I'm not exactly a huge fan of Peeke either, but he seems like a really strange player to be a "hater" of.Like he's just a pretty unremarkable defensive-oriented #4/5D. Occasionally some folks have maybe overhyped his "potential upside". But he seems generally pretty fine for what he is. Just...pressed into minutes he's not exactly cut out for without better support.
I don't know that Peeke is the Silver Bullet some are making him out to be. But he's darn sure quite a bit better than McWard or Juulsen. I don't think that's even remotely debatable. Whether the price to acquire him makes sense...well...that depends on what the price is, and what kind of cap element is involved in making that work. But as a player, he'd be a clear and immediate upgrade. A significant one.
when i say hater i mean peeke-as-answer-to-the-canucks-problems-hater. not the player
i do think he's probably not really any better than juulsen or mcward or any other replacement level defenseman (we can have a debate here about whether juulsen or mcward are replacement level but let's not. just substitute i dunno kovacevic or cale fleury or whatever). he's definitely not worth giving up any kind of value for
that being said, if the canucks can get him in a deal where all they give up is beauvillier or garland... well i don't think either of those players have any value either so it would be hard to complain
