Vancouver Canucks 2024 NHL Trade Deadline live blog

Welcome to CanucksArmy’s official live blog of the Vancouver Canucks’ 2024 NHL Trade Deadline!

The last time the Vancouver Canucks were buyers at an NHL trade deadline, they ended up with a few handfuls of games with Tyler Toffoli before a global health crisis spoiled their plans.

Now, after three long years, they’re back with cash, picks and prospects to burn.

Throughout the day we’ll be providing updates on the trade market, what moves the Canucks are working on and which other movers and shakers could have an impact on the rest of Vancouver’s season.

How much more work do Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin have on their plate before the deadline hits noon? Will Jake Tyler Toffoli, Jason Zucker, or Frank Vatrano become Vancouver Canucks? And which current players have played their last game in the green and blue?

The Canucks were unwilling to part with their top prospects like Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Tom Willander, and this seems to have led to them losing out on the Jake Guentzel sweepstakes. With Guentzel off the board and officially a Carolina Hurricane, will we see something similar happen when it comes to Tyler Toffoli? He’s arguably the top trade target still available, slotting in at number one on Frank Seravalli’s Trade Targets board over at Daily Faceoff.

We’ll be at Rogers Arena all day long, and will be brining you up to the minute coverage right up until and past the 12 PM PT deadline! That means we’ll be here for Patrik Allvin’s press conference shortly after the deadline, so stay tuned for that!

Keep refreshing this page throughout the day for updates as they roll in.

Also be sure to check out the Daily Faceoff Trade Deadline Special at 8 AM PT, over on YouTube and the Game+ network on your TV!

The Golden Knights are the absolute villains of the NHL.

Here’s the complete deal, with the Knights adding Hertl and two third rounders.

The Sharks have decided to take the entire Pacific Division down with them in their quest for the bottom. How can the Golden Knights afford such an expensive contract when they have no cap dollars left? Mark Stone has been on LTIR since March 4, a move that the Knights have made in February/March in each of the last three seasons that definitely isn’t suspicious in any way!

The truth is the Knights are taking advantage of a rule that any team can use themselves, and that loophole would go away immediately if the NHL was willing to adopt a soft salary cap/luxury tax system where teams are free to spend as much as they like on players, albeit with a tax for every dollar over the cap ceiling that goes straight into shared league revenue. But until the other owners are willing to fork over real money to build a winner like Vegas is, then they’re just going to keep steamrolling the competition on days like today.

Well THAT was a letdown.

Nothing coming for the Vancouver Canucks today after days of rumours. They also elected not to sign Phil Kessel, leaving them one depth option shorter than previously anticipated.

I’m not saying today was a disaster for the Canucks, not by a long shot considering all the deals they made earlier. But considering the cost associated with some of their targets that they didn’t get, plus the knowledge that the previous deals weren’t enough to move the needle forward, this is definitely not the outcome anyone wanted.

Especially considering we haven’t finished finding out how much their rivals improved yet.

Here’s some of the stories we’ve missed so far.

Bruins deal for Ullmark falls apart: It’s possible that this team was the Kings. LA has been shopping P-L Dubois and the Bruins were apparently interested. The B’s had a deal for Ullmark but it was apparently nixed for geographical reasons.

Matt Dumba goes to the Lightning: The Bolts get some extra defensive depth while the Coyotes get to save cash through a trade instead of their original plan: feeding the players old gym mats for lunch.

Nothing seems super eminent for the Canucks now. A few names are being floated out there, and even the Kessel signing seems less like a foregone conclusion right now.

30 minutes, guys. You want to maybe do something?

This is the home stretch! Will the Canucks do anything? Or have they already wrapped up their business today? Be sure to keep refreshing this page throughout!

We have a goalie trade!

As a depth goaltending option, I like Jake Allen a lot. He’s got a lot of experience and has the potential to go on hot streaks every now and then. Where this deal loses me is how it actually helps the Devils, who already have three other goalies who fit the same description.

With Allen, Vitek Vanacek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmidt, New Jersey has four guys who’re all high quality backups, but none of them are legitimate starters. Jacob Markstrom was the netminder on the market the Devils needed most, and apparently that deal fell apart. Montreal walks away with a free third-round pick for their troubles after running a weird three-goalie system this year.

The Canucks have approximately 120 minutes to make any additions to their roster, and so far nearly every big name on the front office’s list has disappeared. There’s still the extra ace up their sleeve with Phil Kessel waiting for a contract in Abbotsford, but fans already see that as a foregone conclusion.

So far there’s been little noise coming out of the Canucks camp, aside from this tidbit from Rick Dhaliwal:

We’ll see who that player turns out to be if a deal goes through.

The Canucks might’ve run out of time again.

On one hand, I’m not too concerned the Canucks missed out on Jason Zucker. With just 25 points and a lot of hard miles on the 32 year-old, I don’t really see where he would’ve fit on the Canucks roster compared to a Toffoli or a Guentzel. But the time the Canucks might’ve spent trying to make a deal work only for him to go to Nashville could’ve been used elsewhere, and the clock is ticking.

The Predators have been scorching hot of late, winning nine of their last ten, and Zucker brings some depth help to a much less solidified forward group. But Nashville is a team with a plan as clear as mud, and the decision by GM Barry Trotz to buy at the deadline doesn’t make it any better. If there’s one thing we’ve learned in Vancouver, it’s that shooting for the middle gets you nowhere fast.

Remember when the Florida Panthers were only getting 7,000 fans through the turnstiles, couldn’t get players to play for them and were the team closest to relocating? Those days are very much over.

The Panthers added Vladimir Tarasenko from Ottawa earlier in the week to their already NHL-leading roster, and now they get a depth piece in former Sabres captain Kyle Okposo. Sabres’ GM Kevyn Adams seemingly wanted to give Okposo an opportunity to play postseason hockey again, but I’m curious if trading a key leadership guy in the middle of another lost season makes things harder for the Buffalo locker room down the stretch.

DAMMIT. CRAP. FU-er, I mean, that’s too bad.

Tyler Toffoli was the perfect player for what the Canucks needed at the trade deadline this year. A bonafide top-six forward who can create offence and isn’t a liability in his own end. Plus he already had an understanding of the Canucks’ system from his COVID-shortened stint here in 2020! But alas, it just wasn’t meant to be.

Meanwhile, the Jets are shaping up to be an absolute machine in the Central Division by adding Toffoli to their lineup. They’d already traded for another former Montreal Canadien, Sean Monahan, and seen immediate payoff; if Toffoli keeps up the scoring pace he’s had with the Devils, Winnipeg is going to make every Western Conference playoff opponent’s lives miserable.

Getting him for as low as a 2nd and a 3rd round pick at 50% retained salary(!!) is just icing on the cake, too. It’s impossible to believe that the Canucks couldn’t have offered a better deal for Toffoli than that. Out of all the missed opportunities today, this one is going to sting the most.

A trade target has come off the board, but that’s because Jordan Eberle isn’t going anywhere.

The Kraken were able to get Eberle to sign a two-year extension worth $9.5 million – $4.75 million AAV – at the eleventh hour, which leaves a few interested teams with one less option on their boards. The Oilers in particular were rumored to be interested in a reunion with their former 2008 first round pick, and the Canucks are probably thankful that Eberle won’t be bolstering their current biggest threat in the Pacific Division.

The Kraken haven’t had as successful a campaign as they did last season, but they get to keep one of their original players and are betting on some more forward momentum across the next two and a half years.

We have our first deal of the day nice and early!

The Hurricanes are loading up offensively this year, having already plucked the biggest trade target off the board last night in Jake Guentzel. How much Kuznetsov will actually be able to help on that after an awful season in Washington is anyone’s guess. But the Canes have a pretty good track record of buying low on depleted assets and getting something out of them, so maybe they’re the perfect place for Kuznetsov. Just don’t expect him to be a lot of help on defence.