Welcome Matt: What will be the Canucks' first big move of 2023?

A new year, and new business for the Vancouver Canucks to conduct in the first month of 2023.

So, what comes first?

A Bo Horvat trade? Bruce Boudreau’s firing? Maybe a contract extension for Andrei Kuzmenko or Ethan Bear?

The NHL trade deadline is still two months away, and as Darren Dreger said on our show today, Horvat suitors are more inclined to add him later in the season when the salary-cap implications are easier to stickhandle.

Suppose it’s possible that one of Brock Boeser, Tyler Myers, Conor Garland, or Tanner Pearson gets moved first, but the Canucks have been trying to move those guys to no avail so far.

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Horvat is the big chip with the biggest market, and all the others are expensive enough that it makes for complicated dealing.

As of right now, I suspect Bruce Boudreau will be gone by the trade deadline.

The Canucks have their bye week at the end of January, and at some point they have to get young players like Vasily Podkolzin and Nils Höglander back from Abbotsford, and developing in the NHL. Boudreau has demonstrated he’s not the guy for that job, even separating himself from the team in post-game comments last night about willingness to win.

Kuzmenko and Bear are eligible to sign extensions now that the calendar has flipped over.

The former’s agent has said they will slow play proceedings and want to hit unrestricted free agency this summer.

In Bear’s case, tough mistake last night, but he’s been good as a Canuck and I can see both sides wanting a deal. Might not be the sexiest transaction or the biggest headline, but if I’m to answer the what-comes-next question, it gets my vote.