The Province recently made headlines (literally - get it?) by publishing an editorial suggesting that the Canucks trade much-maligned goalie Roberto Luongo for Tampa Bay Lightning centre Vincent Lecavalier. No one much took this editorial seriously, but I think it was on to something - it just didn't have the details quite right.

Forget trading for Lecavalier. Instead, let's trade for St. Louis.

Let me explain why I think this would be of enormous benefit to the Canucks organization.

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From Canucks.com:

Vancouver Canucks President & General Manager Mike Gillis announced today that the Canucks have acquired left wing David Booth, centre Steve Reinprecht and a third round draft pick in 2013 from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm.

OK, so...is Florida GM Dale Tallon crazy? This is a huge upgrade for the Canucks at first glance.

Mikael Samuelsson was reported 100% healthy at training camp after undergoing surgery to repair his adductor tendon and sports hernia. But missed the last couple of games with what was reported as stomach issues reported as aggravated issues from the surgery. A healthy Samuelsson can score 25-30 goals. Not sure what Sammy the Panthers are getting. Marco Sturm was a free agent signing gamble by Mike Gillis that was a failure. He's a gamble for the Panthers!

26 year-old left winger David Booth has been rumored to be Vancouver-bound before. Now it is a reality. Born in Detroit Michigan, he is listed as 6 feet tall and 212 pounds. Right off the bat you think:

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Negotiations between the Canucks-Ehrhoff camp stalled and ended today. We don't yet know what Mike Gillis and Co was offering Ehrhoff, but the dollar value was believed to be close to Kevin Bieksa's. We'll know more soon enough. In the meantime, the Mad German is going to command a lot of money on the free agent market and probably has a lot of choices in places to play.

The Canucks get a 4th round choice in the 2012 Entry Draft in return. Adiose Ehrhoff, and thanks for everything. I'll write up a eulogy soon.

(YC was writing something on fair Christian at the same time...it's after the jump)

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Deadline days are bedlam enough tracking all the leads (and retweeting the bogus ones...ahem) that sometimes you miss the devil in the details.

Earlier, when I recapped the two deadline deals, I made some obvious comments about Chris Higgins lack of consistency and delicate fall from grace over the past two seasons. However poking around a bit more at his past two seasons and I think we got a bit more than meets the eye.

...Do you have the Transformers theme in your head now? You're welcome.

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Chris Higgins

#21 / Left Wing / Florida Panthers

Height: 6-0

Weight: 205

Born: Jun 02, 1983

Maxim Lapierre

#14 / Center / Anaheim Ducks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 207

Born: Mar 29, 1985

What looked to be the second NHL trade deadline that MG would sit out, he pulled a few fast moves as the clock struck midnight. First Vancouver moved Joel Perrault and a 3rd rounder in 2011 2012 to Anaheim for Maxim Lapierre and prospect MacGregor Sharp and then tossed Evan Oberg and a 3rd rounder in 2011 2013 at what's left of Florida to extract Chris Higgins (and his broken thumb).

As capgeek tweeted, it likely spells the end of Cody Hodgson and Victor Oreskovich as the fourth line options. It's also quite possible Lapierre and Higgins aren't destined for the fourth line either.

So who the hell are these guys? Let's start with Lapierre (255GP, 35G, 37A, 72PTS, 221PIMS) who can play center or right wing and is one of those pesky agitator-types. He was just traded to Anaheim two months ago but Anaheim's moves today made him an easy casualty. Lapierre should be counted on for 5-10 minutes a game and a truckload of hitting (he was second on Montreal with 104 before he was traded). He'll yap but probably won't fight and expect an undisciplined penalty here and there. Assuming he meets mild expectations, his style of play should make him a quick fan favorite. Joel Perrault, meanwhile, wasn't in any future plans.

Like Lapierre, Higgins (397GP, 103G, 88A, 191PTS, 138PIMS) is also a former Hab who is currently injured and about 2-3 weeks away from returning. Higgins was part of the Gomez deal between Montreal and New York and was bundled with Aleš Kotalík in that still-laughable trade last season between Calgary and New York. With the Flames he was quietly a decent player, but wasn't re-signed. As a Panther this season, he hasn't accomplished much but was at least on the path back to his two-way self before being injured. The good news is that Higgins does represent a player who should be responsible, has some speed, can chip in on the PK and may even score a few times. The bad news is if he could do any of that with a micron of consistency he wouldn't have been moved four times in two years. Oberg's fallen on the depth charts anyway, so it's a reasonable gamble that can't really hurt the Canucks (or maybe this was Tallon's way of sending Steve Bernier back at us...just kidding!).

Lastly, MacGregor Sharp is a 25 year old center/left winger who was born in BC and played with Mason Raymond (2003-07 in Camrose-AJHL and Minn-Duluth-WCHA) as a dangerous one-two punch. A toss in, but an interesting prospect to keep an eye on.

Higgins is a UFA and Lapierre a RFA at the end of the season.

Much like a summer blockbuster, the NHL trade deadline seems so exciting in theory. You watch the trailers and think "you know, maybe this won't be a huge cocktease this year." That is until you pony up the $15 bucks at the AMC and realize that - just like last year - your feelings have been crushed under the weight of your own lofty expectations.

Stupid Xbox, trades are so much easier on you. 

This is the third Mike Gillis trade deadline and he has only Andrew Alberts to show for his efforts. Maybe find some fourth line help if possible. Maybe a spare part if the right deal comes along. In all likelihood it will be more interesting to see what other Western teams do to prepare for the post season. To all of them I say: please run trade approvals via Dale Tallon. He's friggin' aces.

On the chance a prospect bids us farewell let us say now: "we'll miss making nicknames for you and we apologize for the sudden dark embarkment of your career."

Enjoy the bedlam and laugh at the rumors with us.

(This post was created before the Canucks-Stars game)

Before you read any further I encourage you to check out this post at Canucks Corner by Philip Yoe to understand the Canucks' current cap situation, as it defines our team cap hit on a daily cap hit basis, which is the bottom line.

With the Canucks needing to clear about $3.5 million cap space when Sami Salo returns in either January or February, Kevin Bieksa and his $3.75 million salary is the ultimate choice to trade from a financial sense as it clears the cap problem with one fowl fell swoop. Salo, Dan Hamhuis and Keith Ballard are the defencemen that have no trade clauses in their contracts and I think it is fair to assume Mike Gillis will honor those, being a former player agent himself, plus I believe he mentioned something about honoring the NTC's in the past. So that leaves Alexander Edler ($3.25 million per season), Kevin Bieksa ($3.75), Christian Ehrhoff ($3.10), the primary money makers as the primary targets on defence to get traded to clear space for Salo's return.

Given Bieksa's terrific play over the past month and a half (at least), I think it's fair to say that he is no longer the whipping boy for the media and fans alike. He is no longer the guy that you pray is dealt. Not by me anyway. I am loving his play (more after the poll)

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Update: Paetsch's NHL salary for this season is $525,000 according to CapGeek.

Update: fun fact from @mattlee61 - "Paetsch was traded from the #Sabres to the #BlueJackets at the March trade deadline... For Raffi Torres."

2 trends for the Canucks continue: trading with the Panthers and acquiring former Buffalo Sabres. Today the team has announced a trade that sends D Sean Zimmerman to Florida in exchange for D Nathan Paetsch. Yesterday the club acquired former Sabre Andrew Peters. Zimmerman failed to impress at Canucks camp. He was originally acquired in the Matthieu Schneider deal to the Coyotes.

Paetsch had a solid season with the Sabres in 2006-07, scoring 24 points in 63 games. His NHL time has decreased ever since. He did not play in the NHL last season, but instead played in the AHL. Plays like this don't help his cause: