On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal discussed the Vancouver Canucks’ decision to stand pat at the trade deadline, failing to make any moves despite weeks of speculation and the team sitting on the playoff bubble.

“I want to be shocked, but I’m not,” said Harm. “I was nervous about the organization not doing the right thing this deadline week. They’re on the bubble of a playoff spot- would they be willing to pull the trigger on selling their pending UFAs? We’ve talked so often about how you can’t keep Brock Boeser as your own rental. It’s got to be one or the other: extension or trade. It’s so disappointing to see them not commit to selling, especially when you look at the Bruins in comparison.”

Harm pointed to Boston’s moves as an example of a team making tough decisions despite still being in the mix for a playoff spot.

“The Bruins are three points out of a playoff spot, still hanging around, and they traded the heart and soul of their team in Brad Marchand. The return wasn’t great, which is a separate point, but they committed to moving him, along with Trent Frederic, Brandon Carlo, and Charlie Coyle, for a haul.”

“For the Canucks, there was no expectation to gut the core entirely,” Harm continued. “It was either trade or extend Brock, but pick one decisive path. And with this shaping up as a seller’s market, you had to cash in on Pius Suter as well. The expectations weren’t that high- this isn’t rocket science.”

Beyond just missing the opportunity to collect assets, the Canucks also lost out on leveraging their available cap space.

“It’s been a mess of a year,” said Harm. “You look at the race in the Western Conference where every top contender has loaded up; this team isn’t going anywhere this year. For them to punt on the opportunity to recoup assets- and again, this wasn’t with the idea of rebuilding, it was about getting assets and leveraging them with offseason cap space to ice the best possible team for the remaining two years you have with Hughes beyond this season- is just baffling.”

Quads echoed that frustration, emphasizing how the Canucks failed to take advantage of what was clearly a seller’s market.

“If this organization’s stated goal is to keep Quinn Hughes in Vancouver, and you need competitive teams to do that, you missed a great opportunity today,” said Quads. “Anthony Beauvillier went for a second, Andrei Kuzmenko for a third, Luke Schenn for a third and a fourth. What do all three of those players have in common? They were traded for way less than that by Patrik Allvin in the last two years. Those were the prices being paid, and you couldn’t figure out how to get a first for Brock Boeser?”

Even more frustrating was the messaging from management in the months leading up to the deadline.

“It was bad enough to hear how management spoke about the deadline,” Quads continued. “But the lack of moves is the bigger issue. Just to compete, you missed a great opportunity. What’s the direction of this franchise? Not to mention the way management has been bashing its own players in the media for the last three months, putting out reports that Pettersson might be traded, that Boeser was likely to be traded- all this anxiety they’ve created, for what? To do nothing at the deadline?”

Harm pointed out that even depth players were fetching above-market returns, making it even more baffling that the Canucks failed to move their UFAs.

“You look at all the players who went for above-market rates because of the seller’s market- even a guy like Brandon Tanev, a bottom-six winger, went for a second-round pick as a rental,” Harm noted. “The other tool the Canucks had at their disposal to juice the trade value of Boeser and Suter was all the cap space they’d accrued.”

The team had spent months carefully creating financial flexibility, and when the time came to use it, they did nothing.

“I can only imagine how much effort went into accruing that cap space from the start of the season—moving contracts, structuring deals- only to waste the opportunity,” Harm said. “If they had retained salary on Boeser, there should have been a considerable market for a guy who scored 40 goals last year. He’s been cold lately, but that’s largely because the Canucks don’t have the right playmaking center for him.”

Harm also pushed back on the idea that there wouldn’t have been suitors offering competitive packages for Boeser.

“If I’m a contender, I’m looking at Boeser and thinking, ‘If I have the right center for him, he’s going to bounce back,’” he explained. “Not to mention, Boeser was so clutch in the playoffs last year. When teams buy at the deadline, they look at how a player produces in a playoff environment- where there’s less open ice, every inch is a battle, and skill players get pushed to the outside. But Boeser? The way he produces offense translates to the playoffs, and we just saw it last spring, so I don’t buy the narrative that there wouldn’t have been a significant market for Brock Boeser.”

You can watch the full replay of the show below: