Vancouver captain, Quinn Hughes, encourages a Canucks trade for Chris Tanev, according to a report. Hughes wants Tanev back on his side.
On Wednesday's edition of Donnie and Dhali, Rick Dhaliwal explained the situation referring to the Canucks' captains desires.
"Chris Tanev is the interesting one for me, Donnie," Dhaliwal explained. "There's a tremendous respect for Tanev in the Vancouver organization top to bottom. Everybody loves the guy. You know Quinn Hughes loves him and Hughes has gone to bat for him this year. (Hughes) told management that Tanev is the guy you guys should target. Tanev loves Vancouver. I know for a fact that if he became a free agent on July 1st, Vancouver would be very, very, very high on his list of potential places to go. But, how do you get him out of Calgary?"
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Tanev is in the midst of a solid season despite the roller coaster year in Calgary. Further, Tanev is a former defense partner with Hughes in the Canucks captain's rookie season.
Currently, the Canucks don't have much cap space to work with. However, Carson Soucy is a candidate to hit long-term injured reserve. The Canucks defenseman suffered a hand injury as a result of a blocked shot and will miss five-to-six weeks' worth of action. The Canucks can free up Soucy's $3.25 million to give general manager Patrick Allvin wiggle room to work with to acquire Tanev's $4.5 million cap hit.
At first glance, it appears problematic to trade in division. However, if memory serves, the Canucks and Flames already connected on a deal involving defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Yet, the Flames are still relatively in the playoff hunt. They've lost their last three games, but sit just four points out of the wild card. They'll need to decide if they're buyers or sellers, and soon.
Regardless, Hughes wants Tanev back. Coming from the captain, that's a big deal. So, will we see a Canucks trade involving Tanev returning to where it all started for the veteran defenseman?