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NHL scout calls Hodgson-Kassian deal “a terrible trade for Vancouver”

Cody Hodgson Buffalo

In his latest piece for Sportsnet Magazine (entitled “Truth Behind Hodgson Trade”), Gare Joyce examines why the Vancouver Canucks dealt away 22-year-old center Cody Hodgson at February’s trade deadline -- after he’d won the NHL’s rookie of the month for January -- in exchange for Zack Kassian, who had three goals and four assists in 27 NHL games.

The reactions to the trade were vast and varying, but here’s a rather compelling take.

NHL scout: “It’s a terrible trade for Vancouver. Hodgson had done a good job for them this year. He was starting to show he had top-six upside...that he could step up if [Henrik] Sedin or [Ryan] Kesler went down. They didn’t have a player like him who could give them some offence outside of the top six. And centre is the most valuable position — you can’t trade a centre for a depth player with size, certainly not one who’s not a finished product.”

The results thus far? Hodgson went scoreless in his first 10 games as a Sabre but has scored six points in his last four. Kassian scored two points in his first three games as a Canuck but has gone scoreless in his last nine.

As for Joyce’s examination of the trade...he unearthed some pretty interesting findings, especially regarding the meeting Hodgson had with Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault about how he was being utilized.

On Hodgson’s standing in Vancouver: There was a mutually fractious relationship between player and management. There was Rich Winter, a sometimes quarrelsome maverick agent, who is no favourite of Vancouver GM Mike Gillis. And, finally, there was Hodgson’s place among his Canucks teammates — at least a few thought he was a little too ambitious for their liking.

(Related: Cody Hodgson’s agent takes to Twitter to deny trade request, confuses issue further)

On Vancouver’s issues w/Winter: When Winter tweeted that Hodgson had met with Vigneault, it just further annoyed the team. It would have been the last thing [Hodgson’s former agent Don] Meehan and Newport would have done, but it’s completely in character for Winter. The Canucks had to assume there was more coming.

On Hodgson asking about playing time/role on team: In Vancouver, however—with a winning team that thinks it’s heading for a playoff with one more win in reserve than last year—he was still a rookie, no matter how long he had been on the scene. NHL culture has evolved, but not a rookie’s place in it. Teams aren’t looking for dialogues with rookies. They’re around on a need-to-know, speak-when-spoken-to basis, at least with coaches and management.

When Hodsgon went to the coach to talk about his role on the team, in the broader sense he was only asking for a trade.

It’s a curious piece, definitely worth the read -- especially since Hodgson’s in the middle of Buffalo’s stirring comeback effort while Kassian has struggled to find his niche in Vancouver.