Trade Hodgson this season.

Cody has been playing great for us. He's performed above and beyond all reasonable expectations and has been a difference maker in many games. I'm absolutely in love with this kid, and I think he's destined to be a star. But nonetheless I think we should try and trade him this season, with more focus than we should be trying to trade Schneider (that I would delay until the off-season).

Why? Because he's not a star yet, but assuming he does become the all-star caliber player as I expect, he's not going to be able to fit on a team that already has Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin up the middle. Not in terms of ice time and not in term of capspace. It's possible, although so far a failed experiment, he could be converted to a winger, but that will likely further prolong his development process. And in any event, the Canucks are a team that has a maybe 2 or 3 year cup window. I don't think the expectation is that Hodgson will be a star within that timeframe. But he may be able to fetch us one in exchange. It's that simple. And with the numbers he's put up this season, and some particularly impressive highlights to boot (every GM watched that Boston game), his value right now is high, especially for a team in rebuilding mode.

Option 1 - Stud 2nd Line Winger

My theory is that a package of Hodgson, Raymond, Ballard (to even out cap space) and draft picks might be enough to net us one of the elite wingers that are supposedly available--such as Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan or Rick Nash. I'd prefer the prior two as they have experience playing on good teams (which I think matters for attitude) and both are much lower cap hits. I feel like this could be realistic, but I'll leave to all y'all to judge. We would probably want to get a depth forward and a depth defenceman as well, either through the same trade or supplementary trades. The result:

(F depth: Reinprecht, Bitz, Mancari, Duco, Sweatt, Oreskovich, Schroeder + new depth)

Hamhuis-Bieksa
Edler-Salo
Rome-Alberts

(D depth: Sulzer, Tanev, Connaughton, Erixon, Baumgartner, Sauve, Parent + new depth)

Luongo-Schneider

(G depth: Lack, Climie)

Option 2 - One of them Nashville D-men

We could try and shore up defence, but the only players available that would be worth including Hodgson in a trade for are Suter or Weber, and I don't know if we'd be able to beat competitors if either of those guys actually become available, since Nashville is not in rebuilding mode. I would suggest a package of Edler and Hodgson for Weber or Suter and some exchange of draft picks might be required as well. We would not be able to throw in Raymond or another top 9 forward in such a deal as we would just be too thin in scoring depth under such a circumstance, and the need for roster depth is not to be overlooked. Again, I'm skeptical that this would be enough to land one of those big two, and it is completely hypothetical that either would even be available.

What you all think, Nucksmisconduct? Would you be willing to up the ante and throw in Schneider in one of these trades as the kicker (obviously Nashville would have no interest in that, but Columbus or Anaheim likely would)?