Trade in the Works: Vancouver Canucks Scouts Keeping Close Eye on Pair of Eastern Conference Teams

The trade market around the National Hockey League has been pretty quiet so far, as is usually the case between the start of the regular season and American Thanksgiving, but talks are expected to pick up in the coming weeks and the Vancouver Canucks are hoping to be in the thick of things.

General Manager Patrik Allvin has been busy lately, bringin in a couple players since the season began including Lukas Reichel from the Chicago Blackhawks, as well as signing veteran forward David Kampf last weekend.

Despite those two additions and the eventual return of some injured players, including Teddy Blueger and Filip Chytil, Patrik Allvin isn't slowing down his search for more forward help.

Earlier this season, the Vancouver Canucks sent scout Patrick Leblond to watch a game between Montreal and Nashville likely to keep an eye on a player or two Patrik Allvin could eventually target later in the season ahead of the trade deadline.

As Patrik Allvin continues to evaluate his options on the trade market, it appears that the Canucks General Manager sent another on scouting mission this week to watch a pair of Eastern Conference clubs who may have exactly what he's looking for.

According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Vancouver Canucks were among 19 teams that sent a scout/representative to Thursday night's game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Taking a look at the Columbus Blue Jackets to start, there could be a couple players that Patrik Allvin may have his eye on early in the 2025-26 season.

The first player is forward Cole Sillinger, who was named as a possible trade target for the club during the offseason and has a connection to Vancouver as his dad, Mike, spent parts of three seasons with the Canucks in the late '90s.

Another player that Patrik Allvin could target is forward Yegor Chinakhov, who reportedly requested a trade in the offseason with his agent saying there was disagreements last year with Head Coach Dean Evason.

On the other side of the ice, the Toronto Maple Leafs, they're a tricky team to read at the moment because while they aren't off to a great start to the 2025-26 campaign, there's still a very good chance that they'll be in the mix for a playoff spot and won't be full fledged sellers at the deadline.

If anything, General Manager Brad Treliving could potentially look to move on from guys like Max Domi or Calle Jarnkrok, but it's unlikely that Patrik Allvin and the Vancouver Canucks would have any interest in those two.

One player that there's no doubt the Canucks would love to add to their group is Morgan Rielly, the 31-year-old Vancouver native, but it's unclear if he would even be available and if the Maple Leafs were to move on from the former fifth overall pick, it likely wouldn't happen until next summer at the earliest.