The theme of the week in Vancouver Canucks land is trade rumours.

While the NHL rumour mill typically doesn’t heat up until a few months from now, it’s heated up plenty already, primarily due to a memo the Canucks sent out to 31 other NHL teams this week stating that they’re willing to listen to trade offers for their veteran players.

With a limited number of clear sellers around the league — especially at this juncture of the season — the Canucks are hoping to create an early bidding war of sorts for teams looking to add to their lineup with a short list of options. One name for whom it’s become clear that the Canucks are willing to move is pending UFA forward Kiefer Sherwood.

Sherwood, who turns 31 in March, is in the second year of a two-year contract he signed with the Canucks during the 2024 offseason. In year one of the deal, Sherwood more than broke out, setting career highs in goals, assists, and games played, all the while breaking and setting the new NHL single-season hits record. And in year two, he’s shown no signs of stopping. Already at 12 goals through just 24 games, Sherwood has been a major bright spot for a Canucks team that hasn’t had a whole lot go right for it through the first quarter of the season.

With the Canucks turning their focus to getting younger, President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford made it clear earlier this week that the club is looking to move their UFA forwards sooner, rather than later.

“The position of the team is that you would be willing to talk about the unrestricted free agents that would be talked about closer to the trade deadline,” Rutherford told Patrick Johnston of The Province. “This isn’t about just looking at trading everybody. There are a number of veterans who have played very well, so this isn’t about clumping everybody together. It’s more about accelerating the obvious (moves) that could be made two months down the road.”

So with Sherwood serving as the most appealing pending UFA the Canucks can offer, we thought it’d be appropriate to examine which NHL teams might be interested in trading for the versatile winger. But first, the cost.

As we read yesterday, courtesy of CanucksArmy’s own Irfaan Gaffar, the Canucks are “going to want younger players they can put into the lineup now” in a Sherwood deal. So keep that in mind as we go along.

Last season, Scott Laughton returned the Flyers B-level prospect Nikita Grebenkin along with a first round pick, although the Leafs did send a fourth and sixth round pick back the Flyers’ way in that deal as well. Now, that’s a premium return package for Sherwood, who, it’s worth mentioning, isn’t a centre like Laughton is. But they are similar in age, play a similar role, and Sherwood’s point production is at a slightly higher level than Laughton’s.

A package like that for Sherwood would be a home run for the Canucks. More realistically, however, the Canucks are likely looking at either an A- or B+ prospect for Sherwood, along with a later round draft pick; can the Canucks convince a team to send them a first-round pick for Sherwood? They’re certainly hoping that will be the case, but they may need to settle for a second-round pick, and if they can add a B-level prospect in the process, then they’ll likely be more than pleased with that return.

To maximize their return, the Canucks should be able to retain 50% of Sherwood’s salary, giving him a more-than-workable cap hit of $750,000. That leaves any acquiring team with plenty of flexibility to make more moves at the Trade Deadline, and makes Sherwood an even more intriguing trade asset.

Now, which teams might be interested in pulling the trigger on a deal? The short answer is: most of them. But there are certainly teams at this juncture who will be more desperate than others to add Sherwood to the mix. We’re going to focus on those teams.

The Leafs have gotten off to an abysmal start this season. Their bottom six forward group is a bit of a mess, and Sherwood could certainly be a solution for them. Dakota Joshua was a healthy scratch for the Leafs’ Wednesday night game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and hasn’t brought the physicality nor the scoring ability the Leafs hoped he would. Sherwood brings both of those things on a nightly basis — and has for the better part of a year — and seems like the exact type of player the Leafs might target to get out of their scoring rut.

The Leafs don’t own their first or second round pick for the 2026 draft, so the Canucks would likely want a young player back in return. The Leafs’ top prospects are Easton Cowan and Ben Danford. Cowan already has seven points through 15 games and scored the late tying goal against the Blue Jackets on Wednesday night; while Danford projects as a top four right-shot shutdown defenceman. Cowan is likely a long shot, and the Canucks would likely have to take money back — think Max Domi’s final three years at $3.75 million per — to even get the Leafs to consider such a move.

The Leafs do have a plethora of young players in the tier below Cowan and Danford: Tinus Luc Koblar,  Tyler Hopkins, Miroslav Holinka, and Victor Johansson are the ones I could see the Canucks being the most interested in. The Leafs’ season hasn’t gotten off to a good start, and an opportunity to right the ship with a relatively low-risk move might be quite enticing for Leafs GM Brad Treliving.

The Red Wings are in a slightly different but still similar enough spot as the Leafs. They started the season hot, spending a good chunk of time at the top of the Atlantic Division standings. But as of today, Detroit in a logjam of Eastern Conference teams vying for playoff positioning:

To gain an edge on these teams, could Detroit, which hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016, pull the trigger on a move to add Sherwood to their lineup? He’d undoubtedly bring some swagger with him to the Motor City. As for a return, does 24-year-old Elmer Soderblom count as a young enough player for the Canucks to be interested in? If Detroit is attaching a draft pick to him, the Canucks would likely think so.

As for prospects/young players Detroit can offer: Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Dmitri Buchelnikov, Carter Mazur, William Wallinder, and Amadeus Lombardi are the most intriguing and realistic names for the Canucks to target.

If there’s one thing Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin loves, it’s players like Kiefer Sherwood. While the Western Conference isn’t quite as tight as the East, it’s still a similar story out this way, as the Wild (third in the Central Division) and WC2-seeded Utah Mammoth are separated by just three points.

The Wild have 2022 19th overall pick Liam Ohgren skating on the fourth line, and at 21 years old, he might be one of the more intriguing young players the Canucks could target, although they may have to do more than retain on Sherwood’s contract to sweeten the pot. Ohgren had no problem putting up points in the SHL, and nearly scored at a point-per-game pace in his first full AHL season in 2024-25. This season, however, Ohgren hasn’t registered a point through 11 NHL games, and put up five points in his nine AHL games with the Iowa Wild. Sherwood makes the Wild a better team than Ohgren does today, but make no mistake about it: he’s still a blue-chip prospect that the Wild would likely not be near ready to part ways with.

Some more realistic options for the Canucks to target from the Wild’s prospect pool: Riley Heidt, Ryder Ritchie, Charlie Stramel, and Adam Benák.

These next two Florida-based teams fall into the same category that we put the Red Wings in as Eastern Conference teams jockeying for position in what’s been a very close race to this point. However, expectations are obviously higher for the defending Stanley Cup Champions, who have their eyes set on a 3Peat this spring. The Panthers have been absolutely decimated by injuries and could certainly use some immediate help.

Of course, once their lineup gets back to full health, Sherwood would still have no problem finding a home in the Panthers’ bottom-six forward group. In fact, Florida’s system might be the best fit for Sherwood. Florida’s heavy forecheck and in-your-face style would likely be the best landing spot for Sherwood, personally. Plus, imagine adding Sherwood and his edge to a team that already has Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, and Matthew Tkachuk? I’m getting frustrated just writing about it!

As for pieces in the Panthers’ prospect pool that the Canucks might be interested in: Jack Devine, Linus Eriksson, Gracyn Sawchyn, Matvei Shuravin, and Shamar Moses are likely the most intriguing options.

Finally, we turn our attention to the other Florida team. Like the Panthers, the Lightning have had to deal with some injuries of their own this season, but are getting healthier these days. Even with their players returning, the Lightning still have 24-year-old Mission, BC-born Gage Goncalves skating in the top six as the right wing on their second line with Jake Guentzel and Nick Paul. Sherwood would be an immediate upgrade on Goncalves, and really, the Canucks might target the 24-year-old as a main piece in their return for Sherwood. Goncalves is listed as a centre, and you have to think the Canucks would like to try him there, even though he’s playing the wing right now.

That being said, the transitioning/rebuilding Canucks should likely be targeting younger, more true prospects with higher ceilings than Goncalves at this point, so it might not be as simple as that. A quick look at the Lightning’s prospect pool shows a similar story to Florida’s, and that’s that there aren’t many high-end prospects in it. The Lightning’s number one prospect is 19-year-old Sam O’Reilly, who seems like a safe bet to play NHL games as a middle-six centre. Beyond that? The Lightning could offer up 20-year-old Ethan Gauthier, who has just two assists through his first 11 AHL games of the season. 18-year-old centre Ethan Czata is off to a decent start with OHL Niagara, but is still a few years away from sniffing an NHL lineup. The Lightning could offer up 22-year-old Dylan Duke, but after that, we’re getting into C-level prospect territory when looking at the Lightning’s pipeline.

Which team intrigues you the most as a trade partner for the Canucks? Who did we miss? Let us know in the comments section below!