The trade deadline is here and gone, and the biggest surprise was the non-movement that came out of Vancouver, as the Canucks were tipped to be the big movers of the day. Vancouver needed to make some moves to catch up to San Jose and Chicago in the Western Conference, but they only made some minor trades.

Their most important move came with the acquisition of Andrew Alberts, picked up from Philadelphia for a third-round pick from Carolina. Alberts is a stay-at-home rearguard who aims to replace Willie Mitchell, who is out indefinitely with a concussion. Kevin Bieksa is also out with an ankle injury, and even though the team says he should be able to get on the ice in the next week, he’s been out of the lineup since late December, and he’s been injury prone through his time in Vancouver anyway. The defense needs to be shored up in front of Roberto Luongo, who is probably brimming with confidence after his gold-medal performance with Canada in the Winter Olympics, but he can’t do it against himself against the likes of San Jose and Chicago, two teams who are loaded at the forward position, and we don’t have to tell Vancouver fans what the Blackhawks are like after they were romped in the playoffs by a young Chicago team last year. It would also have been nice to get Ray Whitney, as he would do wonders for their second line. We’ll see if this team can get Vancouver to the promised land, but I wouldn’t bet on it.