Dixon Ward

Well said. Also, 3.25 for 28 yr old Pearson is a solid deal. I wouldn't call $1 million more "roughly the same".

Ritchie is now a UFA.

Wow, that is by far the closest a media member has come to how I feel about it. Props to Craig!

Odd, he played well. They also have 20 million space and only 4 players to sign. Maybe taking Schmidt and Holtby? Maybe going after Landeskog? Trying to have another run before Bergeron and Marchand age out?

Does he kick his wife in the face every anniversary for old times' sake?

Hakanpaa!

I get it with the media. What I don't get is the over-the-top negative, miserable attitude of some on CDC. I am a fan of hockey as an escape. I like to feel part of something. I like hockey. I feel a bit like a kid again. I get to talk passionately about something that doesn't actually affect me. But most of all, sports are unpredictable and fun. Why someone would choose to crap all over the team that they cheer for as entertainment is beyond me? There just seems to be a very unhealthy obsession from some with being cynical and pessimistic about something they choose to do for fun. Go Canucks Go!

I can't believe that Friedman said this. What a joke. Those stupid Barney costumes and his stupid hair, it was already easy to dislike him, but now... It wouldn't cause problems anyway. We would get a better 1st and a 3rd. Plus we would have that cap space to go sign someone. In fact it would be great if they offer sheeted Garland.

OEL averaged more points per game than Ryan Ellis, Seth Jones, Miro Heiskanen, Shayne Gostisbehere, Keith Yandle, and just behind Pietrangelo. On a crap team where he knew he wasn't wanted. All this talk about how he has declined so much? His offensive points per game in the last 8 years 0.55 0.52 0.73 0.49 0.51 0.54 0.45 0.52 Incredibly consistent. He has also been one of the top 20 hitters for defenseman in the last 4 years. He is only 30. Alex Edler is 35. Alec Martinez is 34 and just signed a 3 year 5 million deal. I think OEL is our new and improved Edler and I am super pumped about him being on the team. The media decided a long time ago to make Benning the whipping boy. He has assembled a very exciting core drafted without a single player in the top 3, despite a lot of losing. Demko 36th, Boeser 23rd, EP 5th, Hughes 7th, Podkolzin 10, Hoglander 40, Rathbone 95th. He was left a pile of excrement with old players with NTC's and Brendan Gaunce and Jordan Subban. He had to try to build a winner around the last years of the Sedins which was very difficult with nothing to trade. He made some mistakes in FA and trades, but look at all the other GM's and analyze every transaction. He has now made the Miller, Pearson, Schmidt, and Motte trades. He now has Highmore, Dickinson, OEL, and Garland. I think we are better and deeper than any team in Canada except for maybe Montreal. I can't wait to see what other additions JB makes and for the season to start. I say all of this because I am a "fan" of the team. I am critical, but not a critic.

Draisatl was the Hart trophy winner 2 years ago. Ekblad hasn't received a single vote in the past 4 years for the Norris let alone the Hart. Weegar was the Panthers best dman last year. Do your homework before you get condescending. You clearly have no idea how valuable Draisatl is.

Ekblad, Reinhart, and Bennett together wouldn't come near getting Draisatl.

Everybody knows the details. I am just pointing out the disparity between the deals. But there are always "fans" who will accuse me of being disingenuous, because their goal is to be as negative as possible and find it annoying when others want to actual be happy about their team.

Jones is better and younger than OEL. They are closer in quality than many here seem to think. Jones contract is massive and will take him to 35 and so does OEL. Adam Boquist, 2 1st's and a 2nd? Adam Boquist is a great young player. Those are incredible picks. JB got Garland a 1st line RW. He gave up 3 contracts totalling 12 mil. He gave up a 2nd next year. He gave up a 7th in 2 yrs. After seeing what Philly paid for Risto and Chi paid for Jones, this is up there with the best deals in Canuck history. JB rules!

The more I analyze this deal, the more I want to tell all of the negative whiners on here and in the media to bite me. OEL is a helluva player and garland is a top 15 winger in the league. We also have cap space and Dickinson. If your not happy with this, you are an irrational Benning hater and not a Canucks fan. Go cheer for Buffalo, they have lots of Draft picks to cheer for.

Awful thread, Awful take, just Awful!

This would be exciting but I think more effective would be a big, stay at home RHD. I think we have enough puck movers.

Except for the fact that we have had top Calder candidates 4 years in a row and have Podz this year, plus Rathbone, OJ, Gadj, McDonagh, Persson, Dipietro, Silovs, etc. You only have so many roster spots for young players to slot in and at some point you have to focus on winning and not just accumulating possibilities. Arizona has lots of draft picks, people can cheer for them if they would rather have draft picks than good players.

Connor Garland had the 16th highest pts per game of all RW in the league, Boeser was 10th. Throw in Podz and we have a hell of a right side.

Agreed, but if you do trade him, make it a real hockey deal. He is a very valuable asset. Don't give him away.

Fair enough, but 12 million off the books for 3 washed up players in exchange for 2 players who make us much better. I am not saying I love it yet, but we are better.

I think it is 13th overall because Arizona at 11 is null.

A very strange pair of trades today. Risto for alot. Buchnevich for peanuts.

I hope we don't give Schmidt away. It might be hard to build the defense by getting rid of your second best defenseman just for cap space. What if the UFA's don't sign here. I think Holtby is a class act and played pretty well as the season went on. However, we could use the cap space. Demko will play 60 games + and $4.3 mil could definitely be used elsewhere. The 9th for Reinhart for example is hard to argue. He is a consistent top 6 producer in the nhl. That is what you are hoping your 9OA pick becomes, but with no guarantee. His age fits with our core and we would be instantly better. He is a very good player. To be clear, I am not cheering for this to happen, but I do like watching good skilled hockey players and would not be unhappy to have him on our team. I would be very careful, however, about giving up our 9OA unless it is for a young top6 forward or a young top 4 RHD. I think it will be a few years before we have another top 10 pick.

That is a big gamble on this year.

If they trade for a top 4 LHD with term, I would assume either OJ or Rathbone will go the other way or be traded in another package for a RHD.