The first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft kicks off tomorrow and as expected, the trade rumours are starting to intensify.
All eyes are on Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, as it’s rumoured that the Los Angeles Kings are working to put together a package that gets the 2016 third overall pick out of Winnipeg.
Three Vancouver Canucks skaters have been listed on Frank Seravalli’s final pre-draft Trade Targets list over at DailyFaceoff.com. The list is an ever-changing one that Seravalli is constantly shifting around based on conversations he’s had with folks around the league behind the scenes. Here’s what he said about each Canuck on the 50-player list.
29. Tyler Myers
Right Defense, Vancouver Canucks
Age: 33
Stats: 78 GP, 1 G, 16 A, 17 Pts
Contract: 1 more season, $6 million AAV
Scoop: Myers is a trade that might not materialize right at the beginning of the summer – if at all. Keep an eye on the $5 million signing bonus due. The belief is Myers’ bonus is due to be paid in September, shortly before training camp, which would leave him with just $1 million in salary to be paid after that during the course of the regular season. For any team interested acquiring team, there’s little incentive to pick up that tab when you know the Canucks are on the hook for it. That means a trade could come together shortly after it’s paid, though it also makes him a heck of deadline commodity.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said last week that he expects Myers to be part of the team going forward, as the veteran defenceman has one year remaining on his contract at a cap hit of $6 million.
40. Conor Garland
Right Wing, Vancouver Canucks
Age: 27
Stats: 81 GP, 17 G, 29 A, 46 Pts
Contract: 3 more seasons, $4.95 million AAV
Scoop: Teams are led to believe that the Canucks think they have solved their salary cap issue by swallowing hard and executing the buyout of Oliver Ekman-Larsson. That may be true, but they’d also still likely want to move Garland if they can find a taker. They didn’t have an appetite to attach a real asset to Garland. Now the pressure is off. Garland, who played for Rick Tocchet in Arizona, is a scrappy but undersized winger who has struggled to find a comfortable fit in the Lower Mainland. With three years left at nearly $5 million, will a team take a flier?
Trading Conor Garland is another way the Canucks could create some cap flexibility. With Kevin Hayes going to St. Louis for a sixth round pick on Tuesday, any Garland trade likely doesn’t come with much of a return for Vancouver.
41. J.T. Miller
Center/Wing, Vancouver Canucks
Age: 30
Stats: 81 GP, 30 G, 52 A, 82 Pts
Contract: 7 more seasons, $8 million AAV
Scoop: The way Miller closed out the season under new coach Rick Tocchet, it’s easy to envision him in the Canucks’ opening night lineup in October. He posted 41 points in 35 games under Tocchet, who will have no problem managing Miller’s challenging locker room presence. Yet, we know that the Canucks were deep in talks with the Penguins to move Miller before the deadline. Those fizzled and now Pittsburgh’s regime has changed. Has that trade partner evaporated? How much will the Canucks push to move him before his “no-trade” clause kicks in on July 1? You have to allow for the possibility in a depressed free agent market that a team will covet Miller enough to make a play.
The Oliver Ekman-Larsson buyout means the Canucks are no longer desperate to create cap space. They also want to compete next year, so any trade involving Miller at this stage will need to make a ton of sense for the team. There’s a reason Miller is so low on the board, and that’s because the Canucks are perfectly fine keeping him if no team meets their reportedly high asking price.
