There’s been a lot of Erik Gudbranson trade talk recently, which is understandable: he’s a pending free agent, the Canucks likely don’t want to re-sign him, and the team has eight healthy defencemen on their NHL roster, plus Patrick Wiercioch and Philip Holm in Utica.
Since the Canucks are well out of the playoff picture, the Canucks need to explore trading pending free agents like Gudbranson to aid in their continuing rebuild. The problem is that Gudbranson has not been particularly good in Vancouver.
So far this season, Gudbranson is dead last among Canucks defencemen in corsi, fenwick, and shots on goal percentage. Essentially, when Gudbranson is on the ice at 5-on-5, the Canucks get significantly out-shot, whether you’re looking at attempts, unblocked attempts, or shots on goal.
The only stat in which Gudbranson is not last among Canucks defencemen is goal percentage: the Canucks have been outscored with Gudbranson on the ice at 5-on-5, but not as badly as Michael Del Zotto, Derrick Pouliot, and Alex Biega. That’s mainly because of an unsustainably high .946 on-ice save percentage.
All that is to say, there might not be many takers on Gudbranson. But the truth is, there are teams around the league that are employing defencemen much worse than Gudbranson. He may not be a top-four defenceman like his status as a third-overall pick would suggest, but he can still be effective in a bottom-pairing role on a playoff contender.
In addition, you could make the argument that Gudbranson would bounce back in a different environment and with a different style of play. Perhaps he just hasn't been the right fit in Vancouver, but might do well elsewhere.
Here are four teams that would benefit from a Gudbranson trade:
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs keep turning to Roman Polak to provide some physicality to their defence. Polak is not very good.
Unfortunately for Leafs fans, the team’s coaching staff seems to really want a big, tough, penalty-killing defenceman. Since Polak plays on the right side, Gudbranson would fill that need, while providing a decent upgrade on the Leafs’ bottom pairing.
New Jersey Devils
Andy Greene just isn’t the player he used to be and Ben Lovejoy is being carried by Will Butcher. Youngsters Steven Santini and Mirco Mueller are their 7th and 8th defencemen and both have struggled.
With the Devils second in the Metropolitan division and looking to make some noise in the playoffs, a big, physical defensive defenceman like Gudbranson might be just what they need.
Anaheim Ducks
I love Kevin Bieksa, but it’s fair to say that his best days are far behind him. His 42.72% corsi isn’t pretty and it’s even worse when he’s not paired with Cam Fowler. You can make a pretty good argument that Gudbranson would be an upgrade on Fowler’s right side.
Are the Canucks likely to trade within the Pacific Division? Well, that's a separate question.
Vancouver Canucks
Yes, the Canucks would definitely benefit. At this point it’s addition by subtraction: Gudbranson is keeping other, better defencemen out of the lineup in Vancouver. Moving Gudbranson would also add an asset or two to hopefully make the team better in the future.
