Would a Garland-for-Fabbro trade make sense for Canucks?
Trade rumours are swirling around the Vancouver Canucks.
The recent news that Conor Garland and his agent have been granted permission to seek a trade with other teams has only added fuel to the fire.
One of the teams reported to have interest in Garland per CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal is the Nashville Predators. It has also been revealed, via Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, that the Canucks are after a defenceman, as well as hoping to free up $1-2 million in cap space in this transaction.
One player that the Canucks have been linked to is defenceman Dante Fabbro. Michael Gallagher of Nashville Hockey Now reported that Fabbro is the defenceman that the Canucks like best from the Predators roster.
Source says the Canucks are believed to prefer Dante Fabbro of any available #Preds defensemen in potential trade package for Conor Garland
— Michael Gallagher (@MGsports_) October 16, 2023
The Canucks just traded for another right-shot defenceman in Mark Friedman. Despite that addition, there is still space on the organization’s depth chart for another NHL-quality RHD.
Fabbro, a 25-year-old Coquitlam native, played three years in the BCHL before being picked by Nashville in the first round of the 2016 draft. This is not the first time that he has been linked to the Canucks in trade rumours. Across his NHL career, he’s appeared in 255 total games, recording 59 points.
The right-shot defenceman would likely slot into the Canucks’ lineup immediately, demoting Noah Juulsen.
The Predators have a surplus of defencemen, on the right side specifically, meaning that they may be okay with giving one up. Besides Fabbro, they also have Tyson Barrie, Luke Schenn, and Alexandre Carrier on the right side of their defence.
Fabbro is a player that many thought the Predators were going to deal at last year’s trade deadline. However, the two sides ended up agreeing on a one-year, $2.5 million contract last spring.
The Canucks would most likely need to retain a portion of Garland’s salary to make the Predators bite on a one-for-one swap. If the Canucks retained enough salary, a sweetener would likely not be required.
A potential trade could look something like this:
- To Vancouver: Dante Fabbro RHD
- To Nashville: Conor Garland RW (30%/$1.485 million retained)
The above trade would allow the Canucks to shed just under $1 million in salary commitment for the upcoming season. It would also give the Predators a middle-six winger costing just under $3.5 million per year against the cap.
The Canucks would be paying Garland to play somewhere else for the three remaining years on his contract. This would be another cap commitment, alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson, where the Canucks are paying a player to play for another NHL team.
Fabbro will become an RFA next summer when his contract expires, at which point he’ll be due a qualifying offer to match his current $2.5 million cap hit. The Canucks are projected to have around $32 million in cap space next summer but will also need to re-sign other players such as Elias Pettersson and Filip Hronek.
Follow Channels and Categories