Rick Dhaliwal was on Sekeres and Price earlier this week and revealed valuable information regarding the Canucks' plan heading into the draft. Obviously, he stated that the Canucks were attempting to create cap space, but he once again linked the Canucks to Alexis Lafreniere. The former 1st overall pick has not yet played up to the expectations in the Rangers' superstar-filled forward group, and there's a high level of chance that Chris Drury (Rangers' GM) will try and shake things up in the Big Apple.
Dhaliwal continued and listed the four players that may be on the move in order to create the desperately needed cap space. Tyler Myers and Conor Garland were obviously on top of this list. Even though Brock Boeser rescinded his trade request it's expected that he will be popping up in different talks. He completed with J.T. Miller, the $8M dollar forward can only be moved until July 1st and he thinks the Canucks are not done listening to offers for their number 9.
While the addition of Lafreniere may seem tempting, the related cost will be the determining factor on whether or not he's worth the risk. It's worth mentioning that Emilie Castonguay was his agent prior to taking on the AGM role in Vancouver, creating an automatic lien between the two.
While it wouldn't be a surprise if either one of Myers, Garland, or even Boeser would be moved, it's hard to think the Canucks really want to cut ties with Miller after what he's accomplished since Tocchet came on board. Tocchet clearly stated that Miller bought into his philosophy and it clearly paid off for both parties, if they intend on being playoff competitive next year, do you really want to split with this kind of player?
