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

[NewbieCanuckFan]

9 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

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.

They had just drafted "The House" Jim Sandlak so their thinking was that we had a "surplus" of such players.  They got fooled from Sandlak's World Juniors Tournament performance where he was like a man playing against boys.  Well, he was in that he matured physically faster than the competition.  Problem was, once he got to the NHL, he'd be playing against MEN.  He wasn't remotely as effective.

[Ghostsof1915]

5 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

They had just drafted "The House" Jim Sandlak so their thinking was that we had a "surplus" of such players.  They got fooled from Sandlak's World Juniors Tournament performance where he was like a man playing against boys.  Well, he was in that he matured physically faster than the competition.  Problem was, once he got to the NHL, he'd be playing against MEN.  He wasn't remotely as effective.

House at least had heart. Unlike a certain Jake we want to forget.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

Just now, Ghostsof1915 said:

House at least had heart. Unlike a certain Jake we want to forget.

We aren't the only team to be fooled by one strong World Juniors Tournament (problem with placing too much emphasis on just one tournament).  The Maple had two strong goalie prospects at one time (yeah I know weird eh?).  One of them had a strong tournament playing for Team Canada so that likely influenced their decision to go with him & unload the other guy.  You know who was that other guy?  Only a guy that eventually won a Vezina (Rask).   The guy they kept had a NHL career shorter than Eddie Lack.

[Ghostsof1915]

Just now, NewbieCanuckFan said:

We aren't the only team to be fooled by one strong World Juniors Tournament (problem with placing too much emphasis on just one tournament).  The Maple had two strong goalie prospects at one time (yeah I know weird eh?).  One of them had a strong tournament playing for Team Canada so that likely influenced their decision to go with him & unload the other guy.  You know who was that other guy?  Only a guy that eventually won a Vezina (Rask).   The guy they kept had a NHL career shorter than Eddie Lack.

Watch the Leafs will buyout Matt Murray. Everyone will say he's done. Vegas will sign him, and he will turn into a superstar goalie.

[Nucker 67]

Cam Neely trade was a big belly flop

 

At least with the OEL trade, they got Garland back in the deal (decent asset) and got rid of LEriksson

[Kurt Nirvanagut]

2 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said:

Cam Neely trade was a big belly flop

 

At least with the OEL trade, they got Garland back in the deal (decent asset) and got rid of LEriksson

I honestly don't ever know what the hell to think of Garland because half of Canucks fans hate him and the other half think he is a valuable asset. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

7 minutes ago, Kurt Nirvanagut said:

I honestly don't ever know what the hell to think of Garland because half of Canucks fans hate him and the other half think he is a valuable asset. 

Garland is very useful on the ice even if he's not scoring points.  Issue is, he isn't cheap (cap-hit).  

[Baratheon]

When "future considerations" became Doug freaking Lidster.  I guess it's not the worst but I think it's worth mentioning.  It likely cost us a cup.

[Bounce000]

The OEL trade has the possibility of being one of the worst trades in NHL history, forget just Canucks history.

[BlakeQuinnAndEggs]

How is a trade involving Alex moginly coming to van or a trade that was instrumental for the 82 finals run even remotely considered.

 

This poll sucks.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

"Keith Ballard + Victor Oreskovich for Michael Grabner + Steve Bernier + 2010 25OA (Quinton Howden)"

 

Funny thing is, none of those "assets" acquired by the Panthers amounted to anything.  Still, the trade was horrible from the Canucks POV since it not only wasted assets for a crap player (irrelevant that the assets were of no use to the Panthers, they were still real assets at the time) but cost us valuable cap space which made it especially bad.

[johngould21]

3 hours 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.  

Who was tough as nails even out of Junior. If I'm not mistaken he got 15 goals playing 3rd and 4th line minutes under Watt in his rookie season. He was oozing of talent, Pederson was the gamble part of the trade, coming off surgery, and giving up the 3rd overall (Glen Wesley) to add the cherry to the top it off.

Edited June 17, 2023 by johngould21

[Coconuts]

Given the lack of positive impact on the roster, what we gave up both in terms of assets and future flex (just had to wait a season for Loui, Rouss, and Beagle to expire), and the fact that the OEL trade took place within the constraints of the cap era I'd say the OEL trade. 

[RUPERTKBD]

The OEL trade is front of everyone's mind right now, but it's the Neely trade for me....

 

As bad as Benning's deal was, he wasn't the one who made it worse by buying OEL's contract out before he had to....and it wasn't Benning that put us in a Cap crunch by adding at the deadline instead of subtracting.

[johngould21]

1 hour ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

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

I've been feeling this since the hiring. Everyone is saying all the right things to justify Tocchets' hiring, but, I dunno, I see him gone in a year too. It's the Canuck way I'm convinced. If this team hasn't shown that its turning it all around and going upwards in the standings, I see all of this front office group gone as well. The twins will be next up to bat by then, and maybe a guy like Ryan Johnson gets a shot too.

[HC20.0]

The Neely trade was terrible, but I can understand why the Canucks made the trade at the time. There is 0 justifying the OEL trade. As much as I love Garland, it was inexcusable at the time. There was 0 need to acquire OEL’s cap hit. Benning should rightfully go down as one of the worst GMs in NHL history, and this blunder was the stamp of his legacy. It doesn’t even really matter at this point how Guenther develops. Even if he flops, we’re still paying OEL for 10 years.

[PetterssonOrPeterson]

To put it in a different way,

 

the OEL trade is what made me actually think that even a I could be the GM of the Canucks

[PetterssonOrPeterson]

38 minutes ago, HC20.0 said:

The Neely trade was terrible, but I can understand why the Canucks made the trade at the time. There is 0 justifying the OEL trade. As much as I love Garland, it was inexcusable at the time. There was 0 need to acquire OEL’s cap hit. Benning should rightfully go down as one of the worst GMs in NHL history, and this blunder was the stamp of his legacy. It doesn’t even really matter at this point how Guenther develops. Even if he flops, we’re still paying OEL for 10 years.

"He's our number 1 defenceman" lmao.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

1 hour ago, johngould21 said:

Who was tough as nails even out of Junior. If I'm not mistaken he got 15 goals playing 3rd and 4th line minutes under Watt in his rookie season. He was oozing of talent, Pederson was the gamble part of the trade, coming off surgery, and giving up the 3rd overall (Glen Wesley) to add the cherry to the top it off.

He really had eff'd up hands fighting literally everyone as a Canuck.  That had to have an impact (negatively) on his offensive production (not the least of which he'd be sitting in the penalty box for that time.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

19 minutes ago, PetterssonOrPeterson said:

"He's our number 1 defenceman" lmao.

Jim Benning was close.  He ended up being literally a "number two".