The Morning Take: Buyer's Remorse and Why the Canucks Might Be Better Off With Guentzel than Lindholm

Five weeks later, are the Vancouver Canucks regretting the Elias Lindholm trade?

Is that why the team is, according to a report, pursuing the possibility of "flipping" Lindholm to the Boston Bruins as a way to clear cap space and acquire Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel?

It sounds like one heck of a do-over. The kind of buyer's remorse that comes after you impulse buy an item at midnight on Amazon, only to post it to Facebook Marketplace the very next day. Which is strange, because when the Canucks acquired Lindholm on All-Star weekend, the feeling was that he was everything the team needed to become a legit Stanley Cup contender.

Lindholm provided the Canucks depth down the middle. As a two-way centre who has scored 40 goals and been a finalist for the Selke Trophy, he was supposed to take pressure — both offensively and defensively — off Elias Pettersson. He made Vancouver better. A lot better.

Five weeks later, it hasn't exactly worked out that way.

Lindholm, who has been centering the third line with Vasily Podkolzin and Conor Garland, has four goals and six points in 15 games, with a minus-4 rating. During that stretch, Vancouver is 7-6-2.

It's not exactly a fail. But for a team that has Pettersson and J.T. Miller playing above Lindholm at center, it's becoming quickly apparent that Lindholm isn't exactly what the Canucks need. Then again, maybe trading for Lindholm was insurance in case the Canucks couldn't re-sign Pettersson. Now that Pettersson has been extended long-term, that is no longer a concern.

Which brings us to Guentzel, whose position as a winger and trade availability could lead to a reunion with former Penguins GM Jim Rutherford.

Guentzel would be an upgrade over what the Canucks have on the left side of the ice, where Nils Hoglander and Ilya Mikheyev are playing on the top-two lines. Guentzel has 22 goals and 52 points in 50 games. That's more than Hoglander (19 goals and 28 points) and Mikheyev (10 goals and 26 points), despite missing 10 games due to an injury that currently keeps him out of the lineup.

Guentzel is also a Stanley Cup champion, who has scored 34 goals and 58 points in 58 playoff games. That's the kind of game-breaker the Canucks need. Well, it's the kind of player every playoff-bound team needs, which is why he is in such high demand.

Now, the tricky part: trading for Guentzel means that the Canucks would have to flip Lindholm to another team. According to reports, the Bruins might be that team.

Boston, after all, needs a top-line centre, where Charlie Coyle has been playing above his head. The only question is can the Canucks, who lost to the Bruins in the 2007 final, actually do a deal with the Bruins

Would the fans accept it? And would the players accept losing Lindholm, who has already made a fast-friend in Pettersson?

If so, then maybe you will also be able to flip that Lindholm jersey you bought a month ago.

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