Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli joined Satiar Shah and Bik Nizzar on Canucks Central on Monday and shared what Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin and the club are doing behind the scenes on the trade market.
“They’re already making calls and trying to understand what the market looks like to improve this team’s defence,” Seravalli explained.
Having not even played 10 games this season, reports that the club is making calls for a defenceman goes to show their struggles on the back end.
Last season, Carson Soucy and Tyler Myers were a strong pair as they were trusted with shutdown Connor McDavid duty in the playoffs, with Soucy playing 51:13 minutes and Myers playing 68:49 minutes against him. They had relative success, holding him pointless at 5-on-5 in games three, four, five and seven. However, they’ve really struggled this season, which is reflected through the eye test and analytically.
Looking at Natural Stat Trick, Soucy and Myers rank as the bottom two defencemen in expected goals for percentage (xGF%) (41.66% for Myers and 32.59% for Soucy), scoring chances for percentage (SCF%) (44.12% for Myers and 36.84% for Soucy), and high-danger scoring chances for percentage (HDCF%) (48.94% for Myers and 37.50% for Soucy). Soucy has a team-worst minus-five rating, with Myers having the second-worst at a minus-two rating.
It’s clear the Canucks are in need of an upgrade on their second pairing. While Soucy has worse analytics, it’s Myers who might need the replacement on that pairing. The 34-year-old defenceman had a resurgence last year, but that may have been because the team was able to limit his minutes – averaging under 20 minutes for the first time in his Canucks tenure – due to their depth on the bottom pairing with Nikita Zadorov and Ian Cole.
But now, with the mixture of Erik Brännström, Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais, the team doesn’t have that luxury. So adding a top-four, right-shot defenceman – or a defenceman who can play the right side – might help tip the scale for the Canucks to officially become a contender. Let’s take a look around the league and see who might be available that the Canucks can target on the trade market.
Rasmus AnderssonTwo years x $4.55M contractNine games, 10 points, plus-three rating this season
Andersson, 28, is undoubtedly the most attractive name on this list, given his cap hit comes with an extra season with those point totals this season. However, with the Calgary Flames playing so well to start the season, an already bleak backend may not be too keen on moving their leading point scorer.
But again, the Flames weren’t expected to be good this year and were projected sellers coming into the season. Andersson’s name was floated around before the season started as a potential trade candidate, and once this team comes back down to earth, these rumours should start to heat up with the Flames looking to rebuild.
And to move off an offensive, puck-moving, right-shot defenceman would land any team a haul and help accelerate their rebuild. Now, why would the Flames trade a player of Andersson’s calibre within the division? Well, GM Craig Conroy wasn’t afraid to do that last year when he shipped Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov to Vancouver and Noah Hanifin to Vegas.
The Swedish defenceman quarterbacked the power play during the 2021-22 season when the Flames finished with the most points in the Western Conference, recording 50 points and a plus-30 rating. He’s also extremely durable, as he’s missed just seven games over a four-year span.
Adding him to the pairing with Carson Soucy would help elevate his analytics, as Andersson has a career above in xGF%, SCF% and HDCF%. The rumours were swirling about the Canucks needing to trade one of their top two prospects (Jonathan Lekkerimäki or Tom Willander); however, top prospects are rarely traded in today’s NHL. So a top pick plus a middling prospect might be able to help Vancouver land Andersson’s services.
Marcus PetterssonOne year x $4.03M contract11 games, six points, minus-four rating this season
Pettersson, 28, is another name that has been flying around the trade market lately. With one year left on his contract, playing on a Pittsburgh Penguins team that currently sits at a 3-7-1 record to start the year, Pettersson should definitely be moved.
Despite playing on a struggling team, the Swedish defenceman has great analytics. Pettersson is rocking a 54.99 xGF%, 53.42% SCF%, and a 54.62 HDCF% – ranking highest in GF% and HDCF% and second in SCF% of the Penguins blue liners. While being solid defensively, Pettersson’s not a net zero offensively either. Just last season, he posted his first 30-point season and finished with a plus-28 rating on a non-playoff team.
While he is mainly glued to the left side, he could give the Canucks some depth to help allow the Soucy-Myers pair to see more limited minutes and, hopefully, elevate their play to what we saw last season.
Matt GrzelcykOne year x $2.75M contract11 games, 5 points, minus-seven rating this season
Grzelcyk, 30, is mostly known for the offensive side of his game. He posted four straight seasons of 20-plus points, playing second-unit power play time and is rocking a career plus-130 rating.
However, defensively, he struggles. Sure, seeing plus-130 career rating is impressive, most of that was spent on a very Boston Bruins team. At 5-on-5, Grzelcyk has a 41.04% xGF%, 40.54% SCF%, 42.11% HDCF%. Not even sniffing the 50% mark in one category is alarming. But if we’re listening to the reports that the team wants to add puck-moving to the backend, he would help.
Like Pettersson, Grzelcyk is a Penguins defender with one year remaining on his contract and will likely move, considering how the Penguins have started the season. If the Canucks miss out on some big-name players and are looking for a more offensive defenceman who can help move the puck up the ice, Grzelcyk is their guy.
Ivan ProvorovOne year x $6.75M contractEight games, two points, plus-four rating this season
Provorov, 27, has had a decent start to the year. While he only has two points to show for it, being a plus-four rating on a Columbus Blue Jackets team that’s struggled defensively is impressive in its own right. He’s got an above 50% xGF% and SCF%, being on the ice for just six 5-on-5 goals against.
While being a predominant left-shot defenceman in Philadelphia, Provorov is playing the right side on the top pairing with Zach Werenski in Columbus, proving that he can perform well on either side. The Russian defenceman has played top pairing minutes most of his career, as he’s got a career average of 23:49 minutes of ice time per game.
That $6.75M is an expensive price tag. Surely the Canucks will need the Blue Jackets to retain a percentage of his contract, but in today’s NHL, that isn’t out of the ordinary, especially with the ability to have a third party retain salary. Of the eight defenceman trades from February on, four of them had salary retained.
Provorov would likely just be a one-year rental, but a high-end one at that. Playing him in a secondary role could maximize his upside and bring some high-level puck-moving to a bottom four that lacks on this current Canucks blue line. Columbus is having a good start to the year, but they’re very much in rebuild mode and likely selling their unrestricted free agents again this season.
Dante FabbroOne year x $2.5M contractSix games, zero points, minus-three rating this season
Fabbro, 26, looks like he needs a change of scenery. He’s struggling to stay in the Predators lineup, having already been a healthy scratch already in this young season. This is so confusing, considering when he is in the lineup, he usually slots on the top pairing with Roman Josi.
Analytically, Fabbro is solid, finishing above 50% in xGF% and SCF% in four of six seasons, and is on pace to do the same this season. Considering that the Predators trust him to play the top pairing, he should be able to fill a top-four role. Slotting him on the right side of
The Coquitlam, B.C. native has been involved in Canucks trade rumours throughout the past few seasons. Now that the Canucks need some help on the right side, could these rumours spark up again? Given the Predators are learning quickly that you can’t build a playoff team through free agency, they might need to sell off some of their younger assets to help make room for more established players for their playoff push.
Will BorgenOne year x $2.7M contract10 games, one point, minus-two rating this season
Borgen, 27, isn’t your typical household name, but he’s a solid under-the-radar defenceman. He had a career-high 25 points last season, is a competent puck mover and is strong in his own zone. Borgen averages just 16:18 minutes of ice time through his three-year Seattle Kraken career.
However, this season, he’s seeing less time at just 15:37 minutes, which could be a result of the emergence of Ryker Evans and bringing in fellow right-shot defenceman Brandon Montour. With his role slowly diminishing on the Kraken, they could look to move their pending free agent if they’re out of a playoff spot.
This shouldn’t be plan A for the Canucks. They should likely go with a more established defenceman for their playoff run rather than a top-four hopeful. However, given the opportunity, Borgen could be a solid backup option that the Kraken wouldn’t be too worried about trading within the division.
Honourable Mentions:
Vladislav Gavrikov and Nicolas Hauge stick out as names that could move, given they both have one year left on their contract. Both defencemen fit the bill as puck movers; however, with both teams looking to contend in the Pacific division, it doesn’t make sense for either team to bolster their competition for a playoff spot. Also, both players are left-shot defencemen, with only Hague showing the ability to play the right side. It’s not out of the question that either gets moved given their term. But to a division foe? Likely not.
Whether it’s one of these targets or another off-the-radar defenceman they acquire, the price tag might not be as big as it usually is. We just saw the Toronto Maple Leafs trade a 25-year-old defenceman for a third and sixth-round pick and a depth defenceman. Could the Canucks get as lucky in a similar move?
What do you think, Canucks fans? Which of these defencemen would you like to see the Canucks target to help their blue line?
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