Vancouver Canucks: Top 5 Player Battles to Watch in 2016-17
1. Erik Gudbranson vs. Jared McCann
In a shocking off-season trade, the Vancouver Canucks sent one of their top prospects to the Florida Panthers for defenseman Erik Gudbranson. Along with Jared McCann, the Panthers got a second and a fourth-round pick, and sent a fifth-rounder back to Vancouver. At the time, both Canucks and Panthers fans were angry at their respective GMs — but who really won this trade?
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The Panthers lost the No. 1 defenseman on the depth chart — at least by ice time — and future captain, and got an unproven prospect and a draft pick in return. It was therefore not surprising that Panthers fans were rather shocked about the deal.
From a Canucks fan’s point of view, however, it doesn’t look great either. McCann and Bo Horvat were supposed to be a terrific one-two punch down the middle for many years to come. Plus, the Canucks are trying to rebuild on the fly, so losing a blue-chip prospect and an early draft pick really didn’t sound good.
So who wins?
Florida later sent the second-round pick to Buffalo, which will make this trade even harder to evaluate. The obvious battle is McCann versus Gudbranson, plain and simple. It will be a while before we can declare a long-term winner, but if Gudbranson plays an important role on the Canucks blue line this season, it will be a little win for the Canucks already.
Next: Horvat vs. McCann