Canucks Acquire Zach Fitzgerald From St Louis

[stevecanuck16]

Vancouver, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks Senior Vice-President and General Manager Dave Nonis announced today that the Canucks have acquired defenceman Zack Fitzgerald from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for centre Francois-Pierre Guenette.

Fitzgerald, 22, split the 2006-07 season between the Peoria Riverman and Alaska Aces. The 6’2”, 220-pound defenceman registered two points (0-2-2) and 86 penalty minutes in 29 games with Peoria last season. With Alaska in 2006-07, Fitzgerald recorded one point and 48 penalty minutes in 10 games and five points (2-3-5) and 82 penalty minutes in 14 playoff games.

Prior to his professional debut, Fitzgerald spent four seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL (2001-02 to 2004-05). In 2004-05 he set career highs in assists (18), points (25) and penalty minutes (244) and led the WHL in penalty minutes (244).

In 2002-03, Fitzgerald captained the United States U-18 National team at the Eight Nations Tournament.

Fitzgerald was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the third round, 88th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

[Podollan]

some toughness for the Moose, not a real heavyweight but a light-heavy..
Nothing special anyway.

[Agitator97]

He's a tough kid but this just for the minors. He'll probably got back and forth from Manitoba and Victoria.

[bustoff]

Would've had trouble cracking the Blues line up so I hope he get's a chance with the nucks.

[Odjick29]

I read somewhere that he was feared in the WHL, can anyone shed light on this toughness ability?

[FistofFury]

why won't Van pick up a solid third liner, light heavy like Asham?! That'd make my day.

[caps05]

Originally Posted by Agitator97

He's a tough kid but this just for the minors. He'll probably got back and forth from Manitoba and Victoria.

My thoughts exactly. I posted the acquisition in both the AHL and ECHL forums, as he'll probably spend time in both.

[jkidd]

Originally Posted by FistofFury

why won't Van pick up a solid third liner, light heavy like Asham?! That'd make my day.

Legit heavy like Asham? You'd have to put legit middle weight in there for that to be true.

[caps05]

Originally Posted by jkidd

Legit heavy like Asham? You'd have to put legit middle weight in there for that to be true.

If you read it again, JKidd, he said light heavy. Not legit heavy.

[jkidd]

Originally Posted by caps05

If you read it again, JKidd, he said light heavy. Not legit heavy.

In any event... I'd still consider him a MW.

[Podollan]

Originally Posted by Odjick29

I read somewhere that he was feared in the WHL, can anyone shed light on this toughness ability?

I am not an WHL Expert but I doubt this, his card looked not strong too enough.. not enough fights against real heavys and too many looses..
I would love to have him as my #2 fighter but as a #1 Fighter he won't be my #1 Choice because I would expect him to get trouble against the real Heavys like Reed Low, Francois Lessard, Mitch Fritz.
Him and M.Brown are good toughness for Manitoba anyway as they will both fight the heavys.

[DaveBrown69]

MW's are every where in the minors!

[HordiBrusk29]

Originally Posted by Odjick29

I read somewhere that he was feared in the WHL, can anyone shed light on this toughness ability?

He was definitely one of the tougher guys in the league back in the dub. Not the toughest by any means but he certainly held his own for the most part. He was involved in some real entertaining bouts too.

[peacemaker]

I think Dave Nonis is only looking for guys that can, in his eyes, take a regular shift (or develope to that point) and fight...

I think as long as Nonis is here, we will not see a 'pure' goon type of player in a Canuck uniform. I do however think he will look to follow Burke in terms of having a number of bigger, aggressive guys (however the similarities end there, as Burke does favour having a 'goon').

With that said, I would expect Nonis to be interested in an Asham type of player. But only if you can get someone like that at under a million/per.

Minor league acquisition, that will likely never have any impact as a Canuck.

[Snipes19]

Pretty good trade for both teams.

Zack Fitzgerald is a good defensive prospect. He's pretty tough and he will drop the mitts from time-to-time (mostly against middleweights or light heavyweights), so Canuck fans will really like him. The only reason we got rid of him was that the Blues are very crowded at defense, both in the NHL and in the minors, so Fitzgerald wasn't going to get many chances here, but hopefully he does in Vancouver.

In St. Louis, we get a solid offensive prospect which is what we needed instead of a defenseman (Fitzgerald). Guenette won't put up loads of points, but he should be a solid scorer that could put up anywhere between 40-60 points a year. We'll take that.