The Vancouver Canucks make no sense

A turbulent year in Vancouver continued at the NHL trade deadline as the Canucks were both buyers and sellers, leaving fans confused at what general manager Patrik Allvin's strategy is for the future of the franchise. Allvin added defenceman Filip Hronek and forward Vitali Kravtsov while moving out captain Bo Horvat and defenceman Luke Schenn.

Video Transcript

JULIAN MCKENZIE: I'm a bit confused with the Canucks, but we felt confused about them all year. How do you feel about the fact that your team got Filip Hronek but also Vitali Kravtsov and, among other things that have gone on at the deadline and everything leading before them, how do you feel about the Vancouver Canucks is what I'm trying to ask.

SAM CHANG: I mean, for starters, I think it's pretty consistent, right? Like, it's consistent with the, we need major surgery, we're trying to get younger, but we're going to give JT Miller a massive contract for next year. And I'm not saying he doesn't deserve that contract. I'm just saying they shouldn't have been the ones to give it to him.

But this is consistent. Like, I have-- I have no issue with the Kravtsov trade. I thought that was, like, a good [? Flyer-like-- ?]

JULIAN MCKENZIE: It was a good trade.

SAM CHANG: --you know. Like, Will Lockwood was a decent prospect, but, like, nothing was really happening there. Kravstov has a ton of upside. Canucks appear to be acquiring as many "Russian slash Dan Milstein" clients as possible, so why not give it a shot, see how it goes? I think that one was a fine trade. I have, like, no complaints there.

Hronek's a little more complicated. Like, I think they've been looking for a young, relatively young, right-handed defenseman for a long time, and I accept that young, right-handed defenseman cost a lot to acquire in this league. But I don't understand why you would give up a first in this year's draft, which is supposed to be generational. Like, surely you could have pushed them for next year's first or, like, I don't know, figure something else out.

Like, this is not necessarily a team that should be giving away firsts in any kind of trade. Like, you know, we talked about this last week. Firsts don't matter to teams like the Leafs, and even then, the Leafs got a first-round pick back, like, notwithstanding that it's Boston's. But, like, at least it's still a pick, you know?

Like, why are the Canucks giving up picks? This is a team that should be acquiring as many picks as possible. Like, a couple seasons ago I think the Senators and the Habs both just had, like, outrageous numbers of picks for, like, the next three seasons. That's what the Canucks should have been doing.

At no point in the last eight years have they ever had, I think, more than eight or nine picks per draft, and you start with seven. And there have been a few drafts where they've had fewer than seven. So I think, in total, their net is, like, roughly, exactly the number of picks get from the league. And for a team that requires a lot and doesn't actually have a lot in their prospect cupboard, given how poorly they've performed over the last eight years, none of-- like, that part of this trade makes no sense to me.