Trade incoming? Vancouver Canucks strongly linked to Buffalo Sabres star as trade talks continue to heat up

The Vancouver Canucks have been keeping their eye on the trade market in recent weeks as Patrik Allvin looks for help for the team's forward group amid their injury issues.

Following a recent report suggesting that the Vancouver Canucks have made veterans available, it's unclear if Patrik Allvin's attention has now shifted to futures rather than immediate help, but if that happens to be the case, there's going to be some interesting younger players he could target leading up to March 6th.

Among those that the Vancouver Canucks will have to dangle in trade talks ahead of the deadline are all of their pending unrestricted free agents, including the team's leading goal scorer Kiefer Sherwood, who will more than likely will net the club a decent return, potentially even a young former first round pick.

During a recent edition of Donnie & Dhali, NHL insider Rick Dhaliwal says that he was told the Vancouver Canucks really like Buffalo Sabres forward Zach Benson, who is off to strong start with nine assists in ten games.

Patrik Allvin and the Vancouver Canucks scouting staff are quite familiar with Zach Benson as he's someone they watched quite a lot during his draft year in 2022-23 with the Western Hockey League's Winnipeg Ice.

There's no question that Benson was on Vancouver's radar leading into the draft and may have been on their draft board as a potential target with the 11th overall pick, but Allvin opted to go with Swedish defenseman Tom Willander instead.

The Chilliwack, British Columbia native had a seamless transition from junior hockey to the NHL and hasn't needed a stint in the American Hockey League, with the 20-year-old registering 67 points (21 goals, 46 assists) and 102 penalty minutes in 156 games.

While there's no indication that the Buffalo Sabres would want to move on from Zach Benson anytime soon, given Vancouver's reported interest in him, it would make a ton of sense for Patrik Allvin to ask about him if the two teams were to engage in trade talks in the coming months.

Buffalo is looking to break a 14-year postseason drought and perhaps someone like Kiefer Sherwood could be of interest to them and if so, there's a good chance Zach Benson's name may come up as part of the return.