In preparation for the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday, I thought we’d take a walk down memory lane by exploring some of the best deadline deals the Canucks have made in their 46-year history.

The list is predictably skewed towards more recent times because, well, there wasn’t much winning going on in the early days either on the ice or in trades. Pat Quinn is particularly dominant here, as big deadline deals were right in his wheelhouse.

With that said, let’s take a look at the five best trade deadline deals the Canucks have made.

5. 2011: Higgins and Lapierre

Mike Gillis’ trade deadline record was spotty at best, with guys like Sami Pahlsson, Derek Roy, and Bryan Smolinski doing little more than disappoint after joining the Canucks at the three-quarter mark.

In 2011 though, Gillis really nailed it, picking up Chris Higgins and Maxim Lapierre at the cost of a couple of third round picks and some prospects that never went anywhere.

Neither paid immediate dividends, but by the time the playoffs rolled around, their worth became readily apparent. Chris Higgins scored the first goal of the Western Conference Quarterfinal series against Chicago, as well as the first goal of the Western Conference Semifinal series against Nashville. As the Canucks rolled forward through their opposition, injuries began to mount and Chris Higgins, originally acquired to shore up the Canucks’ fourth line, eventually made his way up to the second line with Ryan Kesler. Higgins finished the 2011 playoffs ninth on the Canucks in scoring with eight points (four goals, four assists) in 25 games.

There’s always a bonus when deadline acquisitions turn into long term players. Though Higgins was recently shown the door by the new Canucks regime, he spent a little over four seasons as a valuable two-way winger for Vancouver, playing up and down the lineup. Higgins finished his Canucks career with 141 points (60 goals, 81 assists) in 306 games, before being waived and assigned to the AHL in January.

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Lapierre was picked up, like Higgins, to strengthen the Canucks fourth line, which had been a weakness for much of the season. Though he didn’t produce much during the remainder of the regular season (one goal, no assists in 19 games), he did clutch up for the playoffs. Lapierre put up five points (two goals, three assists) in 25 games, with both goals coming in the Stanley Cup Finals against Boston, including the only goal in a 1-0 Game Five victory.

Maxim Lapierre spent another couple of seasons with the Canucks, adding another 39 points (13 goals, 26 assists) in 130 games over the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, before leaving as a UFA to join St. Louis in 2013-14.

In terms of what the Canucks gave up to make these deals, they did pretty well. Joel Perrault and Evan Oberg never played a game for the respective teams that received them, while the 2013 third round pick that went to Florida eventually came back in the David Booth deal and subsequently became Cole Cassels.

The one caveat is that Anaheim used their 2012 third round selection on Frederik Andersen. Already a capable starter at 26, Andersen may end up as the best player in this trade in either direction. That doesn’t detract from the success of the trade, though, as there is certainly no guarantee that Vancouver would have used that pick on the same player.

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I give this trade two Quinns out of a possible five.

4. 1990: Lumme

At the trade deadline in 1990, Pat Quinn pulled a Jim Benning and traded a second round pick for an unestablished young player. Lucky for Quinn, the move paid off in spades, as Jyrki Lumme went on to be one of the greatest offensive defencemen to wear a Canucks jersey. Over nine seasons in Vancouver, Lumme compiled 321 points, which is tied for second most among Canucks defencemen (and he got there in roughly a hundred less games than Dennis Kearns did).

Lumme became ingrained in the Canucks culture and is an active member of their alumni association. His fondness for Vancouver was such that he recently moved back here, a decade and a half after last playing for the team.

Craig Darby went on to play nearly 200 NHL games, but only 10 of them were with the recipient of the draft choice used to select him.

For turning a second round pick into one of the greatest defencemen the Canucks have had, this deal deserves three Quinns out of a possible five.

3. 199 4: Brown, Hedican and Lafayette



This trade in retrospect is interesting for a number of reasons. For one, it’s amusing how much production the Canucks got out of three players that the Blues were willing to give up to keep Craig Janney for one more year. Janney, a nearly point-and-a-half per game player during his 186 games with the Blues altogether, was traded at the following deadline for some short term pieces.

The longest lasting piece the Canucks got out of the deal was Bret Hedican, but it was the other two that played parts in two of the most memorable moments of the of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final run: the Brown-to-Bure goal that eliminated Calgary, and LaFayette’s post in game 7 against New York while the Canucks trailed by a single goal late in the third period. Unsurprisingly, Brown is remembered much more fondly than LaFayette.

Craig Janney finished the season with the Blues, but was limited to just 8 games the following season before being dealt at the 1995 trade deadline to San Jose.

Turning Craig Janney into vital pieces for an upcoming (though unexpected) Cinderella run to the Cup Finals deserves three and a half Quinns out of five.

2. 199 1: Ronning, Courtnall and Momesso



Three years before fleecing the Blues in the Janney, Quinn pulled an even bigger one with the same trade partner. Vancouver sent a couple of decent players to St. Louis in exchange for a pile of younger assets. The results were spectacular.

All four of the roster players received in the trade played more than 200 games in a Vancouver uniform, including taking part in the 1994 playoff run. Geoff Courtnall hit the 70-point mark twice in his Canucks tenure and was nearly a point per game player in his 63 playoff appearances with Vancouver. Cliff Ronning had 85 points in 1992-93 and was also a strong playoff performer, including potting 9 points in 6 games during the 1991 playoffs the year he was acquired. Sergio Momesso was known more as a face puncher than a goal scorer, but he did still hit the 20 goal plateau in 1991-92 and racked up 163 points as a Canuck.

Dan Quinn lasted only the remainder of the season and the Blues’ two-round playoff run before moving on to the Flyers in an off-season trade. Garth Butcher stuck with the Blues for three more seasons, but could not amount to the worth gained by Vancouver in the deal.

After grabbing a series of younger players that became members of the Canucks’ core in exchange for a group whose best days were beginning to dwindle, this trade gets five Quinns out of a possible five.

1. 1996: Naslund

Number one with a bullet is not only the greatest trade the Canucks have ever made, but one of the most lopsided trades of all time.

Naslund had a modest start to his Canucks career, scoring three goals in the 10 games following the trade deadline (though they happened to be all in one game), but after things only got better. Naslund went on to become the Canucks’ captain and all-time leader in goals and points (both have since been eclipsed by the Sedins).

Markus Naslund’s #19 is currently hanging in the rafters at Rogers Arena, and a case has been made for his eventual inclusion in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The only thing his resume is missing is some playoff success.

Stojanov, meanwhile, flopped soon after. He managed to complete the remainder of the season and play a good chunk of the following season, but that was about it.

For being one of the best value trades in all NHL history, the Naslund for Stojanov deadline deal gets one hundred Quinns out of a possible five.

Previous Deadline Posts:

Vancouver Canucks Trade Deadline 2016: Taking Stock

Top Five Trade Destinations for Yannick Weber

Top Five Trade Destinations for Radim Vrbata

Top Five Trade Destinations for Jannik Hansen

Top Five Trade Destinations for Alexandre Burrows

Top Five Trade Destinations for Dan Hamhuis

Top Two Trade Destinations for Ryan Miller

Why the Vancouver Canucks Should Try and Acquire Lots of Picks

An Open Letter to Deadline Buyers: Look how Good our Rental Players Are!





