3 Ways the Vancouver Canucks can Acquire More Draft Picks

The list of teams that the Vancouver Canucks have been bested by at the draft since Jim Benning took the job as General Manager is a short one. That’s the advantage to having a master scout running the show.

That’s why Canucks fans get frustrated when the club they cheer for surrenders draft picks in trades, much like they did when they acquired Erik Gudbranson. In the wake of that trade, Vancouver has but two selections in the first hundred picks. That’s less than ideal for a club that should probably be rebuilding and just finished their season in third-last place.

I wouldn’t write off the Canucks addressing this in the coming week, though. There are a few different ways they could bolster their position in the top half of the draft and I’ll try and touch on three such options on the other side of the jump.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. The easiest way for the Canucks to replenish their picks is by trading down from fifth overall. It’s likely an option they’ve already entertained internally. A lot of this is contingent on the Edmonton Oilers plans with fourth overall. Particularly whether they take Pierre-Luc Dubois or leverage the fourth overall selection to a team that will in their stead.

The Canucks need to address the long-term health of the centre position in their organization. Bo Horvat is shattering expectations but still doesn’t project as a first line centre. If Dubois isn’t available for Vancouver, perhaps they take a step back and accrue more picks for the opportunity to select one of the second-tier centres. Between Logan Brown, Clayton Keller and Tyson Jost, there has to be someone the Canucks envision as a part of their long-term plan.

Interestingly enough, between fourth and fifth overall is where the advantage shifts from the team trading up to the one trading down. The Canucks would hold a slight probabilistic advantage of finding impact NHL’ers if they were to go this route. 

For teams that are looking to contend immediately, they’ll surrender almost anything to rid themselves of bad contracts. The Carolina Hurricanes already exploited the Chicago Blackhawks need to rid themselves of Bryan Bickell’s contract, acquiring Teuvo Teravainen alongside the albatross for pennies on the dollar. The New Jersey Devils turned AHL fodder into Marc Savard’s contract and a second-round pick. If you’re willing to take a short-term hit, there’s usually a long-term gain on the horizon.

There are still plenty of bad, onerous contracts to go around. If the Canucks are willing to bite the bullet and absorb salary, they’re going to reap a healthy reward for the trouble. A few players come to mind. Perhaps they take on Pavel Datsyuk’s contract, with one year remaining and a cap hit of $7.5-million, in exchange for some mid-round picks and/or a prospect or two.

That’s the most obvious option that comes to mind. Surely there are a few more bad contracts out there for the Canucks to plunder — at a cost.

The Arizona Coyotes just acquired the rights to Alex Goligoski from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a fifth-round pick. Basically, they surrendered a late-round pick just for the privilege of negotiating with Goligoski before he hits the open market. That’s the price for two weeks exclusivity with a high-end unrestricted free agent. The Canucks don’t have a player of Goligoski’s mettle on their way to market, but they do have Dan Hamhuis. If Goligoski is worth a fifth, perhaps the Canucks can get a sixth or seventh for Hamhuis.

The Canucks also have some middle to bottom of the lineup players that could fetch a pick or two. If they can secure a mid-round pick for Alexandre Burrows, for example, that has to be considered a win for the Canucks. There’s also Andrey Pedan. The restricted free agent is running out of space on the Canucks lineup and that’s assuming they don’t re-sign Hamhuis or bring in another free agent defenceman. Similarly, they could create space for Pedan by trading Luca Sbisa.