The NHL trade deadline is nearly two months away but that’s not necessarily the internal deadline for the Vancouver Canucks.
Last season, the Canucks made their biggest trade well ahead of the trade deadline at the end of January, sending captain Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders for a first-round pick, Aatu Räty, and Anthony Beauvillier. They went on to make another major trade closer to the deadline, moving that first-round pick to the Detroit Red Wings for Filip Hronek, but there’s no denying that the trade deadline is more of a suggestion when it comes to this management group.
For a team at the top of the NHL standings like the Canucks, making a trade earlier than the deadline makes sense, giving a new player more time to settle into the lineup and find chemistry ahead of the playoffs.
Allvin has even said that the way the Canucks have played this season arguably requires a more aggressive approach in the trade market.
“Well, I think I owe it to the players,” said Allvin to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. “The players dictate how good we are and how they're buying into the way we want to play. We know that they are capable of playing at this high level. And if they continue to do that, then it's on me to make sure I support them and give them opportunities to be successful.”
Various rumours have been flying around about who the Canucks could or should be interested in but what do the Canucks actually need? What would take the Canucks over the top from the biggest surprise of the season to a legitimate Stanley Cup contender?
Taking stock
First, let’s look at what the Canucks already have. They’re largely injury-free, with only Phil Di Giuseppe on Injured Reserve among their regulars, so here’s their current lineup.
Elias Pettersson - J.T. Miller - Brock Boeser
Ilya Mikheyev - Pius Suter - Andrei Kuzmenko
Dakota Joshua - Teddy Blueger - Conor Garland
Nils Höglander - Nils Åman - Sam Lafferty
Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy - Tyler Myers
Nikita Zadorov - Ian Cole
Noah Juulsen
Thatcher Demko
Casey DeSmith
The Canucks also have some decent depth with the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL: the likes of Vasily Podkolzin, Arshdeep Bains, Aatu Räty, and Linus Karlsson at forward, Mark Friedman, Matt Irwin, Christian Wolanin, Cole McWard, and Akito Hirose on defence, and Arturs Silovs and Nikita Tolopilo in net.
What do they still need?
Second-line centre
The Lotto Line of Pettersson, Miller, and Boeser has been dominant since they were reunited, giving the Canucks a line that can dominate at 5-on-5. The trouble is the second line.
Pius Suter has done an admirable job filling in as a second-line centre between Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko, holding his own in the elevated role. The trouble is that those three players have been held entirely off the scoreboard, with no goals between the three of them since the Lotto Line was reunited.
The line has managed to create chances but rarely because of any work they’ve done together. Instead, it’s typically been because of an individual effort, whether Kuzmenko making moves or Mikheyev jumping up the ice with their skill. The trio don’t really seem to have any chemistry together or identity as a line.
If the Canucks want to keep the Lotto Line together, adding a legitimate second-line centre to elevate Mikheyev and Kuzmenko and bump Suter down to the bottom-six should be their first priority.
The trouble is, second-line centres don’t come cheap. Players like Elias Lindholm, Trevor Zegras, or Joel Eriksson Ek are likely to be prohibitively expensive — Eriksson Ek is extremely unlikely to get traded at all — while more budget-friendly options might not even be an upgrade on Suter.
Still, maybe the Canucks could find a way to make acquiring Lindholm work or get someone like Sean Monahan or Boone Jenner and hope the chemistry clicks.
Top-six winger
As good as the Lotto Line has been, it’s clear that head coach Rick Tocchet isn’t entirely comfortable with top-loading his lineup. He would much rather be able to roll through his lines and get more balanced scoring than the top-heavy Lotto Line approach.
If the Lotto Line is split up to have Miller and Pettersson centre their own lines, however, there’s an issue: the Canucks are missing a top-six winger.
The Canucks had high hopes that Phil Di Giuseppe could fill that role alongside Miller and Boeser but it hasn’t quite worked out. Meanwhile, Pettersson hasn’t been able to dominate at 5-on-5 the way he ought to be able to while centring Mikheyev and Kuzmenko.
An internal option — someone like Nils Höglander or Vasily Podkolzin — might be able to do the job but a legitimate, experienced top-six winger would be preferable.
That’s why the rumour mill has focused so much on Jake Guentzel, who not only has the Pittsburgh Penguins connection with the Canucks front office but is also a top-tier first-line winger, who could significantly elevate the team’s top-six.
There’s just one major problem, aside from the likely astronomical cost to acquire Guentzel: the Penguins are right in the playoff mix in the Eastern Conference. They’re one point out of a wild card spot with games in hand and Guentzel is tied for the team lead in scoring. Are the Penguins really going to trade away one of their top players in a season where they’re clearly going for it, having acquired Erik Karlsson in the offseason?
Fortunately, there are lots of other options aside from Guentzel, as wingers are typically more plentiful on the trade market.
Perhaps Frank Vatrano from the Anaheim Ducks could be available. The St. Louis Blues might be persuaded to move Pavel Buchnevich. Maybe Vladimir Tarasenko from the Ottawa Senators has something left in the tank.
Or, if we’re gonna get nuts, let’s get nuts: what would it take for the Canucks to acquire a 50%-salary-retained Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets? I mean, it’s not going to happen…but what if it did?
Right-shot defenceman
The Canucks’ overhauled defence has been great this season, helping the Canucks to one of the lowest rates of goals against in the NHL.
But it could always be better and one of the main issues right now is that it’s unbalanced, with more left-shot defencemen than right-shot defencemen. Ian Cole’s ability to play on his off side somewhat mitigates that issue, but Rick Tocchet and his coaching staff would definitely prefer to be able to ice balanced left-shot/right-shot pairings.
It would also be nice to bump Tyler Myers down to a third-pairing role. He’s done well in a shutdown role on the second pairing but the Canucks would be more credible as a Cup contender if they had a better defenceman on the right side of the second pairing.
Reacquiring Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames would be one option, with the Flames already showing a willingness to deal with the Canucks in the Nikita Zadorov trade. Tanev is still a top-notch defensive defenceman and would immediately upgrade the team’s shutdown pairing with one of Zadorov, Cole, or Carson Soucy.
Alexandre Carrier might be an option if the Nashville Predators slide in the coming weeks. If the Philadelphia Flyers weren’t surprising everyone much like the Canucks, Sean Walker would be an intriguing target but the Flyers are likely buyers at the trade deadline.
There are also options out there that could bolster the depth on the right side without supplanting Myers on the second pairing, like Ilya Lyubushkin, Adam Boqvist, or Andrew Peeke.
Going for it
Those are three areas of need for the Canucks but there’s another question to answer ahead of the trade deadline: how much should the Canucks be willing to spend to go for it?
The Canucks’ first-round pick is almost certainly in play but what about prospects who were first-round picks like Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Tom Willander? What about other prospects in the midst of strong seasons like Hunter Brzustewicz or the other Elias Pettersson?
What if filling one of these needs means moving Nils Höglander or Vasily Podkolzin?
The Canucks have been mediocre for so long that being in a position to be buyers at the trade deadline is unfamiliar territory. Is this a once-in-a-lifetime chance to go for it and throw everything at the wall for a chance at a Stanley Cup or should the Canucks take a more careful approach and see this season as the first step in becoming perennial Cup contenders for years to come?
There’s another side to it, however. As Allvin said, the players have bought in and played at a high level and he arguably owes it to the players to augment the lineup in the trade market.
Trading for a top player sends a message to the team: let’s go win a Stanley Cup.
