Vancouver Canucks Trade Proposals: Luca Sbisa Edition

LUCA SBISA: What is he worth?

So we saw what the market price was for Erik Gudbranson. It hurt. Then it came to some, if not most of us, that it was the trend of the new NHL. It was the new price tag on defenders.

For Gudbranson, it was a decent first-round pick, a high second-round pick, and a bit more to turn a fourth-round pick to a fifth-round pick.

2015-16 Season Report Card: Luca Sbisa

Essentially, the deal sums up to be two mid-late first-round picks for a physical blueline leader who displays top-four upside with the history of being picked third overall.

For more context, take into consideration the comparisons that our editor Janik Beichler drew to the trades for Andrej Sekera and Kris Russell.

Roland McKeown was L.A.’s 50th-overall pick in 2014. Brett Pollock was a steal pick by Dallas at 45th overall in 2014. Jyrki Jokipakka is a big stay-at-home defenseman who has worked himself into Calgary’s top-six. In summary:

Rental Andrej Sekera = two late first-round picks
Rental Kris Russell = two early second-round picks + top-six asset

I still can’t imagine how the Canucks didn’t have a decent market for Dan Hamhuis at the trade deadline. Yes, Kris Russell is a great top-four defensemen, but is Hamhuis not better than the everyday top-six defenseman?

So what does this mean for Luca Sbisa, whose acquisition won’t be a rental like it was for Sekera and Russell?

The NHL sees Sbisa’s Contract a “Bargain”

Sbisa is a decent top-six option with still some potential to perhaps grow into a fringe top-four player. His contract doesn’t seem like an issue as some here in Vancouver like to point out. Remember Jim Benning at the Townhall Meeting last season?

Sbisa was getting calls and would have hit free agency with a $4.5 million dollar price tag. At least according an NHL GM, that is. And apparently he is one of Europe’s best. He was named to Team Europe’s blueline earlier this week.

In comparison to Sekera and Russell, Sbisa is two years younger (26) than each of them at the time of their trades (28). Sbisa is not a rental acquisition, either. Considering that Sekera was being paid $2.75 million and Russell $2.6 million, Sbisa’s contract is a tad bit heavier.

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Sekera and Russell were both playing just under 23 minutes a night for their respective clubs before getting traded. Sbisa has averaged just over 17 minutes a game. No competition here — Sbisa is a bottom-pairing player while the other two were top-four players.

But look at the hits per 60 column.

Sekera (2014-15, pre-trade) = 2.13
Russell (2015-16, pre-trade) = 1.59
Sbisa (2015-16, 41 games) = 5.97

Sbisa hits just as many times as two Sekera’s and a Russell combined. That tells me that Sbisa knows what he is doing. Teams like players who know what they are capable of doing.

The Verdict?

Sbisa is a very good at what he is asked to do — hit while playing top-six minutes. Who are you taking, then? A decent top-four player or a top-six player who is tremendous at doing what he does?

For a team looking for physicality on the blueline, Sbisa is going to be a superb asset. He still has youth and his deal isn’t as egregious as some may think.

From a team with that need (and hence would call Vancouver about him), Sbisa could fetch Vancouver a mid-late first-round pick at this year’s draft, which is about 60 percent of what Gudbranson, Sekera, and Russell were each worth.

Next: BOSTON CALLS: Upgrading the Blueline