Vancouver Canucks: Who should Jim Benning shop at trade deadline?
By Alex Hoegler
The Vancouver Canucks have now dropped five of their last six games. If they don’t turn it around soon, general manager Jim Benning will have to sell at the deadline. So which players should he look at moving out?
Despite losing five of their last six games, the Vancouver Canucks enter Thursday just two points behind the Minnesota Wild for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
But the Canucks have now lost five of their last six contests, while Brandon Sutter, Sven Baertschi, Alexander Edler and Thatcher Demko remain sidelined with injuries. And with Vancouver not getting much production outside of Bo Horvat, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser, there is legitimate reason to worry about this team falling out of the playoff race.
If the Canucks continue their slump between now and the Feb. 25 deadline, you can bet that general manager Jim Benning will look to sell in an effort to stockpile the draft picks — something he wasn’t able to do last year.
Right now, there aren’t many indications that the Canucks will end up trading Edler. Per Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, Benning said his “priority” is to work on a new deal for his top blueliner, who’s slated to enter free agency on July 1.
But there are a handful of players Benning can easily move out for mid-to-late round picks. It’s hard to see struggling forward Markus Granlund coming back in 2019-20, and he’s an RFA after this season.
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A playoff contender might like Granlund’s hard work ethic, and he’d be a quality No. 3 center for a team to use in the postseason.
It makes sense for Benning to get anything he can for Granlund, since it’s unlikely he’ll be playing in Vancouver after this season.
Other than Granlund, there aren’t many other forwards that look like good trade candidates.
Who knows what this team is planning to do with Nikolay Goldobin, while pending RFAs Tyler Motte and Josh Leivo have earned their spots on this game. Don’t expect those two to go anywhere.
As for the blueliners? Again, don’t expect an Edler trade at this stage, with both sides seeming keen on a contract extension. Chris Tanev is an option, but given his struggles this season, Benning likely won’t get good value in a trade. It makes sense for him to hold onto Tanev and see if there’s a better market in the offseason. Otherwise, keep him for next year and hope for a bounce-back season.
If there are any takers for Derrick Pouliot — also a pending RFA — Benning should trade him. The 2012 first round pick hasn’t been able to find his ground in Vancouver, and he deserves a fresh start. Even if the Canucks can only get a late-round pick for Pouliot, it’s better than losing him for nothing.
Ben Hutton has endured a resurgent year, so he’s not going anywhere. Hard to see the struggling Erik Gudbranson getting dealt, unless the Canucks agree to take on a comparable contract in return.
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So at the end of the day, it makes the most sense for Granlund and Pouliot to get dealt. If there are can’t-miss offers for guys like Edler and/or Tanev, maybe Benning does it as well. But if anything else, expect this to be like last year’s deadline, where Benning will only move out a handful of depth players for minimal returns.