Canucks at the deadline
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Many fans of the Vancouver Canucks were very vocal about their desire for GM Dave Nonis to make a move at the deadline to add some secondary scoring for the team. A trade was made, but it wasn’t what the fans may have hoped.
The Canucks management made a trade on the day of the trade deadline, and that was a player for player swap with the Washington Capitals. Canucks sent Matt Cooke, a long time ‘Nuck and favourite of many fans, to Washington for Matt Pettinger. It is hard to say which team will benefit the from this trade, but on stats alone I would have to say the Capitals.
Matt Cooke has played 61 games this season for the Canucks, scoring 7 goals with 9 assists for a total of 16 points. Matt Pettinger has only 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points in 56 games.
Regardless of the stats for this season, I believe Pettinger has more offensive ability/potential then the Cooker, and may be the reason Dave Nonis decided to trade for him. With Kesler, Burrows and some other grinders from the farm team, the Canucks have lots of depth in the grinder/agitator department. Vancouvers GM may be looking for another player, whos potential hasnt been reached with his current team, that will thrive with more icetime and better line placement in Vancouver. Others that come to mind that worked out like that is Naslund, that came from the Penguins where her was wasting away with 3rd and 4th line icetime, and more recently Taylor Pyatt, who has had carreer years since coming to Vancouver.
I guess time will only tell what team benefits the most from this trade, but I do think Washington will see the benefits of the trade a lot sooner then the Canucks.