The playoff picture is clear as it will ever be and phone calls are turning to transactions in lieu of the February 29th trade deadline. Concerns about the Canadian dollar linger, but for the most part, any obstructions to an active transaction period have been brushed aside.

If everything goes according to plan, this should figure to be one of the most formative stretches in the history of this franchise. Of course, this “plan” alludes strictly to the hopes and dreams of the Canucks fanbase. Much of what happens in the next seven days will reveal how closely aligned the Canucks management group is with the people who line their coffers. 

Vancouver hopes for a firesale. The playoffs aren’t happening this year and it’s hard to envision the pieces mentioned as expendables helping return the Canucks to contention in the not-so-distant future. About those pieces, though. Let’s get a lie of the land to see which of them will be donning new colours on the other side of February.

If the Canucks don’t want to fall into first overall and the silver bullet, a good alternative is loading as many bullets in the chamber as possible. They’ve avoided this route of team building to date, opting for more developed prospects instead. Whether by picks or prospects, this method of team building does hone in on Jim Benning’s skill set, which is evaluating talent.

The problem with taking this route is that it gets a lot harder to hit home runs. More likely to land an NHL player, sure. No number of depth players is going to turn around the Canucks fortunes, though. At some point, they’re going to have to hit a home run on one of their draft picks. If you throw enough darts eventually you’ll hit a bullseye.

Vrbata has just two goals in his last 24 games and the last even strength tally came on December 18th. Equal parts penance and motivation, the Canucks have moved him to the first line, fourth line and everywhere in between. And nothing seems to be working.

The disconnect seems to be growing daily, with the uncertainty surrounding the future of the team and Vrbata driving the wedge. Further complicating matters, the Vrbata’s are reportedly expecting twins shortly.

Just one season removed from a 31-goal campaign, it’s not hard to imagine a contending team betting on their ability to bring the best out in him. The Chicago Blackhawks are reportedly in the market for help on the wing. So are the Florida Panthers.

All of this hinges on Vrbata’s injury status, following a nasty spill in last night’s game against the Avalanche, but it’s not hard to imagine them landing a second round pick or a high-end prospect if he’s healthy. Crazier things have happened.

With Dustin Byfuglien taken care of, Dan Hamhuis is the best rental defenceman on the market. Whether the Canucks can take advantage of this is yet to be determined. Hamhuis has full no-trade protection and is just the type to use it – family ties and connection to the community being well documented. 

If the Canucks want to trade Hamhuis and Hamhuis is willing to be traded, there will be no shortage of suitors. The Washington Capitals and Los Angeles Kings jump to the front, but I can’t imagine the Dallas Stars or Chicago Blackhawks are far behind.

The Canucks can be on the winning end of a bidding war, should they choose to be.

A year removed from playing top-four minutes in the playoffs, Yannick Weber is now struggling to keep his NHL career afloat. Injuries kept Weber in the lineup early and brought him back late, although the emergence of Alex Biega has kept him at bay mostly.

Can’t imagine there’s too large a market for Weber’s services, especially given his clearing waivers a few short weeks ago. One wonders if the Canucks can extract a return similar to what they received for Rafael Diaz in 2013. They might have to retain salary to do it, but giving a master scout an extra fifth round pick couldn’t hurt.

The Canucks dealing Matt Bartkowski would be hugely surprising. By all accounts, they’re a huge fan of his. A fact which is driven home by the lengthy rope afforded the high-risk defender. Bartkowski will be difficult to deal given his $1.75-million salary and poor performance to date.

It’s been reported that Alexandre Burrows would consider waiving his no-trade clause were he approached by management about a trade. It’s hard to imagine there being much of a market for Burrows at a cap hit of $4.5-million. If the Canucks are willing to eat salary, though, something could happen.

According to www.GeneralFanager.com, the Canucks have roughly $2.25-million in cap space going into the deadline. The fourth lowest number in the league. Fortunately for the Canucks, they’ve close to $10-million coming off the books this off-season courtesy Vrbata and Hamhuis alone. In total, the Canucks are slated to have close to $19-million in cap space for next season.

This makes the Canucks an ideal partner for a contending team looking to clear long term salary. Being able to take Bryan Bickell off the Chicago Blackhawks hands, or Matt Carle off the Tampa Bay Lightnings, could do wonders for the futures they base the return on.

At some point, though, the Canucks are going to have to either re-sign or replace Dan Hamhuis on the blue line. They’re also going to have to take care of Linden Vey, Emerson Etem and Sven Baertschi who are all pending RFA’s.

The Vancouver Canucks are the single worst drafting franchise since the turn of the millennium. It’s taken a while to right the course, but it appears as though they’re starting to get back on track.

At the high end of their prospect pool are the likes of Hunter Shinkaruk, Brock Boeser, Thatcher Demko, Brendan Gaunce and Andrey Pedan. Shinkaruk, Gaunce and Pedan appear ready to make the jump to full-time NHL’er as early as next season. That will put a sizeable dent in the pool, one which the Canucks will hopefully plug at this year’s draft.

The next tier of prospects includes the likes of Tate Olson, Lukas Jasek, Dimitri Zhukenov, Guillaume Brisebois, Carl Neill and Jordan Subban. That’s serious depth. I don’t see the Canucks moving any of these players, although, the Gustav Forsling deal of last season tells us it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility. 

Vancouver also has seven selections in the upcoming draft, all of which are their own, save for a seventh round selection acquired in the Eddie Lack trade.

Taking into account everything we’ve heard in the last two weeks about ownerships interference in the day-to-day running of this franchise, it will be interesting to see which direction the Canucks take. Do they sell? Do they stand pat? Do they add pieces for a run to the cup? 

Only time will tell.