I'm sorry, but are you high?
Willander is one of the better D prospects in the league, he's not being traded for a declining 2nd line center that will be 34 years old at the start of next season. Even if Schenn was a bit younger, the Canucks have a gaping hole when it comes to top-4 RD going forward which they expect Willander to fill soon. The only way Willander is being traded is 1 for 1 for a similar calibre prospect or in a package for a star player south of 30.
This has 2nd + B prospect written all over it. Maybe you get a 1st from a team that both really needs a center and values playoff experience given some believe the draft will be weak this year. Blues might want to consider just keeping Schenn for his leadership while they go through a transition phase.
Willander has not signed a contract.
It doesn’t matter if he’s the pending greatest defenseman of all time.
Until he signs a deal, an outcome we often see with unsigned ncaa athletes is a trade. Since this is a situation that neither team is really bent over the barrel at this juncture, you’d guess maybe that the value for a trade would equalize when one looked at it in entirety, that the total deal really won’t look one sided in either direction. Rantanen is a great example.
I had this conversation with a handful of folk exactly a week before Rantanen was traded trying to explain to them that it was becoming likely.
It doesn’t matter how good Rantanen is even if he’s a top 5 player. It doesn’t matter than the Avs are in the playoff race and he is in their core, and good friends with the teams captain.
All that matters, for the purpose of guessing trades, is contract status. Same with this situation.
Unfortunately my official Rantanen guess included “not Carolina for Necas because they’re cheap” - it’s in the thread I started a few week before he was traded that specifically asked what the value would be if he were traded in a few weeks. Wouldn’t be surprised if I missed the mark on this one too…but i do get close. Had I suggested Rantanen for Necas I probably would have gotten a reply that was asking if I was high because Necas is nowhere near the value of Rantanen.
I think Schenn to Vancouver makes sense but I don’t think a Schenn to Vancouver deal will happen because Schenn is smart and that trade would be giant paycut due to provincial taxation and exchange rates. He won’t waive is my guess. This could be the source of the “Schenn brothers” aspect of the rumor; an attempt to encourage waive. Missouri State has legislature in process that will remove state income tax similar to Vegas, the stars, predators, Florida. It may become impossible for any Blue with a nmc to move - nobody willing to even consider waiving due to the tremendous change in take home pay.
What could become challenging is if the scenario is one where the Canucks have to move their unsigned ncaa prospect for whatever reason, it’s one less trade partner and one less offer to take to owners, and if the scenario enters a shorter timeframe, you’ve just entered “get fleeced” territory. The best thing that can exist for these situations is options. You want as many as you can get. Or maybe they’ll get him locked up. We’ll all get to see. The blues are in the exact same position with Snuggerud. It will be uncertain until it isn’t. No matter what happens in either situation I think both the blues and Canucks will be just fine. Even the worse case for both is whatever, isn’t franchise defining.
