Ehrhoff and Lukowich Traded to Vancouver

[lakingsfan19]

Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks President & General Manager Mike Gillis announced today that the Canucks have acquired defencemen Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenceman Daniel Rahimi and forward Patrick White.

“We are pleased to be adding Christian and Brad to our defensive group,” said Mike Gillis. “Defence has been an area we wanted to add skill and depth to and this trade has strengthened our group considerably. We would like to thank both Daniel and Patrick for their commitment and efforts with our organization and we wish them both well in their careers.”

Ehrhoff, 27, recorded eight goals, 34 assists (8-34-42) and 63 penalty minutes in 77 games with the Sharks last season. Ehrhoff made his NHL debut in 2003-04 and has played 341 career regular season games, all with the Sharks, recording 132 points (25-107-132) and 244 penalty minutes. In 38 NHL Playoff games he has added 15 points (2-13-15) and 40 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-2, 205 lbs. native of Moers, Germany, was drafted by San Jose in the 4th round, 106th overall in 2001.

Lukowich, 33, played 58 games with the Sharks last season recording eight points, 12 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +5. The Cranbrook, BC, native has played for five NHL teams over 11 seasons with Dallas, Tampa Bay, NY Islanders, New Jersey and San Jose. The 6-foot-1, 201 lbs. defenceman has played 640 regular season games, recording 111 points (22-89-111), 365 penalty minutes and is a career +38. He was originally drafted in the 4th round, 90th overall by the New York Islanders in 1994.

Daniel Rahimi was selected by the Canucks in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft while Patrick White was selected by Vancouver in 2007.

[Philly Reign]

Lukowich has two Stanley Cups under his belt and he's a tough player. He's a damn fine pick up. Adding experience and physical play onto a team never hurts.

[FlagsFan]

Win Canucks.

[Thrillhouse]

Originally Posted by lakingsfan19

The twitter guy that gets bashed all the time on here was reporting it before anyone else.
http://twitter.com/NHLSourcesSay/status/3607726981

It was on the 'Nucks website for 10 minutes before he had it.

[Grittzkey]

Salary Dump for San Jose?

[Isles4life]

Originally Posted by Grittzkey

Salary Dump for San Jose?

It looks that way to me. I think Ehrhoff is a solid pickup for the Canucks blueline, and adding him and Lukowich gives them some more blueline depth. But given what the Sharks got back, it definitely looks like they're just clearing some space.

[lakingsfan19]

Originally Posted by Thrillhouse

It was on the 'Nucks website for 10 minutes before he had it.

No it wasn't. I saw it on the twitter and went straight to the nucks site. It wasn't up yet.

Why edit my original post?

[chilly666]

because there was an official release and that's how it is preferred to be done.

[Corpse]

With the signing of Schnieder and this trade one must assume the Canucks have something else in the works. That's an awful lot of NHL calibre defensmen on there team now to be taking up salary. 8 or 9 NHL guys with a couple in the wings who were considered to have a real good shot this year. Some one is heading out the door in a deal soon.

[chilly666]

Originally Posted by Corpse

With the signing of Schnieder and this trade one must assume the Canucks have something else in the works. That's an awful lot of NHL calibre defensmen on there team now to be taking up salary. 8 or 9 NHL guys with a couple in the wings who were considered to have a real good shot this year. Some one is heading out the door in a deal soon.

i think they might be trying to unload bieksa and salo for some help up front cause they don't have the best depth.

[LyleOdelein]

I´ll take Bieksa in Chicago

[BROKEN*ORBITAL]

Two marginal prospects for 4-5 million cap space for the Sharks. Anyone know what their cap situation was like? Were they trying to get under? Saving some money? Or perhaps freeing up room for something else?

[chilly666]

Originally Posted by LyleOdelein

I´ll take Bieksa in Chicago

yeah but we dont have the cap room granted we could give up kane for him

[Mr. America]

Originally Posted by BROKEN*ORBITAL

Two marginal prospects for 4-5 million cap space for the Sharks. Anyone know what their cap situation was like? Were they trying to get under? Saving some money? Or perhaps freeing up room for something else?

They had 7 defensemen, 9 forwards and only 1 goalie counting against the cap, with only $899,000 worth of cap space. So this looks like a pure salary dump.

[lakingsfan19]

good points made here.

Well, I suppose we can stop complaining about Kent Huskins being the highest-paid seventh defenseman in the league. In a move that can only be described as a salary dump, the San Jose Sharks have traded defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich to the Vancouver Canucks for Patrick White, a 20-year-old center who was drafted 25th overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and Daniel Rahimi, a 22-year old defenseman selected in the third round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

White and Rahimi come to San Jose from Vancouver, where the color blue is fairly prominent. However, they're anything but blue-chip prospects. White is already venturing into bust territory, after failing to make any significant offensive impact during his first two seasons playing for the University of Minnesota. His struggles are magnified by the fact that David Perron — the player drafted 26th overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft — put up 50 points playing for the St. Louis Blues last season. Rahimi is a stay-at-home defenseman who appeared in 58 games for the AHL's Manitoba Moose last season. He's not projected to be anything more than a bottom-pairing defenseman at the NHL level.

The other day, we discussed how the worst trades are the ones when you give up talent in exchange for nothing. Clearly, by that definition, this has to be the worst trade Doug Wilson has made during his six-year tenure as Sharks' general manager. It's a trade necessitated by San Jose's salary cap constraints, which can only be pinned on Wilson's terrible cap management. He decided to bring Rob Blake back for another season at $3.5 million, handed Kent Huskins a $3.4 million two-year deal, and gave Ryane Clowe $3.6 million. Each of those moves contributed to Ehrhoff and Lukowich leaving town without any legitimate return.

The move is even more baffling when you look at the prospects and draft picks the Sharks have dealt away each trade deadline, only to have the reinforcements leave in the offseason. The Sharks were the team dealing talent away this time around, losing Ehrhoff (who put up 42 points last season) and Lukowich (who was the stay-at-home foil for Dan Boyle's free-wheeling style) in exchange for a couple youngsters who aren't expected to sniff the NHL any time soon... if at all.

This is clearly one of those Friday trades, a deal made just before the weekend when the bad news will be buried and forgotten by the time everyone returns to work on Monday morning. However, Wilson's past mistakes have really come back to bite him this offseason and they all began with his decision to go for it last summer, acquiring Boyle and Blake while throwing off his salary structure in the process. Just to recap the offseason thus far, here are the current departures and acquisitions.

Out: Ehrhoff, Lukowich, Grier, Moen, Goc, Roenick, Lemieux, Plihal, Boucher, Semenov

In: Nichol, Ortmeyer

Looking at the amount of talent that has left town, you have to wonder if the Sharks can even be considered one of the Western Conference's best teams heading into the season. As it stands today, the Sharks have two patchwork depth lines up front, five legitimate NHL defensemen, and an unproven backup goaltender. Each of these areas have been diminished in an effort to keep the core together, once again opting for talent rather than depth.

With $5 million in cap space freed up, you would expect the Sharks to make a few more moves to stabilize the roster. Of course, the Heatley and Kessel rumors will grow even louder in the coming days, but you have to wonder what's headed the other way if the Sharks do land either player. For now, Wilson's strategy of going after the Stanley Cup and sacrificing the future has blown up in his face, and the biggest blow of all has come in the form of a classic Friday trade.

***

Everybody needs a place to discuss the Sharks' latest trade, and we'll be holding a special edition of SharksBuzz at 4 p.m. PT. Tune in and get on the blower at (724) 444-7444, talkcast ID# 74909.

By Ryan Garner
San Jose Sharks Blogger