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Originally Posted by mile
Okay, perhaps not better - but I don't think the difference between the two is that great and its not that much of a downgrade for Vancouver.
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Hahaha it's obviously a downgrade.
That said, Nick Bonino is on a 1.9M cap hit until 2018 and Sbisa has a season left at 2.1. So they still get a top 6 player back, get a serviceable NHL defender in Sbisa who could be a #4 guy (hard to tell, recent injury issues), and in doing so, shave $1M off their cap. Plus a late first.
So I will say this. It is not a bad return for Vancouver. It is not a slam dunk, either. And Anaheim wins the trade at the outset on basic assumption because they got the best player - although that was never in doubt here.
What it really does is indicate where the new Canucks brass wants to take this. They are not re-building. If they did, the deal would look more like the rumoured "10th overall + 24th overall + Etem" return. They have aimed at getting younger, but not THAT much younger. Sbisa is 24, Bonino's 26. Last year they acquired Matthias, who's 27. They apparently think they can still be competitive. That seems an error to me, but time will tell.
Interesting to see if they're done because I wouldn't be surprised if there's more coming.