Five games into a six-game road trip, Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»still languishes in 10th place in the Western Conference. They sit just four points out of a wild card spot, but they’ve done little more than tread water for weeks.
The trade deadline is March 1. Soon, Jim Benning will need to make the call on making some calls. The Canucks have some decent pieces to trade. Do they hold or do they fold?
That answer is complicated for two reasons. First, Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»still has a slim chance of squeaking into the playoffs. Second, Las Vegas is soon to join the NHL with an expansion draft, where Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»must expose a few players. Who they decide to trade or keep affects which asset they risk losing in the summer.
The expansion draft argument is legit. But the other is not. Balancing a franchise-altering trade on the vague outcome of a playoff race? That makes no freaking sense. Worse, it smacks of a head office without a real plan.
With that in mind, let’s wade into Vancouver’s tradeable assets. Here’s who is rumoured to be on the block.
Ryan Miller
In a tire fire season of monster truck wheel proportions, one could argue that Ryan Miller is Vancouver’s MVP. OK, nah, that’s empirically Bo Horvat. But Miller’s up there. He has stolen game after game for the Canucks, offering a calm and reassuring presence in net. . What’s not to like?
Miller is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and could therefore be a classic rental. Any playoff contender with shaky goaltending should rightfully be interested.
Plenty of pundits claim Miller is the most likely Canuck to go. I’m more skeptical. There are several reasons why this trade isn’t likely to happen. First, Miller has a no-trade clause (NTC), limiting trade partners to five teams of his choosing. Realistically, he just needs to select five bottom feeders to negate any swap.
Secondly, with no real alternative in the pipeline, Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»pretty much still needs him. Jacob Markstrom is a capable netminder, but who backs him up if Miller goes? In fact I would not be surprised if the Canucks opt to re-sign Miller for another year or two, assuming he wants to re-up.
Finally, the last time Miller was traded as a rental it was a disaster. With the Blues he had an uncharacteristically poor showing, which may tarnish his value to anyone hoping to bolster their goaltending depth.
Likelihood of a Miller trade = likelihood Jack Skille scores on a breakaway. 1/5.
Erik Gudbranson
Gudbranson was the key summer trade acquisition for Vancouver, picked up in exchange for forward prospect Jared McCann. He was intended to be a big, bruising top-four defender for the Canucks.
However, due to injury, . The Russian’s game isn’t without its warts, but Tryamkin seems willing to liberally applying Compound W. His conditioning has improved, as has his physicality.
That means that Gudbranson, rather than being signed to a huge RFA contract, could end up just like .
His tenure in Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»is limited, and he’s currently on long-term injury, but if he were projected to return in time for the playoffs, any team looking for toughness and defensive depth will probably want to kick the tires. (Kick gingerly; as noted before, they are on fire.)
But I think it’s unlikely he’ll be traded. Jim Benning has shown unwilling to give up on his pet projects, as shown when he signed Luca Sbisa to an oversized contract. Heavy odds are that Mr. Benning will reach to re-sign Gudbranson for an ungodly sum, as is his wont.
Likelihood of a Gudbranson trade = likelihood someone other than Michael Chaput will be double shifted in the final minutes of a tie game. 2/5.
Jannik Hansen
This is a tough pill to consider swallowing. Pass it to Bulis is a huge fan of the Honey Badger.
But with the season mired in uncertainty, and the Great Dane playing some of his best hockey, a trade makes sense. Hansen is the perfect deadline acquisition.
He can play up and down the lineup, slotting into the top line as easily as the fourth. He kills penalties. He’s tough but not stupid. He’s gritty but not too agitating. He’s fast. And, particularly apparent this season, he makes any line better.
If Hansen is legitimately on offer, expect plenty of contending teams to line up for his services, and he won’t come cheap. ()
He also has a NTC, meaning he can select eight teams Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»might negotiate with. Like Miller, he could easily stymie a trade. But recent interviews show he's probably willing to cooperate.
“There are too many variables where I have little control over. If the team comes to me, I give them my (eight teams) and then it’s in their hands. I can’t veto a trade. If (Jim Benning) wants to trade me, he can trade me.”
Additionally, from an expansion draft perspective, trading Hansen might just be a pragmatic necessity. Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»likely must expose one of Sven Baertschi, Markus Granlund, Brandon Sutter or Jannik Hansen. If it’s Hansen, you can bet that , he’s gone in 60 seconds. Better to trade him for something than lose him for nothing.
The downside? Losing Hansen sucks. He’s a key contributor and the team is worse without him. So whatever asset comes back needs to offset that loss. But Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»fans should brace for this, teams are calling and those offers will be hard to resist.
Likelihood of a Hansen trade = likelihood that the Rogers Arena crowd starts “The Wave” at an inappropriate time. 3.5/5.
Alex Burrows
Vancouver’s veteran winger has been having a bit of a renaissance playing alongside Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi. He’s not the top-tier scorer he once was, but he’s lost none of his speed, grit or abrasiveness.
He too can play anywhere in the lineup and kills penalties with the best of them. Pierre LeBrun believes he could fetch a 2nd or 3rd round pick.
Like Hansen, Burrows is keenly aware of the trade rumours, to the point that . Also like Hansen, he has a NTC, but he’s indicated he would be willing to consider a trade if it would help the team. This is the last year of his contract and his real salary is a lot lower than his cap hit, making him appealing to teams on a budget.
So why wouldn’t Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»trade Burrows? Well for one thing, fans love him .
The argument could certainly be made that the winger means more symbolically to the franchise than a draft pick. That said, he is a pending UFA, he has value, and he probably wouldn’t mind another shot at a Cup; a call needs to be made.
Likelihood of a Burrows trade = the likelihood of witnessing an ESB (Alex Edler stick break.) 4.5/5.
Honourable Mentions
This list isn’t exclusive; the possibility exists that other players could be shifted, but they are riskier propositions and I rank their likelihood pretty low.
Chris Tanev, for example, is a recognized top-pairing defender who would fetch a king’s ransom. But then you have zero of Chris Tanev.
Alex Edler would fetch a lesser ransom, perhaps somewhere in the neighbourhood of the King of Luxembourg. (Does Luxembourg have a king? Too lazy to Google, I’ll assume yes.)
Who's it going to be?
Who gets moved (or doesn’t) depends on a few factors: the conversation between player and management, the dance partners elsewhere in the league, and Vancouver’s points standing on February 28th.
It seems less likely by the day that Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»will bet the future on a playoff run, .
I get why he claimed he wouldn’t ask veterans to waive. That statement, false as it may have been, got the media off his back. But I almost prefer that bold untruth to the current murk. Take this Trevor Linden statement.
“Like last year it would be nice to add a pick or two, but that’s dependent on a couple of variables. You need a willing partner and player co-operation. We’ll have those conversations (about the NTCs) but it’s complicated.”
Me? I hope it’s nothing like last year, because last year was a disaster.
I understand that Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata’s situations were complex, but a repeat of last season’s inaction is not acceptable. Trades need to happen. For a team in Vancouver’s position, that’s just how it works.
You can try to sell fans on slim playoff chances, or on standing pat and rolling the dice again next year, but few are going to buy it.
The better strategy? Sell fans on hope, which starts at the trade deadline.
