I wrote earlier this month that the Vancouver Canucks have made some puzzling moves so far this offseason. Well, they made another one of those today, acquiring center Brandon Sutter and a third-round pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for center Nick Bonino, defenseman Adam Clendening and a second-round pick.
Sutter is a valuable two-way player, who had a career season last year posting 21 goals while playing prominently with Nick Spaling and Steve Downie. He fills the void left by the trade of Ryan Kesler a couple years ago, as a defensively responsible center who can chip in on offense. He’s a UFA at the end of this season and has a cap hit of $3.3 million dollars.
Bonino is a solid offensive center, who had a bit of a down year posting 15 goals last year after scoring 22 the year before in Anaheim. He’ll likely slot in on the third line for the Penguins. He’s got two years left on his deal with a reasonable $1.9 million cap hit. Pittsburgh also gets an NHL ready defenseman in Adam Clendening. The 22-year-old was traded to the Canucks last year from the Chicago Blackhawks for d-man Gustav Forling. While he’s not known for his defensive skills, he’s a very solid offensive player who scored at a very impressive rate (59 points in 2013-14) in the AHL. He appeared in 21 NHL contests last year between the Hawks and Canucks. He carries a cap hit of $760k. The deal means the Canucks add more to the cap with the move.
The draft pick exchange also favors the Penguins, as if the Canucks are as bad as many think they are, it could land very high second rounder. The third round pick of the Penguins may be in the opposite side of that range.
Let the summer of Benning continue.