Welcome to the Vancouver Canucks best trades series. In this series, we at The Hockey Writers look back at the Canucks’ trading history with every NHL team and pick what we believe to be the best transaction between them and the other 31 organizations. This article focuses on their trade history with the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Canucks and Golden Knights don’t have a long list of trades entwined with hockey lore NHL fans reminisce about. Instead, they have two that are relatively unremarkable – one in 2018 and the other in 2020. It’s safe to say neither of them is a blockbuster fans would get excited about, but in hindsight, only one is likely made again.
Canucks Acquire Leipsic for Holm
On Feb. 26, 2018, the Canucks sent prospect Philip Holm to the Golden Knights for depth forward Brendan Leipsic. Leipsic, an original Golden Knight, spent two seasons with the Canucks, playing 31 total games. He scored 14 points, five of which were goals, and had a plus/minus of minus-13. Holm, the player the Golden Knights got in return, never saw NHL ice time for them. Since the trade, he has bounced around the American Hockey League (AHL), Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), and other European hockey leagues.
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In retrospect, the Leipsic for Holm trade isn’t remarkable or memorable from a pure hockey-playing perspective. The two accumulated a combined 31 NHL games played for their respective teams. Although, Leipsic, a now-disgraced NHLer, will likely never see NHL ice time again. In May 2020, messages surfaced of Leipsic making misogynistic and hateful comments. The offensive comments mocked women, former teammates, and at the time, current teammates. The Washington Capitals, the team he was playing for then, placed him on waivers to terminate his contract shortly after. He has spent the last three seasons in the KHL since.
Golden Knights Send Schmidt to Vancouver
The Canucks acquired Nate Schmidt from the Golden Knights on Oct. 12, 2020, for a third-round selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. At the time, the Golden Knights needed to move out salary as they signed 2020 free agency’s big kahuna – Alex Pietrangelo. At the time, Schmidt made an average annual salary of $5.95 million and would for another five years. In a move to free up cap space, they sent Schmidt and his contract to their Pacific Division rival, hoping it wouldn’t bite them in the coming seasons. Spoiler alert, it didn’t.
Schmidt played one season for the Canucks, scoring five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 54 games. His disappointing play was a shock to fans. Schmidt had a career-worst 68 giveaways, 44 percent Corsi For, and had trouble adjusting to the Canucks system. He was heavily relied on for defence, starting a career-high 15.3 percent of his shifts in the defensive zone. Many hoped he would help replace the hole left by the departure of Chris Tanev. Instead, they received a struggling middle-pairing defenceman unable to find his groove during the shortened COVID season.
The Canucks traded Schmidt in the 2021 offseason to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a 2022 third-round pick, essentially making it as if the trade never happened. Funny enough, through a network of transactions, the 2022 pick they sent to the Golden Knights returned to the Canucks organization, eventually leading to the selection of defenceman Elias Pettersson. Despite not working out how former general manager (GM) Jim Benning envisioned, it is undisputedly their best trade with the Golden Knights.
Canucks’ Best Trade With the Golden Knights
The Canucks’ trade for Schmidt is their best with the Golden Knights. Despite not necessarily outright winning the trade, taking a gamble on a two-way top-four defenceman for a third-round pick seemed like a home run. They took advantage of the Golden Knights needing to move salary following their signing of Pietrangelo, and the low cost made it a no-brainer. They recouped their lost pick by trading him to the Jets the following offseason for a similar value, so no harm was done. The insignificance of the Leipsic trade and the eventual issues that arose from the player makes the acquisition a non-starter for best with the Golden Knights.
Trades between the Pacific Division rivals may remain rare, as NHL GMs generally avoid inner-division deals. When the Canucks and Golden Knights strike another deal, it will be interesting to see how it measures up against these two. Regardless, these two trades have no big winners or losers, a sentiment both organizations should find solace in.
Advanced stats were taken from Money Puck
