Former Canuck Michael Peca Retires

Maybe he didn’t want to be here or something.

We gambled on other guys in the past too though and it didn’t work. I remember a pretty good player coming here in exchange for a guy named Cam and that didn’t work out either. I don’t like trading for guys to take a gamble on them when you have good up and coming players on the way. But I am also not much of a gambler in general.

What an appropriate pic considering I mentioned Baraka.

Kovalchuk wouldn’t work with the Sedins. Plus would you really bring in someone who wants 10 million a season to do what Burrows is already doing for 2 million?

No, not in a million years. You don’t trade away a franchise guy, team leader, on ice force, off ice example for a prima donna. You trade away a demitra or something for kovalchuk. Kovalchuk would be awesome on the Canucks, but not at the expense of a heart and soul guy like Kesler. What a kesler brings to the team goes far beyond just points and plus minus, and guys like him are utterly essential to a teams chemistry and success. Kesler is very Messier like (er…Messier when he cared, not Messier when he was in Vancouver), and that brings huge value to a team.

Again I’m sorry you both think a different opinion is now both “dumb” and “stupid” but outside of the Canucks world I’d wager a great number of people are also stupid and dumb because they would also pull the trigger on this.

And RSM – you may want to consider reading the thread as I said (now three times) that I wasn’t truly bringing the cap into this, but rather considering it as a hypothetical. And I would make the trade under the knowledge that – like when we got Luongo for Bert – we could ink a longer deal. And knowing the deal will likely eclipse Luongo’s I know this isn’t an exercise in reality.

And you don’t want to play the numbers game here do you? Do you really want me to point out Kovalchuk’s worst year was 53 points (his rookie year) and Kesler’s best was 59 (last year)? Do you really want me to point out Kovalchuk has eclipsed 50 goals (on bad teams) twice and Kesler has eclipsed 20 goals twice? Do you really want me to point out the Kovalchuk has had two season’s with 7 GWGs while Kesler’s best season is 2? You take a guess which guy has 115 PPG’s in his career and which has 22 PPG’s? Or 207 ES goals in his career to 52? Or which one averages three more minutes per game a year? Or which one is a three time All Star and Rocket Richard Trophy winner and which one isn’t? In fact, by my eye, there is only two stats Kesler beats him in and those are +/- (again, bad ATL teams) and SHG which Kes beats him by one goal (4 to 3). So sure, let’s play the numbers game.

In fact, you should argue the exact opposite of the numbers game. You’d say Kesler is more of a complete player and – with his Selke nod – can shutdown some of the best in the game. You’d argue the softer skills like on-ice leadership, mentoring of younger guys and his ability to play with his heart and head are intangibles you don’t simply trade away easily. And I would agree.

The bottom line of this disagreement is that you don’t want to trade away the guys you draft and spent bank on maturing in the sport (guys like Peca or Kesler). However if given the chance to better your team (let’s say that was the impetus behind the Mogilny deal and not money or anything else) you gamble with it. You roll the dice and hope you get to deal the Stojanov of the group and get the Naslund in return. I see no problem with such gambles, especially if you get a game changer in return. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won’t. And sometimes you can hang on to all your kids and get no where either. But that’s the job of the GM in my eyes: to gamble. Whether it’s a draft pick, whether it’s to trade a pick or whether you move a big asset of your team for something that – on paper – could be bigger. You assess, you consult but in the end, one way or another, you gamble.