Chuqui at Two For Elbowing—who certainly knows far more about Steve Bernier’s history than I do—wrote a great post yesterday wondering about the sequence of events leading up to his trade to Vancouver:
Even recently, Bernier was being touted as a key cog in the Buffalo future.
And now he’s off to Vancouver for a 2nd and a third draft pick?
Alarm bells are going off here. When a player starts becoming the pass-around pack, unless it’s Mike Sillinger, you have to wonder why; especially when teams say nice things about them and then trade them.
You can read Chuqui’s whole post here.
Perhaps Chuqui is correct. I don’t have anything to add except that the rumors out of Vancouver yesterday speculated that Bernier was only traded because the Sabres believed they were about to lose him to an offer sheet. (The theory being—as I understand it—that Vancouver indicated to the Sabres that they were intending to sign him for more money than the Sabres would choose to match, so the Sabres acquiesced to a trade in order to get a better deal—what amounted to an extra draft pick).
True or not, I have no idea. All I know is that the Sabres capitalized on their storage of picks pretty quickly after losing Bernier, and the Canucks are almost-certainly better off because of his signing.
At the rate things were going, I was seriously starting to ponder Fin as a feasible player for the top-6. Signing Bernier has encouraged me to push him down to the third line.
For now.
Still, The Canucks Are Screwed
As for concerns about Vancouver generally, my little poll yesterday indicates that 63% of you feel “The Canucks are screwed” for this coming season.
(note: This video link will take you to Mike Gillis’s media gathering yesterday afternoon. It cheered me up a wee bit, actually. The Sundin Sweepstakes continue…)
Anyway, while commiserating with a friend over email earlier, he shared similar concerns about his own team, Colorado. He also has a proposal for Canucks and Avalanche fans:
I have a feeling that we’re going to be battling for bragging rights next year—unfortunately, those bragging rights are for fourth place in the NW.
Actually, Vancouver is all defense and no offense. Colorado is all offense and no defense. Perhaps the Vancol Canuckalanche could be a good team?
That might work—misery loves company. Even if it’s the Evil Empire itself. :)
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