Believing the Vancouver Canucks needed a strong stay-at-home defenceman, general manager Jim Benning shipped former first round pick Jared McCann and a pair of draft selections to the Florida Panthers for Erik Gudbranson and a fifth rounder.
But Gudbranson’s first season with the Canucks left much to be desired. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound blueliner posted a woeful minus-14 rating (say the plus/minus stat is overrated all you want, but minus-14 isn’t good at all).
Gudbranson struggled in his own end of the ice and was limited to 20 games in 2016-17, as wrist surgery sidelined him for most of the season.