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Well the OP does have a point, MG rarely does what he says. We aren't any bigger, tougher, younger or have more bite. MG is all talk, a desperate GM trying not to get fired.

Hopefully Torts can make us play the way MG said because he's dropped the ball yet again.

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Well the OP does have a point, MG rarely does what he says. We aren't any bigger, tougher, younger or have more bite. MG is all talk, a desperate GM trying not to get fired.

Hopefully Torts can make us play the way MG said because he's dropped the ball yet again.

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With all due respect at what point in time will they ever be ready then? We just tossed a coach who refused to play our young talent. I forgot players like Gretzky Roy Brodeur and Lemiuex all came into the league with 10 years of pro experience.

These kids have played hockey their whole lives. Jensen Gaunce and Schroeder are all ready as is Tanev and Corrado.

There was no money to sign anyone huge and really, you wanted Gillis to get in on the stupid overpayments everyone else jumped into? Boyd Gordon at $3 million a year? Clarkson for almost $5.5 million a year for 7 years...really?

Stop the doom and gloom crap. The top 6 is fine if motivated which is why we have a new coach who can not only motivate but also groom youngsters as he's successfully done his whole career, we have a solid assistant in Gulutzan as well with new ideas.

Our prospect pool is finally deeper and more respect worthy than it's been since about 2003/2004, our core players are still in their prime and now we have an angry 3 time vezina nominated goalie wanting to prove something.

Want a free agent for millions....sign one yourself because we now finally have a 4th line worth the name

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Agreed. Gillis has had 3, going on 4 seasons to address the needs of this team. Instead, he almost seems to do exactly the opposite. Hearing him justify his moves makes me sick to my stomach. People can sack ride Gillis all they want, but in my opinion he is a gutless turd (as a General Manager). His nose grows bigger with every single press conference.

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Agree.

Wish this doom and gloom crap would stop. Cap came down, we have a good team, new coach. People in FA got way overpaid and aren't that great of players. Only interesting move this off season is Bobby Ryan and surprise surprise they moved him to another conference...

Schneider trade was a good return.

This article explains it well

"When Cory Schneider was traded on Saturday, many Canucks fans were shocked at the return. “A first rounder? That’s it? Not even a free t-shirt?? At least give us a t-shirt!” was the general consensus at the time. In fact, a while back Jason Botchford captured a clip on the news after the Leafs playoff loss this year that could just as easily have been Canucks fans reaction to the Schneider deal:

http://www.tout.com/m/2na13w?ref=twas78dn

“After all of that, really bro? Come on!” indeed. The idea that a potential franchise goalie was traded for only a first rounder has left many fans questioning Mike Gillis, not only for his entire handling of the Luongo/Schneider dynamic, but of how he could fetch a return that didn’t even include the nominal 2nd or 3rd rounder all deals speculated about on the internet always throw in. You know the one, the “Canucks should trade Edler for Shea Weber….ok, Edler and a 3rd rounder for Weber, let’s make it fair.”

One also has to think if the Canucks only got a first rounder for the younger, cheaper Cory Schneider, it explains why there was little to no traction on getting any return on Roberto Luongo at all. His horrifying contract and his age probably ensured that not many teams were willing to offer up much of anything, even for a goalie with such a proven track record like Roberto Luongo. Of course, the question remains then, did Mike Gillis royally screw this up, or were fans expectations simply too high to begin with? The astute readers out there will notice the title of this story and will realize I am about to argue that goalies simply have no value on the trade market, so let’s take a journey through history as we try and see how much blame we can put at Gillis’ feet for this situation.

Ah, back when he wasn’t funny on Twitter.

Roberto Luongo

Hey, remember that guy? He was also involved in a deal where everyone thought the team getting him ripped off the team trading him away. Back when Luongo was a Panther and Mike Keenan was still somehow employed, they came to a contractual impasse. As a result, Luongo was sent packing to Vancouver to see if he could supplant Dan Cloutier as the number one goalie. Hahahah, I just had a good laugh there. Anyways, Luongo was dealt to Vancouver but many people thought Florida got ripped off. The deal?

To Vancouver:

Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek, and a 6th rounder (Sergei Shirokov)

To Florida

Todd “Broken Back, broken heart” Bertuzzi, Bryan “Fall down stairs” Allen, and Alex “Ed Belfour is going to punch me isn’t he?” Auld.

Now remember, Todd Bertuzzi had the baggage of the Steve Moore incident hanging over his head, and he most likely wanted out of Vancouver, or at the very least, Vancouver wanted him out. The fact they were able to turn the leagues most hated man at the time, into one of the top young goalies in the game, was shocking to everyone. This trade was attacked by everyone and was viewed as one of the greatest rip offs of all time. “How could you trade franchise goalie Luongo for Bertuzzi??” was a common refrain heard around the world.

No offense to Krajicek of course. He had one and a half glorious seasons in Vancouver….

Patrick Roy calling a field goal for the Alouettes?

The Trade: Patrick Roy traded from Montreal

This is probably the most high profile goalie trade in modern hockey history. Everyone knows the story, but for the few people who don’t remember, Patrick Roy, after winning two Cups in Montreal, was having himself a bit of a bad game on December 2nd, 1995. The game was not going his way, as Patrick Roy allowed 9 goals through almost two periods, leading to the famous picture of Roy raising his arms in response to the home crowd jeering him for making an easy save. Once Roy was finally, mercifully pulled from the game, he walked by team president Ronald Corey on the bench and told him “it’s my last game in Montreal.”

As a result, Montreal had a very angry Patrick Roy on their hands. Well, he was always angry, but this time he was SUPER angry, and was demanding a trade. Now remember, this was a bizarre time in the world, one in which things got done right away in hockey, so Montreal traded Roy only four days later instead of waiting two years, which is probably confusing to many Canucks fans. What did the Canadiens get for their franchise goalie, who had won them two Cups?

To Montreal:

Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky, and Andrei Kovalenko

To Colorado

Patrick Roy

Mike Keane (then captain of the Habs)

In hindsight, it is easy to tear this trade apart. Trading your captain and your top goalie for Jocelyn “He’s french so he must be like Patrick Roy” Thibault, Martin “Mr. Perimeter” Rucinsky, and Andrei “Not quite like Kovalev” Kovalenko.

It was also easy to tear this apart when it was made. It was not a good deal. It was an awful deal. Terrible. Putrid. Patrick went on to continue his hall of fame career and Mike Keane continued to add to his Stanley Cup tattoo collection. Thibault I think might have appeared on a box of Wheaties by accident, Rucinsky enjoyed several first round losses, and Kovalenko joined the group of Russian athletes who got to use “AK 47″ as a nickname.

This picture has a play button, but it’s not a video. PSYCHE!

Jaroslav “Suck it, Ovi” Halak trade

Remember that run Halak had in the playoffs where he booted Carey Price to the curb and put the Habs on his shoulders and put on a goalie performance for the ages? That should have a great return, as Halak and Price, both good young goalies, had shown both were ready to step up and take over the reigns of a club as the number one goalie, right? What did the Habs get for Halak?

To St. Louis

Jaroslav Halak

To Montreal

Lars Ellers (13th overall) and Ian Schultz

Again, this falls nicely in the “trade your mid 20′s goalie for a top 15 pick” that seems to happen with many goalies, so Gillis might not have been that far off in his return. The only thing Gillis keeps missing is that vaunted 2nd or 3rd rounder throw in.

Here is Hasek about to hopefully slide kick someone like he once did to Marion Gaborik

Dom Hasek traded to Wings

There was no better goalie in the 90′s then Dominik Hasek. He was, and remains to this day, the best goalie I have ever seen play the game.

That being said, when he was traded in 2001 to the Red Wings (admittedly he was in his mid 30′s at this point), the return was underwhelming.

To Detroit

Dominik Hasek

To Buffalo

Vyacheslav Kozlov, a first round pick, and future considerations (widely rumored to be a really good back rub)

Kozlov played 38 games for the Sabres. That first rounder? It was Detroit’s, which meant it ended up being #30, basically a glorified 2nd round draft pick. That ended up being Jim Slater, who went on to play in the NHL, but as a 4th liner. I assume the future considerations of the back rub might sway some people into thinking this was a good deal, but again, at the end of the day, the Enron Goaltender market strikes again.

Here’s Kari just remembering he forgot to set his PVR. We’ve all been there, bud.

Kari “The Next Big Thing” Lehtonen trade

If you didn’t hear about how Kari was the best goalie not playing in the NHL for several years, then you were not a hockey fan back in 2002. Hearing about how he was the next Hasek was par for the course (winning wise, not style wise) and everyone expected great things from him. Alas, he was stuck on the Thrashers, who did not expect great things from anything, so he lost. He lost a lot. Still, he had that aura of “untapped potential” surrounding him, which meant his trade value should still have been good, right? He was traded to Dallas for:

To Atlanapeg

Ivan Vishneskiy (don’t worry, you don’t have to pretend to know who he is) and a 4th round pick (Ivan Telegin, don’t worry, you don’t need to pretend to know who he is either)

To Dallas

Kari Lehtonen

Injuries and inconsistency played a large part in devaluing Lehtonen before the trade, but even the untapped potential of a superstar goalie in the making wasn’t enough to fetch much of a return.

Not pictured here is the fear Vokoun lives with every day that Keith Ballard is going to come back and finish the job he started one day.

Tomas Vokoun deal

This is where Canucks fans can finally have a bit of leverage when asking why Gillis didn’t get enough value for Cory Schneider. Thomas Vokoun, the well established number one goalie in Nashville, had enjoyed multiple years playing great hockey for the Preds. He was clearly a top notch goalie at the time, but Nashville had a guy by the name of Pekka Rinne waiting in the wings (Again, unlike Vancouver they chose not to wait 2 years while two top goalies played an awkward game of “duck duck duck goose”), so they chose to deal him in 2007.

To Florida

Tomas Vokoun

To Nashville

1st rounder (9th overall Josh Bailey, which ended up going to the Islanders), 2nd rounder pick (Nick Spaling, 58th overall) and 2nd round pick next year (Aaron Ness, 40th overall)

The differences between the Schneider trade and the Vokoun trade are that Vokoun was a well established number one goalie, and that the salary cap situation in the league wasn’t heading downwards. This is also why Luongo probably didn’t fetch the same kind of return, as he was older, and he has that contract of death.

Still, even though draft picks are always a gamble (except Shinkaruk and Horvat, right? RIGHT??) at least Nashville got three rolls of the dice for their top goalie.

His eyes always creep me out.

Semyon “Yarlamov” Varlamov trade

In a rare case of people actually thinking a team overpaid for a goalie, Varlamov managed to get a return that people looked favorably upon.

To Colorado

Semyon Varlamov

To Washington

1st round pick (11th overall, Filip Forsberg) and a 2nd round pick (Which ended up going to Boston in a key party-esque situation of multiple trading, which ended up being Mike Winther, who seems doomed to end up being an undersized AHL star)

This is a nice example where people can point out that a goalie with less on his resume then Schneider fetched a bigger return then what Mike Gillis got. So in this case, feel free to celebrate and spit at Mike Gillis.

Drunk on life. That’s all. I assume he was doing the “WAAZZZZZZUUUP” thing here.

Ed “Punchie McGee” Belfour” trade

Remember good old Ed? If you don’t, he’s that guy who probably offered you a billion dollars not to take him to jail. Yeah, that guy. Aside from all the drinking, he was actually a very good goalie. In fact, he was a top flight goalie for the Hawks for many years. So what did a top goalie for the Hawks net Chicago in return at the age of 32?

To San Jose

Ed Belfour, a bucket full of rage

To Chicago

Ulf Dahlen, Michael Sykora, Chis Terreri, and a conditional 2nd rounder

Dahlen was a decent, if not injury prone winger, who only played 30 games for Chicago before running to the SEL. Chris Terreri was Martin Brodeur’s caddy, and only played 2 seasons in Chicago before figuring out a way to get back to New Jersey several years later. And Michael Sykora was a 6th round draft pick who ended up playing a couple of seasons in Chicago before going back to the Czech Republic.

So top goalie Ed Belfour, who lost his job to Jeff “Vertigo” Hackett ended up returning a career backup, a d-man on an expiring contract, and a random late round draft pick. Not quite the haul you would expect for a top goalie.

(This might be the best Cup photo of all time. It has a very Michelangelo ”Creation of Adam” feeling to it.)

Mike Vernon Trade

Mike Vernon, after having been the top goalie for the Flames for 10 years, was chased out of his nets by Trevor Kidd (Vancouver fans can be encouraged by the disturbing trend of top flight goalies being replaced by the likes of Kidd and Hackett), and was dealt to the Red Wings. What did they get?

To Calgary

Mike Vernon

To Detroit

Steve Chiasson

Chiasson, whose career numbers were inflated by his time in Detroit, had several season of average hockey in Calgary before moving on. Still, at the time Calgary added a PP QB d-man for their top goalie, which must have been ok at the time, but in hindsight, wasn’t that great of a return.

Look at that pout! Someone’s been practicing for the cover of Tiger Beat magazine

Jonathan Bernier trade

This one lines up really well with Schneider being traded, so what did Bernier (he has the same pedigree as Schneider, but with a less impressive resume) get in return?

To Toronto

Jonathan Bernier

To LA

Matt Frattin (4th rounder), Ben Scrivens (back up goalie), and a 2nd rounder

Again, Schneider has proven more at the NHL level, but it’s another case of a goalie with lots of potential not netting a very impressive return. No offense to the Frattin family, who I am sure are huge readers of this blog.

That is just a sample of the types of returns that top goalies have historically gotten in the modern NHL. Did Gillis drop the ball? Well, the Luongo situation was handled terribly no matter how you look at it. Whether you blame Luongo’s initial contract (did the owners insist upon it? Or was it all Gillis) or if you blame Gillis for overplaying his hand by holding out on dealing Luongo or Schneider last year when their value might have been higher, it’s hard to say overall that Gillis dropped the Schneider trade. The only thing Gillis seems to be missing from his deal is again, the infamous 2nd or 3rd round draft pick throw in, which is always a gamble at the best of times. Still, draft picks have value, so you can take Gillis to task for not at least getting those draft picks to take a roll of the dice on. You can also very much blame Gillis for the way this situation played out by taking so long to deal Luongo or Schneider, which leaves many a question on how much damage has been done to the relationship between Vancouver and Roberto. But strictly on value wise, it’s not actually a huge loss in my humble opinion.

The trend you can see throughout history, though, is that teams just don’t place a ton of value on established goalies, or younger goalies, and the return doesn’t end up being something that was often viewed as a huge win for the team trading the goalie. To come full circle here, goalies often end up being the Enron of the NHL in terms of value: Perceived to be very high by the fans of the team trading the goalie, but in the end, they find out the return isn’t as much as expected. Could Schneider have gotten a bigger return if he had been dealt this year or last, when he was putting up top numbers? Probably. I just don’t know how much more of a return it could have been.

Of course, if Luongo holds out or doesn’t report to camp, well, that’s when it’s safe to break out the pitchforks and run at Gillis. But that would never happen, right?

Right?"

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Agree.

Wish this doom and gloom crap would stop. Cap came down, we have a good team, new coach. People in FA got way overpaid and aren't that great of players. Only interesting move this off season is Bobby Ryan and surprise surprise they moved him to another conference...

Schneider trade was a good return.

This article explains it well

"When Cory Schneider was traded on Saturday, many Canucks fans were shocked at the return. “A first rounder? That’s it? Not even a free t-shirt?? At least give us a t-shirt!” was the general consensus at the time. In fact, a while back Jason Botchford captured a clip on the news after the Leafs playoff loss this year that could just as easily have been Canucks fans reaction to the Schneider deal:

http://www.tout.com/m/2na13w?ref=twas78dn

“After all of that, really bro? Come on!” indeed. The idea that a potential franchise goalie was traded for only a first rounder has left many fans questioning Mike Gillis, not only for his entire handling of the Luongo/Schneider dynamic, but of how he could fetch a return that didn’t even include the nominal 2nd or 3rd rounder all deals speculated about on the internet always throw in. You know the one, the “Canucks should trade Edler for Shea Weber….ok, Edler and a 3rd rounder for Weber, let’s make it fair.”

One also has to think if the Canucks only got a first rounder for the younger, cheaper Cory Schneider, it explains why there was little to no traction on getting any return on Roberto Luongo at all. His horrifying contract and his age probably ensured that not many teams were willing to offer up much of anything, even for a goalie with such a proven track record like Roberto Luongo. Of course, the question remains then, did Mike Gillis royally screw this up, or were fans expectations simply too high to begin with? The astute readers out there will notice the title of this story and will realize I am about to argue that goalies simply have no value on the trade market, so let’s take a journey through history as we try and see how much blame we can put at Gillis’ feet for this situation.

Ah, back when he wasn’t funny on Twitter.

Roberto Luongo

Hey, remember that guy? He was also involved in a deal where everyone thought the team getting him ripped off the team trading him away. Back when Luongo was a Panther and Mike Keenan was still somehow employed, they came to a contractual impasse. As a result, Luongo was sent packing to Vancouver to see if he could supplant Dan Cloutier as the number one goalie. Hahahah, I just had a good laugh there. Anyways, Luongo was dealt to Vancouver but many people thought Florida got ripped off. The deal?

To Vancouver:

Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek, and a 6th rounder (Sergei Shirokov)

To Florida

Todd “Broken Back, broken heart” Bertuzzi, Bryan “Fall down stairs” Allen, and Alex “Ed Belfour is going to punch me isn’t he?” Auld.

Now remember, Todd Bertuzzi had the baggage of the Steve Moore incident hanging over his head, and he most likely wanted out of Vancouver, or at the very least, Vancouver wanted him out. The fact they were able to turn the leagues most hated man at the time, into one of the top young goalies in the game, was shocking to everyone. This trade was attacked by everyone and was viewed as one of the greatest rip offs of all time. “How could you trade franchise goalie Luongo for Bertuzzi??” was a common refrain heard around the world.

No offense to Krajicek of course. He had one and a half glorious seasons in Vancouver….

Patrick Roy calling a field goal for the Alouettes?

The Trade: Patrick Roy traded from Montreal

This is probably the most high profile goalie trade in modern hockey history. Everyone knows the story, but for the few people who don’t remember, Patrick Roy, after winning two Cups in Montreal, was having himself a bit of a bad game on December 2nd, 1995. The game was not going his way, as Patrick Roy allowed 9 goals through almost two periods, leading to the famous picture of Roy raising his arms in response to the home crowd jeering him for making an easy save. Once Roy was finally, mercifully pulled from the game, he walked by team president Ronald Corey on the bench and told him “it’s my last game in Montreal.”

As a result, Montreal had a very angry Patrick Roy on their hands. Well, he was always angry, but this time he was SUPER angry, and was demanding a trade. Now remember, this was a bizarre time in the world, one in which things got done right away in hockey, so Montreal traded Roy only four days later instead of waiting two years, which is probably confusing to many Canucks fans. What did the Canadiens get for their franchise goalie, who had won them two Cups?

To Montreal:

Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky, and Andrei Kovalenko

To Colorado

Patrick Roy

Mike Keane (then captain of the Habs)

In hindsight, it is easy to tear this trade apart. Trading your captain and your top goalie for Jocelyn “He’s french so he must be like Patrick Roy” Thibault, Martin “Mr. Perimeter” Rucinsky, and Andrei “Not quite like Kovalev” Kovalenko.

It was also easy to tear this apart when it was made. It was not a good deal. It was an awful deal. Terrible. Putrid. Patrick went on to continue his hall of fame career and Mike Keane continued to add to his Stanley Cup tattoo collection. Thibault I think might have appeared on a box of Wheaties by accident, Rucinsky enjoyed several first round losses, and Kovalenko joined the group of Russian athletes who got to use “AK 47″ as a nickname.

This picture has a play button, but it’s not a video. PSYCHE!

Jaroslav “Suck it, Ovi” Halak trade

Remember that run Halak had in the playoffs where he booted Carey Price to the curb and put the Habs on his shoulders and put on a goalie performance for the ages? That should have a great return, as Halak and Price, both good young goalies, had shown both were ready to step up and take over the reigns of a club as the number one goalie, right? What did the Habs get for Halak?

To St. Louis

Jaroslav Halak

To Montreal

Lars Ellers (13th overall) and Ian Schultz

Again, this falls nicely in the “trade your mid 20′s goalie for a top 15 pick” that seems to happen with many goalies, so Gillis might not have been that far off in his return. The only thing Gillis keeps missing is that vaunted 2nd or 3rd rounder throw in.

Here is Hasek about to hopefully slide kick someone like he once did to Marion Gaborik

Dom Hasek traded to Wings

There was no better goalie in the 90′s then Dominik Hasek. He was, and remains to this day, the best goalie I have ever seen play the game.

That being said, when he was traded in 2001 to the Red Wings (admittedly he was in his mid 30′s at this point), the return was underwhelming.

To Detroit

Dominik Hasek

To Buffalo

Vyacheslav Kozlov, a first round pick, and future considerations (widely rumored to be a really good back rub)

Kozlov played 38 games for the Sabres. That first rounder? It was Detroit’s, which meant it ended up being #30, basically a glorified 2nd round draft pick. That ended up being Jim Slater, who went on to play in the NHL, but as a 4th liner. I assume the future considerations of the back rub might sway some people into thinking this was a good deal, but again, at the end of the day, the Enron Goaltender market strikes again.

Here’s Kari just remembering he forgot to set his PVR. We’ve all been there, bud.

Kari “The Next Big Thing” Lehtonen trade

If you didn’t hear about how Kari was the best goalie not playing in the NHL for several years, then you were not a hockey fan back in 2002. Hearing about how he was the next Hasek was par for the course (winning wise, not style wise) and everyone expected great things from him. Alas, he was stuck on the Thrashers, who did not expect great things from anything, so he lost. He lost a lot. Still, he had that aura of “untapped potential” surrounding him, which meant his trade value should still have been good, right? He was traded to Dallas for:

To Atlanapeg

Ivan Vishneskiy (don’t worry, you don’t have to pretend to know who he is) and a 4th round pick (Ivan Telegin, don’t worry, you don’t need to pretend to know who he is either)

To Dallas

Kari Lehtonen

Injuries and inconsistency played a large part in devaluing Lehtonen before the trade, but even the untapped potential of a superstar goalie in the making wasn’t enough to fetch much of a return.

Not pictured here is the fear Vokoun lives with every day that Keith Ballard is going to come back and finish the job he started one day.

Tomas Vokoun deal

This is where Canucks fans can finally have a bit of leverage when asking why Gillis didn’t get enough value for Cory Schneider. Thomas Vokoun, the well established number one goalie in Nashville, had enjoyed multiple years playing great hockey for the Preds. He was clearly a top notch goalie at the time, but Nashville had a guy by the name of Pekka Rinne waiting in the wings (Again, unlike Vancouver they chose not to wait 2 years while two top goalies played an awkward game of “duck duck duck goose”), so they chose to deal him in 2007.

To Florida

Tomas Vokoun

To Nashville

1st rounder (9th overall Josh Bailey, which ended up going to the Islanders), 2nd rounder pick (Nick Spaling, 58th overall) and 2nd round pick next year (Aaron Ness, 40th overall)

The differences between the Schneider trade and the Vokoun trade are that Vokoun was a well established number one goalie, and that the salary cap situation in the league wasn’t heading downwards. This is also why Luongo probably didn’t fetch the same kind of return, as he was older, and he has that contract of death.

Still, even though draft picks are always a gamble (except Shinkaruk and Horvat, right? RIGHT??) at least Nashville got three rolls of the dice for their top goalie.

His eyes always creep me out.

Semyon “Yarlamov” Varlamov trade

In a rare case of people actually thinking a team overpaid for a goalie, Varlamov managed to get a return that people looked favorably upon.

To Colorado

Semyon Varlamov

To Washington

1st round pick (11th overall, Filip Forsberg) and a 2nd round pick (Which ended up going to Boston in a key party-esque situation of multiple trading, which ended up being Mike Winther, who seems doomed to end up being an undersized AHL star)

This is a nice example where people can point out that a goalie with less on his resume then Schneider fetched a bigger return then what Mike Gillis got. So in this case, feel free to celebrate and spit at Mike Gillis.

Drunk on life. That’s all. I assume he was doing the “WAAZZZZZZUUUP” thing here.

Ed “Punchie McGee” Belfour” trade

Remember good old Ed? If you don’t, he’s that guy who probably offered you a billion dollars not to take him to jail. Yeah, that guy. Aside from all the drinking, he was actually a very good goalie. In fact, he was a top flight goalie for the Hawks for many years. So what did a top goalie for the Hawks net Chicago in return at the age of 32?

To San Jose

Ed Belfour, a bucket full of rage

To Chicago

Ulf Dahlen, Michael Sykora, Chis Terreri, and a conditional 2nd rounder

Dahlen was a decent, if not injury prone winger, who only played 30 games for Chicago before running to the SEL. Chris Terreri was Martin Brodeur’s caddy, and only played 2 seasons in Chicago before figuring out a way to get back to New Jersey several years later. And Michael Sykora was a 6th round draft pick who ended up playing a couple of seasons in Chicago before going back to the Czech Republic.

So top goalie Ed Belfour, who lost his job to Jeff “Vertigo” Hackett ended up returning a career backup, a d-man on an expiring contract, and a random late round draft pick. Not quite the haul you would expect for a top goalie.

(This might be the best Cup photo of all time. It has a very Michelangelo ”Creation of Adam” feeling to it.)

Mike Vernon Trade

Mike Vernon, after having been the top goalie for the Flames for 10 years, was chased out of his nets by Trevor Kidd (Vancouver fans can be encouraged by the disturbing trend of top flight goalies being replaced by the likes of Kidd and Hackett), and was dealt to the Red Wings. What did they get?

To Calgary

Mike Vernon

To Detroit

Steve Chiasson

Chiasson, whose career numbers were inflated by his time in Detroit, had several season of average hockey in Calgary before moving on. Still, at the time Calgary added a PP QB d-man for their top goalie, which must have been ok at the time, but in hindsight, wasn’t that great of a return.

Look at that pout! Someone’s been practicing for the cover of Tiger Beat magazine

Jonathan Bernier trade

This one lines up really well with Schneider being traded, so what did Bernier (he has the same pedigree as Schneider, but with a less impressive resume) get in return?

To Toronto

Jonathan Bernier

To LA

Matt Frattin (4th rounder), Ben Scrivens (back up goalie), and a 2nd rounder

Again, Schneider has proven more at the NHL level, but it’s another case of a goalie with lots of potential not netting a very impressive return. No offense to the Frattin family, who I am sure are huge readers of this blog.

That is just a sample of the types of returns that top goalies have historically gotten in the modern NHL. Did Gillis drop the ball? Well, the Luongo situation was handled terribly no matter how you look at it. Whether you blame Luongo’s initial contract (did the owners insist upon it? Or was it all Gillis) or if you blame Gillis for overplaying his hand by holding out on dealing Luongo or Schneider last year when their value might have been higher, it’s hard to say overall that Gillis dropped the Schneider trade. The only thing Gillis seems to be missing from his deal is again, the infamous 2nd or 3rd round draft pick throw in, which is always a gamble at the best of times. Still, draft picks have value, so you can take Gillis to task for not at least getting those draft picks to take a roll of the dice on. You can also very much blame Gillis for the way this situation played out by taking so long to deal Luongo or Schneider, which leaves many a question on how much damage has been done to the relationship between Vancouver and Roberto. But strictly on value wise, it’s not actually a huge loss in my humble opinion.

The trend you can see throughout history, though, is that teams just don’t place a ton of value on established goalies, or younger goalies, and the return doesn’t end up being something that was often viewed as a huge win for the team trading the goalie. To come full circle here, goalies often end up being the Enron of the NHL in terms of value: Perceived to be very high by the fans of the team trading the goalie, but in the end, they find out the return isn’t as much as expected. Could Schneider have gotten a bigger return if he had been dealt this year or last, when he was putting up top numbers? Probably. I just don’t know how much more of a return it could have been.

Of course, if Luongo holds out or doesn’t report to camp, well, that’s when it’s safe to break out the pitchforks and run at Gillis. But that would never happen, right?

Right?"

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Well the OP does have a point, MG rarely does what he says. We aren't any bigger, tougher, younger or have more bite. MG is all talk, a desperate GM trying not to get fired.

Hopefully Torts can make us play the way MG said because he's dropped the ball yet again.

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We are only a couple of weeks into the offseason. I mean really. Yes Gillis may be a bit of a numbskull in regards to how he dealt with the Luongo situation, but what's done is done.

As far as free agency, Gillis displayed a necessary shrewdness in not overpaying for the likes of Clarkson and Gordon, and on and on. It was a disgrace to the league that that much money was being thrown around after a shortened season.

Good on Gillis for having a grasp on economics. And good on Gillis for turning what was a sad prospect pool into a very healthy one. These things matter.

These kids will be given a chance to make the majors under a coach known for developing young talent well.

However, this upcoming season will be the true litmus test for Gillis. He doesn't have Vigneault to shield him anymore.

Hopefully Luongo returns, as he will benefit from the coaching change immensely. No more being left in for 8 goals. I wonder how many times Lundqvist will do that for AV?

Hiring Tortorella will prove to be a great step in the right direction. This team still has a huge amount of talent and the right coach (the type that motivates and holds players accountable on a game by game basis) can bring this team around big time.

I am hoping he will get the defense to buy into a stronger more ornery style of defense. For too long under the Vigneault regime, the defense was caught out of position and seemed more like spectators in their own end. I can say with certainty that that brand of defense won't fly under Tort's watch. So right there, is a positive. And hopefully Gillis can acquire an ox of a stay at home defenseman (Ryan O' Byrne and Marc Fistric come to mind) and make us harder to play against.

The forwards could use an injection in the top six, but maybe Booth can come back in, free of injury, and play up to standard.

I am looking forward to the upcoming season. I am not going to make assumptions based on conjecture. I am a Canucks fan and I want to see this team succeed.

They will.

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Agreed!! Gillis effed up the goalie situation royally. He lets solid role players walk( Torres, lappy, glass) and pisses off some classy players ( manny, Lou and schnieds). He hasn't been able to get a 3rd line center to replace manny for several years and can't assemble a solid 4 th line. Something u must have In order to win

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