In case you’ve been living under a rock, it wasn’t a great season for the Vancouver Canucks.

The club finished dead last in the NHL standings, was forced to trade captain Quinn Hughes in December, and dove into a rebuild, selling off multiple veteran players ahead of the trade deadline. That work is expected to continue this offseason and for the foreseeable future, with the Canucks’ new management group of Henrik and Daniel Sedin, with Ryan Johnson.

One thing it’d make sense for the new group to look at is whether they can sell off more pieces to add further to the Canucks’ pool of assets. So with that in mind, we thought it’d be a good time to take a quick look at which Canucks might have raised their trade value in 2025-26.

Without a doubt, Drew O’Connor is the Canucks forward who raised his trade value the most in 2025-26. After appearing a bit out of place and like he needed to get comfortable to begin the season, O’Connor quickly became one of the Canucks’ most consistent forwards, utilizing his trademark size and speed to the fullest. 2025-26 was year one of a two-year contract extension that the Canucks signed O’Connor to shortly after they acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Marcus Pettersson, in the trade that sent the first-round pick from the JT Miller trade to the Penguins.

That means that O’Connor is a pending unrestricted free agent at the end of next season. The Canucks will have the option to sign him to a contract extension on July 1st, but it would be a bit shocking for the Canucks’ new management group — that so far has preached patience and acknowledged the Canucks’ obvious need to stock up on more future assets — to sign a player who turns 28 in just a few weeks.

O’Connor’s 17 goals this past season ranked third on the Canucks, and his ability to play in all situations — including on the penalty kill — should make him an intriguing trade target for an NHL team looking to shore up their middle six forward group. Could a trade happen this offseason? Or will the Canucks keep O’Connor for the bulk of the season and make him one of their trade chips and an intriguing rental option for the 2027 Trade Deadline?

Filip Hronek more than proved he’s more than just Quinn Hughes’s defence partner in 2025-26. On the ice, he was the Canucks’ most consistent defenceman in all situations. Nobody ever questioned Hronek’s effort, even when it became clear the Canucks’ season wasn’t going anywhere. Off the ice, he became a leader and a strong voice in the locker room that the Canucks’ young players consistently raved about.

Prior to his resignation, ex-Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford consistently raved about Hronek, even sharing that Hronek would be on a shortlist to be the Canucks’ next captain. That would, in essence, make Hronek an untouchable asset. When Rutherford made those comments, we were quick to point out that naming Hronek captain would be a mistake, and nothing has changed there.

The simple fact of the matter is, the Canucks are still low on future assets. They need to develop Zeev Buium into an effective power play quarterback. Rebuilding teams don’t make one of their few valuable trade assets more difficult to move, and rebuilding teams also don’t limit the opportunities for their top prospects by giving those minutes to soon-to-be-29-year-olds.

Even with those points in mind, though, there’s no real rush for the Canucks to move off of Hronek. In fact, keeping him around for another year — maybe even two — to help guide the Canucks’ young defencemen during pivotal developmental years is a perfectly defensible plan of attack. It just needs to come with an understanding from top to bottom that the Canucks will prioritize developing their young D, and that things like power play time will be distributed accordingly.

Hronek is signed through the 2031-32 season to a $7.25 million cap hit that looks good now, and is only going to look better as the NHL’s salary cap continues to rise. His contract undoubtedly makes him an even more desirable asset for any acquiring team. Hronek’s contract also carries a no-movement clause, meaning he gets to control where he goes — or if he goes at all — if the Canucks want to get serious about cashing in on their most valuable trade chip at any point over the next few years.

Could Johnson and the Sedins trade Linus Karlsson? Theoretically, yes, they could. But Karlsson is a solid success story for the Canucks’ development system — that had Ryan Johnson as its face for the last number of years –, and the price teams would be willing to pay in a trade for a bona fide bottom-six winger likely makes the trade discussion a moot point.

But there’s no denying that Karlsson’s stock rose in 2025-26. He came into the season with a stated goal of making the Canucks’ roster and pushing his profile to the point where he could be considered as more than an NHL tweener, and Karlsson certainly did that.

After a standout season where he helped deliver the Abbotsford Canucks a Calder Cup championship in 2024-25, Karlsson tallied 15 goals and 20 assists through 79 NHL regular season games this past season. In January, the Canucks rewarded him with a two-year contract extension at $2.25 million annually.

Who do you think we missed from our list? Let us know in the comments section below!