Welcome Matt: Who else will Canucks move before next week's trade deadline?

Feb 21 2023, 11:21 pm

sekeres and price

Ten days to go before the NHL trade deadline and the question we are all asking: what are the Canucks going to do?

GM Patrik Allvin has made four trades since the start of training camp, tied for most in the league. Beyond a deal for Luke Schenn, what else is in the offing?

Here are three situations to monitor between now and March 3:

1. Trading a roster player beyond Schenn

Teams have checked in on goaltender Thatcher Demko, and more recently forward J.T. Miller. Winger Brock Boeser has been seeking a trade for months. We’ve heard buyout rumours about Conor Garland. And then there’s Tyler Myers, who is owed a huge bonus this summer before entering the final year of his contract.

Given how difficult it is to move money and term right now, it’s more likely that these situations wait until the summer. But the deadline typically has a surprise or two, which makes these names worth tracking.

2. Trade brokerage

The Canucks put Tanner Pearson on LTIR last week, and are carrying $7.6 million (all figures U.S.) in cap space into the deadline.

As we saw Friday with the Minnesota Wild’s involvement in the Ryan O’Reilly trade, there will be contenders that require third parties to retain salary and make expensive players fit salary cap wise. The Wild picked up a fourth-round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs for retaining $1.875 million on O’Reilly.

The Canucks are poised to do the same if ownership approves spending money for draft picks. They finally have cap space, they need to weaponize it.

3. Lateral prospect (or change-of-scenery) trades

We’ve wondered this for some time because most of the Canucks thin prospect pipeline was assembled by ex-GM Jim Benning, not the current management team.

Nils Höglander was recently passed over for a call-up and is approaching the games played threshold for requiring waivers. That means next time he gets an NHL opportunity, he has to make it stick.

Clearly, the organization has lost some confidence here. It’s been 13 months since former coach Bruce Boudreau said he needs to tighten his defensive game.

The Canucks need defencemen and centres more than wingers. That should mean Jack Rathbone gets a look late this season, but it’s been three years and three call-ups for Rathbone without sticking. He was also passed over for Christian Wolanin when the Canucks needed a defenceman this weekend.

Are Höglander and Rathbone in need of a change-of-scenery? Are the Canucks eyeing second-chance players in other organizations? And are there trade fits among them?

Matthew SekeresMatthew Sekeres

+ Offside
+ Hockey
+ Canucks
ADVERTISEMENT