Mike Brown Traded for McIver

According to the Team 1040, Mike Brown has been traded to Anaheim for Nathan McIver.

Finally, Gillis' biggest mistake is no longer wasting a roster spot and somehow Gillis managed to get a useful player in return.

McIver of course was lost on waivers to Anaheim before the season. Ironically the loss of that asset prompted Gillis to keep Mike Brown on the roster because of fears he would be claimed on waivers. Because Brown was kept, the Canucks eventually lost Matt Pettinger on waivers when they tried to call him up. Pettinger is a much more reliable and useful player then Brown, yet Brown was kept around. The move was even more puzzling because at the time Rick Rypien was healthy and providing that physical element on the 4th line, so Brown was redundant.

Mike Brown was awful for most of the year. This culminated in his last game when Brown was directly responsible for a critical goal against. Brown made more than one mistake on the play and found himself on the bench for the rest of his Canuck career.

The Canucks finally have some flexibility to call a forward up from Manitoba. It should be interesting to see if Nycholat (who has failed to contribute as an "offensive defenseman") continues to tie up a roster spot on defense. With McIver back in the system, fears of losing Nycholat on waivers may be lessened.