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As the Canucks head into the 2018 trade deadline, they find themselves in a very similar place to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016. Like the 2015-16 Leafs, the Canucks are on their way to a third-straight season out of the playoffs and potentially a second-straight season with fewer than 70 points.
There were some positive signs for the Leafs, however. They had some great young players stepping up, like Nazem Kadri and Morgan Rielly. They also had some fantastic prospects in the system, like William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Travis Dermott, and were guaranteed a high draft pick.
Likewise, the Canucks have Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, and Troy Stecher in the NHL, with prospects like Elias Pettersson, Adam Gaudette, and Olli Juolevi on the way. While it depends on how the rest of the season plays out, they’re also likely to get another top-10 draft pick, if not top-five.
It seems like the Canucks would be justified in thinking that things were progressing well and they could calmly stay the course. Perhaps a move or two at the deadline, but certainly nothing drastic.
The 2015-16 Leafs, however, took a different tack: like the proverbial “maniacs” in the Planet of the Apes, they blew it up. At the 2016 trade deadline, the Leafs traded every veteran that wasn’t nailed down, along with one that was.
They moved Dion Phaneuf, in the second year of a seven-year contract that paid him $7 million per year. The trade involved nine players, but ultimately all the Leafs got back was a second-round draft pick.
That trade was completed in early February, but closer to the deadline the Leafs shipped out Shawn Matthias, Roman Polak, Nick Spaling, James Reimer, Jeremy Morin, and Daniel Winnik. They received at least one draft pick in every deal, even turning a Polak and Spaling package into two second-round picks in 2017 and 2018.
It was actually the second-straight trade deadline that they traded Winnik, ultimately getting three draft picks and prospect Connor Carrick for the journeyman third liner.
In combination with deals made the previous year, the Leafs ended up selecting 11 players in the 2016 draft and had even more picks that they used in trades. Their commitment to stockpiling draft picks is a big reason their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, have been so dominant.
Meanwhile, the Canucks have just six draft picks heading into the 2018 draft, with their fourth round pick sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the Derrick Pouliot trade. The Canucks badly need to add to their prospect pool, with defence a particular area of need. To do so, they’ll need more draft picks.
The Canucks only have two pending unrestricted free agents in Thomas Vanek and Erik Gudbranson and they need to move them at the deadline. But what if they weren’t satisfied with just a couple moves; what if they blew it all up like the Leafs in 2016?
Moving Alex Edler and the Sedins would do it, but that’s a non-starter. They could, however, find a suitor for Chris Tanev, move Sam Gagner, Michael Del Zotto, and Anders Nilsson, who all have additional seasons remaining on their contracts, and maybe even figuring out some way to get out from under the Loui Eriksson contract.
That raises the concern of next season. Without veterans, where will the Canucks be? But it worked out well for the Leafs: they graduated their prospects to the NHL, added top pick Auston Matthews, and made the playoffs. While the Canucks aren’t guaranteed the top draft pick, it might be time to bite the bullet, blow it up, and embrace a real youth movement.
Stick-taps and Glove-drops
A tap of the stick to Canucks prospect Adam Gaudette, who continues to rack up points and plaudits in the NCAA. This past weekend he helped the Northeastern University Huskies win their first Beanpot Tournament in 30 years with a hattrick in the championship game; he had four goals and two assists in the two games and was named MVP.
I’m dropping the gloves with Colten Teubert. Last Saturday, he called P.K. Subban “Monday” in a tweet, a nickname Teubert and his teammates called Subban at the 2009 World Juniors. “Monday” has been used as a racist code-word for years, entering popular culture in a Russell Peters’ stand-up routine that came out the same year Teubert and Subban were teammates. If he was unaware of the racial connotations of his usage of the word, it took him far too long to apologize, and when he did, it wasn’t to Subban, but to his Twitter followers.
Big Numbers
48 - Adam Gaudette’s 24 goals and 48 points have him atop the NCAA leaderboard in both categories.
9 - Canucks top prospect Elias Pettersson is currently 9 points behind Swedish legend Kent Nilsson for the most points by an under-20 player in Swedish Hockey League history. He currently has 45 points in 37 games and has just 7 games remaining in the SHL season to rack up those 9 points.
