By now, you’ve heard the news. The Vancouver Canucks have dealt Conor Garland to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a second and third round pick.

On Friday morning, the newest ex-Canuck joined Rick Dhaliwal and Don Taylor on Donnie and Dhali — The Team to chat about his time in Vancouver, his reaction to the trade, and his excitement level for what’s to come in Columbus.

“It happened pretty quickly,” said Garland. “Touched down in Chicago, and I felt like it was a kind of a whirlwind. But I’m very excited to go to a team that’s right in the hunt of the playoffs and we’ll be a good team for the foreseeable future. [It’s] a little closer to home, but obviously, there were some emotions last night with the guys. I had some guys in my room late last night just to say goodbye. I’ve gone through a lot of those, but now you’re the guy getting traded. It’s a lot different.”

“I feel like I grew up there,” Garland said of his five years in Vancouver. “That’s a cliché thing to say, but I got married, had a child, and almost turned 30 there. So it was a very fun time in my life. Very exciting. Made a lot of great friendships with guys on the team, people in the organization, and people around the city. So just a really special time. I was so excited to come there in the summer of 2021. Just a really really enjoyable five years for me.”

“I was in a pretty good routine in there. I had my restaurants, I had my coffee shops, had my walking area. So there’s so many great [things] about the city. Not to be corny, but I just think when I was out in the city, you run into a fan, there’s never a bad interaction. I think Vancouver takes a hit for the social media side of it and the loud fan base online. But you ever run into a fan in person, and that’s real life, we always had a great encounter, always nice things to say. And that’s what made the city so special, playing for those people. So I’ll always enjoy that and always remember that.”

“I signed with the intention of playing here for the next seven years, but our team went in a different direction. We underperformed this year. We had some bad breaks early, but we could never really get on a run this year. We moved guys out. Obviously, we traded Quinn, Kiefer, and Mysey. I think just the organization was going in a different direction. So it’s just obviously not anything you would have ever thought of in the summer when I was signing, but that’s how it goes. Pro sports is crazy, so that’s how it ends up.

As for his new chapter in Columbus?

“I’m very excited. Last night when I heard it could be one of those teams, I’m scoreboard watching, obviously, and you’re right back into the playoff race. And that’s an exciting time of year. Those games are something you can’t replicate. You can’t replicate those games coming down in April, and everybody needs those points. So excited to go help a really really good hockey club. Big team, deep, and try to get them over the edge and hopefully, have a long run there… They’re just a big team. They play with a lot of pace, and they’re always a hard matchup. So I feel like they’re a team that’s built to play in the playoffs, and I’m really excited to join that.”

Check out the full interview below!