Young Blue Jackets Forward Emerges as Strong Option for Vancouver Canucks After Submitting Trade Request

The Vancouver Canucks had a pretty active summer on the free agent and trade front with Patrik Allvin adding players such as Evander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers and was able to bring Vitali Kravtsov back after spending the last two seasons in the KHL.

While Allvin and the Canucks' management group weren't able to check every box they had this summer, there's always an opportunity to add in-season, potentially after American Thanksgiving when team start getting a better picture on whether or not they could be in the mix for a postseason spot.

As training camp rolls along, an intriguing name remains available on the trade market and could potentially be an option for the Vancouver Canucks in the months ahead.

In mid-July, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov officially requested a trade after having some "misunderstandings" with Head Coach Dean Evason during the 2024-25 season.

The 24-year-old winger has dealt with injury issues in recent years and was limited to just 33 games last season - 30 in the NHL & three in the AHL - so teams might be hesitant on wanting to acquire him, which is likely a big reason as to why he hasn't been moved two months after requesting a trade.

Teams like the Vancouver Canucks, who could potentially use someone like Chinakhov in their bottom-six, will want to wait and see how he rebounds to start the 2025-26 season before even considering reaching out to the Blue Jackets to see what it would cost to land the Omsk, Russia native.

At this point, it seems unlikely that that Yegor Chinakhov will be moved before the calendar flips to 2026, despite interest from some teams including the Chicago Blackhawks and it wouldn't be a shock to anyone if this situation is put on the backburner until the NHL's trade deadline on Friday, March 6th.