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Trade Deadline Review: My Take on Hodgson |
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The Canucks pulled off the big one and by no means did they do it alone, they needed a partner and they found a willing one in the Buffalo Sabres and Darcy Regier. Who would have thought the Canucks would take their tenth overall pick from 2008, their highest since 2005 when they chose Luc Bourdon, and ship him out? 2005 was on odd year for the NHL entry draft, as it was a true lottery where every team had the chance to win it, equally. Excluding the 2005 draft the Canucks had not drafted as high tenth overall since they took the Sedins as number 2 and 3 in 1999.
With some draft winners already on the roster such as the Sedins, Kesler, Edler, Schneider, Bieksa, Hansen, and Raymond, it was the one draftee who got moved that the majority of fans believed would be the next true franchise player, Hodgson.
There’s no need for a history lesson on the injuries, finger pointing and subsequent reconciliations, they don’t matter any more as there is only a hockey deal to dissect now.
While Hodgson is the marquee name in the entire deal where were three other players involved as well, Zack Kassian and Marc-Andre Gragnani plus Alex Sulzer but don’t remind the Vancouver and Buffalo faithful. The respective fans are either moaning and groaning or heaping more unreasonable expectations depending on where they stand.
The deal boils down to this simple reality; the Canucks had an asset they could not fully and completely develop and profit from unless it was moved. How many centers in the NHL are going to displace Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler in the pecking order? None who are going to be traded, that’s how many.
The Canucks did what they should do, and what has often been a hard thing for the franchise to do for much of their history, making a tough but smart hockey deal. Tony Gallagher from the Province wrote about how the Neely trade is still paying dividends all these year later and he’s correct. It may not be for the right team but Hodgson is not Neely and these Canucks are not the 1986 version either.
Hodgson was a player who, like all Canucks, live and die by the rigid and obsessive adherence to statistical tactics used by the coaching and management staff. He had sheltered starts against lesser opposition. He was used sparingly during certain game situations, most notably late in tight games. It’s a far cry from the guy who led the 2009 WJHC in scoring with 5 goals and 11 assists in 16 games.
Hodgson is a playmaker with scoring touch and he wants every chance to show it and develop to what he believes he can be. It just was not going to happen in Vancouver. He could not match Henrik Sedin for creativity, vision and passing skill, nor may he ever. Hodgson was not able to compete the same way Ryan Kesler does on the boards, in front of the net and against the top forwards in the NHL shift after shift.
He’s not the swiftest skater, nor is he amazingly adept at lateral movement or power moves. He can shoot and he can score and did so in Vancouver as he had 35 points in 71 games a great start for any rookie. Some would argue that Hodgson got those points despite receiving the plum PP time or top line minutes and then say ‘what if he got more’?
He was never going to get more and this is what Vancouver fans have to accept so they can let go. Hodgson was used as best he could be for his talents, and for some it was not enough and perhaps for him it was not enough. He was also used for other situations, ones players ahead of him did in their development, and it was not working out.
Remember the gangly redheads who toiled on Vancouver’s third line, then second before becoming the first back-to-back brother Art Ross winners? What about the kid who worked his tail off in Winnipeg for the farm team before taking over the third line of the Canucks in a defensive specialist role? Kesler had 41 goals last year and won the Selke trophy, finally. He also propelled his team through the 6 games against Nashville in last year’s western semifinal.
Was Hodgson ever going to do that in the next 3 years? More importantly was he ever going to allow himself to learn the vitally important parts of the game that have made the Canucks a western powerhouse for the past few seasons?
He wasn’t. As more information trickles out, he may never have wanted to, or at least those with a personal interest in his success don’t believe he had to do the grunt learning.
So Gillis made the deal, he made it for the Canucks first and foremost but he made it for Hodgson too. Don’t let the stories and innuendo currently permeating the media and Internet affect judgment. Gillis looks damn good to the players for making this move because he didn’t let a player with Hodgson’s potential wallow. He made some of his fellow GMs angry in the process but he did more for his team, his organization and a now former player than many peers have done.
Kassian is scary to many Canucks fans because he represents something lost long ago in Bertuzzi, a big formidable forward who could take over game and still be a meathead. Hodgson never polarized the fan base, he united them and Kassian is not that type of player. He will do things in the course of play some fans won’t like, strictly on principle. He comes with the moniker Kickassian but that’s something the Canucks have not been able to do unless it’s on the score sheet.
Face it folks, this deal was done for today but the dividends are to be paid tomorrow and that’s how you must look at the asset in return for Cody Hodgson. Kassian doesn’t have to be Bertuzzi, nor does he have to be Neely he only has to want to be like them and that’s the most important part.
Kassian may have faced as much a hindrance to development in Buffalo as Hodgson did in Vancouver. Where Buffalo is a franchise trying to turn itself around on and off the ice, Vancouver has completed that cycle and now has the development tools and resources which Buffalo might not see for several years. Buffalo needed more talent and skill already developed because their needs are different. Vancouver needs the raw grit Kassian brings, yet already has all the resources to develop his skill and hockey IQ. What Kassian gains in the Canucks is the structured environment under watchful tutelage to focus on his game and skill without having the pressure to be something he is not yet ready to be.
This is the move for tomorrow that Gillis had to make today. It’s shocking, it’s risky but no moves are without risk. Trading Linden was risky. Taking the Sedins was risky. Treating Bure like a piece of meat was risky. Not trading Schneider is risky but in the end that’s what managing a hockey club is about, managing your assets against the variable risks.
There is always downside to any roster move either immediate or a possibility in the future. The one critical factor all Canucks fans should remember is that in no time in this franchise’s history has it been better at managing risk and reducing exposure to mediocrity. The smart money says the Canucks made out quite well in this deal, not only because of the player they gained, but because of where he went.
Thanks for reading
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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