Rebuilds tend to be times of great uncertainty in the life cycle of a hockey team. That said, as the Vancouver Canucks have slowly but surely transitioned into a rebuild all their own, some things have been taken as absolute certainties, and chief among them has been the fact that the team is going to trade its trio of healthy pending UFAs in Evander Kane, Teddy Blueger, and David Kampf.

But the closer we’ve gotten to the March 9 NHL Trade Deadline, the more uncertainty has crept in, even on this topic. At this point, we’re within the three-week Olympic Roster Freeze, and when it lifts on February 22, there will be just a scant two weeks left until the deadline. That’s not an exceptionally large window within which to get business done, and so it’s at least somewhat reasonable to worry that the Canucks might be left holding the bag, so to speak.

There are also some related worries abound, brought on by the number of times in which the Canucks have held on to UFAs they probably shouldn’t, only to watch them walk away for nothing at the end of the season.

So, the question we gather here to answer today is this: is there a realistic scenario in which the Canucks don’t trade any of their pending 2026 UFAs?

Fortunately, we won’t make you read too much further before finding out we think the answer is mostly ‘no.’

The key difference between this situation and the situations that have arisen around UFAs and the deadline in past seasons is that these current Canucks have essentially no reason to hang on to any of their pending free agents and all too many reasons to move them along.

It may be more reasonable to worry about the quality of the potential returns at this point. Kane is thought to be worth about a third round pick, possibly with retention. It’s possible that as the deadline approaches and with more teams now dropping out of the race and potentially selling, offers for Kane start to dwindle. Maybe, instead of a third, all the Canucks can get back is the same fourth round pick they paid for Kane in the first place.

Maybe Blueger only brings back a fourth of his own, despite a dry centre market. Maybe Kampf hasn’t done enough in a Vancouver jersey to bring back anything more than a fifth or sixth.

Even in those sorts of scenarios, we still think it’s most prudent for the Canucks to take what they can get, and we still think that’s what they will do.

Those picks carry value, and that value is not insignificant to a franchise in the position the Canucks are in. They’ve made a habit of bleeding draft picks through the Benning Era and into the Allvin Regime, and have only very recently committed to cutting that out. Every little bit of future-based asset counts here, even the fourths and fifths.

But those returns are really only a secondary consideration here. The far more important consideration is getting these players out of the way.

Kane is still averaging about 17 minutes a night. Blueger is at 16:16. Kampf has been a healthy scratch at times lately, but when in the lineup, he’s still averaging 15:14 a game.

Those are minutes that could be going to younger players. Those are minutes that, if building for the long-term is the goal, probably should be going to younger players. But they’re minutes that will continue to go to the vets as long as they’re still here.

Adam Foote is obviously a coach who favours experience over youth. That much is obvious after a half-season with him at the helm. The team has apparently committed to keeping him around for at least the duration of 2025-26. Management has to know that, if Kane stays past the deadline, he’s going to continue to play over the likes of Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Liam Öhgren. They have to know that, if Blueger stays, he’s going to continue to take shifts and faceoffs away from Aatu Räty.

The remainder of the 2025-26 season should be all about acquiring more future-based assets and continuing to develop the ones already on hand. Keeping veterans that you just know Foote is going to over-play is directly counterproductive to this goal.

It might have made sense in those past seasons where the Canucks were still lying to themselves about just getting into the playoffs so “anything can happen.” These Canucks are so far out of it, they cannot even pretend to still be chasing.

Blueger is a great example of a reliable veteran who does all the little things right out there on the ice. But getting some of the little things wrong, and growing through the experience, is kind of the point right now. The Canucks need to use the opportunity of the lost 2025-26 campaign to spend its back-half developing in a low-stakes environment, and folks like Blueger don’t have much development left to do – but could get in the way of development yet to be had for others.

We can almost get ourselves to a point where retaining and then re-signing Blueger, specifically, makes sense. He’s everything one might want in a steady veteran, and his specific array of talents – faceoffs, penalty killing, timely scoring – are ideal for any bottom-six. Blueger has been a great insulator for the youth since returning to the lineup, and could continue to be so into next season, at least. Why not consider keeping him around?

It’s as simple as that Blueger would have to be given a centre job on next year’s roster, and those jobs are already set to be competed over between all of Elias Pettersson, Marco Rossi, Braeden Cootes, Aatu Räty, Max Sasson, and maybe more, depending on who the Canucks draft and trade for. You can’t keep a player like Blueger without blocking someone younger from moving up the chart at this point. It’s an either-or.

Never mind the fact that, if the Canucks really want to increase their input of picks and prospects, they’re probably going to have to take on some cap dumps, either now or in the seasons to come. Those cap dumps are already going to ‘get in the way’ of prospects to some extent, and roster-crowding is something that has already become a point of frustration this year. Clearing out the UFAs now helps to create space to be filled by these dumps, and it also prevents the youth movement from getting pushed out even further when they arrive.

If it comes down to it, it’s always going to be easier to sit someone acquired as a cap dump in the pressbox, as opposed to someone who has been kept around intentionally and made part of the team’s leadership group.

And so, we think that whatever best offer the Canucks get on any of these players will eventually be taken. We don’t think we’re going to see any scenarios like in years’ past, where management is too prideful to take what amounts to a low-ball offer and spitefully hangs on to a UFA. There’s just no real reason to, and all too many reasons not to. This time, if the offers aren’t up to snuff, we believe the Canucks will still take what they can get. In a sense, they already did this once, in accepting two second round picks back for Kiefer Sherwood instead of digging in their heels on a first.

We’re not, by the way, guaranteeing or even suggesting that the offers they receive will be low-balls. There is still more than a month of negotiating time left, and then a two-week trade window within which to actually get those transactions done.

All we’re really saying is that, even if the offers are underwhelming, the Canucks faithful don’t have to worry about trades not being made. Nothing is ever absolutely certain in hockey, but we’re pretty certain Kane, Blueger, and Kampf will eventually be moved for something, and that the Canucks will be better off in the long-term for having done so, regardless of the return.

We know that’s not how it’s played out in the past, but this is a new era, and things are going to have to play out differently this time around.

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