Report: Vancouver Canucks want to free up $1-2 million in any Conor Garland trade

Earlier this week, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Conor Garland’s agent has been given permission to help facilitate a trade out of Vancouver.

On Saturday night, Friedman updated that report during his “Saturday Headlines” segment on Hockey Night in Canada.

“News out this week with Conor Garland and Vancouver that he’s been given permission to talk to other teams” Friedman began. “Vancouver tried to get it done before the season so that they wouldn’t have to play with 17 on opening night, not that it mattered, against the Oilers. Now it’s harder to predict the timeline because teams tend to wait and see what they’ve got before making moves, so it’s tougher to say when this is going to occur. Among the teams that have been reported to be interested — Columbus, Nashville, and Winnipeg — I do believe there are more. Vancouver has indicated that its goal here is to free up about $1-2 million more in cap room after any trade, and they prefer a defenceman in return.”

Here is the video version of Friedman’s report:

Garland was part of what many call one of the worst trades in Canucks history, when the Canucks traded Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, along with a first, second, and seventh round pick to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Garland and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. After acquiring him, former Canucks general manager Jim Benning handed Garland a five-year contract extension with an annual average value of $4.95 million.

Garland hasn’t been able to find a regular home in the Canucks’ top six forward group or on the team’s loaded first power play unit. Through 158 games with the Canucks over the past two seasons, Garland has tallied 36 goals and 62 assists for a total of 98 points.

It’s unclear if and when a trade will drop anytime soon. For now, Garland and the Canucks are set to face the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton’s home opener after the Canucks took home a shocking blowout 8-1 win in their home opener on Wednesday.