Vancouver Canucks have considered trading Garland for second-line centre: report
This would really solidify the Basant Motors curse.
The Vancouver Canucks 2025-26 season hasn’t gone according to plan. One major reason for that is the fact that they haven’t had a second-line centre in the lineup since Filip Chytil suffered another concussion on Oct. 19.
Vancouver acquired Lukas Reichel last month to try and fill that hole. It hasn’t worked out.
Adam Foote also tried Max Sasson and David KƤmpf on the second line, but both are clearly suited to be fourth-line centres.
With the Canucks season slowly slipping away, it’s fair to wonder if they’ll try to address the glaring lineup hole through bolder avenues than another Reichel-like swap.
Could they even consider trading a guy like Conor Garland to help fix their centre-ice woes?
A recent report from Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston suggests it’s possible.
Johnston reported on Friday that sources alluded to him that the Canucks will already consider trading Garland if they’re able to net a younger centre in return.
If the Canucks are truly considering a trade like this, they have a finite amount of time to get it done.
Garland just signed a six-year contract extension on July 1, theoretically keeping in Vancouver for the majority of his career. His $6 million cap hit also came with a no-movement clause, which remains in force for three seasons until 2029-30.
The Massachusetts native will turn 30 in March 2026.
Until his new contract kicks in, however, Garland doesn’t have any trade protection.
It wouldn’t be easy to see a player like Garland go. Although he’s one of the smallest forwards on paper in the entire NHL, he plays with a ton of skill and heart.
That was evident by him dropping the gloves with Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Darren Raddysh last week, and he’s shown the same intensity by riling up Connor McDavid last season.
Connor McDavid snaps with a BRUTAL cross-check on Conor Garland at the end of the game š³
McDavid received a match penalty and was ejected. pic.twitter.com/Y3BwVI0N8S
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 19, 2025
Garland has been productive throughout his Canucks career. Only Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson have more even-strength points than Garland among Canucks’ players since 2023-24. He’s averaged 19 goals and 50 points per 82 games since joining the team in 2021.
Jim Rutherford did say last spring that acquiring a second-line centre via trade would be painful. Dealing Garland would constitute that.
However, Rutherford also said it would be painful not to acquire one, and the Canucks have certainly experienced that, especially with Chytil missing in action.
If the Canucks were to trade Garland, which teams would actually be willing to part with a young centre in a theoretical Garland trade?
Would the Chicago Blackhawks be interested in giving Connor Bedard another weapon in a package for a young centre like Oliver Moore?
Could the Dallas Stars want a win-now piece like Garland in exchange for 23-year-old right-shot centre, Mavrik Bourque?
The stakes are high for the Canucks to acquire a young centre, especially considering that any young pivot is an imperfect player. That’s especially true if they do decide to deal one of their best trade chips to bolster the centre-ice position.