Canucks

Top 10 Worst Vancouver Canucks Trades Ever

Following up on our Best 21 Trades in Vancouver Canucks History we now get to the worst.

This article ranks trades by net Point Shares lost. For a full explanation of the methodology see our Best 25 Trades in Toronto Maple Leafs History list.

Does Cam Neely Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Meowwcat, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cam Neely is one of only 8 players to unofficially score “50 Goals in 50 Games”. (He did it in the Bruins’ 66th game of the season, so it doesn’t count in the NHL’s eyes.) And, when healthy, he was one of the most dominant goal-scorers of his era. On the Bruins…

But his career numbers are not as good as you think they are and, beyond some 2nd All Star Teams, he didn’t really get much acknowledgement as an elite player during his career.

So, does Cam Neely belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Listen to us discuss his case here:

The Top 21 Trades in Vancouver Canucks History

When Riley first proposed the idea of a Best and Worst Trades in Canucks history to his co-host Bill thought one list would be clearly longer than the latter.

But, unlike our list of Leafs trades, the Canucks actually do better by our metric. (See the bottom of this page for the methodology.) The Canucks are a net plus in Point Shares for all trades in franchise history through the 2020 pandemic, and not just by a little bit: they are plus 717.5 total Point Shares across just over 300 transactions. That’s a pretty good +2 ish Point Shares per trade.

Here are the best of those trades. See our list of the Top 25 Best Trades in Toronto Maple Leafs History for a little bit more of an explanation as to the ranking. And don’t forget to check out our list of the Worst Canucks Trades of All Time.

Stats are as of the pandemic closure.

Is Mark Messier the Greatest Leader in Hockey History?

The narrative is that Mark Messier is the Greatest Leader/Captain in NHL history, probably hockey history and (depending upon who you talk to) maybe even in pro sports history.

So the question isn’t whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame, but how good he was. And do his “intangibles” make up for never being a top offensive player ever during the course of his career?

Listen to us talk bout Mark Messier:

Does Igor Larionov Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

One of the Russian Five, Larionov has had team success wherever he’s gone. But his individual success only ever occurred outside of the NHL. Does he belong?

Listen here:

Does Mathieu Schneider Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

In journeyman career that saw him play for way too many teams, Mathieu Schneider amassed enough points to make him one of the top 25 offensive defensmen in NHL history (if you go by totals, not per game). That surprised us.

by James Teterenko / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

But Schneider has few individual accolades and not a lot of team success.

So does he belong in the Hall of Fame?

We discuss it on our latest episode. Listen here:

Does Pavel Bure Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Pavel Bure was a dominant goal-scorer in both the NHL’s highest scoring era and one of its lower scoring.

In this episode we talk about Bure, his stats, and why he wasn’t inducted immediately despite being one of the most dominant scorers in the history of the sport.

Listen here:

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Here are Bure’s stats:

Does Alexander Mogilny Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Alex Mogilny had one of the best goal-scoring seasons in the history of the NHL and one other pretty dominant season. But the knock on him was his consistency, as he had very mediocre years in between his good years.

Mogilny is also notable for being one of the last USSR players to defect to the States, and having never played internationally for Russia once he did so.

In this episode, we discuss his convoluted case for induction:

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Here are his stats:

Does Mats Sundin belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Mats Sundin was inducted into the Hall of Fame very quickly. But there’s controversy over his induction because, unlike many Hall of Famers, Sundin’s case is one built on a consistency argument, not a “peak” or greatness argument.

We talk about Sundin’s case here:

Do the Sedin Twins Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

We decided to treat the Sedin twins as one player, because they are a unique phenomenon in the history of hockey.

Did they do enough in their careers to merit induction as great players, rather than just as a novelty?

Listen here: