2 More Trade Candidates Named For Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks have to commit to selling at this point and call this season a wash at the very least. The team should realistically go into a rebuild, but their course of action remains to be seen. After Quinn Hughes and Kiefer Sherwood were moved, there are still some players on shorter term deals that could be traded as well.

While there may be more interest in the players that could really send the Canucks into a rebuild, players on the last year of their deals are more urgent to move or they'll likely walk in free agency. Nick Kypreos said, "Evander Kane and Teddy Blueger are likely to be traded by the deadline."

Of the players on the final year of their deals and are set to become UFAs, only Kane, Blueger, Derek Forbort, David Kampf, and Jiri Patera are on the roster to choose from. Realistically, only Kane and Blueger have any sort of trade value. Forbort hasn't been able to stay healthy and has hardly played, while Kampf wasn't picked up on waivers when teams had a chance earlier in the season. Patera is just an AHL goalie who's been called up too.

That leaves Kane and Blueger.

Kane is overpriced for what he's been able to contribute this season, but not by too much. His cap hit is $5.125 million AAV and he has a 16-team trade list which shouldn't pose a ton of problems. The Canucks are only retaining cap on one player, so they have room for two more, especially if that player's contract ends this season. Kane was a beast in the 2021-22 playoffs for the Edmonton Oilers and was solid last season, also with Edmonton. His size and physicality, mixed with his ability to still score and go to the net, are attractive qualities for a team looking for a rental and not wanting to pay top dollar.

Blueger is on a cheap contract at $1.8 million AAV, and while he proved he is able to play a middle-6 center role, a team acquiring him might not even need him for a role that high in the lineup. The Canucks lost out on trading Pius Suter last season in the same situation and then lost him in free agency. Blueger may not be quite as good, but he has value and can absolutely contribute at both ends of the ice, wins faceoffs, hits, blocks shots, and kills penalties. That's a great bottom-6 addition for many teams.

Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images