The Vancouver Canucks should trade Quinn Hughes to the New Jersey De-- okay, not really. The Vancouver Canucks and the New Jersey Devils will always be intrinsically linked together because of the Hughes brothers, but at this point in time, the two teams have more pressing things to deal with.
It has been reported that Nils Hoglander, who has mostly served as a fourth line forward this season, is drawing trade interest around the NHL. The problem, though, is that Hoglander has played fewer than 10 minutes in each of his last four games.
Hoglander just signed a three-year extension with the Canucks last month, but has quickly found himself outside of head coach Rick Tocchet's plans. Whether that is a short- or long-term issue remains to be seen.
Why Canucks trading Hoglander makes sense
So, here's the thing: the Canucks are up against the wall when it comes to cap space. At the time of this writing, the Canucks have just under $800k in cap space but have only 12 healthy forwards on the roster, including Hoglander.
If the Canucks were to move on from Hoglander and receive no players in return, they would be rid of his $1 million cap hit for the season and $3 million cap hit for the future. By replacing Hoglander with rookie Arshdeep Bains, the Canucks would create themselves nearly $200k in cap space.
Indeed, this is a nominal number, but it adds up when you need to call up a player from the AHL, like the Canucks have needed to after the Filip Hronek injury. Additionally, the more cap space the Canucks have during a given the day, the higher their daily accrual rate will be, which means they can continue to build towards the NHL trade deadline.
That freedom will only grow larger if and when players like Hronek, J.T. Miller, Derek Forbort, and Thatcher Demko return from their injuries.
Where the Devils fit into the equation
Although they have been one of the better teams in the NHL this season, the New Jersey Devils have some work to do when it comes to the bottom-six forward group. Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and the Devils' power play have mostly carried the team to its success, but the injury-decimated bottom-six has hardly produced.
Offseason additions Paul Cotter and Stefan Noesen have played well, but Noesen is now in the top-six and Cotter has cooled off from his blazing-hot start. Big-money winger Ondrej Palat has been a bit part contributor at best, and Erik Haula is a slow but effective two-way, bottom-six center.
In short, the Devils need some speed, some youth, and some offense in their lower ranks. Veteran forward Tomas Tatar left Friday night's game against Detroit with a lower-body injury, sidelining him with Curtis Lazar (knee) and Nathan Bastian (head). The Devils' entire fourth line from a month ago is out with injury.
Prying Hoglander from the Canucks would not only give the Devils an immediate dose of speed and injury relief, but a young depth piece who can continue to thrive with the current group of players in New Jersey. Hoglander is still only 24, and the Devils are likely to buy out or trade Palat after the season.
Plus, Bastian and Tatar are both on expiring contracts, which combine to be worth slightly more than the $3 million cap hit Hoglander will have when his contract extension kicks in in 2025.
The Devils were not among the teams reported, by name, to be interested in trading with the Canucks for Hoglander, but there should be motivation on both sides to get a deal done if there is mutual interest.