If it was possible and you had the choice, would you have kept Erhoff and move Edler instead?

[Amish Rake Fighter]

Reinhart and Brown were the 2 best offensive defencemen in Canuck history, not Ehrhoff.

Honorable mention to Lumme and Kearns.

[Patrick Kane]

I'd take Ehrhoff rather easily.

He has matured defensively, playing big minutes in Buffalo, has made him a much smarter defender. He still has all the valuable tools which made him the Babe Pratt trophy winner for two years here.

Read this as well.

http://canucksarmy.c...-win-the-norris

[Ghostsof1915]

Reinhart and Brown were the 2 best offensive defencemen in Canuck history, not Ehrhoff.

Honorable mention to Lumme and Kearns.

[Ghostsof1915]

I'd take Ehrhoff rather easily.

He has matured defensively, playing big minutes in Buffalo, has made him a much smarter defender. He still has all the valuable tools which made him the Babe Pratt trophy winner for two years here.

Read this as well.

http://canucksarmy.c...-win-the-norris

[BedBeats™2.0]

'Hoff is absolutely not the guy the team misses most.

It is Salo.

Edler fully stepped into 'Hoff's role and ran with it. Last season after surgery, he lost a step and just did not look comfy for long sequences.

What 'Hoff brought to the line-up is replaceable by the existing d-corps.

'Hoff's real asset was that he was confident with the puck and was a sublime skater. Obviously he could shoot.

I liked what he brought, but i do not miss him at all.

[Amish Rake Fighter]

Jeff Brown? His best numbers were in St. Louis, not in Vancouver. Dale Tallon had better numbers in Vancouver than Brown did.

Lumme, Reinhart and Kearns for me.

It's a pity Ohlund had that eye injury, it would have been interesting to see what his top end "might" have been.

[wallstreetamigo]

It was a joke. Both are examples of Edler having his brain fart moments.

[wallstreetamigo]

'Hoff is absolutely not the guy the team misses most.

It is Salo.

Edler fully stepped into 'Hoff's role and ran with it. Last season after surgery, he lost a step and just did not look comfy for long sequences.

What 'Hoff brought to the line-up is replaceable by the existing d-corps.

'Hoff's real asset was that he was confident with the puck and was a sublime skater. Obviously he could shoot.

I liked what he brought, but i do not miss him at all.

[amitriptyline]

I'd rather have Ehrhoff over Edler any day. The pp was deadly when we had Ehrhoff. He fit so well with the team and did an excellent job of getting the puck to the forwards, and in racking up points. He is an elite puck moving d man, who performed his role so well, which allowed the other d's to concentrate more on defense. I don't know if it would be worth resigning him with the lengthy contract he wanted, but I really miss having him. He was one of the best signings of Gillis' tenure. I don't think he is as easily replaceable as some here might think.

[Gerbera]

I don't get why people keep linking the PP with Ehrhoff. The 1st half of the year after he left and right before our re-match game with Boston, our PP is still one of the best in the league. After that game in Boston, is where everything starts to fell apart and players become not interested.

And he obviously wanted his big pay day and refused to sign with the Canucks. Then he signed a back diving 10 year contract w Buffalo and say he think they gave him the best chance to the cup? If i recall correctly, the BUF got eliminated in the 1st round in the playoffs that year and aren't showing any signs of breaking out. He just wanted his big pay day and decide to leave the team he went to the cup finals with and made up some lame excuse.

Compared to Edler who signed a 5 year 5 mil deal, do u guys really think he will sign that deal?

[BedBeats™2.0]

I agree that the team - especially Edler - misses Salo.

However, I disagree that anyone on this current D can actually replace what Ehrhoff brought. No one on this current D has that same passing ability, whether to transition from our own end or on the PP, nor do they have the ability to skate the puck up ice the way he could.

Ehrhoff was not an elite player or anything and is completely replaceable. But his skillset has not been replaced by the Canucks yet. He was a great fit with the Sedins on the PP. He also allowed Edler to play a game more suited to his skillset, just like Salo did. Edler is not an effective passer nor is he particularly adept at skating the puck up ice. Edler misses both those guys for different reasons and in different ways but there is no one on the D who can effectively replace all of what either of them brought to the team. Both are missed a lot imo.

[Henrik Kesler]

Keep Edler. He ran the PP just as good as 'The Hoff' until the Boston game in 2012. After that it seemed the PP was overcoached and overthought.

The PP will return to form (20%) if it is simplified. By simplified I mean limiting passing and trying to generate a large volume of shots instead passing 75 times looking for the perfect set up before taking a rushed shot from the point. Also, it would help if Hank would shoot more. His best season offensively came when he shot a lot more.

More of this on the PP:

[Amish Rake Fighter]

I agree with the idea that Salo could really help the Canucks in many ways right now. He makes everyone around him better in every situation, definitely one of the best all around D men ever to wear the Canucks jersey.

I went to a Caps Canucks game a few years ago where Coach V paired up Mitchell and Salo to cover Ovechkin's line and it was a thing of beauty. Salo actually knocked Ovie down a couple times en route to shutting them down hard.

[Amish Rake Fighter]

Keep Edler. He ran the PP just as good as 'The Hoff' until the Boston game in 2012. After that it seemed the PP was overcoached and overthought.

The PP will return to form (20%) if it is simplified. By simplified I mean limiting passing and trying to generate a large volume of shots instead 75 times looking for the perfect set up before taking a rushed shot from the point. Also, it would help if Hank would shoot more. His best season offensively came when he shot a lot more.

[TheMohammadman]

Imagine our defensive core with Ehrhoff.

Edler-Erhoff

Hamhuis-Garrison

Bieksa-Tanev

Never bad to dream

[kmotamed]

I think Ehrhoff's cap hit is very similar to Bieksa's... Wish we could have had them both, Edler too. What a powerhouse D that was

[canucklehead44]

Ehrhoff over all the options, but here is the order:

1. Dump Ballard - He may have still had some value after only one poor season. With Ballard gone we may have been able to squeeze Ehrhoff in.

2. Move Bieksa instead - Other than physicality I think Ehrhoff is the beter defenseman. Bieksa only plays well with elite defensive players (Mitchell, Hamhuis).He gets exposed with average defenders.

3. Trade Edler, keep Ehrhoff. At the time, straight up, I would have kept Edler for his upside but they were pretty close. Ehrhoff was the better defender but Edler had much more potential. Maybe we could have gotten JVR for Edler?

[Kesler's Nose]

We kept Edler, end of story.

[Ohnoeszz]

I keep Edler over Erhoff, but Erhoff over Bieksa. I never would have made the Ballard trade - liked Grabner over Raymond.

I've never liked Bieksa. He has too many bad mistakes in his game and I don't like his style. I think he's overrated because of his grittiness and personality.

Additionally, this thread makes me wanna comment on a couple things:

-Erhoff has been a true top pairing player in Buffalo. His defense has improved and he is a stabilizing force. His contract has a 4 million dollar cap hit for its entire duration (8 more years). Buffalo has already payed the first two years - there will be a cap recapture penalty on only those two years. The final 3 years of the 8 remaining earns Erhoff 1 million per year(4mil cap hit). His contract at this point is beautiful. I would pay assets to have him back right now. He also doesn't fit great with Buffalo considering their need to fully rebuild through prospects.

-I'm pretty convinced Edlers decline in play stems from a decline in mobility. I think his back issues are making him play stiff and mechanical. I hope that this is something that can be accounted for with long term training and exercise. I still have a lot of faith in his skill and the mental side of his game. I'm happy we kept him instead of trading because he has the makings of an elite #1 defender. He still needs to put it all together (again, I really think he just needs his skating to return to form and give him more range) but I think the potential is there.

[hsedin33]

Ehrhoff was not only able to hit the net, he could also pick spots. He made our PP deadly with the Sedins and Kesler. What a shame it was to lose him. So what if he wanted a long contract, everyone can be traded, except for Luongo.