Fan In Van

No Love For St. Louis?

No, not the Blues. I’m talking about the diminutive, speedy winger known as Martin St. Louis.

You know, all this trade rumour talk about acquiring a Mats Sundin or signing a gimped Peter Forsberg, and nobody in this town seems to mention Martin St. Louis in the same breath.

First off, Martin St. Louis does have a no-trade clause, as does Lightning centre Brad Richards. While Vincent Lecavalier’s contract does not include a no-trade clause, his 6.87M salary is generous considering many experts believe Lecavalier is in the same echelon as Sidney Crosby. In addition, if the Tampa Bay Lightning plan to sell the team, having Vinny Lec on your roster makes your team a hell of a lot more marketable than if you had both Richards and St. Louis, players who have no-trade clauses and are on the books for the next three years.

Now why would Martin St. Louis even agree to waive his no-trade clause to go anywhere in the first place? Well, consider the fact that the Lightning are holding down the cellar in the Eastern Conference and seemed destined to miss the playoffs for the first time in six years and you have to think perhaps St. Louis would be willing to go to a team that has a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup. St. Louis, who has faced Roberto Luongo numerous times during his Florida days, knows how vital a goaltender is to winning a Stanley Cup (Just ask his old buddy Nikolai Khabibulin) and knows there is a strong chance the Canucks could make noise.

And why would the Tampa Bay Lightning even decide to part ways with St Louis? The 5′9” warrior has a Hart Trophy, an Art Ross Trophy, a Lester B. Pearson Award, First and Second All-Star team nominations and more importantly, a Stanley Cup ring. However, it’s clearly become evident since the Lightning first claimed the Cup back in 2004 that having $20M tied up in three forwards is not part of the recipe of winning a second Stanley Cup. Now, GM Jay Feaster needs to explore the options of either rebuilding his franchise with prospects and picks or a minor tooling and acquire a capable goaltender. Something tells me that if the Lightning are going to sell this franchise they need to take on as little salary as possible, meaning that a minor rebuild may be in the future.

How do the Canucks fit into the equation, you ask? Well you see, Dave Nonis and Jay Feaster may not realize it, but they may have the perfect trading partner in each other. Where Feaster is looking to unload salary and stockpile prospects in the goaltending and defenseman department, Dave Nonis is looking to take on a finishing forward and just so happens to have prospects to spare. Let’s be honest: Cory Schneider will never play in a Canuck uniform. He oozes potential and talent, but when you have Bobby Lu in your net you just don’t have the roster space or time to usher Schneider in the NHL. Installing Schneider in a lesser hockey market like Tampa may be what the young American needs: Zero media pressure, zero expectations. In addition, the emergence of Alex Edler seems to have forced prominent prospect Luc Bourdon down the depth chart, leaving Bourdon expendable. Tampa Bay has neither a good goaltending prospect (Karri Ramo is NOT a good goaltending prospect) or a capable defenceman NOT named Boyle or Ranger.

While the idea of adding Mats Sundin or Peter Forsberg is all well and good, to trade for Mats Sundin will cost you an arm, leg and your soul. To sign Peter Forsberg is like risking your arm, leg and your soul. Acquiring Martin St. Louis for, say, Cory Schneider, Luc Bourdon and a 3rd round pick would be both a short-term gain and a long-term investment. And at a generous $5.25M salary until 2011, St. Louis seems like a worthy candidate to wear the Canuck jersey.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? Having Martin St. Louis in the Vancouver Canuck lineup would be the end to all the band-aids the Canucks have tried in the last few years. I’m sure there are many Canuck fans who grow weary of the Anson Carter and Jan Bulis experiment, the Brad Isbister and Jeff Cowan reclamation projects and the Jason Jaffray and Kris Beech attempts. None have been able to produce goals on a consistent basis and none have been able to stick around very long. It’s time to get rid of the band-aids and get some real muscle up front.

And who better than a right-winger who looks poised for a fifth-straight 30+ goal season?