November 9th. 2024
JC Clemas
The Canucks really love making the most random trades out of nowhere.
On Friday night, they sent forward Daniel Sprong to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for *checks notes* oh yeah, nothing (in official terms, future considerations). At first glance, this is quite a perplexing trade. We’re not even a month into the season, and it appears to be pretty early to have traded a player before they could really settle into the system in Vancouver. Sprong is a talented offensive player, posting 40 points in each of his past two seasons. Though he only has 1 goal and 2 assists in 9 games this season, trading him for nothing is a little bit of a disappointment for a signing that looked like a steal.
Thinking more about the trade, there are parts of it that make sense. Daniel Sprong is unable to play competent hockey in his own zone. That’s like the one attribute a player needs to have for Rick Tocchet to like them, and he just does not possess it. In the Canucks’ home game against Philadelphia (game 2 of the season), he lost his man in the defensive zone, and that man ended up scoring the game-tying goal in the 3rd period. The Canucks went on to lose in the shootout. Little plays like that are losing hockey, and following the miscue, Sprong was subsequently benched for the remainder of the game. He was then healthy scratched for Vancouver’s next two contests. It was pretty apparent at this point that Sprong and Tocchet would not be able to work with each other long-term. It’s interesting that they weren’t able to get anything in exchange for him, though. You’d think we’d at least have a draft pick coming our way. Maybe they were just desperate to get that cap hit off the books (even with how minimal it was).
This move also leads to some speculation on whether more things are brewing for the Canucks’ organization. We know Joshua is returning to the lineup soon, and I don’t think this trade had much to do with that (Åman getting sent down was more of a signifier for that). This leads to four options: the Canucks plan to call someone up from Abbotsford, the Canucks plan to make a trade for someone they like more, Canucks management actually hated Daniel Sprong, or Daniel Sprong hated the Canucks. I think the first option is the most likely (though it could be a combination of a couple of those factors). 2022 1st round selection Jonathan Lekkerimäki is tearing up the AHL right now, with 5 goals and 2 assists in 7 games. 4 of his goals have come on the power play, which is an enticing statistic for a Vancouver team that has been underperforming while up a man so far. While his defensive game may be slightly questionable as well, he certainly isn’t as bad as Sprong in his own end, and he’s young enough that there’s still a lot of time to teach him.
Overall, I don’t really care about the trade as long as it was a setup move for something to come. I would rather see Lekkerimäki in Vancouver than Sprong, and he has certainly earned a call-up at this point. I would have liked to give Sprong more than 9 games to test the waters in Vancouver, though. I thought he was playing a lot better in the recent games, especially the game against Anaheim where he had 5 shots and was noticeable whenever he was on the ice. At the end of the day, this is not going to be a trade that kills the Canucks’ Stanley Cup hopes, so it is what it is. I hope Sprong can find success in Seattle, and I hope we see a new Swede make his NHL debut soon.