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Trade it to Bulis: The PITB Deadline Day Liveblog Extravaganza

Something had better happen
Harrison Mooney
Jim Benning

NHL Trade Deadline 2016, the day Vancouver hockey fans have been anticipating since it became clear there'd be nothing in the spring to anticipate, is finally upon us. 

Think of today like a craft convention: you've got your buyers, who are wandering the aisles of the trade centre floor, and you've got your sellers, who have set up booths to peddle their  hand-crafted, artisinal, locally-sourced assets. 

Over at Jim's Boutique, the Canucks have both bargain bin and luxury goods. Guys like Linden Vey, Adam Cracknell, Matt Bartkowski, Ronalds Kenins, Chris Higgins and Brandon Brust can be had for very little -- guys like Dan Hamhuis and, to a lesser extent, Radim Vrbata, are going to cost a little more.      

We'll be here all day, posting updates as they come. We'll also be in the comments, responding to things, developing inside jokes, fretting that Benning is going to screw it up, complaining about how nothing is happening, and then complaining about what does happen. So get in there.

***

12:10PM: And now it's over for real, as the Canucks themselves tweet "trade deadline comes and goes with no Canucks movement." They did nothing. With two UFAs-to-be that could have helped any Stanley Cup contender, and several other pieces that could potentially have been unloaded for anything. In the end, their most desirable asset turned out to be Adam Cracknell, whom they gave away for free via the waiver wire.

This is an absolute disaster for the Canucks. Granted, based on how few other deals there were around the league, it's hard to blame the Canucks for failing to get much done. But clearly, it was possible to make moves. The Flames managed to get an actual return for Kris Russell. So the Canucks deserve all the heat they're about to get.

We'll update this if there's any late, breaking Canucks news. But it doesn't sound like there will be. Thanks for following along with the liveblog if you did. Sorry nothing of consequence happened.

We'll have a longer reaction to the Canucks' inaction later today.

12:00PM: The siren has sounded, the deadline has arrived. According to Matt Sekeres, no Hamhuis deal got done. We'll wait and see if something changed at the buzzer, but otherwise, it looks like the Canucks have done nothing, and what was touted as a pretty big deadline and an important one for Vancouver, specifically, may go down as one of the worst ever. How delightful!

11:50AM: We're gonna guess that the Bruins are out, since they accidentally sent out their "Bruins stand pat, and they totally meant to do that" press release 10 minutes early.

Probably for the best. If they're botching basic PR moves like this, they probably shouldn't be making trades.

11:32AM: Yay!

If nothing else, I hope all these conflicting reports are the evidence you need that Twitter isn't quite as informative as we think. 

11:30AM: NOOOOOOOO

Fortunately, "unless something changes" means this tweet could be obsolete faster than Matt's last tweet. That would be nice, because right now, this isn't good news. 

11:27AM: Important question here from D:

Oh yeah. We haven't heard anything on him in awhile, have we? There was a moment earlier when he didn't arrive for practice with everybody else. But then later he arrived. Sorry that wasn't a more exciting update.

11:23AM: The Stars are back in.

In, out, in, out. Basically, the Stars are doing the hockey pokey. What a dumb day this is. 

11:19AM: The Stars are out on Hamhuis, according to Matt Sekeres.

They could be back in later. By 11:25, they could be back in, rendering this update even more meaningless than this open-ended amendment already makes it. But let the record show that, at 11:19am, the Dallas Stars were out. Matt Sekeres said.

11:01AM: We're inside the final hour and Jim Benning has still yet to make a move. On a scale from 1 to Storm Rogers Arena Like the Bastille, how angry do you think Canucks fans will be if he doesn't get something done?

10:52AM: Elliotte Friedman tweets that he's not convinced the Stars are out on Hamhuis. Considering they just traded Jyrki Jokipakka (D), Brett Pollock (F), and conditional 2nd RD pick (which becomes a first if Dallas makes the Conference final) for Kris friggin' Russell, though, they probably should be. Like, someone should confiscate their phones and tell them to go home before they do any further damage.

But here's hoping nobody does, Friedman is right, and they overpay even worse for Hamhuis.

10:44AM: And wouldn't you know it, there's some strong interest in Hamhuis coming from out east:

I like this possibility, if only for closure. Normally, when I think of Hamhuis and the Bruins at the same time, I start sobbing uncontrollably. This might help me to move on. 

Granted, Hamhuis would have to waive his no-trade clause in order to go there. Would he waive for Boston? I definitely wouldn't. Boston is an awful place. 

10:37AM: Sure enough, the Stars have gone with the cheaper option:

Not much Benning could have done here, save for lowering his ask, and there's little sense in doing that. If the Stars want to go cheap, that's their prerogative. Hopefully one of Hamhuis's other suitors is willing to pay for a designer defenceman.

10:14AM: Something is happening! I mean, nothing Canucks-related. But Mikkel Boedker was traded for a package involving Alex Tanguay. We can only hope this deal is the first in a flurry. 

9:48AM: Hey, remember that practice rescheduled for 12:30 I told you about at 8:42? Dan Hamhuis won't be at it, according to several reports. I don't want to read too much into this, but, uh, well, I am. I just am. This isn't new news either, but he's probably being traded today. 

9:44AM: We have a tire-kicking to report!

It's hardly new news, though. The Capitals have been rumoured to have interest in Hamhuis for months. Barry Trotz knows Hamhuis from their time in Nashville. And the Caps are dreaming big this year. 

But it's still nice to hear Hamhuis's name being bandied about, and in connection with teams beyond just Dallas and Chicago. More suitors means an in

9:34AM: Nothing is happening. Now seems like as good a time as any to tell you all that I ordered a new set of towels from Amazon this weekend, and they're going to be delivered sometime today. I'm very excited for these towels. If the Canucks do anything today that beats the shower I'm gonna take later, it'll be a very good day.

9:27AM: Unsurprisingly, Adam Cracknell's not too bothered to be headed to Edmonton, since that's still an NHL city. From Ben Kuzma at The Province:

Regardless, all Cracknell wanted was another chance to keep playing. He’s also eligible for the AHL playoffs, so he will play on.

“You never know who’s watching – that’s been the story of my career,” Cracknell said Sunday after solid in 9:37 of ice time in a 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks in which he had two shots and blocked three. “I want to be here but there’s a business side. I can be a good depth guy.”

Fun fact: it's possible that Cracknell winds up playing with Zack Kassian, whom the Canucks also blithely let go. If those two wind up creating a competent depth line for the Oilers, we're never going to hear the end of it.  

9:05AM: Hey look, a transaction!

Goodbye, Adam Cracknell.

The writing was on the wall for Cracknell when the Canucks acquired Markus Granlund and announced that they planned to play him at centre. With Jared McCann also on the roster, that meant the bottom-two centre spots were both accounted for. But don't feel too bad for Cracknell. Thanks to this waiver claim, he's still in the NHL, and for a guy who came to Canucks training camp just trying to hold down a job, any job, at the highest level, that's a win.

It's also a win for the Canucks. At 30, Cracknell's probably hit his ceiling, so playing him over Jared McCann never really made any sense at all. Now the Canucks can't do that anymore. 

8:42AM: This isn't a trade rumour to overanalyze, but it's Canucks-related: Brad Ziemer reports that the Canucks have moved their practice to 12:30pm, 90 miuntes later than usual and a half hour past the deadline. That makes complete sense to me: why make the players suit up and skate around waiting to be plucked from the ice and told to gear down and leave town? Honestly, it's pretty silly that teams ever practice the morning of the deadline, if they can help it. 

8:24AM: Here's a little stupidity for you:

This is moronic, but don't let it discourage you -- it should give you hope. Kris Russell is not a better defenceman than Dan Hamhuis. 

If the Stars actually think Russell is a better defenceman than Hamhuis, it means the Stars are idiots. But the Stars are one of the smartest organizations in the league these. Jim Nill's rebuild has been excellent. So if even the savvy Stars are this dunderheaded, your concerns that Jim Benning is going to get outsmarted today are unfounded -- even the smart teams are stupid. I bet somebody gives up a second for Chris Higgins.

8:00AM: Mark Spector is reporting that the Canucks are standing firm on their price for Dan Hamhuis:

Well, tough, "one Western team." That's the price. Maybe you shouldn't have blown all your spending money buying up everything you see before you got to this booth. That's why most people do a blind pass through the whole convention before coming back around to the booths that caught their eye.