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Report: Long-awaited Canucks-Sharks Kevin Bieksa trade hits a snag

By Thomas Drance

Jun 26, 2015, 17:43 EDTUpdated:

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Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports

The general problem with attempting to deal players who have contractual trade protection is that the deals become three-dimensional in nature. It’s not Kevin Bieksa who is holding up a long-awaited trade between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks though, at least according to a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger.

The deal has hit a snag, it would seem, even though Bieksa and the Sharks have made headway on a lucrative contract extension. The Canucks apparently are holding out for more in the return.

Here are Dreger’s comments from an appearance on the Matt Sekeres/Blake Price afternoon show on TSN1040 on Friday afternoon:

Deals not done. Maybe we’re splitting hairs here. There’s all kinds of speculation swirling out there. As I tweeted earlier in the day there’s the basis of an agreement on an extension between Bieksa and the (Sharks), but obviously they’ve got to get a deal done with the Vancouver Canucks.
My sense is that something snarled this earlier int he day whereby San Jose felt that they had what they believed to be a deal and Vancouver may have changed. And that’s their prerogative…
They’re still working on it and there’s every reason to believe it’s going to get done. I heard for a couple of second-round picks, but nobody is confirming that.
The extension I heard they were looking for, and there’s no way (Bieksa’s agent) Kurt Overhardt would ever confirm this, was something around (four-years, $4.5 million).

Reports from Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie mostly corroborate Dreger’s account, and McKenzie also adds that Eddie Lack isn’t part of the discussed deal.

If the Sharks think highly enough of Bieksa that they’re going to give him a four-year contract extension, then obviously the Canucks should do what they can to maximize their return. At the same time, clearing Bieksa’s $4.6 million cap hit off the books would give the Canucks the flexibility to do all sorts of interesting things in free agency or on the trade market, and it’s not as if opportunities to deal a player with full no-trade protection come along every day…

For now it would seem that this deal is dormant and no-longer imminent, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen at some point tonight. We’ll faithfully track the situation as it continues to develop.

UPDATE:

Iain MacIntyre has suggested that the deal is all but off, with both sides digging in: