It had almost grown quiet on the Vancouver Canucks trade front. Then Trade Deadline Week hit, and the speculation situation went into hyperdrive.

We’ve seen a truly outsized amount of Canuck-rumour-related headlines already this week. They’ve included, naturally, the currently-sitting Tyler Myers, but also names as diverse as Elias Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk, Drew O’Connor, and Brock Boeser.

But the name that seemed to show up most prominently was that of Conor Garland. Most prominently, and most specifically, too.

While the other players got plenty of “teams are interested” type headlines, Garland’s were focused in on two specific destinations. We heard that the New York Islanders were heavily pursuing Garland ahead of the Friday deadline. And then we also heard that the Boston Bruins had re-joined the pursuit.

They can’t both have him. But they can both feature in the same CanucksArmy article, at the very least. You know how these things work by now, and today it’s a two-for-one deal.

Let’s take a look at what both the Islanders and the Bruins might theoretically be offering the Canucks for Garland.

The Picks: We’ve said before that Garland represents one of the Canucks’ best and only remaining chances of landing another first round pick. The Islanders have four of them spread over the next three drafts, including all of their own and the Colorado Avalanche’s pick this year. They’ve traded this year’s second, but have all of their own picks available otherwise.

The Prospects: For a team that has been around the fringe of the playoff picture for a good while, the Islanders have a surprisingly strong stable of prospects. That includes at least four A-grade prospects in Calum Ritchie, the incredibly productive Kashawn Aitcheson, the sniper Cole Eiserman, or the ultra-skilled Victor Eklund. Each of them seems a little rich for the return on an imperfect asset in Garland, and each carries more value than just the average first round pick. But perhaps with a bidding war in the works, the Canucks could pry away at least one. If so, they’d be most interested in Ritchie, the big right-handed centre.

The Islanders’ prospect cupboard is high on quantity, too, and so they’ve got plenty of B and C-grade prospects they could add to sweeten any pot. 

The Young NHLers: Ritchie is at 44 NHL games already, and might qualify as a young NHLer more than a prospect in some eyes. If so, throw him in this category instead. Other than him, the Islanders don’t have all that much that would interest the Canucks here. They do have some younger forwards in Simon Holmstrom (24), Emil Heineman (24), and Maxim Shabanov (24), but they’re all just a little too old for a rebuilding team that has plenty of mid-20 pieces already.

The Cap Dumps: The Islanders have more than a couple of cap dump players, including Pierre Engvall (a $3 million cap hit that goes to 2030 somehow), Jonathan Drouin ($4 million this season and next), and the well-travelled Anthony Duclair (a $3.5 million cap hit until 2028). Could Ondrej Palat, whom the Isles just traded for and who is owed $6 million this season and next, also fall into this category?

With more than $6 million of projected deadline cap space, the Islanders wouldn’t need to cut cap to bring Garland in. But if they want to clear some future cap in the process of acquiring his contract – for an added cost, of course – they will have options.

Islanders Canucks Conor Garland mock trade: Calum Ritchie and one of the Isles’ cap dumps OR one of the Islanders’ own first round picks, a cap dump, and an extra sweetener. Conor Garland going the other way.

The Picks: The Bruins are also loaded with picks, and even more so than the Islanders. They’ve got five first round picks spread over the next three drafts, including all of their own, plus conditional firsts from Toronto and Florida (these will be firsts, regardless, it’s just the years that are conditional). They’ve got all their own seconds, too.

The Prospects: James Hagens, the centre who just went seventh overall and had the honour of being selected by Adam Sandler himself, is safely out of reach. But the Bruins have a number of other interesting prospects ranked behind him, including premier goal-scorer Will Zellers, Latvian jack-of-all-trades Dans Locmelis, and former Vancouver Giant Fabian Lysell.

Given how quickly he has risen up the ranks, Zellers would be an exciting addition to any trade. However, the Bruins probably have better fits to be found in the next category.

The Young NHLers: Here, we’ve got actual names to discuss. This week’s rumours included both the 21-year-old right-handed centre Matthew Poitras and the giant, high-scoring LD Mason Lohrei as specific names attached to a potential Garland return. Both players have their issues – Poitras has plateaued after storming into the league as a teenager, and Lohrei has some defensive troubles – but both also carry with them an abundance of talent. Lohrei, at 25, might be a little old for the Canucks’ purposes, and they’re not exactly short on LD as it is. The younger Poitras would be of considerably more interest to them.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Vancouver’s own Fraser Minten, another 21-year-old centre that the Bruins acquired from Toronto last year. Minten is currently in the midst of his first full NHL campaign, and is up to 29 points in 60 games. That success might take him all the way off the trade board, but if the Canucks could somehow land him, he’d be an absolute perfect fit for their purposes.

The 23-year-old centre Marat Khusnutdinov would be a more realistic, if less thrilling, option for a young pivot.

The Cap Dumps: The Bruins have kept their books a little cleaner than the Islanders, but they have less available at this deadline (about $5 million) and would need to cut a little to bring in Garland. The obvious candidate here is Casey Mittelstadt, signed at $5.75 million for this season and next. The Canucks would hope to rehabilitate his value a bit, and then flip him with retention.

Another option might be RD Henri Jokiharju at $3 million until 2028, but Mittelstadt seems like a far better fit.

Bruins Canucks Conor Garland mock trade: Fraser Minten and Casey Mittelstadt OR Matthew Poitras, a pick, and Mittelstadt. Conor Garland going the other way.

The 2026 Trade Deadline Special is going LIVE March 6th. Join the Daily Faceoff crew on Friday, March 6th from 8 AM-12:30 PM PT for wall-to-wall coverage of every single move as it happens. Get instant reaction, expert analysis, and exclusive insights from special guests throughout the day. Tune in LIVE on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and don’t miss a second of deadline day chaos.