Crystal Ball: Trade Deadline Edition

Dec 19 2017, 1:22 pm

For the past 3 years, we have seen how impossible it is to predict who Mike Gillis has his eyes on for trade deadline (Feb. 27th, 3pm). The man is an iron box of secrets; I feel awful for anyone who ever kidnaps him because they are going to have to do some terrible things to make him talk.

But even though understanding the inner workings of MG’s mind might be out of our reach, we can  still make some strong predictions about what definitely WON’T happen. Join us as we take a look in our, albeit murky, crystal ball:
Shea Weber or Ryan Suter will not be joining the Vancouver CanucksAs much as we all love to sit around and discuss how great Weber would look in a Canucks jersey, there is absolutely no chance the Preds are going to give their top asset to someone who they will most likely be seeing in the Playoffs. The same goes for Suter; If there is even a slight chance of either of these guys leaving to avoid the Preds getting nothing in return when they become Unrestricted Free Agents, it will be to the Eastern conference. Shopping out of conference is fairly standard procedure. For example, St. Louis had scouts today at the Montreal vs. Winnipeg game looking for D-men.

Cory Schneider isn’t going anywhere until after the playoffs
If there is one thing Vigneault has demonstrated this season, it’s that he has complete faith in Schneider being able to step in should Luongo crumble. This goes double for when we have to deal with Chicago or Boston. If Schneider helps the Canucks get deep into the playoffs, he could end up refilling a lot of the draft picks as an RFA that the Canucks will have to give up to buy defensive depth and grit at the trade deadline.

Either Mason Raymond or Keith Ballard won’t be joining us for a playoff run
In order to grab an extra top 4 d-man and a tough forward (two serious components the Canucks need for this post-season) they are going to have to give up something. Raymond is on the chopping block with his meager production compared to his 2.5 million dollar contract. Ballard just doesn’t seem to fit in here but could be shopped by a team in need of a bull-rushing, hard hitting d-man running a different system. Preferably a team with a ton of cap space. Possibly the Dallas Stars and we get Brendan Morrow in return. Alright it’s wishful thinking… Either way, someone has to go to make room for the new guys.

Your girlfriend won’t actually be happy if you buy Ryan Kesler’s matching sweaters for Valentines Day
So hopefully you have seen this and marked it on your wish list. Just make sure you keep your order personal, or you will be sleeping on the couch very soon.

 

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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