Canucks want NHL players more than draft picks/prospects in potential trade: report
There is no shortage of trade rumours surrounding the Vancouver Canucks right now.
The team is reportedly trying to trade Bo Horvat and has enlisted the help of Brock Boeser’s agent to find a new home for his client too.
But what is Canucks GM Patrik Allvin looking for in return?
Usually, teams in this situation offload stars for draft picks and/or prospects at the trade deadline, and look to add players in the summer. The Canucks, however, appear to be more focused on the present, according to two of hockey’s top insiders.
The Canucks would like to clear cap space, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, which is something we’ve heard ever since the new management team took over one year ago. It’s easier said than done in a flat-cap environment, as they’ve found out.
“They’d like to add a young NHL centreman, they’d also like to add a young NHL right-shot defenceman,” Dreger added, on TSN’s Insider Trading segment.
It’s notable that Dreger used the terms NHL centreman and NHL right-shot defenceman. Contending teams are typically looking to add to their rosters without subtracting good/young/cheap players. They’re usually far more likely to part with draft picks and prospects.
“I assumed the Canucks would be asking for a futures-only package… But so far, it seems that Vancouver is looking instead for more of a hockey deal,” Pierre LeBrun said in The Athletic.
LeBrun added that the Canucks are looking for an “upgrade” at centre and/or right-shot defence, with players in their 20s.
It appears to be a similar approach that Jim Benning took as Canucks GM, though the present-day team has more good young players on the roster. Benning didn’t have much success with the strategy, as the list of young NHL players he acquired included: Linden Vey, Sven Baertschi, Adam Clendening, Markus Granlund, and Nikolay Goldobin.
The reports from Dreger and LeBrun are in line with what Allvin said in a response to a question posed by Daily Hive back in May.
“I don’t want to definitely take a step back,” Allvin said when asked if he’d be willing to take a step back in order to get better. “I don’t think anybody in this business wants to take a step back. You always want to get better. I hope we’re definitely going to find ways to improve our team here.”
What Allvin can get in return for his established star players could very well define his tenure in Vancouver.
Draft picks and prospects require more patience, but they also typically have more potential. Teams are less inclined to trade young players with high ceilings that are already in the NHL. Contending teams have been fleeced on many occasions in the past by making shortsighted trades with teams in the Canucks’ situation.
Trading for young NHL players didn’t work out for Benning, but that’s not to say it’s necessarily a doomed strategy. The Canucks hit a home run in 1998 when they traded Trevor Linden to the New York Islanders in exchange for 23-year-old Todd Bertuzzi), Bryan McCabe (22), and a third-round pick (Jarkko Ruutu).
Conversely, the Canucks traded McCabe for futures one year later, which helped bring the Sedins to Vancouver.
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