vanuck
Now with 100% less Benning!
- Dec 28, 2009
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But if you replace Pettersson with MacKinnon the Canucks are still well behind Colorado in the standings. The other main difference is the depth of their roster.
Since the likelihood of the Canucks getting a MacKinnon level player in the next two years is basically zero, they need to find a GM who can identify undervalued talent to build depth, rather than continually overpay as his predecessor did. It's not going to be easy since the team is in such a bad position, but it's the only realistic alternative to stripping the team down and starting again.
Finding cheap depth in UFA on short-term deals to flesh out the supporting cast is basically what Zito started off doing when he was hired by FLA. Of course, he also had some cap space to play with, but point remains.
Another upshot of signing these undervalued free agents is that you can still flip them at the deadline for assets if things go south. Toronto did this well too IIRC before their rise in the standings.