Canucks Make no Changes at Deadline

The much anticipated trade deadline has come and gone. Canuck fans who were repeatedly refreshing a web page hoping to see Vancouver swing a deal were disappointed. The Canucks look exactly the same as they did a day ago, as they chose not to make any deals. 

While Vancouver have been on a tear lately, critics will argue that there are weaknesses on the team that should have been addressed today. There were rumours floating around, one of which suggested that they were trying to land puck-moving defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, but as the deadline came and went, no deal was made. 

Critics and fans probably became even more restless watching division rivals Calgary and Edmonton make acquisitions. The Flames picked up Olli Jokinen from Phoenix and brought back Jordan Leopold from Colorado while the Oilers acquired Patrick O’Sullivan from the LA Kings and Ales Kotalik from the Buffalo Sabres.

My guess is that the Canucks were looking for opportunities to improve their club, but not at a price that would sacrifice their future. I think that approach definitely makes sense. Far too often you see teams sacrifice good young talent for rent-a-players, who end up leaving in the offseason anyways.

Do the Canucks have some holes in the lineup? Probably, but so do most teams. I think not making any moves might not be such a bad thing. Why risk messing up the chemistry they have right now just for the sake of doing a deal. Sure it would be nice to see Bouwmeester in a Canucks uniform, but in all likelihood he’ll be testing the market in July and there would be no guarantee he’d stick around, so it wouldn’t be worth sacrificing some of the young Canuck talent. So the Canucks will roll the dice with what they have.  It should be an interesting finish...