Canucks trade Dane Fox to Carolina Hurricanes

The Canucks made a trade!

It was announced earlier that Vancouver has traded forward Dane Fox to the Carolina Hurricanes for future considerations. 

At this time, there are no details on what the future considerations are.

As part of the AHL trading deadline today, the Canucks also assigned Blair Jones to Charlotte, and TJ Hensick was assigned to Utica by Carolina.

Just to clarify first, although the NHL trading deadline has passed, teams are still able to make trades. Earlier this week Boston traded Zach Phillips to St Louis, and then there is this transaction. It just means that the players moved are unable to participate in the NHL playoffs. However, these players are able to appear in the remainder of the AHL regular season and playoffs.

With the trade, Dane Fox was also recalled to Carolina’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte. Which is great news for him personally, as he had only appeared in one AHL game this season for Utica. He has done well in the ECHL this season with 50 points (26-24-50) in 53 games, which includes a four goal game this weekend. His biggest weakness is his skating and he may never be able to improve it enough to be an NHL player, but being an AHL regular isn’t out of the question. When looking at comparable players, only 3.14% went onto become NHL regulars. So the odds were heavily stacked against him.

On the positive side he has shown the ability to be a good scorer at the OHL & ECHL levels, and he shoots a lot, which is generally a good sign. I think the ‘Dane Fox Hype Train’ got a little out of control at times:

Obviously former GM Mike Gillis like Fox, as he was the one who signed him. But Fox saw a explosion in offence in 2013-14, when he was playing with some guy named McDavid and was an overage player. 

It was clear that GM Jim Benning wasn’t impressed with Fox and given that he was a pending RFA, it was only a matter of time before they cut ties.

From the Canucks perspective, the move makes sense as it opens up another contract spot for them. With the NCAA UFA season beginning soon, and the CHL seasons concluding within the coming weeks, it’s a safe assumption that the Canucks hope to be active. Given that, at least the Canucks give themselves the option of another contract going forward, let’s hope they don’t use it for another Dane Fox.