Canucks could "put a ton of players out there" for trade: report
It’s no secret the Vancouver Canucks are expected to shop pending unrestricted free agent captain Bo Horvat in advance of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline.
But it might not stop there, according to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.
The Canucks, who re-signed pending unrestricted free agent forward Andrei Kuzmenko to a two-year extension on Thursday and have reportedly broken off talks with Horvat’s camp, could make sweeping wholesale changes to its core both before the March 3 deadline and into the summer.
“If there was any question about whether or not they’d be able to sign him, we have the answer. They signed [J.T.] Miller, they signed Kuzmenko. They’re not going to be able to do Horvat, I don’t think, and I think he’s going to be traded,” Friedman told Tim Micallef on Tim and Friends on Thursday.
“I think there’s other players on that team that are going to be traded, too. I think [Brock] Boeser is going to be dealt. I think at some point in time, [Tyler] Myers will be dealt, whether it’s this year or after his bonus is due in the summer. I think they are going to try to move some other players out.”
"I think you're going to see a bunch of other guys moved… Horvat, Boeser, Myers & maybe Demko."
Elliotte Friedman thinks the #Canucks will be very active sellers at the trade deadline đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/eiFynwTA7Y
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) January 26, 2023
Vancouver sits sixth in the eight-team Pacific Division and 27th overall in the NHL standings with a 19-26-3 record for 41 points.
They’re projected to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a third straight season, and Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford told media that “serious changes” were coming to the team last week.
“The changes we need to make are not with the core players, the changes we need to make are other players on the team,” Rutherford said on January 16. “It could end up being core players. When I came here, I knew it was going to be a big challenge, and I thought we’re going to have to do minor surgery.
“Have I changed my position? Yeah, we have to do major surgery.”
"I'm disappointed in the job I've done to this point… We have to do major surgery."
Jim Rutherford on the Canucks’ roster changes. pic.twitter.com/AGDtw29gOg
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 16, 2023
That “major surgery” could include the likes of Horvat, Myers, Boeser, and even goaltender Thatcher Demko, according to Friedman, with the team building around Miller, Kuzmenko, and Elias Pettersson.
“We’ll see what this all means,” Friedman said. “I heard some people saying, ‘well, they hope that if they keep Kuzmenko, that’ll make Pettersson more likely to sign.’ I’m not sure I would say that. I don’t know if it’s quite that deep, but I do think they speak to Pettersson quite a bit about what he thinks and what his feelings are.
“I just feel that they want to keep a nucleus. They’ve committed to Miller. They’re going to make Pettersson their guy. I think they wanted to have another forward, Kuzmenko, around them so they could score. But I think you’re going to see a bunch of other guys moved — Horvat, Boeser, Myers, and maybe Demko. I never thought I would say that, but I think we’re getting to that possibility, too.
“I do think they’re going to put a ton of players out there if they haven’t already.”