Trading a top young right shot D for a winger is f***ing stupid. If coyotes ask for Willander you hang up the phone.
Ditto if for Lettermaki but either can be part of a bigger trade.
Look Vancouver is not in need of 18 to 20 year old's anymore, at least not for top six duties.
Vancouver has become a "win now" team in terms of age and still needing to fill spots now, with proven players.
IMO they still need younger players but more around Pettersson's age of 25 yrs old and not Miller's of 31 yrs old.
If Willander was included in a trade it would be for Crouse AND ?
Willander is still "hope" and not proven.
Can Vancouver still operate on "hope" and be successful?
Didn't the team and fans just suffer with 8 years or just "hope" with failures of waiting to see if Juloevi would be the "stud" they hoped or that Jake would be the "hammer" they hoped for? Podkolzin was drafted 5 years ago, FIVE YEARS!
There is also the "who does he replace" and "does he make the team better without ever playing a game" thoughts.
Willander is a "hope", very likely but still just a thought, a mind game. Crouse is tangible, you can see his NHL game NOW and see it's improvement over the last couple of YEARS. Power forwards like defencemen sometimes take longer to develop and he is a power forward on the upswing.
Willander is good for selling "hope" to a market right now without any on ice results and in truth that may not be a good enough reason for the Yotes to make a trade, their market is fractured already but there are other markets that could use or have the time to wait for Willander to make an impact.