For the first time in three years, the Vancouver Canucks actually made trades on deadline day.

Patrik Allvin wrapped up his deadline with two minor deals, trading David Kämpf and Lukas Reichel in separate deals in return for sixth-round picks.

Pending unrestricted free agents Teddy Blueger and Evander Kane, however, remain with the Canucks post-deadline.

“The market today was very unpredictable,” Allvin said after the deadline. “I didn’t get any offers [for Blueger and Kane], so I was a little bit surprised there. Those two guys have been playing really well for us.”

That is surprising considering Kämpf, who most would consider a lesser bottom-six centre, was traded. Other bottom-six centres around the league like Scott Laughton, Nic Roy, and Jason Dickinson were also moved before the deadline.

Allvin on Blueger and Kane:

“Teddy has been here for a couple of years now and is a good player on the ice and a good player off the ice for us as well.

“And Evander Kane is a veteran player in the league.”

— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) March 6, 2026

Of course, Allvin made biggest deals done before the deadline. That included the Quinn Hughes and Kiefer Sherwood trades from earlier in the season, along with the Tyler Myers on Wednesday and Conor Garland on Thursday.

The Canucks GM also explained why the team took a 2028 second-round pick back from the Blue Jackets in the Garland trade, when the Blue Jackets had a 2026 second rounder available (which belonged to the St. Louis Blues).

“We’re in the rebuild period,” he said. “It gives us more flexibility moving forward over the next couple of years, if we want to use some draft capital to add players or use them for draft picks as well.”

While the Canucks were able to offload veterans with term like Myers and Garland, Allvin was asked about the possibility of trading some of his other veterans, potentially at the draft.

“We’ll definitely listen to it if it makes sense,” he said. “At this point, we’re very pleased to continue to work with those guys.

“We need some older, veteran, established players here to help our franchise. And those guys are good players, so they are excited to be here. They want to be here.”

Allvin was also asked by Daily Hive if there was any consideration in trying to shop his veteran defencemen, such as Marcus Pettersson and Filip Hronek, after seeing some of the lucrative returns for veteran defencemen prior to the deadline.

“[Teams] were poking around,” he said.

There’s no doubt that Hronek, in particular, has been the Canucks’ best player this season. But, after seeing the returns for players like John Carlson, Justin Faulk, and MacKenzie Weegar, there shouldn’t be much doubt that Hronek might have fetched more, if he were willing to waive his no-movement clause.

After the deadline, Allvin tried to explain why fans should look forward to next.

“Think the fans should be happy and excited that we’re not starting from scratch here,” he said. “We got some good pieces on the ice right now that have been performing really well.”

It’s hard not to feel like the Canucks aren’t starting from scratch, considering that they had playoff aspirations this season, and then admitted that this was a “hybrid retool” just days after the Hughes trade.

At least the team did make true rebuilding moves prior to the deadline, even if it wasn’t to the extent that some fans were hoping for.

With the deadline in the books, the Canucks now have 10 picks heading into the 2026 NHL Draft. That’s the most draft picks they’ve had since the NHL went back to seven rounds at the draft in 2005.