Players Canucks Should/Have To Keep For Chance At Successful Retool

The Vancouver Canucks have officially traded Quinn Hughes and ended that saga, getting a haul from the Minnesota Wild in return. As far as returns go, this was the value of four first-round picks, so it was solid and more than any other team seemed willing to pay. So it brings in young pieces that could fit in the lineup for many years to come and grow with a team that's still trying to retool, even after trading their franchise player.

There will be more trades from the Canucks due to where they are in the standings and what still needs to happen, but this doesn't seem like a full teardown as there are players that Vancouver has to keep around because of contracts.

By trading Hughes, the Canucks addressed their top-6 center role with Marco Rossi, a target of theirs back before he re-signed with the Wild. The Canucks also replaced Hughes' spot in the lineup with Zeev Buium, a highly touted offensive d-man who had a hot start to the season, but is still just 20 years old.

There are seven players on the Canucks signed through 2030, and all of them seem to be staying put, at least for the time being for the team to be able to build around. This includes Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Conor Garland, Filip Hronek, Marcus Pettersson, and Kevin Lankinen. I strongly believe that at least two of those players won't make it to the end of their contracts with the Canucks, but that's a conversation for down the road. Most of them have trade protection and have higher salaries, plus are some of the best players the Canucks have to throw out there every night. They're not all the greatest, but it's what the team has to work with.

Other areas have to be addressed with younger and talented players coming in. This means moving on from players like the entire third line of Evander Kane, Kiefer Sherwood, and Logan O'Connor, all of whom likely will be traded or just not re-signed. When healthy, the Canucks look a lot better, but lack the star power. The St. Louis Blues that won the Stanley Cup didn't have any superstars, but did it as a team. This isn't out of reach for the Canucks, but a lot would have to happen and go right for them to even think about the Cup at this time right after trading Hughes. Like the Calgary Flames, it seems like the bottom-feeding Canucks haven't given up and won't.