Vancouver, (BC) - A day after making a couple of smaller trades with the Dallas Stars, Canuck General Manager Greg Byron was at it again, except this time in a much bigger way. Vancouver's starting goalie Dan Cloutier has been traded along with defenseman Bryan Allen and forwards Doug Doull and Jason King to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault (T-Bo) and defenseman Brian Pothier.
Goaltending for the Canucks has arguably been their biggest weakness thus far and Thibault may well be the piece to the puzzle. Thibault has put up some solid numbers this year with 25 wins, a 2.67 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Vancouver will be counting on Thibault to lead them to the playoffs since the Canucks did pay a big price for the netminder. Two young players with bright futures, Allen and King were both packaged in the deal and they could turn out to be the deal breaker in the long-term. Allen is a rugged defender with a nasty mean streak and at 6'4 225 lbs he is quite a handful for any forward in front of the net, he could develop into a nice shutdown defender. King is a skilled forward with a nose for scoring goals and if he develops he could really come back to haunt Vancouver.
Cloutier has not had a great season thus far and it was clear that if the Canucks were to make a serious cup run, they would need a goalie change.
"Dan is a great character guy that comes to the rink and gives it his all every night. Unfortunately things have not played out the way we hoped and the way Dan hoped this year and clearly some changes were needed. I do wish Dan the best in Chicago and I do think a change of scenery could spark him." said head coach Marc Crawford.
Time will only tell whether this trade was a good one or not for the Canucks franchise but chances are it will help them in their quest for Lord Stanley.
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