Here’s what the Empire’s resident Canuck expert (alanaH) had to say when I asked her about Sopel earlier this week:

Canucks let him go because the year his contract came up for negotiation (2 years ago? i think) he had grossly increased his value - about double of what it was. So LA gave him the big contract. But then LA sucked ass, so they gave him up at the trade deadline and Vancouver thought they could use him going into the playoffs, since skaters were going down like flies, and D was a concern.

However, Sopel’s contract was almost never a serious consideration to get picked up beyond this past season. He didn’t have a good playoffs, but he’s worth too much and Vancouver has plenty of D.

My opinion: I like him a ton, but lots of Canucks fans would argue with me about him. He’s fairly offensive in style, so he would occasionally give up some dumbass plays. But I like players that take chances, so it never bothered me really.

I’m not sure she was sober when she replied. I’ll ask again in a few days.