Vancouver Canucks roundtable: Which forwards should they trade?

The Vancouver Canucks may be forced to move a forward or two before the start of the season. We debate which players should be traded.

Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning had quite the offseason spending spree, but he left himself just enough cap room to sign RFA Brock Boeser to a team-friendly three-year bridge deal.

Now, the Canucks are right up against the salary cap, and CapFriendly lists 16 forwards on their roster. That doesn’t include Adam Gaudette, who figures to slot in as this team’s No. 3 centre in 2019-20.

The regular season is less than two weeks away now, and Benning has to move out a forward or two sooner rather than later. In fact, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in his latest 31 Thoughts column that Vancouver has “made four or five players available. Friedman doesn’t believe Jake Virtanen “is one of them,” even though head coach Travis Green voiced some displeasure in him last week.

Well, the Canucks have to do something soon. The clock is winding down, and Benning can’t stick with the entire group of forwards he currently has.

I asked our staff at The Canuck Way to explain which forwards they think the Canucks should move out, and why. Here’s what we had to say.

Alex Hoegler

I don’t think the Canucks should trade Virtanen yet, considering he displayed 20-goal potential last season by hitting the back of the net 15 times. Plus, he carries a very modest $1.25 million cap hit for next season.

I’d suggest Loui Eriksson or Brandon Sutter, but at this point, there’s no reason to believe Benning will be able to trade either without taking a comparable contract back. He could put Eriksson in the minors. Tim Schaller will probably be sent to the Utica Comets, so I don’t expect him to get traded.

So I think the Canucks need to focus on moving out Sven Baertschi and Jay Beagle. Both are respected in the locker room, but the Canucks just can’t carry all of these forwards for the sake of loyalty.

Baertschi has 20-goal potential and carries a reasonable contract, so I don’t think the Canucks would have a hard time moving him. Beagle might receive some interest from a team looking to add more size and grit. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens would be prime fits for him.

Rick Warman

Sven Baertschi. With the additions of J. T. Miller and Micheal Ferland during the off-season, Baertschi is unlikely to land a spot in the top six. The Canucks have an overload of third-line wingers, making him expendable.

Baertschi still has offensive potential and should garnish a reasonable return. Injury concerns have plagued his past few seasons and that in conjunction with his $3.36 million cap hit, making him a likely candidate to trade.

Although I don’t think that Tim Schaller would fetch any significant return, sending him and his $1.9 million cap hit doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Jim Benning has hinted that when the team has injuries this season, they intend to call up one of the players to fill that role. So for Schaller, if he isn’t dealt would likely spend the entire season with the Utica Comets.

Joey Padmanabhan

The summer heading into the 2021-22 season will be an important one for Canucks’ management. With Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demko, and Elias Pettersson up for contract, the team will likely be scrambling for any cap space they can get, especially when you consider their pre-existing obligations to high-earning players like Miller, Boeser Eriksson, Bo Horvat and Tyler Myers (all of whom are making over $5 million).

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The key for Vancouver will be to trim the metaphorical fat in the next few seasons, flipping under-producing, overpaid players (potentially coupled with assets) for inexpensive assets such as late-round picks.

One such player who may be more feasible to ship out is Jay Beagle. Beagle is scheduled to make $3 million through the 2021-22 season: a lofty amount for a player who put up a meager 13 points in 57 games last year.

While the former Stanley Cup Champion was deployed in his own zone a majority of the time, his inability to transition play from defense to offense was marked by a dismal minus-eight rating and a 40.4 Corsi For percentage.

Beagle will be 34 by the time the 2019-20 season gets underway, and is simply too expensive for what little he brings to the team. One area of the game in which he does excel is the faceoff circle, where he led Canuck centres in faceoffs win percentage (56.2).

In light of the other deficiencies in Beagle’s game, however, this silver lining alone shouldn’t stop Benning and company from moving him out given the chance. Even if the return is limited, consider it an investment in the club’s future.

Brayden Ursel

Jake Virtanen could hit the trade block this season as a sweetener to try and move out Loui Eriksson or Brandon Sutter. With Micheal Ferland and his similar playing style to Virtanen, landing in Vancouver, Jake becomes expendable and he holds more playoff value than players like Josh Leivo or Nikolay Goldobin.

Sven Baertschi has been a solid middle six forward for the Canucks but has had his fair share of concussions. If he can have a healthy season and keep his head up he might create some value for himself. Probably a safe bet to try and move A player with a long list of concussions.

Matthew Zator

The Canucks definitely will have to make some moves before the start of the regular season. Unfortunately, I don’t think Benning will be able to move either Loui Eriksson or Brandon Sutter because of their contracts.

The only forward I can see him getting fair value for is Sven Baertschi. I would say Jake Virtanen too, but I still think the Canucks should give him a chance to prove himself this season. Baertschi is still a productive and relatively young top-six forward option for most teams, so he has the most value. As much as I want to see him stay in Canuck colours, Benning has to look at moving someone. He also has a higher cap hit and will not only provide roster relief but cap relief as well.

Bailey Broadbent

Going off the board here and arguing that the Canucks should trade both a defenceman and a forward.

Despite a modified eight-team no-trade clause, Chris Tanev presents an intriguing option to move out. Tanev — who carries a $4.45 million cap hit through this season — has served the team well over the course of his career.

His health complications, place on team depth chart, and cap hit make him an intriguing candidate to move. The Canucks have two established right-handed defencemen in Troy Stecher and Tyler Myers.

Prospect Brogan Rafferty has also had a coming out party of sorts thus far this preseason, while Alex Biega and Oscar Fantenberg provide insurance in the position. With just a year left on his deal, the Canucks could find a fair amount in cap space dealing Tanev, even if it means taking back some salary for a season.

While Jim Benning’s July 1 additions from 2018 have found varying degrees of success in Vancouver, Schaller has yet to find any. Often found in the press box as a healthy scratch, Schaller netted goals in just two of 47 games last season. Needless to say, his time with the Canucks has been disappointing.

While Schaller currently carries no trade value, he is just recently removed from a 12-goal bottom six role with the Bruins in 2017-18. The Canucks could take back up to 50 percent  of his $1.9 million cap hit through this season to move him, or tack on a mid-to-late round pick in a trade to create even more cap space.

Unlike trading a younger player like Virtanen, Goldobin, or Tyler Motte, Schaller carries no future potential this late in his career and thus makes sense as a trade candidate.