[DEBATE] Which is the worst trade in Vancouver Canucks history?

[Elias Pettersson]

Of course I was going to ask this question…   

 

Have fun and be kind…   

[Elias Pettersson]

I picked option 1.  I was only going to post the first two trades but I thought I would add a few more just to fill up the space in case you wanted some more options…   

[DeltaSwede]

It's the Neely trade although I might be wrong. 

 

The Benning era made me numb to bad moves. I could be underrating how bad the OEL trade really was due to the numbness.

 

 

[Kevin Biestra]

Did Vancouver enjoy going to the Cup final in 1982?  If so then don't complain about the Tiger Williams trade.

[Kevin Biestra]

20 minutes ago, DeltaSwede said:

It's the Neely trade although I might be wrong. 

 

The Benning era made me numb to bad moves. I could be underrating how bad the OEL trade really was due to the numbness.

 

The OEL trade is by far the stupidest and least justifiable.

 

I would say we lost the Neely trade in the end but it wasn't stupid at the time.  Neely had stalled in his development...three straight years with under 40 points.  Barry Pederson was going to be a Hall of Famer before his shoulder problems.  As it was he was still a very good player for the Canucks.  Boston got the better of it in the end but the trade wasn't demonstrably stupid.  If Pederson had kept his pre-surgery form he would have likely been the best player the Canucks had ever had.  Benning should have been fired the morning after the OEL trade.

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Kevin Biestra

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

Impossible to answer until Guenther and McBain (the player ARZ traded away our 2nd rd pick for) no longer plays for Arizona, and after Garland no longer plays for Vancouver.  It could be worth following Hunter Haight's career (the eventual 2nd rd draft selection by Minnesota), just to see what could've been.

 

We already know how bad the Neely trade was because that trade tree is over.  The current OEL trade tree has just begun.

[DownUndaCanuck]

It's the OEL trade, combined with the LE signing, which really hurt this team big-time. If you take those two mistakes out, JB did pretty well, but those two moves handcuffed the team for many years and will do so for many more years to come. If we had just waited one or two more years it would have been all over. Instead JB went for a home-run and missed big time.

 

Allvin is making similar-ish sort of moves like the OEL buyout and Hronek trade, but to be fair he doesn't have much of an option with the mess he's inherited - no defencemen, no good prospects and a big looming OEL contract over his head. He could have come in and been very patient - just draft and develop our own RDs and wait for OEL's deal to expire, but clearly he's been pressured to win and win now. All this talk about Petey and Hughes wanting to compete ASAP is a big component of it but I bet management are saying the same thing - they don't care about the future, it'll be someone else's problem, let's try and win now and see what happens.

 

That was the same thinking behind acquiring OEL and ironically it's the same mentality behind buying him out.

[DrJockitch]

I think to answer this we need to see if Guenther is really good. I mean a decade of dead cap and a struggling not so angry elf for a high first rounder is terrible but….Cam Neely.

[mikeyman109]

The Neely trade was. OEL is second but its just more recent. For those tat were around when they traded for Barry Pederson it was awful in an era when Power forwards who score 50 goals were a premium and with no salary cap. The OEL trade is horrible due to the salary cap limitations for sure.

[johngould21]

20 minutes ago, mikeyman109 said:

The Neely trade was. OEL is second but its just more recent. For those tat were around when they traded for Barry Pederson it was awful in an era when Power forwards who score 50 goals were a premium and with no salary cap. The OEL trade is horrible due to the salary cap limitations for sure.

Tom Watt is who we have to thank for that debacle. I'm wondering if Tocchet is his reincarnation? I get those kind of vibes from him as coach.

[The King of Kings]

It has to be the OEL trade because it happened in the salry cap era.

 

for the Nealy trade, you may say the assets that the Canucks aquired were less valuable than what the Bruins got.

 

for the OEL trade, the Canucks got NEGATIVE values from the acquisitions.  

 

Not only they got the assets that have a lot less value than expected, the cap hits of OEL and Garland prevent the management to acquire other pieces to improve the team.

[Kurt Nirvanagut]

Awww. I love Alex Mogilny. I remember thinking life couldn't get any better when the Couv acquired him. He was arguably the only player that showed up his first season for us. 

 

Gustav Forsling for Adam Clendening is looking worse and worse with each passing season. 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Kurt Nirvanagut

[grumpyone]

too close to call between neely and oel....

most expensive blunder? OEL

gave up the most for the least, player wise? definitely Neely. 

 

[Kurt Nirvanagut]

17 minutes ago, grumpyone said:

too close to call between neely and oel....

most expensive blunder? OEL

gave up the most for the least, player wise? definitely Neely. 

 

Not to even mention his acting turn as Sea Bass in Dumb and Dumber. 

[grumpyone]

15 minutes ago, Kurt Nirvanagut said:

Not to even mention his acting turn as Sea Bass in Dumb and Dumber. 

dumb and dumber? you mean the GM's that made those trades?

[canucksnihilist]

The Neely trade was a gamble.  Nobody could see that coming as Neely was a middling player and could have worked out either way.

 

oel - everyone knew he was in decline.  So it has to be that trade that is the worst.  

[aliboy]

The Neely trade is still the undisputed champ!! 

[Ghostsof1915]

2 hours ago, johngould21 said:

Tom Watt is who we have to thank for that debacle. I'm wondering if Tocchet is his reincarnation? I get those kind of vibes from him as coach.

Why did I just get a horrific shudder when you said that???

[Ghostsof1915]

31 minutes ago, canucksnihilist said:

The Neely trade was a gamble.  Nobody could see that coming as Neely was a middling player and could have worked out either way.

 

oel - everyone knew he was in decline.  So it has to be that trade that is the worst.  

He had 120 points in 1982-83 for Portland. I figured he'd be a gritty 40-50 point guy. And Watt was a jackass. I would have been fine with that trade if it was Pederson for Neely 1 for 1. But to throw in a top 5 draft pick??? Canucks got fleeced.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

42 minutes ago, canucksnihilist said:

The Neely trade was a gamble.  Nobody could see that coming as Neely was a middling player and could have worked out either way.

 

oel - everyone knew he was in decline.  So it has to be that trade that is the worst.  

Except for that little thing about the 1st round pick that went along with Neely.  As I've said before, guess who was available in the 1st round (of the pick we gave up):

 

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1987e.html

 

(hint....look at who was picked at 15th).  Hell there's probably a few HHOFers on that round.

Edited June 17, 2023 by NewbieCanuckFan