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Analyzing Canucks GM Allvin's work leading up to past trade deadlines

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Feb 27 2026, 2:30 pm
Analyzing Canucks GM Allvin's work leading up to past trade deadlines
@Canucks/X

Patrik Allvin is about to enter his fifth trade deadline as general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

But this one is different from all the rest.

Allvin and the Canucks have no choice; the team is a full-blown seller for the first time in his tenure.

Perhaps that will change his fortunes, because looking at his past work during trade deadline season paints a troubling pattern.

Here’s a look at how Allvin and his management team have performed during trade deadline season. This includes his work from late January onwards, considering that so many monumental moves for this regime have occurred around then.

Allvin’s first deadline (2022)

  • Canucks trade Travis Hamonic to Ottawa Senators for a 2022 third-round pick
  • Canucks acquire Travis Dermott from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2022 third-round pick
  • Canucks trade Tyler Motte to New York Rangers for a 2023 fourth-round pick

This was Allvin’s quietest deadline, as he was barely two months removed from becoming Canucks GM.

However, it was arguably his best.

This deadline featured shipping out two pending unrestricted free agents for draft picks. Taking a flier on Travis Dermott was also a worthwhile bet, although injuries derailed his career.

This deadline season was a stark reminder of the importance of acquiring picks. The draft pick from the Hamonic trade was the 80th overall selection, which turned into defenceman Elias Pettersson.

Canucks flip Horvat for Hronek (2023)

  • Canucks trade Bo Horvat to New York Islanders for a 2023 first-round pick, Anthony Beauvillier, and Aatu RĂ€ty
  • Canucks acquire Vitaly Kravtsov from New York Rangers for Will Lockwood and a 2026 seventh-round pick
  • Canucks trade Riley Stillman to Buffalo Sabres for Josh Bloom
  • Canucks trade Luke Schenn to Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2023 third-round pick
  • Canucks acquire Filip Hronek and a 2023 fourth-round pick from the Detroit Red Wings for 2023 first and second-round picks
  • Canucks trade Curtis Lazar to New Jersey Devils for a 2023 fourth-round pick

Starting in late January with the Bo Horvat trade, this was by far Allvin’s busiest deadline period.

In hindsight, the Horvat trade was a franchise-altering error. They chose J.T. Miller instead, which inevitably blew up in the franchise’s face.

The value they extracted from the Horvat trade, however, was reasonable. Of course, they quickly changed the narrative by using the first-round pick in that trade to acquire Filip Hronek.

While the decision to get him when they were bad was questionable, Hronek has been a bona fide top-pair defenceman.

Allvin also got intriguing prospects with some of the picks he acquired, including defenceman Sawyer Mynio, who was drafted with the third rounder from the Schenn trade.

All-in for Lindholm (2024)

  • Canucks acquire Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames for Andrei Kuzmenko, 2024 first and fourth-round picks, Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo

Aside from a few early-season trades, including the acquisition of defenceman Nikita Zadorov, this was the only deadline-season move that Allvin made as the Canucks catapulted up the standings in 2024.

Of course, in hindsight, the trade is a loss. Lindholm was good in the playoffs, but the Canucks weren’t able to re-sign him. Now with the Boston Bruins, Lindholm has more points this season than anyone on the Canucks’ roster.

The Flames flipped Kuzmenko in a trade for two other young NHL players. Defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz, whom the Canucks drafted in the third-round back in 2023, has developed nicely with the Flames and has played NHL games this season.

However, the best asset Vancouver gave up in the trade was their first-round pick, which turned into 19-year-old Russian winger Matvei Gridin. He’s been nearly a point-per-game player in the AHL while posting three goals and six points in 13 NHL games with the Flames.

Miller-Pettersson drama fever pitch (2025)

  • Canucks trade J.T. Miller, Erik BrĂ€nnström, and Jackson Dorrington to New York Rangers for a 2025 first-round pick, Filip Chyti,l and Victor Mancini
  • Canucks acquire Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2025 first-round pick, Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais, and Melvin Fernström.
  • Canucks trade Carson Soucy to New York Rangers for a 2025 third-round pick

Where to start.

The major moves, of course, were made on Jan. 30, 2025, when the Canucks traded away Miller and then flipped the first-rounder they acquired for Marcus Pettersson.

Based on where the Canucks were in the standings, the Pettersson move reeked of desperation. Not only that, but the Penguins traded that first-round pick at the draft, turning it into two first-rounders.

Then at the deadline itself, Allvin stood pat, choosing to hold onto pending UFAs Brock Boeser and Pius Suter.

Suter walked as a free agent, signing with the St. Louis Blues. The Canucks surprisingly re-signed Boeser, but now his contract looks like an anchor.

It’s been a steady downfall for Allvin during trade deadline season, and it makes you wonder.

If this deadline is any worse, how many more deadlines might he be in charge of for the Canucks?

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