That sounds accurate to how I remember it too. Glad it never happened. At this point, they're both marginal at best. The guy with the shorter contract is the one I'd rather have.
Lucic has one extra year on his contract over Loui. Would you take Lucic for an extra year just so he's an upgrade over Loui today?
Having Lucic's $6m caphit on the books in 2022-2023 is going to be a nasty contract when Petey and Hughes are hitting their prime.
I'm not giving Green a pass either. He's definitely not extracting even close to maximum performance out of his team, but at the same time we're still a few roster pieces away from being a true competitor. Just a wash of a season.
On any other team I would probably take Lucic over Loui, but on the current Canucks I don't know if I could take that additional year on his contract. Shedding contracts asap needs to be prioritized over marginal improvements to our bottom six.
Based on what? He's still one of our best defensive defensemen even at 34. He'll more likely remain here at a reduced rate but I heard nothing of him retiring, so I'm not sure how you're almost certain of it.
Of course I want the management group to evolve with the times, but does it ever seem like this team had a solid vision? To me it feels like Benning is always chasing something that past him by that he doesn't have his eye on the next thing that's coming.
It worries me how reactive this management group is.
In Bennings presser earlier this year, he said the team is a couple years away from competing. Then we string together half a dozen decent games and he wants to play a wait-and-see approach at the deadline. It really wouldn't surprise me if he flip flops again. I've defended Benning in the past, but it's becoming very obvious he does not have a clear vision for this team.
If Demko keeps this up, that's a bargain. But eesh, that's a rough total for the tandem.
Something like $23m opens up this offseason, but Demko @ 6 and if Petey/Hughes get ~$7.5 each, that leaves $2-3m to improve the roster next year? Yikes.