What a crazy day if you're a Canucks fan! Mike Gillis continually amazes me/us with his team-building abilities. Sharks fans are feeling a little miffed after today's salary-dumping trade by the Sharks, calling for GM Doug Wilson's head on a platter (EDIT: A more sensible reaction at Fear The Fin). Canucks fans may be thinking Gillis can turn water into wine. Gillis wants more scoring and mobility from his defence and he went out and got that today. Here is a quick look at the 3 acquisitions.

Christian Ehrhoff

San Jose Sharks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 205

Born: Jul 06, 1982

Hey, now we have a German on our team! All we need now is a Latvian. (I kid). From what I've read about the 27 year-old Ehrhoff, his nickname is "Error". (Great) He is a 2-way defenceman and there is no doubt that this guy is a top 4 d-man that can work a power play. Ehrhoff showed some offensive potential in 2006-07, scoring 10 goals and 33 points in 82 games. He then disappointed poolies the following season scoring only 1 goal and 22 points in 77 games, only to redeem himself last season, having a career year.

I've also read that Ehrhoff shies away from physical play and that he tends to miss the net on a lot of his shots. We'll see about that.

Career Stats

Ehrhoff Video Highlights From 2007-08

Salary: $3.15 million this season, $3.4 million next season.

Brad Lukowich

San Jose Sharks

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Born: Aug 12, 1976

Born in Cranbrook, BC and proud of it. Gotta love Mike Gillis' knack for bringing in BC Boys! Lukowich is not known for scoring (save a few surprises) or even fighting, but he is to be counted on as a reliable stay-at-home defenceman who can lay out the hits and take care of business in his own end not only with steady plays, but verbally also.

At 33 years of age, this is "Luko's" 7th time being moved and his 6th team. But he does bring Cup-winning experience, as he won it with the Lightning a few years back.

A bottom-6 defenceman. He reminds me of Rhett Warrener somewhat in that he plays physical, but doesn't take a lot of penalties.

Career Stats

Lukowich 2008-09 Goal Highlights Video

Salary: $1.8 million this season and then becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Mathieu Schneider

Montreal Canadiens

Height: 5-11

Weight: 195

Born: Jun 12, 1969

40 years-old and still has the speed, smarts and shot of someone 10 years younger. That being said, Schneider probably won't log more than 21:00 of ice time per game (as was his average time-on-ice last season). It's doubtful that he will even be a shut-down guy. He will get most of his time 5 on 5 and especially on the power play where he can still do a lot of damage. As you can see above, 6 of his 9 goals were scored with the man advantage. If anyone knows how many of his assists came on the power play let me know.

After being traded to the Canadiens in February, Schneider played 23 regular season games and scored 5 goals and 12 assists in an increased role. He played in 2 playoff games before damaging his shoulder. He is a great guy to have around when Sami Salo gets injured. But how is his 5'11" 187-pound lanky body going to be able to handle the rugged Western Conference, let alone Northwest Division?

Schneider wanted to play here.

“Playing in a great city, playing on a great team, I think this is definitely one of the top teams in the league right now, one of the up-and-coming teams, and playing for great ownership and management make it pretty much the perfect place for me,” Schneider said. “I kind of handcuffed my agent, Patty Morris, a little bit. I pretty much told him that this is the place I wanted to be and until we exhausted negotiations with Vancouver, I really didn’t want to negotiate with anyone else … At this point in my career, it’s really not about making another million bucks, it’s more about being in a situation where my family will be happy and I’ll be happy.”

Career Stats

Schneider's Video Highlights From 2008-09

Salary: To Be Announced. $1.5 million?  **EDIT: $1.55 million salary and an extra $1.2 million in bonuses (pending on games played I hear). Thanks, Capgeek. ore on the trade and signing at the Globe and Mail.