Speculation: NEED CONFIRMATION! WE HAVE BEEN TRICKED?! WILLANDER TO ?!

[FiveTacos]

Willander is absolutely an elite prospect with top pair upside. His game just isn’t flashy.

The number of defensive prospects in the league as good or better than him can be counted on your ten fingers

Definitively better, possibly. But that next tier of guys, he's not clearly better than. I can think of two young D on the Ducks alone I would not trade for him, and at least a couple more I'd consider lateral.

And honestly, the number of good young 2Cs ... that's probably an even shorter list. Just look at the multitude of threads from different fan bases looking for a 2C.

and I guarantee you every one of those other prospect’s fanbase consider their guy completely off limits in a trade.

Well probably no more so than a young-ish legit 2C. You don't give those guys up unless they're flawed, have a contract issue, injury problems, etc..

 

[Grinner]

This would absolutely be my first choice and a much better option. Probably have to overpay a bit (first, Hoglander/Garland and Mynio) but i would take that all day long over trading Willander and a first.......

Im sure you do.
How can the Islanders possibly say no

 

[VancouverJagger]

Im sure you do.
How can the Islanders possibly say no

I sense sarcasm...........

What would the Isles want for Horvat then? A first, top prospect and solid roster player would seem reasonable no?

 

[BKarchitect]

Definitively better, possibly. But that next tier of guys, he's not clearly better than. I can think of two young D on the Ducks alone I would not trade for him, and at least a couple more I'd consider lateral.

And honestly, the number of good young 2Cs ... that's probably an even shorter list. Just look at the multitude of threads from different fan bases looking for a 2C.



Well probably no more so than a young-ish legit 2C. You don't give those guys up unless they're flawed, have a contract issue, injury problems, etc..

I mean…we will just have to agree to disagree slightly on Willander’s evaluation, or at least how we frame it in this convo. I’m not a Canucks fan by any means, just a college hockey fan, but yes - I would say outside of like a very small handful of truly elite prospects prospects that nobody would even have a conversation about - he’s up there with any defensive prospect asset, in my opinion. His blend of skating, athleticism and two-way IQ just plays and I expect that his offensive game will continue to grow as he becomes a pro. ASP gets all the counting stats glory but Willander played bigger minutes and I thought was even better during the WJC.

At some point you have to weigh projectability, upside and readiness in whatever mix you choose - and I think the way Willander blends all of those benchmarks at an extremely high level makes him a rare bird, not some “oh he will be solid but is gonna top out as a second pair defensive guy” type. Like a potential legit, 24+ minute all situation, top pairing stud.

I think the OP is getting a bit twisted here too (not by you just in general). Nobody said Willander was even remotely “available”. He’s just not “untouchable” perhaps for a ridiculous deal (especially if you are combining him with a #15ish overall pick). Like 98% of players and prospects in the league.

 

[Rick Rocket]

 

[DougBodger]

There are teams with better 1st round picks that could easily beat what Vancouver has to offer. Thinking of Buffalo, specifically.

 

[LuGBuG]

Verbeek is in love with McTavish. Better chance he la named captain then traded. Zegras has been good. Be stupid to move him with his MacT chemistry developing. Also we aren’t looking for futures. Anaheim is looking to make playoffs next year.

 

[Gliff]

Dude.........where was Faber playing when he got traded? My god.........yes absolutely i am comparing him at the time of the trade...........that was the point. Apparently it went zoooming over your head.

He was a similar prospect at the time to what Willander is now.........genius.......

Honestly missed that line. I thought you were comparing him to now Faber. My bad.

I politely disagree. I think every single pushes it more and more away from the Fiala deal as a direct comparison.
Fiala was a winger, not a center.
Fiala was a cap casualty due to the Parise/Suter penalties.
Faber was better then Willander.

Like I said, I think Luneau is a similar level prospect to Willander and I would not expect to get a #2 center with Luneau and a mid 1st in a bad draft.

 

[Nuckles]

Was in the car listening but i didnt start the show on time. They were talking about the Dallas comeback though so i know it was today. I think it was before the Boston U play by play came on for an interview. I'll check too when i get home.

I also just listened to the show, nowhere did Dhaliwal mention anything you said in your first post...

 

[Baksfamous112]

2C is probably, after 1C and 1D, the next most desirable and difficult to obtain piece. So yeah, a legit 2C is worth more than a D prospect that isn't an elite high probability star type prospect.

If Willander could net a 2C on his own, I can think of several teams that have comparable very good D prospects who would gladly pony up theirs as well if it would bring in an established 2C.

Genuine young top 4 RHD > young top 6 C.

 

[Baksfamous112]

Honestly missed that line. I thought you were comparing him to now Faber. My bad.

I politely disagree. I think every single pushes it more and more away from the Fiala deal as a direct comparison.
Fiala was a winger, not a center.
Fiala was a cap casualty due to the Parise/Suter penalties.
Faber was better then Willander.

Like I said, I think Luneau is a similar level prospect to Willander and I would not expect to get a #2 center with Luneau and a mid 1st in a bad draft.

Luneau is a nice prospect but there’s levels to this and he’s not on Willander’s level.

 

[Spurgeon]

Dude.........where was Faber playing when he got traded? My god.........yes absolutely i am comparing him at the time of the trade...........that was the point. Apparently it went zoooming over your head.

He was a similar prospect at the time to what Willander is now.........genius.......

Wild got Faber and a 1st for Fiala.

 

[BOBBY9]

Jared McCann makes to much sense.

Age, position and he’s playing for a team open for business

 

[VancouverJagger]

Honestly missed that line. I thought you were comparing him to now Faber. My bad.

I politely disagree. I think every single pushes it more and more away from the Fiala deal as a direct comparison.
Fiala was a winger, not a center.
Fiala was a cap casualty due to the Parise/Suter penalties.
Faber was better then Willander.

Like I said, I think Luneau is a similar level prospect to Willander and I would not expect to get a #2 center with Luneau and a mid 1st in a bad draft.

Fair enough..........I agree that Fiala was gonna be traded and wasn't necessarily a peak value #1 so it's a bit hard to extrapolate value however Willander has that same sort of upside and there's a ton of regret for the Kings there I'm sure.

I still think people are sleeping on Willander. As the poster earlier just mentioned ASP gets all the hype due to his offense but Willander was clearly the better D during the World Juniors. Not many people are as smooth as he is. We can argue over value all day long but I absolutely would expect to get a stud 2c for Willander and our first round pick this year.

 

[VancouverJagger]

Wild got Faber and a 1st for Fiala.

Kings at the time had a glut of D prospects........And the Canucks never traded for any............Wild made out like bandits in that trade.......

 

[miscs75]

Jared McCann makes to much sense.

Age, position and he’s playing for a team open for business

It’s almost like a perfect match.

 

[Hockeyfan200]

This would absolutely be my first choice and a much better option. Probably have to overpay a bit (first, Hoglander/Garland and Mynio) but i would take that all day long over trading Willander and a first.......

don't know why yyou think islanders are accepting anything short of overypay and not some wingers and c or d prospect for a top C who they aren't trading

 

[Lt Dan]

What would you offer for Pinto?

A Chevette straight up

 

[VancouverJagger]

don't know why yyou think islanders are accepting anything short of overypay and not some wingers and c or d prospect for a top C who they aren't trading

Sure agree........I would argue our first, a solid roster player and top 4 prospect of ours is an overpay.......We originally traded him for a 1st, similar prospect in Raty and almost a cap dump in Beauvillier so this offer is better by us adding a solid roster player instead of a cap dump. I'd be willing to add in another draft pic (2nd or 3rd ?) as well.

But perhaps we have differing thoughts on value

 

[Blue and Green]

A Chevette straight up

View attachment 1010405

That's the problem with this damn board, people always trying to offer Chevettes instead of Chevelles.

 

[RandV]

curious with this trade Willander talk.... who is going to be the RHD after Hronek? EP25 is a LHD, and counting on Mancini being a top4 RHD is way too early, Myers is getting up there in age.

Will the the thread started with questionable speculation that the Canucks are looking to trade any prospect outside Pettersson with the first for a second line center, leading to other fans arm chair GM'ing and adding the Canucks absolute best prospect to the 1st for like Shane Pinto and such.

It could be possible that the Canucks could trade Willander under the 'anyone can be available umbrella', but barring a lottery win he should be a much more valuable asset than the 1st. It wouldn't be 1st + Willander, it would be Willander + 1st, and would require a significant return to the Canucks. Like the Fiala trade is being brought up here, lets not forget that Fiala was a 25 year old player coming off an 85 point season, the 1st was 18th overall, and I haven't tracked prospects for years now but Faber's production in college jumped after he was traded and probably turned out far better than expected at the time of the trade.

 

[Raistlin]

Uhh....Dhali never mentioned any of the things mentioned in the first post, not in the show uploaded today at least. I highly doubt they will trade Willander. I would not trade him for any of the D drafted in the extremely deep 2023 draft.

Guy has all the defensive skills and intangibles you want to build around. They know how good ASP and Benson is and decided on him over both of them.

 

[Ivan eht Demidov]

cole sillinger, on the other hand, is 100% a center but might not have a long-term home on this roster, and would be very available in this kind of deal.

That's of interest to VAN, I would think. I wonder, would CBJ/VAN do something like VAN '25 1st for Sillinger + LDBB?

Gets VAN 2 young Cs that could become 2C-level in short order, but it's a dice-roll, then while those players fill gaps (possibly very well), VAN has time to draft and develop another C

CBJ adds a high pick they can either use or flip

 

[Habs7631]

Jared McCann makes to much sense.

Age, position and he’s playing for a team open for business

I was going to say Seattle.

Shane Wright for Willander?? Who says no?

Then Vancouver still has Lekki + 1st for something else.

 

[VancouverJagger]

I was going to say Seattle.

Shane Wright for Willander?? Who says no?

Then Vancouver still has Lekki + 1st for something else.

Probably Seattle.........he's starting to come around however I like your thinking. Not sure Willander alone would get you him but decent trade yes