Initially, the optics of the trade from a Vancouver Canucks perspective when it dropped on social media were bad. Stomach-churningly bad.

The Canucks traded Hunter Shinkaruk, a 21-year-old former first round pick who was having an outstanding season as a sophomore for the Utica Comets and was a presumptive future top-six contributor at the NHL level – in addition to being the Canucks best forward prospect – to the Calgary Flames for forward Markus Granlund, a player with a lower perceived pedigree and offensive ceiling who has proven to be an NHL-level talent but had yet to make a big impact for the Flames.

The vitriol directed towards Vancouver GM Jim Benning came fast and furious, with fan reactions ranging from exasperation to insults and rage… some even went so far as to say they were “done” with the team. In a season in which Canucks fans have been clamoring for a rebuild, the team instead decided to part with their top forward prospect for a comparatively middling return, they claimed.

There are however two sides to every trade, and while the price paid to acquire the younger and less talented Granlund brother (Mikael is currently having a fine season for the Minnesota Wild with 31 points in 59 games) was unarguably too high (consider that Sven Baertschi was had for a second round pick), there are a number of rational explanations for why the Canucks would target a player of Markus Granlund’s ilk.

Defending the Markus Granlund Trade

The theory of the “Six-year Cycle” in the NHL states that teams need to have a new wave of players coming in every six years if they hope to sustain consistent success. The theory is sound: A team needs to have a mix of young players aged 18-20, players in their prime from 21-27, stable veterans who are able to contribute aged 28-34, and a small handful of elder statesmen aged 35+ who can provide leadership and a steady voice in the room. The right mix of players across these age groups in the correct proportions who are continually replenished often equates to long-term success on the ice; a team with too many veterans may find itself falling behind the competition physically on many nights, while a team with too much youth may have trouble with consistency.

Until recently, the Canucks unfortunately fell into both the former and the latter categories. The team remains veteran heavy, with the likes of Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows, Radim Vrbata, Dan Hamhuis and Ryan Miller all in their mid-30’s, so this move for Granlund was made largely to continue to address the “generation gap” on the Canucks roster, as the franchise has made a slew of quality draft choices over the last few seasons but had few players actually on the roster in their prime years (with perhaps Alex Edler and Jannik Hansen being the only exceptions).

Over the last two years, Vancouver has added, in order, Linden Vey, Baertschi, Emerson Etem and now Granlund in an attempt to bridge that gap. All four players are between the ages of 22-24.

For Vancouver, this is the correct course of action to take. Currently boasting a number of players in the 18-20 range (including, at the NHL level, Bo Horvat, Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen), and a number of players in the 28-35+ range, the team was relatively bereft of players in the all-important 21-27 range up front. The earlier moves for Vey and Baertschi and the trades this season for Etem and now Granlund have addressed this issue. Three to four years from now as the younger generation is approaching their primes, this quartet will be established veterans.

Further strengthening the argument in favor of these four players forming the future of the team’s core is the familiarity factor, as Baertschi and Granlund were drafted together by Calgary in 2011, while Vey and Etem played together for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers (under coach Willie Desjardins).

From a purely philosophical, team-building perspective, the move for Granlund in particular makes sense. The Canucks have slowly gone from being one of the oldest teams in the league to one of about average age, while the jettisoning of a few more veterans will soon make them one of the youngest NHL rosters.

On an individual level, Granlund has lots of offer the Canucks. He’s a smart, two-way forward who can play any position and is versatile enough to move around the lineup. While he doesn’t boast particularly strong (albeit in a small sample) play driving numbers and is also not the greatest skater in the world, he has strong instincts on both sides of the puck and, by all accounts, has a desire to work on the little things to improve himself as a player. Can the same be said for Shinkaruk?

At this point, it’s hard to say. The team certainly had reservations about Shinkaruk’s ability to be an everyday NHLer. Yes, his sniping skills are a step ahead of his peers, but it seems only logical that if “Shink” had been ready for prime time, he would have gotten more than 10 minutes of ice time with the Canucks this season.

Further damning Shinkaruk’s perceived potential is the fact the Canucks apparently consulted Utica coach Travis Green prior to the trade. Green has proven to be an excellent developer of talent who works well with young players. If Green gave his blessing, it may be safe to assume Shinkaruk wasn’t on the same development path that many had hoped. If true, it would hardly be the first time a gifted WHL/AHL scorer was unable to make the transition to the NHL. Shinkaruk may yet make an impact in the NHL, but the Canucks apparently didn’t think so.

The acquisition of Baertschi in particular seems to further the idea the Canucks had lost faith in Shinkaruk a long time ago, as the former essentially takes the same roster spot as the latter. Throw in the expected progression of Virtanen as an offensive winger and the assumed addition of Anton Rodin (the Canucks second rounder from 2009 who was leading the SHL in scoring this season before going down to injury) next year, and there was unlikely any room for Shinkaruk to make an impact on the big club’s roster for a third consecutive season.

Ultimately, the Canucks took a big risk in the Shinkaruk-Granlund swap, but it wasn’t an uncalculated one. And while it’s possible Shinkaruk could develop into a perennial 25+ goal threat at the NHL level while Granlund wallows in a middling bottom-six role, given the state of the franchise and the plan to remain competitive while rebuilding, there is a valid justification for Vancouver making this move.

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