Trade Reflection: The Time We Traded Away Wayne Simmonds

Ok, ok, so we didn’t trade Wayne Simmonds as we know him today. Actually, we never traded the player himself. We did, though, trade away the draft pick that was used by the Los Angeles Kings to select him in 2007, so for fun, why don’t we take a look at what could have been?

For comfort’s sake, this has happened to every single team. Trading away any draft pick comes with the understanding that one day that player could be worth far more than the pick was ever worth. The Canucks traded away their 2nd round pick in 2007 (along with their 2008 4th rounder, who turned into legendary Kings forward Justin Jokinen), and in return they received some hair (with a conditional Brent Sopel). That 2nd round pick that we gave up became Wayne Simmonds.

Let’s look at the Canucks’ return first. Sopel’s first stint in Vancouver was actually pretty decent. In the 2003-2004 season, he netted 10 goals and 42 points. As much as he’s remembered now for that flow, he actually had some skills. Even in the year he was traded back to the team, he put up 23 points 44 games for LA. Back in a Canucks uniform in 2007, he managed a whopping 5 points in 20 games, and that’s the good part. In 11 playoffs games that year, he netted zero goals. He also assisted on zero goals, and the Canucks were eliminated in the second round.

His time with the Canucks was so shitty that he went into Detroit’s training camp the next year without a contract. He didn’t make the team either, but Chicago gave him a chance. He had a solid season, too, with 20 points in 58 games, but who cares? As long as those draft picks didn’t pan out, everything is irrelevant, right?

Well, since I already spoiled it for you, everything wasn’t irrelevant, and this trade should haunt you at night. As Canucks fans, we can have some solace in the fact that Justin Jokinen didn’t live up to his name. But the thought of having Wayne Simmonds on the team in 2011 is painful.

Simmonds already had a 40 point season under his belt prior to that season, and he put up 30 the year the Canucks went to the finals. He netted 49 points in his first year in Philly, and last year he managed 60, better than any Canuck.

It’s not just about his point totals, though. I’m a huge Simmonds fan. His honest grit and toughness could have been an amazing counter to Marchand’s dirty antics in 2011, just like they are now when Philly plays Boston. His timely goals and heavy hitting could have sparked the team in that final series when we needed it. His two way game could have stopped some of those goal barrages against Chicago and Boston. Kesler’s Nashville series could have been even more legendary with Simmonds on the wing. The list goes on.

I know it’s practically useless looking at long finished trades, but this is one that doesn’t get brought up much by Canucks fans. I’m not sure what the rental market was like then, but giving up that second rounder was a whole lot for a pending UFA, even if that pick didn’t end up turning into one of the strongest and most well rounded players in the game. So next time you watch Philly play, and you watch Simmonds celebrate in orange, remember what the reacquisition of Brent Sopel’s hair cost us.

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