NHL Trades: Canucks Pick up Matt Pettinger...But Lose Ground in West

The NHL trade deadline fervidly approached and concluded as all Vancouver watched—not unlike an anxious, skittish parent.  While the competition bolstered their chances, the Canucks were left wanting.

The only trade the Canucks could muster, or stomach, was that of 10-year veteran Matt Cooke.  He was exchanged for a younger, Cooke-like clone: Matt Pettinger of the Washington Capitals.

While Pettinger is a little younger, a little bigger, a little more BC (he hails from Victoria), and isn’t afraid to fight, he has scored only two goals all season.  Surprisingly, this dearth has persisted despite his playing with the likes of Ovechkin (who leads the NHL in goals), Semin, and rising blue line superstar Matt Green (who leads the NHL in goals by a defenseman).

Oli Jokkinen is not coming to save the day.  Michael Ryder is staying put in Montreal.  Brad Richards is heading to Dallas, and Vinnie Prospal is now back in Philadelphia.  None of the available scorers are coming to play and the squad will have to do without, or go home early. 

Dallas, Detroit, Colorado, San Jose, and Anaheim all made aggressive moves and now look to have gained on Vancouver—at least on paper.

By all accounts, Canucks GM Dave Nonis did try to make a splash with offers for Richards and Jokkinen and perhaps others.  However, he won’t confirm or comment on particular players “currently under contract.” 

Nonis’ frustration with the lack of movement and high prices was visible—whether real or for show—and revealed a glimmer of his own wanting. 

“We put packages out there that in our mind were superior to some of the packages that were accepted," said Nonis at the post-deadline press conference.  "I wasn't about to take significant young roster players off of our team at this point in order to land a player.  I think that would've set us back." 

In other words, Tampa and Florida in particular wanted Ryan Kessler, Alex Edler, Luc Bourdon, and Corey Schneider, but protective papa Nonis wouldn’t part with his prized kids.

"We could've added four or five guys in the last hour easily that became available and that weren't going to be expensive, but you look at your line-up and say they're not better than what you have. 

"So you're trying to force people into your line-up where there's some guys [on our team] that work pretty hard in that room and deserve to carry the ball the rest of the way.  When you start adding players that aren't necessarily going to be an upgrade, I think you've done your team a great disservice."

Further frustration was evident when a disgruntled Nonis admitted on a local sports talk radio show, the Team 1040, that he was “not happy” about the inability to adopt a sniper.  

Nonetheless, the GM is quite proud of the new Matt of the household: "(Pettinger) put up some numbers over the last couple of years and he scored 16 goals last year in an injury-riddled season," said Nonis.

In fact, this Matt scored 20 goals two years ago—a number the old Matt could never muster.  Cooke’s best season yielded 15 goals in 2003.

"We expect him to come in here and contribute immediately.  Another positive for us is that if we were going to move Matt Cooke, I wanted to find a player we would get for more than the next month or two.

"I was trying to find somebody that we thought could help us for the rest of the year, but also would be around next year." 

Nonetheless, the Canucks have lost ground to the competition and will need top-of-the-class performances from Luongo, the blue line, and the Sedins if these aspiring contenders want to extend their school year into May and June.

The kids will also have to remain healthy.  With Brendan Morrison and Aaron Miller set to rejoin the team within two weeks, the Canucks could play spoiler and prove to make believers out of their parents and fans.