The Vancouver Canucks unloaded an unhappy veteran centre, acquiring three assets in return as new GM Jim Benning starts off his tenure with a major trade. Numbers Game examines the Anaheim Ducks acquiring Ryan Kesler. The Ducks Get: C Ryan Kesler and a third-round pick in 2015. Kesler, 29, has been a very good two-way centre for most of the past seven seasons, scoring at least 20 goals in all six full seasons while missing 31 games during the lockout-shortened 2013 season. He scored 25 goals last season while playing a career-high 21:49 per game, and while Kesler didnt match the outstanding possession numbers he had from 2009 through 2012, he still had positive possession numbers despite facing high quality opposition and starting more of his shifts in the defensive zone, qualities that put him with a sound group of two-way forwards. Holding a no-trade clause, Kesler had control over the situation and that limited Vancouvers options. In Anaheim, Kesler slides into the second-line spot, behind Ryan Getzlaf, and Keslers presence may even free-up Getzlaf a little bit more -- as Getzlaf typically faces a high calibre of opposition with more defensive zone starts. If Kesler takes some of that responsibility, it may allow Getzlaf to get more favourable offensive matchups. While Kesler is a pretty effective shooter, 9.9% or above every year since 2006-2007, his on-ice shooting percentage (which includes the shooting of all others on the ice with him at 5on-5) was his lowest in that span last season, when he played primarily with Chris Higgins on left wing and then a rotating cast of right wingers. The positive of that is that, statistically, hes likely to have better luck next year, in terms of other players shooting percentage, so there may be room for a boost in Keslers production. The Ducks have a variety of young wingers that will be bucking for playing time and a couple of Patrick Maroon, Jakob Silfverberg, Kyle Palmieri, Matt Beleskey, Emerson Etem and Devante Smith-Pelly should have a shot to play on Keslers wings. Anticipating some boost in Keslers production operates on the assumption that he will be getting first-unit power play time because Bonino held that spot with the Ducks last season. For as much as Keslers reputation is built on being a two-way player who can check the oppositions best forwards, hes also been a productive triggerman on the Vancouver power play, ranking among the leaders in power play goals per minute of 5-on-4 play over the past five seasons. Kesler, in addition to being a valuable two-way forward, also comes at a reasonable cost for a veteran player. He has two years remaining on his contract, with a $5-million cap hit. If he plays well over the next couple seasons, there may be a decent chance to get him extended or re-signed, considering that Kesler virtually hand-picked his trade destination. The third-round pick offers about a 30% of chance of netting an NHLer, with maybe a six or seven percent chance of yielding a top-six forward, top-four defenceman or starting goaltender. The Canucks Get: C Nick Bonino, D Luca Sbisa, a first-round and third-round pick.. Bonino is a 26-year-old centre coming off a career year, in the first full season that hes played in the NHL. Boninos 22 goals and 49 points were solid showings, tied for 75th and 72nd, respectively and he scored 20 points on the power play. Bonino has not typically faced tough opposition and has always started more shifts in the offensive zone, yet his possession numbers havent been very good. He was just below break-even last season for the Ducks, but was productive, in part, because he had a high on-ice shooting percentage, which makes Bonino something of a mirror image of Kesler, more likely to see his production fall. Hes not as good, but there was no chance the Ducks were getting a better centre in exchange for a player with a no-trade clause that wanted to be moved out of town. That said, Bonino is an okay option as a second or third-line centre for the Canucks. An inexpensive option for a rebuilding team, signed for three more years at a total cost of $5.7-million, a very reasonable $1.9-million cap hit. Sbisa, 24, was well on his way to a signficant role before he was bypassed on the Ducks depth chart this season. In the previous two years, he had played all but nine games and was up to a career-high 19:50 average time on ice per game last season. The first-round pick of the Flyers in 2008 appeared to be making progress, but then he sprained his ankle in training camp, and later tore tendon in his hand. Those two injuries cost him 41 games and the Ducks had new defencemen -- Ben Lovejoy, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen -- pull ahead of Sbisa on the depth chart. So, while Sbisa hasnt really established that he can handle a big role, its not unreasonable for the Canucks to put him on their third pairing next year to see if he can get back on track. Sbisa is under contract for one more season, at a cap hit of $2.175-million, after which he will be a restricted free agent. The 24th pick in the draft has typically yielded an NHL player 70% of the time, with a top-six forward, top-four defenceman or starting goaltender 25% of the time. The third-round pick was subsequently moved to the New York Rangers, to acquire veteran winger Derek Dorsett. Dorsett is a 27-year-old who is a willing scrapper, but has also played some tough minutes in a checking role over the past three seasons, with a lot of defensive zone starts. Dorsett is in the final year of a deal that brings a cap hit of $1.633-million. He will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Will the Canucks be just as good without Ryan Kesler? Not likely. Does this move put them in a decent position going forward, in terms of having assets that they can use to re-shape the team? For sure. Big changes have begun in Vancouver and the first steps may be back before they are in position to move ahead. For the Ducks, theyve raised exectations with the addition of Kesler. They lost in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champs and, justifiably, made a move to improve their odds next season by getting a player that they tried to acquire before the trade deadline last season. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Adidas Nmd r1 Herre Tilbud . The Maple Leafs will play on the road for the first time this season after dropping home contests to Montreal and Pittsburgh to begin the campaign. After losing a one-goal decision to the Canadiens on Wednesday, they were bested 5-2 on Saturday by the Penguins. Yeezy Powerphase Fake . Yoenis Cespedes proved he can play through a hurting right heel, giving Scott Kazmir and the As a spark with a pair of RBIs that helped spoil the Minnesota Twins home opener with an 8-3 victory on Monday. http://www.dknmdskotilbud.com/ . The team let Keaton Ellerby, James Wright and Matt Halischuk become unrestricted free agents after declining to make them qualifying offers. Ellerby, 25, appeared in 51 games for the Jets last season and had two goals and four assists. Yeezy Powerphase Danmark . -- The top-seeded Alberta Pandas set up of an all-Canada West final against arch rival UBC at the CIS womens volleyball championship after a 3-0 win over the No. Adidas Nmd Dame Udsalg . Sure, Josh Browns 45-yard field goal on the third drive of overtime lifted the New York Giants to a 23-20 win over Detroit on Sunday. But the Lions (7-8) dropped themselves out of the NFC North race by losing five of their last six games, blowing fourth-quarter leads in each setback.HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets have won four games in a row. It certainly isnt a coincidence that Dwight Howard has scored at least 20 points in each game of the winning streak. Howard had 34 points and 14 rebounds to help the Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns 122-108 on Wednesday night. "Ive just been being patient and letting my teammates find me in the right spot and not rushing my shots," Howard said. The centre has been spending extra time after practice this season working on post moves with former Rockets assistant coach and general manager Carroll Dawson. "We talk about after I got my man beat, just slow down and make the shot," Howard said. "So Ive just been trying to do that." Howard also had three steals and two blocks, and James Harden added 23 points for Houston. It was the fifth game this season where Howard had at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, which is the most by a Rocket in a season since Yao Ming had six in 2007-08. Houston coach Kevin McHale is encouraged that his guards have started to get a better feel for how to get the ball inside to Howard. "I thought we missed him a couple of times, but we found him better," McHale said. "We just have to keep working on passing the ball to him, being better post feeders." The Suns cut it to four points with about 6 minutes left before Houston went on a 10-3 run to make it 113-102. The Rockets capped that run when Harden knocked down a 3-pointer, Howard blocked Goran Dragics shot, and Chandler Parsons added a layup. Phoenix missed four shots, had a turnover and a shot-clock violation in that span. Dragic had 23 points and eight assists for the Suns, who have dropped two in a row after winning five straight. They lost at home to Chicago on Tuesday night. "We didnt stop anybody," Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said. "We didnt stop anybody last night, either. Our defence has not been very good." Chandler Parsons and Terrencee Jones added 19 points each for Houston, which was playing the second of just three home games this month.dddddddddddd Houston scored six straight points early in the fourth quarter to push its lead to 101-92. The Suns responded with a 7-2 spurt, started with a 3 from Leandro Barbosa, to get to 103-99 midway through the period. The Suns trailed by 12 points late in the third quarter before going on a 10-3 run to cut the lead to 95-90 entering the fourth quarter. Dragic had six points in that run and Barbosa scored the rest. The Rockets scored the first six points of the third quarter before Gerald Green outscored Houston 6-1 over the next 2 minutes of the quarter to cut the lead to 73-69. Houston was up by seven a few minutes later when Harden got knocked to the court hard when Channing Frye backed into him. Harden remained on the court wincing in pain while the game continued and Tucker made a shot. Harden finally got up after the bucket and remained in the game. Howard scored four quick points after that as part of a 9-2 run that extended Houstons lead to 92-80 with 3 minutes left in the quarter. The Suns took their first lead of the game, 41-40, about 9 minutes before halftime after outscoring Houston 11-5 in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Marcus Morris scored the last six points of that run before Dragic hit a 3 and Ish Smith added a basket to extend the lead to 46-40. Houston got back on track after that with a 9-2 spurt that put the Rockets back on top 49-48. The Rockets led by one a few minutes later before a 6-0 run, capped by an alley-oop by Howard, pushed the lead to 61-54. Houston led 66-63 at halftime. NOTES: Houston G/F Francisco Garcia missed his ninth straight game with a sore left knee. ... It was the sixth straight game with at least 20 points for Dragic, the longest streak of his career. ... Phoenixs Markieff Morris had 11 points to extend his career-best streak of double-digit games to 12. ' ' '