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I would say keeping Schnieder gives the Canucks the best chance to win now. As an insurance policy for this year and as an imminent replacement for Luongo when he becomes moveable.
My only concern in keeping Schnieder, rather than trading him, while his value is at its highest without actually being a starter, is the message it sends to Luongo. The guy is emotionally fragile (most goalies are to varying degrees) and management seems to be trying to shield him from some of the big games this season like the Boston game. I didn't buy into the reasoning that they wanted to give Schnieder a start in front of his home crowd. That game could have been massively helpful to Luongo's self esteem or massively harmful depending on the outcome and they went with the low risk option instead which was still a bit harmful in a way.
If keeping Schnieder does harm Luongo mentally and it effects his performance when he is needed in the playoffs, you will have to rely on Schnieder. But what if Schnieder, once finally having the bigger role as the go to guy, falters instead of thrives?
If you trade Schnieder for a decent return and say to Luongo that he is the guy they are going with, it could work too. Not an easy choice but I'd still lean towards keeping Schnieder
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LEAFS!
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