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Target Marleau/Leddy

July 16, 2012, 10:19 AM ET [217 Comments]
Ian Esplen
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Follow me on Twitter for random hockey talk, question and answer sessions, and the odd witty tweet





Step Up Calgary- #FHFF

I will be helping out with the Calgary Five Hole For Food event that is at Eau Claire Market, Tuesday, July 17, 12-6. If you're in the area, bring down a donation to the Calgary Inter Faith Food Bank, play a little hockey, and say hi. VIP game goes at noon, with several vocal celebrities and athletes playing in the game. Hope to see you all there.


With the dog days of summer on us, I thought today would be a good day to take a look at a couple of players whose names have been getting tossed around via trade over the past few weeks.


Patrick Marleau

Other than the Sedins, I'm not sure there is another player in the NHL who gets disrespected as much as Marleau. The guy is a pure professional and I'm not sure how he handles the questions about his character and leadership so well. Every year, Marleau suits up for every game and produces. Three years without missing a game and four straight seasons of 30 or more goals should tell even the dumbest hockey fan that.

Once again, Marleau is again rumoured to be on the block. Why? My guess is because he makes 6.9 million for two more years, and given the Sharks early exit, you need to at least explore the idea of moving someone out. Personally, if it was up to me, I'd move Havlat if I wanted change and cap room, but then again, the Sharks should be able to get more for Marleau.

At the end of the day, Marleau has always been one of my favourite players in the NHL outside of Vancouver. He brings size, speed, skill, reliability, and professionalism. He could be the second line centre until Kesler comes back and then move to the wing on either the 1st or 2nd line. I think he would be an excellent addition to the Canucks and I hope Mike Gillis has called to inquire about the price.

So what does Vancouver have to deal for him? Well that would be a bit of work and ideally a third team would need to come into play. A trade the centred around Luongo for Marleau and then Niemi plus for Nash, may give a lot of players a fresh start and help all three teams and players involved move forward.

Do you have any interest in Marleau?

What would you trade for him?


Nick Leddy


JJ reported that there is a possibility that Nick Leddy is on the block. He came to this conclusion by hearing it from sources, Stan Bowman's interview, The fact Leddy is represented by Suter's agent (an agent the Hawks don't like much), and the fact that the Hawks are loaded with smaller, puck moving D.

I don't doubt that Leddy is on the block. The Hawks need to get better and I would say that there are only a handful of guys on that team who are not getting shopped and Leddy is not one of them. When you add to that, the Hawks owner doesn't really like to just sit back and not do anything, It wouldn't surprise me if he wants to see a deal just for the sake of making a deal.

I don't know JJ's sources, and I have no reason to doubt him. If he says the Hawks are looking at dealing Leddy, I believe the Hawks are looking at dealing Leddy and the rational that JJ has laid out makes sense. The only parts I don't buy into is Bowman's comments. I don't see Bowman's comments as being nothing more than him telling Nick that the Hawks want more out of him. Stan learned everything he knows from Pop, and let's face it, Scottie would call out his own mother if he thought that dinner would taste better the next night.

But, if Leddy is on the block, Vancouver would be interested. He is a Gillis type of puck moving D and he would look great on the PP. He is young, skates well and has a good cap number. Vancouver would be nuts to not at least talk about the price of bringing him in. Perhaps, Vancouver would be interested in a Shaw and Leddy for Luongo type deal. The question is would Chicago be interested in that.

Do you have any interest in Leddy?

What would you trade for him?


That’s a wrap.

Ian


Five Hole For Food

Five Hole For Food is coming to a town near you this summer. For those of you that don't know, the concept was brought forward by some friends in Vancouver, who decided they would travel the country setting up street hockey games. The price to play in the game is a can of food or donation to the local food bank.


To date Five Hole for Food has raised over 70,000 pounds of food for food banks and is continuing the fight against hunger all over North America!


2012 Tour Dates

St. John’s – July 3rd
Halifax – July 5th
Charlottetown – July 6th
Saint John – July 7th
Montreal – July 9th
Ottawa – July 10th
Toronto – July 12th
Winnipeg – July 14th
Regina – July 15th
Calgary – July 17th
Edmonton – July 18th
Victoria – July 20th
Vancouver – July 21st



So get out and support this great cause this summer. For more information on Five Hole For Food CLICK HERE

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