So are the Canucks trying to recreate the PLD or Chychrun trades to target a struggling asset and give up little for it?
or
Are they legit looking to find an impact forward in their prime signed long term? If that is true then goodbye Willander and a 1st and another future 2nd etc.
I fear it's the latter and it's a mistake IMO. The team has no depth because they keep trading futures in order to secure playoff spots. They are trying to do it with mirrors and it's unlikely to work for them. More likely they thrash around in mediocre land and occasionally have a terrible season and end up in the lottery with no 1st round pick, and no acquired deadline picks, which means nothing to show for it.
When Colorado was emerging to contender status they still had slip ups and they had the Makar and Byram/Newhook drafts to show for it. You don't fight the disaster years. You do a quick one year retool and load up again the next season.
For me that means dealing Suter, Boeser, Lankinen (or Demmer), and O'Connor. Harvest picks and reload and rebalance at the draft. This may not be a Makar year for us but it could be a Byram/Newhook equivalent. If we sign M Petterson then we have a key missing piece in place for next year. If Boeser wants to be here at reasonable dollars and term, great. But I'd be prepping to move on.
I feel like we are at Lou Lam levels of desperation and going to harvest a similar reward.
Now if we went the Caps route and tried to find undervalued situations and distressed assets, that's another story entirely.