Canucks looking to trade for a top-six forward: report
Given the season the Vancouver Canucks are having, this shouldn’t be a surprise.
The Canucks will be buyers prior to the March 8 trade deadline, as the top team in the Pacific Division looks to bolster its chances at winning a franchise-first Stanley Cup.
With speculation in the marketplace already beginning to run rampant in January, Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford confirmed as much in a conversation with NHL insider Pierre LeBrun.
LeBrun is reporting that the Canucks are in the market for a top-six forward, though a move may not necessarily be imminent.
“One of the things that he said was currently, what the Canucks are looking at, is the idea of potentially adding a top-six forward before March 8,” LeBrun said on Thursday’s edition of Insider Trading on TSN.
GM Patrik Allvin has proven that he isn’t shy about making deals, trading for Casey DeSmith, Sam Lafferty, Mark Friedman, and Nikita Zadorov since September.
“They are not done… they’d like to add a guy,” LeBrun added.
Andrei Kuzmenko’s struggles likely have increased the urgency to find another forward to play with Elias Pettersson. They could also add a second-line centre, which would give them the ability to keep the Lotto Line together long-term.
Just who the Canucks have their eye on remains to be seen, though names like Jake Guentzel, Elias Lindholm, and Sean Monahan have generated some buzz of late. There’s also Chris Tanev, albeit a defenceman, not a forward, who the Canucks are said to be interested in.
“Everybody’s talking about a top-six winger… I’m still hearing Chris Tanev’s name attached to the Vancouver Canucks,” CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal said on this morning’s edition of Donnie and Dhali.
Is a reunion with Chris Tanev still possible for the #Canucks?@DhaliwalSports talked about that earlier.https://t.co/h4e2SKM7eJ pic.twitter.com/sFuXTCCbBq
— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) January 11, 2024