How the NHL trade deadline hurt the Canucks

If there is one contending team in the Western Conference that did next to nothing to help themselves at the NHL trade deadline, it was the Vancouver Canucks. Sure, Vancouver made a big trade roughly 40 days before the deadline when they brought in Elias Lindholm. But he’s since been a bust, and there were plenty of arguments to make as to why Vancouver should have just sent him somewhere else and tried again with another ‘buy.’

While the Canucks refused to add talent to their lineup, teams like their division rivals in Vegas and Edmonton were doing all they could to make their respective teams better, especially Vegas. The Canucks stood idle, and doing so was the last thing this team needed. 

Canucks stick with Elias Lindholm at NHL trade deadline hurts the team

Elias Lindholm has seven points and four goals across his first 16 games, and he’s been a shell of the player he was in Calgary. Even if Vancouver decided to keep Lindholm, it still would have been wise to trade for some insurance. But nope, a team that lost more than they won in February thought it was a good idea to stand pat at the deadline, even with their hot start to March, where they have outscored opponents 7-3.

Overall, it was a disappointing deadline season for the Canucks and their fans, and for a team that surprised many throughout the season, one would have expected general manager Patrik Allvin to have at least added some depth by the eighth. 

That wasn’t meant to be, so now Canuck fans are left to hope Allvin’s inactivity at the deadline won’t cost them down the stretch and, ultimately, in the playoffs. Starting tonight, we will see if Allvin was correct to keep everything as is at the deadline when the Canucks square off against one of the NHL’s hottest teams, the Winnipeg Jets.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference, information provided by Cap Friendly)