Former Canucks Thread 2023-24 Off-Season Edition

[4th line culture]

Jovanovski was a superstar if all you ever watched was Rock’em Sock’em tapes.

Was there anything else to watch back then?

 

[Curm]

Yeah, this is the problem with the Bure trade.

We inexplicably threw Bret Hedican into the trade, who was a 28 y/o top-pairing defender and was the 1D on a Cup winner 8 years after this trade was made. Hedican was nearly as good a player as Jovanovski, and honestly when you take into account Jovo's general braindead-ness was probably more of a player you could win with.

Then we lost the Ference-Brown prospect swap.

So that means that we essentially traded the best goal scorer in the NHL, at age 27, for Kevin Weekes, a Dave Gagner cap dump, and a 1st. And that's bloody awful.

If we didn't include Hedican it was defensible but that inclusion was colossally underrated and Hedican was hugely underrated as a player, then and now.

No question, as an all-around defender with terrific wheels, Hedican was easily one of the most underappreciated d-men in franchise history. I hated that trade.

I liked Jovo, but 5 on 5 he could be a real adventure, and he was far closer in value to Hedican than he was to Bure as the centerpiece.

Another underappreciated guy who only gave them a couple of years was Scott Lachance.

 

[Jyrki21]

Another underappreciated guy who only gave them a couple of years was Scott Lachance.

Great call. Even Bryan Helmer held his own on that 2001-02 team.

 

[Frostage]

No question, as an all-around defender with terrific wheels, Hedican was easily one of the most underappreciated d-men in franchise history. I hated that trade.

I liked Jovo, but 5 on 5 he could be a real adventure, and he was far closer in value to Hedican than he was to Bure as the centerpiece.

Another underappreciated guy who only gave them a couple of years was Scott Lachance.

Wasn't there something about Hedican beating Bure for fastest player on the Canucks?

 

[F A N]

Aside from the fact that we gave Florida the option to choose which 1st round pick they gave up, I think the Bure trade to Florida aside from getting Jovo back in return was doomed from the start. Like look at the Panthers' roster and list of prospects and tell me who the Canucks could have realistically and reasonably asked for that would have changed everything? Like aside from Jovo, who would you say "If only he was included in the trade?" The only player I can think of is Ray Whitney.

As for Hedican, I think the rule changes changed everything for him. I don't recall Hedican being the equivalent of a Chris Tanev back in the day.