Why the Gudbranson trade is a great trade

[canuckistani]

This is a good trade, from where we sit right now. Gudbranson should be the new Willie Mitchell ++ in 2-3 years time. He is right handed too and that is desperately needed: Canucks are the softest team in the league (or atleast, one of the bottom 5) in right defense. Tanev is excellent defensively, but a physical monster, he is not. Far from it, thats pretty much the only glaring weakness in Tanev's game ( he also lacks a Point shot blast, but that is not a must-have for a HoF defenceman- Lidstrom never had a cannon of a slapper and look where he ended up). 

Gudbranson fills one of the biggest holes in the Canucks lineup and he fills it fast.

 

To those who are saying that we 'might've overpaid'. Yes, we might've. But that is a contingency. If McCann fulfills his potential and becomes a 60 point guy and IF one of the two draft picks we gave them turns out to be a minute-muncher and IF the 5th we got from them also flops, we will look like fools to've made this trade.

But as of this very minute, Vancouver is winning the trade and winning by a long-shot. 

The Bottomline, is that Gudbranson is a solid top 4 right-handed, minute munching, defensively awesome defenseman who gets into most current top-4 defense and McCann, as of right now, is a fringe NHL player who either really needs to bulk up or really get better in the face-off dot in a hurry to succeed.

 

Now, the thing is this- in our spare times, we have all agreed that its much, much harder to acquire top-shelf defencemen without massive overpayment and they also rarely hit free-market until their games decline. 

WHY IS THAT ? 

The answer is simple- the same reason why 90% of top-10 drafted players are forwards. Forwards, especially offensively talented forwards, develop faster and attain their ceiling earlier in many cases. Defensemen, mostly, almost overwhelmingly so, do not. 

Therefore, to get a potential stud defenseman (and Gudbranson has a good chance of being one of the best PK-ers & defensive defensemen in the west), one has to dangle good prospects/picks. 

The good news is, we gave up on a forward who was marginal in making the next season for a long term, solid top-4 defenseman who fills a big void we had, who is also pretty young. 

Benning is trying to build a solid team that are in the 'perennial contender zone'. His moves align to his purpose perfectly in this case. 
To build a team like St.Louis/LA/Anaheim, we need to build from the goal outwards. 
That is exactly what Benning is doing:

Our most exciting prospect, is a goalie ( Demko).

In two short years, he's expanded our defense to include Hutton, Tryamkin, Olson, Brisebois and now, Gudbranson. 
Benning is building the back end first. And that takes a bit of time and giving up early on mid-high picks. 

The loss of McCann and the second, can be recovered from easier in the next 2 years. Who knows, the guy who we pick this year, could end up being a 40-50 point guy in 2-3 years. 

This trade works for us and i think it has given the Canucks some much desired depth, growth potential and competitiveness in the defensive core. 

Now, With a mix of Edler, Tanev, Tryamkin, Gudbranson, Hutton  and Sbisa, with fringer/support cast of Pedan & Hamhuis (both hopefully) and Biega, with developers like Briesbois, Subban, Olson, etc. we are *one* breakout defenseman/defensive superstar away from being a defensive powerhouse. 

That, in the long run, is of exceptional value to the team and is a deal, that should be made 1000 out of 1000 times, if it had a re-do. 

[oldnews]

Hmm.  But what are we getting in Gudbranson?

[Twilight Sparkle]

4 minutes ago, oldnews said:

Hmm.  But what are we getting in Gudbranson?

gudbranson gits gud

[King Heffy]

7 minutes ago, oldnews said:

Hmm.  But what are we getting in Gudbranson?

A partner for Sbisa.  Sbisa kind of reminds me of Bieksa.  I think that pairing would be pretty effective and Sbisa would improve.

[LaBamba]

7 minutes ago, oldnews said:

Hmm.  But what are we getting in Gudbranson?

GM's r lining up to make a deal with Vancouver 

 

[-Stammer-]

bro, I just like trades

[canuckistani]

34 minutes ago, oldnews said:

Hmm.  But what are we getting in Gudbranson?

A solid stay-at-home defenceman who will excel at the defensive side of the game. 
Gudbranson has all the tools to be even more successful in the west, since the west is, in general, slightly slower but greater intensity division than the east, thus aligning to Gudbranson's natural game better.

 

[RyIe]

I think three things factored into this trade. 1) the team's absolutely soft defence, 2) signing Stetcher and Subban's improvement and 3) drafting at #5 definitely factored into this trade, with the chance to nab Dubois or perhaps trade down to get Jost, Benning can get a future 1C in this year's draft.

 

McCann was an absolute steal at 24. But Dubois and Jost even before they have had a year less in junior and no NHL experience have an edge over McCann. Wish Benning had traded next year's 2nd or perhaps the 2nd that Columbus will eventually give us. 

[Fred65]

If in the 2015 draft Vcr has taken Virtanen and a Gudbranson clone fans would be over the moon. But instead we took McCann and every one become attached. McCann did nothing of consequence last season PLUS I understand a number of  the team vets were not enamoured with his attitude. I don't think there's many of the team complaining. I always recall Naslund saying a few years back about Brookbank " he makes every one 6" taller"  Gudbranson has impeccable attitude on and off the ice and it was thought he was Captain material, he's according to all reports a leader in the room and both Luongo and Mitchell are upset he's gone.

 

Now folks speculate that McCann will become a top 6 forward but it's just that speculation no one ever questioned his skill and if fans recall the reason he fell to 24th was GM's were not enamoured with his attitude..... seems like they were correct. Every thing I've heard about Gudbranson is good/quality/team first and you can't say that about McCann. He's certainly no #1 centre and Vcr has an overload of centres so where's the problem. Discontented young forward for a heart and sole tough D

[Positive Canuck]

i love the trade, Canucks need some nasty on the back end.

[#1Luongofan]

49 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

A partner for Sbisa.  Sbisa kind of reminds me of Bieksa.  I think that pairing would be pretty effective and Sbisa would improve.

meh 

[#1Luongofan]

meh

[WonderTwinPowers]

It is what it is.

[Pete M]

JB just filled a glaring need...he only gave up potential to get it. 

The Canucks needed exactly this type of player and this type of D-man.

Quality over quantity...this also comes into play with the 5th overall pick, which will either be Dubois or Tkachuk. 

Either player will be good quality and fill a need.

 

In addition, JB still has cash in his pocket to sign a sniper,a  power forward and a fast, solid puck moving D-man.

 

The UFAs he brings have to be goal scorers because the Dmen will be good defensively but their contribution to offense may be lacking.

 

I'm waiting now for the UFA signings. If JB does it right, the Canucks will be contenders this coming year.

 

[19Nazzy91]

Interesting thread, and I agree with a lot of your points. As shocked as I was at first, I've gotten used to the trade and I don't hate it. But, just for fun, I'm going to be a pessimist and layout some of the reasons this was a bad trade.

1 hour ago, canuckistani said:

This is a good trade, from where we sit right now.

Absolutely agree. It is a great trade... right now. But when McCann starts to get good and a potentially good player is chosen with 33rd overall then things may look different. Only time will tell.

1 hour ago, canuckistani said:

 He is right handed too and that is desperately needed: Canucks are the softest team in the league (or atleast, one of the bottom 5) in right defense. Tanev is excellent defensively, but a physical monster, he is not. Far from it, thats pretty much the only glaring weakness in Tanev's game

No argument here, but the Canucks did sign on Trymakin who's been playing right and definitely is adding a lot physically.

1 hour ago, canuckistani said:

To those who are saying that we 'might've overpaid'. Yes, we might've. But that is a contingency. If McCann fulfills his potential and becomes a 60 point guy and IF one of the two draft picks we gave them turns out to be a minute-muncher and IF the 5th we got from them also flops, we will look like fools to've made this trade.

But as of this very minute, Vancouver is winning the trade and winning by a long-shot. 

Of course we're winning ATM. The picks haven't been picked yet and McCann is just in the beginning stages of his development. The 5th round pick will probably flop, it's a 5th. Just the way things work. But in the future, we might look back at this trade and cringe pretty hard. I think the big thing here is that the payment seems like overkill for such a mediocre player. Some people are praising Gudbranson like he's going to personally fix our defense, but that's not how it works. Is he good? He's alright, but we gave away a potentially elite player and basically a late first round pick to get him.

 

1 hour ago, canuckistani said:

The Bottomline, is that Gudbranson is a solid top 4 right-handed, minute munching, defensively awesome defenseman who gets into most current top-4 defense and McCann, as of right now, is a fringe NHL player who either really needs to bulk up or really get better in the face-off dot in a hurry to succeed.

 

Pretty much, except McCann is only 19. Don't forget that most players his age are still in junior. He worked hard to get to the NHL in camp, and not a lot of others his age can say they've done that.

1 hour ago, canuckistani said:

Therefore, to get a potential stud defenseman (and Gudbranson has a good chance of being one of the best PK-ers & defensive defensemen in the west), one has to dangle good prospects/picks.

I think you're overrating him here. He's good, but I wouldn't say he's a stud defenseman. Besides, didn't you just say that he's a solid top 4 dman? He's 24, probably doesn't have a ton of development left. If he's going to be a stud, he'll have to act fast.

1 hour ago, canuckistani said:

The good news is, we gave up on a forward who was marginal in making the next season for a long term, solid top-4 defenseman who fills a big void we had, who is also pretty young.

"who was marginal in making the next season"? Dude, remember, 19. The kid's just starting his career. Besides, it looked like he was going to get top minutes down in Utica anyway, and that would've greatly help him. But yes, we do get a top 4 dman that can help us out on the right side, very true. Not complaining there.

 

This where I'll stop. Again, not necessarily a hater of Gudbranson, I just think that we gave away too much to get him. But, I'm excited to see him play, and hopefully he'll prove me wrong. Good job on the optimistic post.

[#1Luongofan]

7 minutes ago, Pete M said:

JB just filled a glaring need...he only gave up potential to get it. 

The Canucks needed exactly this type of player and this type of D-man.

Quality over quantity...this also comes into play with the 5th overall pick, which will either be Dubois or Tkachuk. 

Either player will be good quality and fill a need.

 

In addition, JB still has cash in his pocket to sign a sniper,a  power forward and a fast, solid puck moving D-man.

 

The UFAs he brings have to be goal scorers because the Dmen will be good defensively but their contribution to offense may be lacking.

 

I'm waiting now for the UFA signings. If JB does it right, the Canucks will be contenders this coming year.

 

And I'll pee chocolate milk oh I'm sorry I thought we were talking about things that are nothing more than fantasty

[homersexual]

Gudbranson is 6 ft 5 in and 216 lbs.

and you...

can't...

teach...

that!

[Tajun]

I don't like this trade. I don't think it was bad value, I just don't think it makes sense for either team.

 

Florida is a strong team, aiming at cup runs in the next few years. They have a lot of up and comers, particularly goal scorers; what they needed most was some tough, minute munching defensemen. That's exactly what they just gave away.

 

Canucks are going into rebuild mode, whether JB likes it or not. We have some good defensive prospects, and some nastiness on the back end. What we need most is some people with high end offensive potential to replace the Sedins. That's exactly what we just gave away.

 

The thing is that if you look at the GMs of both these teams, it makes perfect sense. JB gets a big, tough defenseman, who oozes with character and was being groomed as a potential captain. Tom Rowe gets an advanced stats dreamboat in McCann. 

 

Simply put, I think the GMs both got the guy they wanted, and lost the guy they needed.

[#1Luongofan]

4 minutes ago, Tajun said:

I don't like this trade. I don't think it was bad value, I just don't think it makes sense for either team.

 

Florida is a strong team, aiming at cup runs in the next few years. They have a lot of up and comers, particularly goal scorers; what they needed most was some tough, minute munching defensemen. That's exactly what they just gave away.

 

Canucks are going into rebuild mode, whether JB likes it or not. We have some good defensive prospects, and some nastiness on the back end. What we need most is some people with high end offensive potential to replace the Sedins. That's exactly what we just gave away.

 

The thing is that if you look at the GMs of both these teams, it makes perfect sense. JB gets a big, tough defenseman, who oozes with character and was being groomed as a potential captain. Tom Rowe gets an advanced stats dreamboat in McCann. 

 

Simply put, I think the GMs both got the guy they wanted, and lost the guy they needed.

In other words Benning is showing he doesn't know what he's doing 

[Pete M]

2 minutes ago, #1Luongofan said:

And I'll pee chocolate milk oh I'm sorry I thought we were talking about things that are nothing more than fantasty

After last year... WDs bench management and Sutter going down to injury, things could not have gotten worst...

If JB makes the write moves (no more players that are plumbers), then it may not be fantasy to contend (at least for a playoff spot).

He is giving up skilled players, which is a concern if he doesn't get skilled players back in free agency.