The Canucks are better off trading Jake Virtanen in the offseason

Vancouver Canucks fan favourite Jake Virtanen has been swirling in trade rumours all season long, which is a shock to me since that’s never happened before.

So far this season, the 24-year-old has a lone goal in 19 games and has been healthy scratched on multiple occasions due to his lacklustre play, and it’s now a matter of when, not if, he’ll get traded.

As recent as Saturday morning, Virtanen’s name was brought up in another intriguing rumour, this time relating to the Anaheim Ducks and centre Danton Heinen.

While Heinen would be a great return for Virtanen, it’s unlikely that a deal would be a straight-up one for one since the salaries and cap hit don’t match. Moreover, Heinen is definitely worth more than Virtanen so the Canucks will likely need to add more assets in such a trade, which isn’t in Vancouver’s best interest given the current state of the team.

If a deal doesn’t materialize with Anaheim, the Canucks would be better off waiting to trade Virtanen in the summer. By then, teams won’t have to worry about players having to go through COVID protocols when moving between states or countries, which means that there might be more suitors for Virtanen.

With the expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken also scheduled to take place in the summer, there will no doubt be more trades occurring when compared to a usual offseason, making a potential Virtanen deal a lot easier to facilitate. More importantly, Vancouver will likely have a better idea as to how much Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Thatcher Demko will seek for their next contracts, which will give the team a better idea as to how much salary they can take back in a move; we don’t want a situation where Virtanen gets traded for a player whose current contract will be an impediment to the Canucks re-signing their pending RFAs.

Adding everything up, it makes more sense to trade Virtanen in the summer if the aforementioned Ducks deal falls apart. Do you agree, Canucks fans? Let us know in the comments below!