Confirmed Trade: [VAN/ARI] Ekman-Larsson (12% ret.), Garland for Beagle, Roussel, Eriksson, 9th OA, '22 2nd, '23 7th

[Leafs87]

Wow Vancouver killed it here

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

I don't love the trade, but a second line of Hoglander Horvat Garland is going to be FUN to watch

Could see them all breaking 50 points next season, and Horvat flirting with 65-70.

 

[PavelBure10]

After Eklund, and Clarke got drafted 7th and 8th, I honestly don't mind this trade at all. Guenther could be a stud in the NHL, but getting rid of Eriksson, Beagle, and Roussel is awesome. OEL and Garland improve the Canucks, although OEL one of the worst contracts in the league he could actually turn things around. If Eklund or Clarke were there at 9th, then not so much.

 

[BCNate]

3rd line of Pearson Dickinson podkolzin could be a real nice shit down line as well.

 

[Bankerguy]

The more i think about it, the more i like this deal. OEL will likely improve, things seemed toxic between him and Tocchet... if he is at least a solid second pairing guy, then we're going to be a ton better. Especiallly with Garland and Dickinson. Once Ferland is on LTIR, i hope theres enough room to add another actually usefull player.
Beagle, Sutter, Roussel, Eriksson were trash. We were always hemmed in our own zone with them on the ice. Dickinson and Motte on the same line will be good to see.

 

[amjay13]

Talk about some moving pieces. Where do you even begin with this one. Arizona clearly gets worse which is probably the goal. Vancouver gets better but picks up one of the worst contracts in the league. Love Garland as a player, he is terrific. Do worry about him staying healthy due to his size and style of play. In the end, I suppose both teams got what they wanted with this deal. If the 9th overall pick Arizona landed in this deal ends up being a stud this will be looked upon very poorly in a couple years for Vancouver.

 

[Cogburn]

If you asked me Canucks. Top 5 biggest problems, Loui, Roussel, and Beagle were 3 of them.

Now we have Myers, Schmidt and OEL. At least the former group had a single year left. Benning and Green are still here. I don't feel relieved yet.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

No one did a 180 on OEL; OEL's play did a 180 about 3-4 years ago and hasn't recovered since. OEL used to be one of my favourite players, I'd always trade for him in EA NHL games, but he's declined heavily.

OEL is obviously the big wildcard. The strengths of his game are hockey sense & skating ability... and he can still skate. So those attributes don't disappear.

Someone mentioned him not being the same since the death of his father, also the long slog of toiling on a mostly less than mediocre Arizona team. (no offense Yotes fans)

Ultimately he's still a very talented player, if he's rejuvenated I think he can be impactful. Especially coming to a team with offensive forwards like Vancouver, should play into his game a bit better. That's the glass half full view, but I honestly don't believe his talent has just disappeared.

And also, don't forget Garland.

Canucks fans have been dreaming of Brendan Gallagher coming home for years. I don't think its a stretch to say Garland has some similar attributes to his game & is a younger version.

He's as big a part of this as OEL.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

So what leverage did Arizona have; rumour was Boston wasn't interested and OEL would only accept a trade to the Canucks.

The Canucks pick up 44M in the OEL contract alone while flushing 12M. So the Canucks are picking up a 32M differential over the length of OEL's Contract.

So what leverage did Arizona have?

 

[Coachcorner]

The canucks look so stacked right now... Them finna move into the playoffs easily next seseason again. With horvat.. miller the realest killer of them all. They finna do some real destruction on these. For surely. Garland will be fine fit.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

They play a horrible defensive structure. They have to improve their structure massively to make the playoffs.

There is no defensive structure.

At all.

 

[finkelsteinberg]

The more i think about it, the more i like this deal. OEL will likely improve, things seemed toxic between him and Tocchet... if he is at least a solid second pairing guy, then we're going to be a ton better. Especiallly with Garland and Dickinson. Once Ferland is on LTIR, i hope theres enough room to add another actually usefull player.
Beagle, Sutter, Roussel, Eriksson were trash. We were always hemmed in our own zone with them on the ice. Dickinson and Motte on the same line will be good to see.

Just keep in mind us AZ fans made excuses for his decline for years. Injuries, Mom, Rick Tocchet. I'm not saying he is bad and I could see him turning it around to a certain extent but it dates back to before Rick Tocchet. Eventually you just have to stop making excuses. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[wetcoast]

Many of the Canucks fanbase on these boards have their entire identity wrapped up in a hatred for our GM. I honestly believe that many of them would be disappointed if we win the Stanley cup with him at the helm, so for other fans, you can take a lot of their doomsday bullshit for what it is, emotionally driven nonsense.

As usual, there are many factors at play here, and many of them we are not privy to.

OEL apparently had such a poor relationship with Tocchet that their exit interview was a terse, two minute affair of both acknowledging that one of them would have to leave.
For those who have worked under bosses they loathed, did you perform your best under these circumstances?
I actually played fairly high level hockey (not pro), and playing under a bad coach is even worse than a bad boss. They see everything you do, if they utilize you poorly it impacts everything. Gradually, you stop believing in their vision. Doesn't mean you stop working hard, but it takes the colour out of life, and you inevitably play worse.

I think there is also the psychological aspect of being on a team that has been bereft of proper hope for a decade (and even that was just a single Conference Finals run). Finally, it might do him some good to get a new start away from the place he was when he lost his mother.

7.26 million isn't chump change, but it's basically what we payed Edler (6m) along with the salary of a 12th or 13th forward. The going rate for competent defence men in the NHL is high.

The Canucks have a decent amount of size the top 9 in Horvat, Pearson, Miller. Garland adds quickness, shiftiness, playmaking.

Arizona did what they needed to do. They are nowhere near anything, so having Garland and OEL didn't make sense for them. In fact, it's unlikely they will do anything within the life of Chychrun or Dvorak's great contracts. Getting picks to make up for the scorched earth that analytics boy left is the right move for them.

For the Canucks, you have Boeser, Miller, and Horvat signed to their current contracts for 2 years or less. Wasting a season here while we watch 12 million in cap space burn out meant something.

Further, this is evidence that the Aquillinis are ready to spend again. Last year was full on austerity measures, this is why we lost Toffoli in particular. Canucks fans saw the fallout from that. The players, I think, felt betrayed, and we played like a team with a broken culture. Particularly the first two months.

The Canucks are in a weak division, and have a good young core. We are augmenting, that and building towards something. This means something.

I also think it has to be noted that industry confidence in this draft crop is low. We have seen a higher than average number of high to mid draft picks moved this year and there is a reason for that.

Time will tell, but I am quite optimistic about this deal.

Finally, I suspect Holtby and Schmidt are gone.

I know someone who knows ownership closely who said there is more to come. I can't offer more than that or even a timeline, but I'm not surprised. Clearly more has to be shuffled, particularly cap space.

I want to be optimistic but OEL needs to regain some form and the biggest problem is the lack of young talent in the system and the need to "go for it now" which I heard relentlessly on AM650 which was undefined but I took as simply making the playoffs.

the Canucks sure are a better team than they were yesterday but in 2 or 3 years they might really miss Dylan Geunther and the 2nd next year IMO.

Benning got to trade alot of his mistakes but after 7 years at the helm he should have been gone plain and simple.

But I fear the bigger problem is the owners who simply don't have the patience to build a real winner.

 

[bertuzzi2bure]

I want to be optimistic but OEL needs to regain some form and the biggest problem is the lack of young talent in the system and the need to "go for it now" which I heard relentlessly on AM650 which was undefined but I took as simply making the playoffs.

the Canucks sure are a better team than they were yesterday but in 2 or 3 years they might really miss Dylan Geunther and the 2nd next year IMO.

Benning got to trade alot of his mistakes but after 7 years at the helm he should have been gone plain and simple.

But I fear the bigger problem is the owners who simply don't have the patience to build a real winner.

Garland is young and probably better than anyone they would have taken at 9. Forever high picks dont always translate to team success.

I think the Canucks are a playoff team now and after this coming season they still have a young core. Holtby, Virtanen, Luongo come off the books too.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

I HATE JIM BENNING SO f***ING MUCH

 

[wetcoast]

Garland is young and probably better than anyone they would have taken at 9. Forever high picks dont always translate to team success.

I think the Canucks are a playoff team now and after this coming season they still have a young core. Holtby, Virtanen, Luongo come off the books too.

I'm not sold on them being a playoff team though, their backend really depends on OEL being able to regain a true #1 Dman form.

I sure hope that he does and really like him earlier on but man the last few years haven't been kind.

The bigger problem for me is when the Canucks face injuries, and they will, their prospect system is just really horrible and giving up draft picks to simply make the playoffs doesn't seem like winning strategy to me.

I guess alot will depend upon other moves both the Canucks and other teams make.

 

[Waterbuf]

I like how people think Benning is going to use his cap space better this time around.

 

[bertuzzi2bure]

I'm not sold on them being a playoff team though, their backend really depends on OEL being able to regain a true #1 Dman form.

I sure hope that he does and really like him earlier on but man the last few years haven't been kind.

The bigger problem for me is when the Canucks face injuries, and they will, their prospect system is just really horrible and giving up draft picks to simply make the playoffs doesn't seem like winning strategy to me.

I guess alot will depend upon other moves both the Canucks and other teams make.

If Hughes, OEL and Schmidt all play like #2s we are fine IMO. Myers gets ethered here but he is fine as a #4. If Rathbone takes a step forward I think the d-core looks great. I like having a d core of guys who can actually move the puck. Was frustrating watching Edler last season.

The forwards are quite deep now too. IMO they need an offensive 3c still to roll 3 scoring lines. I think Dickinson is a misfit with what will likely be Pearson and Pod. If Benning can somehow shoot Holtby off to space and scoop up a guy like Brassard the Canucks will suddenly have one of the best forward groups in the NHL. Dare I say deeper than 2011? Obviously 2011 was more top-heavy with the Sedins, Burrows and Kesler.... but with one more guy to play offensive minded 3c I think this forward core is deeper.

 

[JTmillerForA1stLOL]

So what leverage did Arizona have; rumour was Boston wasn't interested and OEL would only accept a trade to the Canucks.

The Canucks pick up 44M in the OEL contract alone while flushing 12M. So the Canucks are picking up a 32M differential over the length of OEL's Contract.

So what leverage did Arizona have?

Jim Benning.

 

[Bankerguy]

Just keep in mind us AZ fans made excuses for his decline for years. Injuries, Mom, Rick Tocchet. I'm not saying he is bad and I could see him turning it around to a certain extent but it dates back to before Rick Tocchet. Eventually you just have to stop making excuses. Hope I'm wrong.

For sure, im not expecting him to be a Norris conversation level player like he was in his prime with AZ... but ya, with a fresh start, second pairing guy isnt too much of a reach. Especially if he can put up 35 pts or so.

 

[SniperHF]

You ask 10 AZ fans on OEL and you'll get 10 different takes on how likely he is to rebound.
We even had a thread on it, the poll was almost a bell curve with a slight edge toward unlikely:
Will OEL rebound?

I am bearish but don't think it's impossible. I think he'll play better and give more effort on a new team. I don't think his skill decline will turn around the other direction though it hopefully will stop.

I'm going to give the OEL roadmap as I see it, as brief as possible, as to how he got here.
1. First I want to bust a common HF narrative that OEL was never good defensively. This is flatly untrue. Dave f***ing Tippett trusted OEL on the shutdown pair in the playoffs as a 2nd year player. Ollie was a very good defender, up until 2015 or so.

2. Around that same time, Ollie started to breakout offensively. He was always a good puck mover and made great reads. But in combination with Yandle being traded OEL took on the brunt of the responsibility on offense and thrived. His shot also fully developed around this time and became a lethal weapon. I'd say Oliver was at his peak form for approximately 2 seasons.

3. Starting around 16-17 is when the trouble began. His effort level on defense dropped substantially but he was still an excellent offensive defensemen and could play all situations respectably. However as the season went on his effort level elsewhere started to drop. We later found out that this was likely due to his mother's illness. He was also playing with a thumb injury around this time.

4. In 2018 he played injured most of the season. This was visible but not something you'll see on a stat sheet. It was later revealed he had surgery in the subsequent off-season. This is when his lateral mobility started to really take a hit.

5. Note that you'll still see his production be pretty good here. But it's deceiving. With his mobility fading, he was still constantly re-aggravating the knee even after surgery. In the 18-19 season he would leave the ice and miss the rest of a game frequently.

6. Coyotes fans already knew, but fans around the league could really see the decline starting late that season. The big decline starts around Tocchet's second year as coach but tbh I think that's mostly coincidence. At some point in here, I don't think we know when, he had a wrist/hand injury of some sort that he also played through and it continued to take abuse. His lethal shot, the thing that could paper over his mistakes, was fading and eventually gone.

7. Between the knees, the effort levels, the hand, However much stock you put into the Tocchet stuff, Ollie's decline was not hard and fast it was slow and painful.

OEL needs to stabilize his game, re-learn to make reads at his current level of physical performance, and put in a consistent effort night to night. If he does this I believe he can become a guy who while is not that all situations #1 D people thought of in 2015 is a very capable 25 minute a night D you'd want as a vet on the left to your stud rookie RD and can come close to living up to his contract @ 88%.

If his physical decline does not stop, and I think that's ultimately the primary reason for his decline; there's no chance of a "rebound"

Ekman-Larsson hasn't missed a ton of time in his career and he doesn't play a very heavy game. I don't really see why he can't give at least four more good seasons

One thing that has significantly declined in OEL's play is his physicality. While he wasn't throwing huge hip checks he was usually in the fray and would mix it up. That has vanished over the last 4 years.

Further, while he hasn't missed a lot of time he played injured many months over the last 4 seasons. Particularly 2 years ago, and 4 years ago (wrist and knee).

OEL apparently had such a poor relationship with Tocchet that their exit interview was a terse, two minute affair of both acknowledging that one of them would have to leave.

Very good post overall, though I would keep in mind that OEL's decline really started before Tocchet was here. His precipitous fall off a cliff certainly happened under Tocchet but his injuries were also catching up to him.

 

[VanCanFanEDM]

I am cautiously optimistic OEL will return to decent form... I still HATE JIM BENNING and wish he was fired ASAP but I don't totally hate this trade... The obligatory 2nd round pick toss in pisses me off the most.

 

[Phrazer]

Wow. Amazing trade for Vancouver.

 

[The don godfather]

Zona got a top 5 prospect in the draft . What else can you ask for.

 

[Dolemite]

I HATE JIM BENNING SO f***ING MUCH

Because be got rid of Eriksson’s contract or because brought in a top tier defenseman?