NHL
2026 NHL
Trade Deadline
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16m ago
There's interest in Conor Garland, and Vancouver has some level of motivation to move the veteran playmaking winger. Derek Cain / Getty Images
It’s nearly time for NHL hockey operations groups to put their pencils down.
The trade deadline arrives on Friday at noon Pacific Time, and this is a critical trade deadline for seller teams like the Vancouver Canucks and for Stanley Cup contenders (and dark-horse hopefuls) alike.
The Canucks have been a motivated seller for months and have accomplished a fair bit of business since trading Quinn Hughes in mid-December. Vancouver has also sold Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks for a pair of second-round picks, and this week sent Tyler Myers to Dallas for second- and fourth-round picks.
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Vancouver remains intent on concluding some additional business before the deadline passes, although this market has been late developing and has evolved unpredictably.
When Vancouver first sent out a memo informing NHL teams that they were willing to listen on just about everybody (save for Filip Hronek) in November, the Eastern Conference standings were condensed to an unprecedented degree, and the floor hadn’t yet fallen out from under the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames. The Canucks, effectively, were the only motivated seller open for business.
As recently as the Olympic break, the NHL trade market had very few sellers. Over the course of this week, however, a variety of teams — like the Nashville Predators, Toronto Maple Leafs and even the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals — have entered the fray at the last moment.
That’s shifted the dynamic for all of the NHL clubs, as teams scramble to re-explore various trade options prior to the deadline. From a Canucks specific perspective, where we might’ve thought that some of Vancouver’s pending unrestricted free agent players would serve as an option B or C for some teams waiting to see what the market may bear at the trade deadline, the late arrival of a variety of other, more valuable pieces has pushed some of those players to option D or option E.
It may yet serve to make it so that Vancouver is unable to move some of its pending unrestricted free agents at all.
Having worked the phones on Thursday afternoon, here’s what I’m hearing about where the Canucks stand in the final hours leading into the NHL trade deadline.
Prior to the Olympic break, the Canucks were pointedly listening on everybody, but were not proactively attempting to move their veteran players.
Something has shifted, however, in the two weeks since players returned from the break. Vancouver has become more proactive.
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According to both team and league sources, Vancouver’s priority in the final hours before the trade deadline passes is twofold. First and foremost, the club wants to acquire as many good young assets as possible and understands that, in all likelihood, that’s going to arrive in the form of draft picks.
Adding as many of these types of “good young assets” is the club’s primary focus on deadline day.
The secondary goal, however, is to “clean up” the club’s holdings for the future. This is an organizational goal with three sides to it.
First off, the club wants to reduce its overall contractual burden. Some of this may be achievable prior to the trade deadline, some of it may have to wait until the offseason. In any event, the club’s appetite for moving players in their late 20s or early 30s with term remaining on their deals (and some form of no-trade or no-move protection) has shifted in the final days prior to the deadline, and the club is actively exploring its options on a number of fronts with this in mind.
Secondly, the club wants to create as much flexibility under the 50-contract limit as possible. The thinking is that sending out veteran players will provide opportunity on the Canucks roster for the purpose of playing younger players more down the stretch, and for recruiting NCAA free agents.
Thirdly, there’s the culture shift angle. Management, it seems, is now eager to shift the tone and tenor of the locker room. The Canucks, it seems, have been more willing over the past two weeks to explore angles and trade possibilities with some veteran players in mind than they were prior to the Olympic break.
That dynamic could also shape Vancouver’s moves on trade deadline day.
League sources described winger Conor Garland to The Athletic as being very much “in play” on the trade market in the final hours prior to the NHL trade deadline.
On Thursday night, Garland was dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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Selling Garland was less about his abilities as an individual contributor and less about ducking his no-move clause, which kicks in on July 1, and more about Vancouver leaning into leaguewide interest in Garland and cleaning up its books overall with an eye toward long-term planning.
Of note, as the Garland deal illustrates, while the Canucks have no interest in retaining on any players signed to long-term contracts to facilitate a trade, the club will take back money to make the cap math work if necessary. It’s not Vancouver’s preference, but scenarios that involve taking back a contract with term as part of a Garland deal have been discussed at length. It’s not something the Canucks are opposed to as a blanket rule, depending on the player involved, according to team sources.
Make no mistake, the Canucks absolutely value Teddy Blueger as both a player and as a person.
The 31-year-old defensive centre has a longstanding relationship with general manager Patrik Allvin and president Jim Rutherford, who have known him since their shared time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Blueger is a solid, hardworking pro. Moving him wouldn’t even be a consideration if Vancouver were in the mix and battling for a playoff spot.
The Canucks, however, are in 32nd place and firmly in a rebuilding effort. As the deadline approaches, and despite reports that the club could consider an extension for him, its strong preference is to net quality assets in exchange for his services before the deadline passes.
Of Vancouver’s three pending unrestricted free agents, unsurprisingly, Blueger is drawing the most interest. His penalty killing utility and reputation as a teammate and competitor are buoying his value.
However, the prospect of extending Blueger prior to the trade deadline is a non-starter, according to team sources. If the club can’t find a deal that matches the price it has set for Blueger, that would be one thing, and perhaps the Canucks could keep him in that instance.
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An extension isn’t in the works or even being discussed ahead of the trade deadline, though. If Blueger doesn’t move, there’d be time for those conversations later on. And of course, even then, there’s no guarantee that Blueger re-signs.
The market remains lukewarm for Evander Kane as the deadline approaches. There have been teams throughout this process that have expressed some interest in the player, but several of those teams have already traded for other players.
Vancouver remains willing to retain half of Kane’s $5.15 million cap hit to facilitate a trade. This one is coming down to the wire, however, and as the music slows, it’s not exactly clear if there’s a seat that will remain for Kane.
There appears to be little material interest in David Kämpf, but the Canucks will obviously consider moving him if they’re able to return an asset.
Of note for players like Kämpf is that the 23-man roster limit lifts at 9 p.m. PT on Thursday. On both Kämpf and Kane, the Canucks appear to be hopeful that a playoff-bound team may consider adding them as depth once the roster limit permits them to carry additional players.
The transition rules, by the way, also now permit teams to utilize five recalls from the AHL after the NHL trade deadline (one more than the league used to permit in previous seasons).
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Thomas Drance covers the Vancouver Canucks as a senior writer for The Athletic. He is also the co-host of the Canucks Hour on Sportsnet 650. His career in hockey media — as a journalist, editor and author — has included stops at Canucks Army, The Score, Triumph Publishing, the Nation Network and Sportsnet. Previously, he was vice president, public relations and communications, for the Florida Panthers for three seasons. Follow Thomas on Twitter @ThomasDrance
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