Should the Vancouver Canucks trade their first round pick this year?
The Vancouver Canucks face the difficult task of building a legitimate contender from the murky middle of the standings.
This summer is a critical fork in the road where the Canucks must make the right moves to sell the fans, Quinn Hughes, and others on the direction of the franchise.
Hughes is the crucial factor in everything. He’s one of the best players in the world, the type of talent franchises can search for 50 years and still not find. He has two years left on his contract, and the Canucks need to do everything possible to get an extension done. Building a legitimate path to contention has to be near the top of that list.
If next season is similar to this year, that means Hughes will enter the last year of his contract with major question marks about this team. It’s why this summer is so crucial. At the same time, the Canucks can’t mortgage their entire future for the present and then potentially be caught with their pants down if Hughes leaves.
Two summers ago, the Canucks hit on nearly all of their summer decisions. Free agents like Ian Cole, Teddy Blueger, Pius Suter, and Carson Soucy proved valuable. Last year, additions like Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais didn’t work out.
Perhaps the biggest decision facing Patrik Allvin and his staff is what to do with the club’s draft pick this summer. It’s likely to land somewhere in the 14 to 16 range. Will they add to the team’s relatively weak prospect pool or flip it for immediate help?
Allvin has been aggressive in moving his draft picks in the past. He acquired Marcus Pettersson and Filip Hronek for first-round picks. With a massive hole at centre, he could use the team’s pick this summer to acquire an already established player.
Over the past few years, first-round picks have been at the centre of trades for players like Alex DeBrincat, Linus Ullmark, Jacob Markstrom, Christian Dvorak, Kirby Dach, Tyler Toffoli, and more.
The Canucks have also built up a surplus of young defencemen and could attach one, perhaps Sawyer Mynio or Kirill Kudryavtsev, to improve their offer.
Moving their first-round pick this summer would surely make the Canucks more competitive next year, but is it worth the damage to their prospect pool? The organization has two high-quality prospects in Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Tom Willander and both should graduate to the NHL soon.
The Canucks didn’t make a selection in the first two rounds last season, and missing out on another first round this year would create a hole. It’s a delicate balancing act that Allvin will need to carefully navigate.
There’s no easy answer as to what Allvin will do, but whatever decision he makes, it’ll be a crucial inflection point for the direction of the Canucks.