[Trade] Canucks Acquire Elias Lindholm from Calgary for Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, 2024 1st and Conditional 2024 4th

[KoreanHockeyFan]

5 hours ago, 48MPHSlapshot said:

Wow. Just woke up to this haha. I'm cool with the price we paid. Jurmo and the 4th are peanuts, our 1st is likely going to be very low this year, Kuz was finished here and didn't cost us anything in the first place, and Brz was a 3rd rd pick...essentially found money, and plays a style that we already have in abundance on our roster with Hughes and Hronek. 

 

But mostly I just have faith in Allvin. He's done well so far. Let's bring this thing home and win a cup! 

 

Good way to put it. Hunter's unexpected rise gave Allvin some house money to play with. He weaponized the extra chips and got Lindholm. 

[KoreanHockeyFan]

6 hours ago, fanofvan said:

This is straight from his scouting report "With his edge work and skating ability, he can run a five-on-five cycle, and quarterback a top power-play unit without much difficulty."  

 

Hughes and Hronek are already that. We also have Willander. 

 

Hunter is a great prospect, but he doesn't align with the future needs of this team, so might as well sell high on a guy who's being hyped up this season. 

[Jaimito]

Lol

 

 

 

 

[grumpyone]

not sure if it's been posted here yet...just heard on sportsnet that the conditional 4th pick turns into a 3rd IF we make the western final. 

I wondered if it were based on whether we re-signed him. 

[BC_Hawk]

1 hour ago, IBatch said:

Won't get into better or worse.   Horvat is actually earning his contract this year.   Horvat's entire career minus first rookie one, and the bubble run (where he was very good, especially matching up against O'Reilly), he played on trash teams.   Aside from Brocks rookie year, the next best player he got was Pearson.    LE was on his line.     Guy's a reliable 30 plus goal center.    On pace for 36-38 again this year.    Takes a ton of face offs, and was used by Green against other teams top lines.    

 

Know he gets picked on now, especially because of his passiveness (which I wasn't a fan of),  I'm not sure we can outright say Lindholm is a better player.  How would Horvat do in the same circumstances, and vice versa.   Going to need to watch him.    Was a Selke finalist...so expecting some good things.    Two big seasons.     

 

The point I was making, is, we just got a "Horvat" back, as in our elite center depth.   3 30 plus goal scoring centers, has been a Unicorn in this league for a couple decades now.    It's rare.    Just to be clear, we got back our center depth.    Pretty amazing really, the job they've managed.   Tochett and the players especially for buying in.   Expect Lindholm won't take long to adjust, he's too skilled not to get it. 

 

 

Exactly IBatch we essentially got a Horvat back and have elite Center depth all through lineup. One of the biggest issues I saw before the break was how we got dominated in the FO circles when Miller not Blueger were on the ice. We now have another excellent FO guy (EP is not great).

[canucks curse]

3 minutes ago, Jaimito said:

Lol

 

 

 

 

JR has a pattern he has imparted on PA... get your big moves done early, avoids time pressure, stress which can cause poor decisions, bring players in early, help get them comfortable asap.

 

Oh and by the way... who drafted Lindholm in CAR??? Jimmy R 

He likes the guys he likes and he likes the guys he knows.

[Ghostsof1915]

9 minutes ago, grumpyone said:

not sure if it's been posted here yet...just heard on sportsnet that the conditional 4th pick turns into a 3rd IF we make the western final. 

I wondered if it were based on whether we re-signed him. 

I thought it was posted it was our 4th round pick or New Jersey 4th round pick which ever Calgary wanted?

[HKSR]

For those that are struggling with the loss of Hunter B in this trade, lemme try and ease things a bit...

 

Enter Zayne Parekh of the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL.

 

Parekh is 2 years younger than Hunter, a 6' 180lbs RHD that currently leads his team in scoring.  A team that is NOT as stacked as Hunter's Kitchener Rangers.  Yet Parekh is only 3 points behind Hunter with 66 points in 44 games vs Hunter who has 69 points in 47 games.

 

So in fact on a points per game basis, Parekh is likely ahead of Hunter.

 

So despite being 2 years younger, also a RHD, also a very good skater, also a PP1 QB, and better production on a worse team... Parekh is ranked for this years draft:

 

7th by Sportsnet

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/scouts-analysis-ranking-the-top-32-prospects-for-the-2024-nhl-draft/

 

10th by Craig Button and TSN

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/draftcentre/craig-s-list-celebrini-eiserman-top-rankings-ahead-of-world-juniors-1.2042606

 

So honestly, Hunter is likely a late 1st round pick or maybe even a 2nd round pick in terms of value considering he's doing what he is doing at 19 years of age in the OHL.

 

[erkayloomeh]

8 hours ago, Bob Long said:

 

We only moved one underperforming roster player. Everything else is uncertain if Cowtown got NHL players or not.

I don't hate the trade I like it. But I believe this trade is almost completely a cup move and if we don't get the cup then I will wish we didn't give up those assets. 

Who knows what lindholm will want in a contract but his ask will likely put alot of pressure on the team elsewhere in the lineup. 

Almost everyone in the media is saying the sparks got a haul. Conroy said the Canucks offer beat every other team and that fourth becomes a third if we reach conference final. 

This trade meets our needs right now, Calgary needs long term. 

[Metal Face Doom]

Lol @ "it's only a good move if we get to the cup."

 

The pieces we gave up don't move the needle at all.  Lindholm does regardless of cup or not.

[IBatch]

23 minutes ago, BC_Hawk said:

Exactly IBatch we essentially got a Horvat back and have elite Center depth all through lineup. One of the biggest issues I saw before the break was how we got dominated in the FO circles when Miller not Blueger were on the ice. We now have another excellent FO guy (EP is not great).

On another thread, comparing the 2011 team to the 94 and 2024 team.    Feel that the 2024 team forward group matches up just fine with 2011 prior to this trade.    Close enough, edge either way really.    Now it's for sure superior, and can compete with that 94 team as well.    This is something, i've been saying since our hot start - that our first round pick should be on the table.   

 

What a difference a year has made.    All our better players are having career years or in their primes, our support players are finally good again too.    Allvins only work now, is to pry Marroon out of MIN.    Unless we have an injury that requires something (knocking on wood).    EDM has some dirt bags, guys that could get their elbows up, and decide to, or try and take out either QHs or EP.    Every team will play them hard.     If he can manage that, we go from contenders, to favourites.  

 

One thing that really matters as well is,  Lindholm gets lots of time to settle in.   

 

See a lot of early game leads, and coasting in the future.   That's how Tochett set things up.   Once we have a comfortable lead, he reduces minutes on our top players.     Hopefully that will carry us into the playoffs, where all out all the time is required for 20-28 games or so to win a cup. 

Edited February 1 by IBatch

[spook007]

11 hours ago, -AJ- said:

 

EL-LEE-US vs EL-LIE-US

 

Which pronunciation wins?

The cup winning one......

[IBatch]

8 minutes ago, erkayloomeh said:

I don't hate the trade I like it. But I believe this trade is almost completely a cup move and if we don't get the cup then I will wish we didn't give up those assets. 

Who knows what lindholm will want in a contract but his ask will likely put alot of pressure on the team elsewhere in the lineup. 

Almost everyone in the media is saying the sparks got a haul. Conroy said the Canucks offer beat every other team and that fourth becomes a third if we reach conference final. 

This trade meets our needs right now, Calgary needs long term. 

It's a fair trade.   It does other things as well.  Gives EP a chance to show the brass what he can do with a very good different style center.  Lindholm might not be a rental either.   Wouldn't surprise me, one bit, if he's the first guy the team signs.     The team can pivot in the off season in multiple directions.    Sure hope that 4th becomes a 3rd. 

[RawkDrummer]

Thanks goodness it wasn't Monahan.

[Alflives]

9 minutes ago, erkayloomeh said:

I don't hate the trade I like it. But I believe this trade is almost completely a cup move and if we don't get the cup then I will wish we didn't give up those assets. 

Who knows what lindholm will want in a contract but his ask will likely put alot of pressure on the team elsewhere in the lineup. 

Almost everyone in the media is saying the sparks got a haul. Conroy said the Canucks offer beat every other team and that fourth becomes a third if we reach conference final. 

This trade meets our needs right now, Calgary needs long term. 

Meets our needs long term too. We added another key piece. A late first is a magic bean. HB is likely not an nhl pkayer on a winner. Jurmo we were letting go anywsy. He’s a dough head. We gave up nothing. 
Accept the fact Allvin and our new management are great and know what they’re doing. Benning/Brod are long gone. 

[Jaimito]

 

 

 

Canucks go ‘all in’: Why Elias Lindholm was the best available hockey fit

Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin, with fresh new contract extensions in hand, have proactively jumped the NHL trade market once again.

 

On Wednesday night the Vancouver Canucks moved swiftly to acquire Calgary Flames centre Elias Lindholm in exchange for Andrei Kuzmenko, 2023 third-round pick Hunter Brzustewicz, 2021 third-round pick Joni Jurmo, the club’s 2024 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-rounder.

 

The price is significant, particularly given how Brzustewicz has popped at the OHL level in his draft plus-one campaign, although it’s worth noting that the deal has also cleared a significant salary liability from Vancouver’s books for the 2024-25 campaign.

 

Perhaps the most important factor, however, is Lindholm’s rarity among this season’s most likely deadline rentals.

 

Lindholm is one of a very small handful of true top-six centremen in the 2024 unrestricted free agent class. Among pending unrestricted free agents he’s the only top-six calibre centreman that’s right-handed.

 

That’s important to note because his acquisition by Vancouver fits the mould of several of this management group’s biggest recent moves. Above all else, it’s a deal that prioritizes the hockey fit of the player added over other considerations — including the value involved in the transaction.

 

With J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, Teddy Blueger, Pius Suter and even Nils Åman, the Canucks had good centre depth. All of those players, however, share a common attribute: they’re all left-handed.

 

Lindholm, however, is both very good on draws and a righty. So even if Miller has a power faceoff move designed to work on his off side, the Lindholm addition diversifies Vancouver’s options in the circle.

 

It might be a small thing, but it matters in individual instances, the leverage of which gets magnified significantly in the postseason, where the margin between advancing and booking your ticket to Cabo gets razor-thin.

 

Vancouver is also still an average (at best) team on the penalty kill this season, even if the club’s four-on-five form has trended in a promising direction over the past month or so. Lindholm has long been one of Calgary’s most frequently used and trusted penalty killers and is genuinely good at it. The ability to throw Lindholm over the boards first after Vancouver is assessed a penalty will offer the Canucks a major upgrade short-handed.

 

The Canucks also needed another power-play option, particularly given Kuzmenko’s struggles this season.

 

Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet, who rather unusually also runs the Vancouver power play, has often focused on the need for additional help at the net front.

 

Now Lindholm isn’t an experienced net front guy, but he’s a right-handed shot with a ton of experience playing the bumper. Adding him to the first-unit power play will give the Canucks the flexibility to move Brock Boeser to the net front while Lindholm takes over Bo Horvat’s old spot.

 

It’s an alignment that, on paper at least, promises to be potent. Adding a right-handed finisher adept at finding open space and, although his scoring touch has abandoned him this season, doing damage from quiet ice to a PP1 mix that already includes Miller, Pettersson, Boeser and Quinn Hughes could be lethal.

 

Finally, Lindholm is versatile enough to play on the wing or at centre. If Tocchet requires a centre to hold down second-line minutes while Vancouver loads up their top line, Lindholm can do that. He even has the defensive chops to handle tough minutes (particularly if he’s given reliable two-way players like Suter and Ilya Mikheyev to centre), if Vancouver wanted to try and sic the 2.0 version of the “Lotto Line” on a softer matchup at home.

 

If the club wants to fatten their lineup and play Miller and Pettersson separately, however, Lindholm can easily bump to the wing with either playmaker and complement them.

 

In fact, given Lindholm’s offensive toolkit — he’s at his most dangerous playing away from the puck — and his history of complementing elite passers, he seems like an intriguing option to put alongside either Pettersson or Miller in Vancouver’s top six.

 

It’s in this area that the deal has some additional upside for Vancouver.

 

go-deeper

Like any major in-season swing, there are some risks. Lindholm has been a Selke finalist and a 40-goal scorer in the recent past, but his effectiveness has trended down over the past few seasons and he’s in the middle of an off year by his usual standard.

 

If this bet is going to put Vancouver over the top in the postseason, Lindholm’s form will need to rebound.

 

For an offensive player like Lindholm, who is at his most productive away from the puck, the ability to join a Canucks team with multiple dynamic playmaking centremen seems just about perfect. If he can build up some chemistry with either Miller or Pettersson and can regain something more closely approximating the form he showed riding shotgun with Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk during the 2021-22 campaign, this could be an addition that adds a meaningful gear to Vancouver’s engine.

 

There may be bigger names that move as this trade deadline season plays out, but there was no one likely to shake loose on the trade market before March 8 who checked this many boxes for Vancouver. Lindholm is the rare addition that can offer a marginal upgrade for the Canucks in literally every phase of the game.

 

 

 

[PeteyBOI]

2 hours ago, canucks curse said:

I like what you are doing but EP 40 is getting north of 12, maybe even 13 if he stars in the playoffs.

I think you can get EL for <7 and term will be key, example, he will say yes to 6x6 if that's what you really want... too old for long term I could see 6.5x 3 or 4 yrs happening

Hroneck gets 7-7.5.

I would say good bye to Laff and resign Bluegger at 2 x 3 yrs, he would do that

The D looks all reasonable if you give them term, but I do not love Zads at 4... 3.75 x 4-5 years - I think he takes that if he likes Van because rumour was he wanted term and I do not think he has earned a raise on his current cap hit.

I agree with Joshua at 3

I think Bains or Aman could even improve to point where they play on 3rd line.

 

EP 40 - 13.00 (=1.2)

EL - 6.5 (= -.5)

FH = 7.5 (+.5)

LAFF = -1.5

BLUEGS = +2

ZADS = -.25

PDG = -0.05 (no need for another ugh at .8)

=+ 1.5 in cap from what you have - so may have to say goodbye to Cole....  if truly want to bring in Tanev, keep zad and Myers...

But that team still looks awesome

swear to god you should never do a salary structure estimate again...

 

[IBatch]

1 minute ago, RawkDrummer said:

Thanks goodness it wasn't Monahan.

Absolutely.   That's a half measure.   Wouldn't have been terrible either.   Half measure's, at this point we are way past that.   

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, RawkDrummer said:

Thanks goodness it wasn't Monahan.

Lots of clubs were bidding on Lindholm. No one will bid on Monnohands. Haberdoodles will be lucky to get a third for that piece of craperolla. 

[Grinch]

Who wore #28 last for the  Canucks ?

[LillStrimma]

2 hours ago, OldFaithfulcap said:

 

He brings faceoffs and defensive skills but we need some scoring out of line 2. We're all two way now, exactly as tocchet wants but did we lose creativity, a different skillset for big games that could bite us? We'll see...

Well, Lindholm potted over 40 goals with Tkachuk and Gaudreau.

With Petey and a suitable third part on that line it will be really good.

So

Lekkerimäki Petey Lindholm

Boeser Miller Hogz maybe…

[Jaimito]

3 minutes ago, Grinch said:

Who wore #28 last for the  Canucks ?

Luc Bourdon 

[Ghostsof1915]

4 minutes ago, Grinch said:

Who wore #28 last for the  Canucks ?

 

[Bob Long]

21 minutes ago, erkayloomeh said:

I don't hate the trade I like it. But I believe this trade is almost completely a cup move and if we don't get the cup then I will wish we didn't give up those assets. 

Who knows what lindholm will want in a contract but his ask will likely put alot of pressure on the team elsewhere in the lineup. 

Almost everyone in the media is saying the sparks got a haul. Conroy said the Canucks offer beat every other team and that fourth becomes a third if we reach conference final. 

This trade meets our needs right now, Calgary needs long term. 

 

Yup it was a solid return.

[BC_Hawk]

11 minutes ago, IBatch said:

On another thread, comparing the 2011 team to the 94 and 2024 team.    Feel that the 2024 team forward group matches up just fine with 2011 prior to this trade.    Close enough, edge either way really.    Now it's for sure superior, and can compete with that 94 team as well.    This is something, i've been saying since our hot start - that our first round pick should be on the table.   

 

What a difference a year has made.    All our better players are having career years or in their primes, our support players are finally good again too.    Allvins only work now, is to pry Marroon out of MIN.    Unless we have an injury that requires something (knocking on wood).    EDM has some dirt bags, guys that could get their elbows up, and decide to, or try and take out either QHs or EP.    Every team will play them hard.     If he can manage that, we go from contenders, to favourites.  

 

One thing that really matters as well is,  Lindholm gets lots of time to settle in.   

 

See a lot of early game leads, and coasting in the future.   That's how Tochett set things up.   Once we have a comfortable lead, he reduces minutes on our top players.     Hopefully that will carry us into the playoffs, where all out all the time is required for 20-28 games or so to win a cup. 

Lindholm simply completes our fwd group; he is not a rental IMO unless he asks for ridiculous term OR $. With the teams chemistry, quality of team, and the fact that RT is a players coach, I could see him being very happy here. 

 

As you mentioned, our one hole is that big ver winger to play on 3rd/4th line. Maroon or Perry type. A move like that is not all that tough nor expensive; this was the biggy.