Vancouver Canucks won’t trade Alex Edler or Chris Tanev in offseason
By Alex Hoegler
Alexander Edler and Chris Tanev may be two of the Vancouver Canucks’ best trade chips, but general manager Jim Benning won’t be shopping either one.
Just when you thought a full-scale rebuild may have been on for the Vancouver Canucks, general manager Jim Benning put those hopes and dreams of many frustrated fans to rest on Thursday.
Many expected him to shop defencemen Alexander Edler and Chris Tanev in the offseason while bringing back young assets the other way. Both blueliners are among the Canucks few quality trade chips, but it looks like they’ll be staying put for now.
According to Ben Kuzma from The Vancouver Province, Benning said he’s not going to trade either of them in the offseason:
"“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t listen and see if it (trade) is worth it, but it’s hard to find good defencemen,. Especially defencemen who are mobile and move the puck. I’m not shopping Tanev or bringing his name up in conversations with other GMs. They bring up his name. Unless it would make sense for our future, I’m not trading Chris. He means so much to our team. And we’re not looking to do anything with Alex (Edler).”"
Listen on offers for Tanev
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Nobody should be surprised that Tanev is staying put, as he’s far-and-away the team’s best blueliner.
He’s only 27 years of age and carries a bargain $4.45 million cap hit over the next three seasons, per CapFriendly.com. Tanev is one of the NHL’s top stay-at-home defencemen and could be a vital piece of their future.
But the Canucks have plenty of young defencemen to be excited about in Troy Stecher, Ben Hutton and Olli Juolevi.
If a rival general manager is giving Benning a great offer that consists of multiple young assets (roster players, draft picks and/or prospects), then he should at least be listening to them.
Trading Tanev right now isn’t necessary nor imminent. But Benning should keep an eye out on offers from other teams, considering that general managers are often willing to pay a ton for top-pairing blueliners.
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Time to trade Edler
Benning isn’t wrong in keeping Tanev around for the time being, but the time to trade away Alex Edler is now.
Edler’s contract carries a $5 million cap hit for two more seasons, and the Canucks have no reason to keep a 31-year-old around during the transition stage. His offence has significantly declined over the last three seasons, and Edler’s trade value won’t be getting any higher at this point.
After posting a career-best 49 points in 2011-12, Edler has cracked the 30-point mark just once (in 2014-15). He’s a household name right now, so you have to think opposing teams will be willing to overpay quite a bit for his services.
Even if his stats are declining, Edler is still a decent top-four defenceman and can quarterback a team’s first power play unit. At 31 years of age and just two years away from free agency, Edler isn’t a long-term solution in the Canucks rebuilding plans.
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The time to trade away the Swedish standout is now, whether Benning wants to do it or not.