{"id":498219,"date":"2026-02-25T09:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498219\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:03:17","slug":"canucks-brace-for-changes-ahead-of-trade-deadline-that-could-cut-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498219\/","title":{"rendered":"Canucks brace for changes ahead of trade deadline that could cut deep"},"content":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER \u2014 As the Vancouver Canucks<\/a> open an extended final act in their Greek tragedy of a season, it is not the 25 games remaining that are the most pressing number to them but the 10 days until the National Hockey League\u2019s trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Far beyond the point of no return in their franchise\u2019s biggest rebuild this century \u2014 and perhaps ever \u2014 the Canucks will continue to offload experienced NHL players in return for draft picks or prospects.<\/p>\n

There are more trade lists on the internet these days than wish lists in Santa\u2019s mailroom at Christmastime, and all of them seem to include multiple Canucks.<\/p>\n

The obvious ones are forwards Teddy Blueger<\/a>, Evander Kane<\/a> and David Kampf \u2014 players eligible for unrestricted free agency who were declared by Canucks management back in November to be available to other teams.<\/p>\n

But the lists go well beyond these three. Look around and you\u2019ll see Conor Garland<\/a> and Jake DeBrusk<\/a> frequently mentioned, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. Even players that general manager Patrik Allvin has little interest in trading, like Filip Hronek, pop up in media conjecture.<\/p>\n

We wonder at times if enough players will survive the rebuild for the Canucks to even have a team next season, although it could scarcely perform worse than this one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying I’ve done this before,\u201d DeBrusk, two seasons into a seven-year contract in Vancouver, told reporters after Tuesday\u2019s practice at Rogers Arena, \u201cbut obviously when you’re in a position where you\u2019re last place in the league, you know there’s going to be changes. So, you know, it’s tough. It’s tough on guys. Obviously, it’s on everyone’s mind. And nowadays with, you know, Twitter, social media and different outlets or different rumours, whatever, it’s a little more heightened, especially on a team like ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chatter?\u201d Kane said. \u201cI think in this city there seems to be chatter 365 days a year, 24\/7. I\u2019m shocked how many hours of sleep some guys can get. Whether you\u2019re here for one year or here for 10 years, there\u2019s always chatter. It\u2019s part of the territory around here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for most pending UFAs on a team that’s basically out of the playoffs, you know, you\u2019d welcome an opportunity to extend your season past the regular season. Is it easy? Is it hard? I mean, it’s just the nature of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearing the end of what appears to be a one-and-done season in his hometown, Kane said he would \u201cwelcome\u201d an opportunity to go to a playoff team.<\/p>\n

Blueger, on the other hand, would love to remain with the Canucks beyond this season, his third with the team. But he said Tuesday there has been no mention from management about another contract here.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife and I have talked about it, so we\u2019re at peace with whatever happens,\u201d Blueger told Sportsnet. \u201cWe\u2019d love to stay. We love the city. But if something happens, hopefully you\u2019re going to a playoff team that has a chance to go on a run. But there\u2019s no point stressing about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was talk that I was getting traded last summer and nothing happened. And when I was traded (to Vegas from Pittsburgh in 2023), I never heard anything before it happened. It helps that I\u2019ve been through it before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garland was traded to the Canucks by the Arizona Coyotes in a summer blockbuster nearly five years ago and, except for a couple of quiet weeks last season, has been hearing his name in trade rumours ever since.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m fortunate, you know, that I’ve matured since my younger days here (when I was) 25, 26 and let the distractions get to me and kind of affect my game,\u201d Garland, 29, told reporters on Monday. \u201cBut I’m older now. I have a family, so I\u2019m not really on my phone or watching TV much with my son. We just kind of play mini-hockey all day and hang out. So I\u2019m very fortunate to have distractions in my life that are always positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"3232 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n

Latest episode<\/a><\/p>\n

The Canucks don\u2019t \u201cwant\u201d to trade Garland, a consistent, relentless play-driver year after year and, with Blueger, one of Vancouver\u2019s best forwards going into the Olympic break.<\/p>\n

But hockey operations president Jim Rutherford has made it clear the Canucks must be open to all trade possibilities so, as is the case with DeBrusk (or anyone), it\u2019s a matter of how badly another team might want to acquire Garland.<\/p>\n

Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin will probably take whatever they can for their UFAs before March 6, maybe third- or fourth-round picks for Blueger and Kane and something less for Kampf. But they can be more patient or demanding when it comes to other veterans with term on their contracts.<\/p>\n

All of this, of course, makes it complicated for coach Adam Foote to prepare the team, which plays the first of its final 25 games Wednesday at home against the Winnipeg Jets.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, but what hasn’t this year, right?\u201d Foote joked about the complications. \u201cLike you said, it\u2019s just part of the deal. It’s what you sign up for. We’ve had our share of all that this year, but it’s our job to just keep going every day, day by day.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day is different and you just keep grinding. And that’s what we do. We’re going to have some more noise… with the trade deadline. And these guys are pros, they know. It never felt good when I was a player knowing the trade (deadline was coming), even when you felt safe. Just that feeling, you never know. But that’s part of the business and, you know, the guys understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think guys are keeping it very professional,\u201d Blueger said, \u201cand focusing on trying to win as many games as we can, trying to build for next year. Morale takes a hit sometimes with all the losing \u2014 more than it does from any uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

ICE CHIPS \u2014 After six practices to end the Olympic schedule break, the Canucks will be looking forward to hitting another team\u2019s players on Wednesday. There was a practice altercation Tuesday between Garland and defenceman Elias Pettersson (Junior), just as there was a skirmish Monday involving Hronek and Nils Hoglander… With goalie Kevin Lankinen unable to return to Vancouver from the Olympics in time to practise, the Canucks are expected to start Nikita Tolopilo on Wednesday… After practising in a non-contact jersey Monday, Boeser was a full participant on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

CANUCKS PROJECTED POST-OLYMPICS LINEUP<\/p>\n

Forwards
Kane-Pettersson-DeBrusk
O\u2019Connor-Rossi-Boeser
Ohgren-Blueger-Garland
Hoglander-Kampf-Karlsson<\/p>\n

Defencemen
Pettersson (Jr)-Hronek
Buium-Myers
M. Pettersson-Willander<\/p>\n

Goaltenders
Tolopilo
Patera<\/p>\n

Extras
Sasson, Raty, Joseph<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER \u2014 As the Vancouver Canucks open an extended final act in their Greek tragedy of a season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-498219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}