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Vancouver Canucks: 5 Potential Trade Destinations for Radim Vrbata

By Janik Beichler

Dec 28, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Radim Vrbata (17) skates against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period at Rogers Arena. The Los Angeles Kings won 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Radim Vrbata (17) skates against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period at Rogers Arena. The Los Angeles Kings won 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports /
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As the Vancouver Canucks are doing their best to stay in the playoff race, there is one name that keeps popping up in trade rumours: Radim Vrbata.

The Vancouver Canucks are going for the playoffs. General Manager Jim Benning has said it many times: tanking is against the club’s standards — and most fans agree with that.

So it comes to no one’s surprise that the idea of trading away one of Vancouver’s top goal scorers is met with a lot of scepticism. But yet, getting rid of right winger Radim Vrbata, who is currently the team’s third-best goal scorer, could end up being a win-win situation for the Canucks.

In 2014-15, Vrbata finished the season with 31 goals and 63 points in 79 games. As we all know, 30-goal scorers don’t grow on trees, and the Canucks could be more than happy to have one on their team. This season, however, things have changed.

After 43 games in the 2015-16 campaign, Vrbata sits at 11 goals and 21 points. Decent numbers for sure, but he is on pace for “only” 39 points in 79 contests. Vrbata’s 11 goals rank third on the team, but the 34-year-old forward — who will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end — has become expandable.

With the return of long-time injured centre Brandon Sutter, the Canucks will have 15 forwards on their roster. Considering that Vancouver is currently in something like a “rebuild-on-the-fly”, it would only make sense to push guys like Jake Virtanen, Jared McCann or Emerson Etem into bigger roles, while getting rid of an aging veteran.

So why would teams trade for Vrbata and what could we expect in return? As explained above, Vrbata is certainly declining, but he still knows how to score. There are teams who want to add a scoring winger to their group of forwards every year, hoping to improve their playoff or Stanley Cup chances. One important note: since the Canucks are still trying to make the playoffs, they will likely try to trade him to an Eastern Conference team.

Unfortunately, the return would be rather small. Vrbata is aging and he is a pending UFA. Vancouver needs a defenceman, but this won’t be the right deal to acquire one. Hope for a lot, but don’t expect more than a second-round pick.

Here are five potential trade partners.

Next: 1. Montreal Canadiens

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