Vancouver's Markus Naslund put to rest Wednesday the ongoing rumors that he could be swapped for unsigned Philadelphia winger Simon Gagne and join long-time friend and countryman Peter Forsberg on the Flyers.
-- Vancouver Province
As rumours go, this one was both persistent and plausible. The Canucks are in the midst of blowing up the team's core (Cloutier, Bertuzzi, Ruutu, Jovanovski, Auld, Allen, etc. all gone), and dealing Naz for a younger LW with similar tools and contract made some sense. Likewise, it made some sense for Philadelphia to consider moving Gagne for Naslund if Gagne's $ demands go as high as they could.
That all said, Naslund is more than just a core player for the Canucks, he's their team captain, best player, and in ways that only Trevor Linden would understand, deeply connected to the team and its fan base. Even getting full value from Naslund in a trade for a player like Gagne, probably isn't enough to make up for what the team would be losing in his absence.
The fact he is sticking around means that Naslund will have a very serious chance of sending his jersey to join Linden's in the rafters.
As it should be.
No comments:
Post a Comment