The Vancouver Canucks have traded Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks for defenceman Cole Clayton and two second round picks. The club announced the trade Monday morning.

The picks coming back to the Canucks are San Jose’s 2026 and 2027 second round picks. Clayton, a 25-year-old right-shot defenceman from Strathmore, Alberta, has yet to play an NHL game, and will report to the Abbotsford Canucks.

“We would like to thank Kiefer for all his hard work and dedication in Vancouver,” said GM Patrik Allvin in a statement put out by the team. “As an organization, we take a lot of pride in giving him the opportunity to grow and excel as a player. Given where things currently stand and the direction of our rebuild, we felt it was necessary to make a move like this as we continue to build our pipeline. In addition to adding two draft picks, Cole is a right-shot defenceman who will report to Abbotsford.”

Sherwood’s name has been in trade rumours for most of the season, in particular since November, when the Canucks made it clear to the other 31 NHL teams that they were willing to listen to trade offers for their veteran players.

A report from Rick Dhaliwal over the weekend stated that the Sharks were a team to watch when it came to trading for Sherwood, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Given Sherwood’s career-best 2024-25 campaign, and his even better start to 2025-26 despite the team around him struggling mightily, it always made sense for the rebuilding Canucks to sell high on Sherwood. After putting up 19 goals last season, Sherwood is already at 17 through 44 games this season.

Sherwood originally signed with the Canucks in the 2024 offseason, signing a two-year deal with a $1.5 million AAV. The Canucks’ rumoured ask was for a first-round pick, but obviously, they felt like they were getting similar value with two of San Jose’s second round picks, which could very easily end up in the top 50 of the draft.

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