The longer Ryan Smyth remains a Colorado Avalanche before Wednesday's NHL trade deadline, the more plausible a case you can make for a trade to Vancouver. (Smyth has a no-trade clause, but hands up if you think “Captain Canada” would reject a back north).
Facing empty seats and a recession, Avalanche GM Francois Giguere needs to slash payroll, and Smyth is a huge ticket over the next three years: $16.5-million (all currency U.S.) with an annual cap hit of $6.25-million (read more on the Denver Post's excellent Avs blog.
If Giguere requires pure return value for Smyth the Player, than there is no fit with the Canucks. But if Giguere just has to rid himself of Smyth the Contract, than Vancouver becomes a believable destination. (Smyth was traded from Edmonton exactly two years ago Wednesday. Since that deadline deal, the grass has not been greener.)
Canucks general manager Mike Gillis has used two words when talking about the type of players he wants: passion and competitiveness. Smyth, a former Oiler who cried upon leaving Edmonton, has both in spades.
The Canucks have the requisite cap space to add Smyth, and would still have more than $1-million in room. Vancouver could also stomach his cap hit for the next three years if management viewed the 33-year-old as a long-term building block.
In the short term, Smyth would allow the Canucks to either return Ryan Kesler or Alex Burrows to a third-line checking role, or fill it himself. In the top six forwards, Smyth would either play alongside the Sedin twins or Mats Sundin and Pavol Demitra.
Giguere probably has to save more face with Smyth than what Gillis is willing to offer, but for NHL sellers, time is becoming a pressure point right now. The more the landscape stays silent, the greater the likelihood that big salaries get moved for marginal returns.
