Canucks News: Selling at Trade Deadline, Bo Horvat Taking Blame

The Vancouver Canucks are still very much in the playoff hunt. But, once they drop out, veteran players could become available.

The past few weeks have been relatively lucky for the Vancouver Canucks. No matter how little they score, they manage to come away with at least a point. But, going forward, we all know there is a great chance of the Canucks falling out of playoff contention.

What happens then?

TSN’s Frank Seravalli published a list of players he believes could be on the trade block going into the 2017 trade deadline. Among the names: Canucks winger Alex Burrows, who has found great chemistry with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi.

Is Burrows’ time in Vancouver coming to an end?

Meanwhile, the pressure on young star — and all star — Bo Horvat is increasing. How much longer until he becomes the “player-to-blame” for Canucks losses?

Time to Sell?

Frank Seravalli (TSN) — All eyes on the Avs as trade deadline approaches

"The NHL’s 2017 trade deadline is March 1, six weeks from Wednesday.Career-long Canuck Alex Burrows will determine his fate as a potential rental by holding his no-trade clause."

The 2016 NHL trade deadline is something Canucks fans want to forget. Canucks leadership around GM Jim Benning decided to keep pending free agents Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata in Vancouver for the time being. The Canucks missed the playoffs, Hamhuis and Vrbata left for free.

In 2017, they will likely be in a similar situation. While fans are waiting for a rebuild, management wants to do everything to stay in playoff contention.

Please, don’t repeat your mistakes.

If the Canucks are in a playoff spot come March 1, it will be tough to sell. Rather, it will be impossible.

But, if they are “just a few points away”, they shouldn’t repeat last year’s mistake. This team does not have playoff quality — period.

Trading veterans Alex Burrows and Ryan Miller won’t be easy, as Burrows has a full, Miller a modified no-trade clause. But, swapping them for draft picks, if possible, would be a wise decision. The rebuild is inevitable.

Pressure on Bo

Iain MacIntyre (Vancouver Sun) — Bo knows. He learned it from Henrik

"“It seems like we’re getting matched against one of the top two lines every night,” Horvat said after the Nashville win. “Every night we’re getting tough matchups. We just have to overcome that and be better. It makes it a lot tougher, but that’s where the consistency part has to come in to play every night.“The biggest thing in being on a top line is you’re expected to do good things every night. Getting that consistency in your game, where you’re doing things at both ends of the ice to make you successful on a daily basis, is huge in taking that next step.”"

When a team doesn’t score, we tend to blame the star players: “Henrik and Daniel Sedin need to score more, Loui Eriksson is overpaid.” Fair enough.