, and think they would be okay letting him go. Finally, I believe that although Weiss would be very hard to get from Florida, that my proposed deal might work due to the fact that Florida and Vancouver swap stars(Lu and Weiss) in this deal and fill their team needs. Florida also appears to be okay with letting fan favourites go, as they traded Bouwmeester(their best d man), Booth(a huge fan favourite and their best winger), Horton(see Booth), Luongo(the face of their franchise, loved by Florida fans) and let go of Garrison(top-pairing d man for them).

So my question is: What would Vancouver fans think of this trade, and how realistic do you think it is.

[Smashian Kassian]

Like your last one not terrible, I do kinda want to keep Schroeder tho, that's my only real complaint. Because with a prospect pool that has much more low end depth then higher end prospects, we would be giving away one of the few good prospects we have. (plus I like him personally, I feel he will prove people wrong)

If we did get Ellerby however, I would think about offering him to St.Louis for Sobokta, he would be a perfect fit for our third line, and he is young and there's a bit of upside there, whereas Ellerby has good upside but doesn't really add much currently.