Trading Horvat, one-for-one, for a defenseman could be akin to robbing Peter to pay Paul:
I don't like the idea at all of trading Horvat, one for one, for an RHD. While getting a Top 4 RHD would be nice, it would leave too big a hole in the 3rd line C spot, which would likely greatly effect the production of both Garland and Pearson. In the modern NHL, your 3rd line C and 3rd line in general can't purely be a shut down line.......they need to be able to produce offence, and your 3rd line Center needs to be able to create plays. We saw what our 3rd line looked like when we had Sutter and Gaudette as our 3rd line C's a few years back. Do we really want to go back to that?
For me personally, the only way I'd consider moving Horvat was in a packaged deal where we'd trade Horvat for a good 3rd line center with playmaking ability (slight downgrade on Horvat) with the expectation that we'd be moving one of our RD's (Myers?) for a slight upgrade on defense.
Maybe the Islanders and Canucks would consider a Jean Gabiel Pageau / Ryan Pulock deal? (for Horvat and Myers)
Canucks would probably have to add here to get the Islanders interested but I think this would be the type of deal that would benefit the Canucks in terms of still being strong down the middle while getting a clear upgrade on their right side D. I can't see the Islanders accepting this deal however........but it's fun to post on message boards!!! :RichardSimmons: