Article content continued

There are a lot of guys who do the pull.

There aren’t many who work regularly on a push shot.

BEST TRADE TALK

The Guddy situation is The One to track this season.

It’s a fascinating complex one, with all sorts of layers and ramifications and potential echo.

I know this, there are no easy answers . It’s why it’s such a rich topic for discussion.

Sat and Come on, Jawn have been on it, and took the story for a spin with Renaud Lavoie, who did seem taken aback by the notion the Canucks would even consider trading him.

“Why make a move like that?”

There are a lot of reasons. For one, and people seem to gloss over this, they already traded him and if not for Demers killing that deal, he’d be a Panther.

So start there. But there’s more.

Because he’s on an expiring contract. Because he is a 5/6 and is set up to be paid like a 2/3.

Because this rebuilding team unloaded significant building block assets to get him here, and when rubber met road didn’t believe in him enough to offer him more than a one-year deal, a contract that takes him right to UFA land.

The Canucks have no choice, it’s sign or trade him. They cannot lose him for nothing.

It’s a situation like this which can put jobs on the line. It is that big.

When Lavoie entertained the idea of a Gudbranson trade being plausible he did suggest there would be significant interest, and picked out Ottawa, where Guddy is from, and Toronto, which will likely be looking for D all season.

But then added this:

“If you’re the Canucks, why not try to sign him?”

Because price is not going to meet production. Gudbranson makes $3.5 million right now. That’s the 91st highest cap hit already among defencemen.

It’s already high and he will be getting a raise. He’s 6-foot-5, 25 years old and a third overall pick.

And he’s about to be a UFA.

That raise is going to be big.

For the most part, I’ve thought this market has been unusually quiet on this colossal issue.

Im sensing it’s starting to change.