Up against mounting struggles and injuries, the Vancouver Canucks make firm trade decision with $51M forward
Photo credit: Bob Frid - Imagn Images.
A National Hockey League insider has revealed which members of the Vancouver Canucks the team has zero interest in trading before the deadline in early March.
It's a new era for the Vancouver Canucks organization as earlier this month, both General Manager Patrik Allvin and President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford declared that the club is planning to undergo a rebuild and that they're officially open for business on the trade market.
"But prior to this, we already made the decision that we were going to go with younger players. Over the past few years, our staff has done a good job and we have a number of good young players, whether they're in our lineup now or close to getting in our lineup. And those players are going to get a chance to play. Based on the circumstances with this team, this is the year to do it. The fact of the matter is we're in a rebuild." Rutherford said this month.
The decision to rebuild wasn't an easy one, but it was necessary as the club is on the verge of missing out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven seasons and leading up to the trade deadline on March 6th, Allvin and Rutherford are hoping to make some big moves to set the organization up well for the future.
Insider reveals which players the Vancouver Canucks don't want to trade
On Thursday, National Hockey League insider David Pagnotta was a guest on Sekeres and Price where he gave several updates on the Vancouver Canucks, from rumors about which teams may be interested in Evander Kane to other players like Jake DeBrusk and Drew O'Connor.
During his appearance on the show, Pagnotta mentioned that the Vancouver Canucks have four players on their roster that they're not willing to part with whatsoever before the trade deadline - forward Brock Boeser, defensemen Tyler Myers & Filip Hronek, along with goaltender Kevin Lankinen.
Aside from Boeser, Myers, Hronek and Lankinen, Pagnotta said that the Canucks are willing to move on from anyone, which presumably includes players like Elias Pettersson and Thatcher Demko, although the latter's season-ending injury likely puts a halt to that.
Pagnotta's report comes just weeks after Jim Rutherford revealed in an interview with Patrick Johnston of The Province that the Vancouver Canucks are willing to listen to offers on anyone.
"We may end up saying no to offers, certainly, but we're not going to say no to having conversations about any player. This is about improving this team without taking shortcuts." Rutherford said.
The trade deadline is still 35 days away, so a lot can happen between now and then, but expect those four players, especially Filip Hronek, to remain with the Vancouver Canucks beyond 12 p.m. PT on March 6th.
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Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily