Halak willing to waive no-move clause for Canucks deadline trade: report

Jaroslav Halak is willing to go, but does anybody want him?

That’s one of the questions Vancouver Canucks fans are pondering this morning ahead of today’s noon NHL trade deadline.

CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported on Donnie and Dhali this morning that the Canucks backup goalie will waive his no-movement clause to facilitate a deadline deal.

Has Jaroslav Halak waived his no move clause? What happened on Saturday night?

The guys talked about the #Canucks backup goaltender in our first segment. https://t.co/h4e2SL3agJ pic.twitter.com/xCO6c7IFTi

— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) March 21, 2022

The problem? There may not be any interested teams.

Dhaliwal doesn’t think there’s a great market for him and you can understand why.

Halak has a .886 save percentage in 10 starts this season, and appeared to blow up at head coach Bruce Boudreau during a nationally-televised game on Saturday night (though Boudreau later denied there was a rift).

On the flip side, Halak hasn’t been given much of an opportunity to shine in Vancouver and has been a solid veteran goalie previously in his career. His last two starts were disastrous and sunk his numbers. But prior to February, Halak had a .918 save percentage, which was actually higher than what Demko had posted.

Halak is a pending unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

The Slovak netminder comes with a $1.5 million cap hit, plus at least a $1.25 million games-played bonus, which rolls over to next season for teams that don’t have the cap space this season. The Canucks would love to move him mostly because of his bonus. Halak will earn an additional $250,000 if he finishes the season with at least a .905 save percentage.

Other players to watch

Keep an eye on Conor Garland, Tyler Motte, and Luke Schenn. They’re the three Canucks players that have been most talked about by insiders heading into deadline day.

Another player that could move? Tanner Pearson.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that he’s likely to waive his no-trade clause if the Canucks want to deal him to a contender.

Lots of curious eyes on the #Canucks forward situation as talk around Tyler Motte (UFA-to-be), Conor Garland (3 years left on deal) & Tanner Pearson (NTC, 2 years left) are ongoing. On Pearson, belief is if he's presented with a deal to a contender, he'd likely waive.

— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) March 21, 2022

Pearson has a full no-trade clause until this summer when it becomes a modified no-trade clause (seven-team no-trade list). The 29-year-old has 31 points (13-18-31) in 60 games for the Canucks this season, playing in a top-six forward role.

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