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<\/a><\/p>\n\n Zeev Buium was the key piece in Vancouver\u2019s return for Quinn Hughes. (Andrew Mordzynski \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Good and young enough to be the centrepiece of a trade for a high-end player3. Tom Willander<\/p>\n
Willander hasn\u2019t tracked in the same starry way Buium has since he was drafted, but he\u2019s still a high-pedigree, right-handed defenceman playing regularly in the NHL and mostly holding up well. Willander doesn\u2019t have the same on-puck skills Buium has demonstrated both at the collegiate and NHL level, and wouldn\u2019t be widely viewed as a player with No. 1 defenseman or top-pairing upside on the trade market. That means he\u2019d hold less overall value than Buium, but would still be an extraordinarily attractive trade chip if he were made available.<\/p>\n
The unicorn rental4. Kiefer Sherwood<\/p>\n
Sherwood is the sort of trade asset teams very rarely possess. He\u2019s the sort of player that would make sense for 31 NHL teams to add, and even more unusually, because of his affordable $1.5 million expiring cap hit, all 31 NHL teams could very easily figure out how to add him in a trade.<\/p>\n
Sherwood\u2019s combination of playoff-ready toughness, one-shot scoring ability and affordability \u2014 and Vancouver could juice his value even further by retaining half of his cap hit, placing his cap hit well below the veteran minimum for an acquiring team \u2014 makes him an extremely valuable trade chip. That he would make sense for both teams that are ascending and in need of some doggedness, skill and experience (with the club perhaps allowing that team to negotiate an extension with Sherwood, further increasing the potential return) and for win-now contenders that wouldn\u2019t plan to re-sign him but would love to add him for a playoff run should only further enhance his trade value.<\/p>\n
The big, complicated acquisition for a team willing to take a home-run cut tier5. Thatcher Demko6. Jake DeBrusk<\/p>\n
The Canucks have no plans to trade Demko, but there\u2019s an argument to be made that he\u2019s an awkward fit for a team in Vancouver\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
As an asset, Demko combines a sky-high ceiling as a Vezina-calibre goaltender when he\u2019s healthy and an exceptionally low floor because of his checkered injury history. For a team that should be rebuilding like Vancouver (or \u201chybrid retooling,\u201d whatever), Vancouver isn\u2019t well-positioned to benefit from that ceiling \u2014 if Demko is at his absolute best in the first few years of his next deal, maybe the Canucks sneak into the playoffs and sewer their draft lottery odds. Given that, Vancouver isn\u2019t at a stage where they can afford to sit on an asset of Demko\u2019s quality in the event that he sustains another injury and depreciates significantly.<\/p>\n
Whatever we might think of the shape of this, a high-ceiling, low-floor player at such a valuable position is something a fringe top-10 NHL team would likely be willing to take a big, risky swing at on the trade market \u2014 and pay a solid price for the right to do so.<\/p>\n
Among Vancouver\u2019s late-20s forwards with term, DeBrusk would hold the most trade value. An elite skater with a track record of stepping up and scoring big goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs, DeBrusk is the sort of player profile teams typically value highly on the trade market. DeBrusk\u2019s trade value would be restrained, however, by the term remaining on his deal and his full no-move clause, which would likely limit the number of teams that could bid for his services to teams in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n
The \u2018Is he more Jack Eichel or Patrik Laine?\u2019 tier7. Elias Pettersson<\/p>\n
Pettersson\u2019s trade value is just about impossible to rank or gauge.<\/p>\n
Some teams would have zero interest, and there are teams that would probably still view him as a high-end reclamation project at a premium position. Those teams would likely be willing to part with some level of assets to add him to their lineup at the full freight of his long-term $11.6 million AAV contract.<\/p>\n
As good as Pettersson has been, and he\u2019s spent years as a superstar-level contributor, the recent track record would be heavily weighted by acquiring teams. Throw in the off-ice drama that has surrounded Pettersson over the past 18 months, the increasingly checkered injury history and an 18-month run during which he\u2019s struggled to make the sort of high-end impact we came to expect from Pettersson earlier on in his career, and his value would really be determined on a team-by-team basis. It would also be far lower than something Vancouver is likely to consider.<\/p>\n
For the purpose of our rankings, Pettersson is the ultimate polarized value asset. Some teams might view him as a potential Jack Eichel-like buy-low opportunity and would accordingly pay for the opportunity to try to realize that upside. Other teams, however, would surely view him as being a closer comparable to Patrik Laine and have little interest at all in rolling the dice regardless of the acquisition cost.<\/p>\n
The polarizing value tier8. Conor Garland9. Marco Rossi<\/p>\n
Two undersized forwards make up this tier, a testament to the way NHL teams value players.<\/p>\n
Size isn\u2019t everything in terms of on-ice effectiveness in hockey, but size matters a lot when it comes to exchange value on the trade market. And various teams have different levels of risk tolerance in rolling the dice on undersized players and paying for the opportunity to do so on the trade market.<\/p>\n
Though Garland has a long-term extension that kicks in for next season, he\u2019s also a bona fide top-of-the-lineup player and has a proven track record of production.<\/p>\n
Rossi would likely be able to net a decent return on the trade market. Remember, however, that it was the Canucks themselves who reportedly balked at sending the Minnesota Wild a first-round pick and a pair of additional assets with mid-round value for Rossi last summer. That speaks volumes about Rossi\u2019s overall trade value.<\/p>\n