Trade concluded with the Senators: From meaningless to absolute steal

The Canucks have made a few big moves that are making an impact on their playoff run, but one seemingly minor trade with the Senators is proving to be a gamechanger.

On January 2, 2019, the Canucks traded goaltender Anders Nilsson and forward Darren Archibald in return for AHLers Mike McKenna and Tom Pyatt and a 6th round pick in the 2019 draft.

Archibald was a longtime member of the Canucks organization, mostly at the AHL level, while Nilsson was in his second year with the Canucks and posting underwhelming stats.

While the two players never played a game for the Canucks, the Canucks front office surely couldn't foresee such a small trade paying off the way it has - as with the Senators 156th overall pick the Canucks would go on to select Latvian goaltender Arturs Silovs.



Jim Benning made a lot of mistakes as GM of the Canucks, but his successors will certainly thank him for making this deal in 2019.