At the time of this publishing, we will be 53 hours away from the NHL Trade Deadline. And this deadline in particular is very important for the Vancouver Canucks and the future of the franchise.

With the club transitioning toward a rebuild, the focus must be on the future and selling off assets that align with that notion. And while they do have some promising talent on the NHL roster, for a team in dead last, their prospect pool is noticeably light on true difference-makers.

The Canucks need to follow up on their word of wanting to rebuild with actual rebuilding moves. Find ways to get creative to improve the future of the organization.

So, let’s set some standards as to what a good, a bad, and an ugly trade deadline would look like for the Vancouver Canucks.

To be honest, this is the bare minimum for the Canucks. This is what teams that aren’t making the playoffs do, not just rebuilding teams.

Now, the Canucks already made the move that will net them the biggest return from a UFA when they traded Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks for a pair of second-round picks and Cole Clayton. But moving off these guys would net mid- to late-round picks for organizational prospect depth, while also opening up NHL roster spots to give the young players more opportunity.

Teddy Blueger should net the best return of the three. We’ve already seen him traded at the deadline before, when the Pittsburgh Penguins traded him to the Vegas Golden Knights for a third-round pick. Will he net the same type of return at this deadline? Fans would hope so.

One would imagine Evander Kane is the perfect playoff player that contending teams covet for a playoff push. However, even if the Canucks retain 50% of his $5.125 million cap hit, his play this season doesn’t have teams necessarily chomping at the bit to acquire him. With Michael McCarron returning a second-round pick on Tuesday, it does show an appetite for power forward-type players at this trade deadline, so there’s more optimism for a decent return for Kane.

David Kämpf could likely net a late-round pick. We’d envision a sixth- or seventh-round pick for Kämpf to a team looking for a penalty-killing depth centre.

This would be the first true “rebuilding move” the Canucks would make to show fans they are committed to the new direction. There is a hurdle for the team, and that’s all the trade protection they handed out when signing these veterans to contract extensions.

Some of the players already involved in trade rumours are Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Conor Garland, Drew O’Connor, and Tyler Myers. Of that group, Garland is the only one without any trade protection – though that changes on July 1.

Considering the recent reports, there appears to be serious interest in Garland and Myers. Pulling the trigger on one of these players would be the first signal toward organizational change.

On Tuesday, the Canucks made a roster move by shifting goaltender Thatcher Demko to long-term injured reserve, and are planning on placing him on season-ending long-term injured reserve.

According to PuckPedia, the Canucks currently have $6,422,353 million in current cap space. Once they move Demko to season-ending long-term injured reserve, he will open up an additional $5 million, bringing the Canucks to over $11 million in current cap space. Not to mention the money going out in various other trades, they have an opportunity to gain assets because of the added cap room.

There are a handful of players around the league, on playoff teams, who are making more than they should and are hindering their team’s ability to add a difference-maker for the playoff push. For example, Ryan Strome (ANA), Jordan Greenway (BUF), Andrew Mangiapane (EDM), Patrik Laine (MTL), and Oliver Bjorkstrand (TBL), to name a few.

We’ve seen rebuilding teams take on these bad contracts, acquire an asset to do so, build up said players’ trade value, and then flip them again for another return. And all they had to do was weaponize their cap space to their advantage. It’s not a move we’ve seen the Canucks make in the past.

However, the organization is in a situation it hasn’t been in for a long time. They are now and have the required cap space to do so. It is more difficult now with the rising cap, but there are still opportunities out there for the taking. They don’t get to take this unused cap space into next season. It would be disappointing to see them not capitalize on this by Friday.

The trade rumours surrounding Garland really picked up on Tuesday, when he was linked to both the New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins. Seeing those rumours indicates that there’s serious interest in acquiring him.

Undoubtedly, Garland has become a fan favourite throughout his four years in Vancouver. However, not only would clearing his $6M x 6 contract be nice to have off the books when entering the rebuild, but the more important part of it all would be moving him before his trade protection kicks in.

The risk of holding him until his trade protection kicks in on July 1 will shift all of the leverage from the team to the player. And who’s to say Garland decides in the summer that he does not want to stick around for the rebuild, and requests a trade? At this point, Garland’s full no-movement clause would have kicked in, and he holds all the cards on his destination, which could potentially minimize the Canucks’ return.

As painful as it would be for Canucks fans to see Garland go, it’s the best thing for the rebuild to capitalize now that there is serious interest before he controls the situation next summer.

We’ll preface this by noting that we don’t believe this will be the case. We expect all three to move because holding these players through the deadline would clog roster spots for the young players the organization is hoping to get a longer look at before the season ends.

But these players have been available for some time now, and there really hasn’t been much buzz or reported interest. There have been reports of teams interested in Kane, but with his agent given permission to help facilitate a trade in late January, that still hasn’t helped expedite the process.

Another thing to consider with Kane is what if no credible offer comes in? As a pending unrestricted free agent at 34, this was an important season for Kane, who is looking for another NHL contract next season. It hasn’t worked out the way either party has hoped for this season, so moving to a contender where he can build his value back up in important playoff games is something he would likely welcome.

If a trade doesn’t materialize, Kane would lose that opportunity and be stuck finishing the season on a sinking Canucks ship. Would there be a situation in which we see Kane and the Canucks mutually agree to terminate the contract so he can pursue that opportunity elsewhere? If that’s the case, it will have to be done before the trade deadline, because if the Canucks hold him through the deadline, Kane will not be eligible to play for another team in the postseason if they terminate the contract and he signs elsewhere afterwards.

There has been no indication that the Canucks are thinking about extending Blueger. However, the 31-year-old centreman told Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre on February 25 that he and his wife love Vancouver and would love to stay, but understand the team’s new direction and situation. And since he returned from injury on January 21, he’s been one of the Canucks’ best skaters and impressed off the ice with his comments about the team needing more responsibility and more accountability.

Add all of that to the fact that this management group has targeted players who specifically want to play/stay in Vancouver. If that’s their continued desire, Blueger fits that mould, and would be yet another asset they missed out on capitalizing on at the trade deadline.

To be fair, most of these types of depth pieces typically don’t move until most of the big fish have found their new ponds, and teams that missed out circle back. And who knows when that would be, and if there would be enough time to get that done. We’ve seen this regime hold onto its pending unrestricted free agents just last season. So would it really be surprising to see them do the same this go around?

This whole Myers situation has been odd. Typically, we don’t see teams sit a player for more than a week for trade-related reasons, yet still allow him to take pre-game skates and practice with the team. And to not move the asset after all of this would just be a mess.

Now, if Myers decides that he does not want to move, that’s totally fair. The player earned the trade protection and earns the right to exercise it if he wishes. However, Myers is clearly open to a move, as he has not shut down the Detroit Red Wings as an option, but prefers to wait to see if a more desirable destination arises.

Myers is willing to be flexible in moving, but will the Canucks be flexible in working with him to get him to a place he would waive to go to? If they aren’t, and he isn’t moved by Friday, the aftermath would result in potentially the messiest situation of the whole deadline.

What do you think, Canucks fans? What would you consider to be a good, a bad and an ugly trade deadline for the Vancouver Canucks? Let us know in the comments below!

The 2026 Trade Deadline Special is going LIVE March 6. Join the Daily Faceoff crew on Friday, March 6 from 8 AM-12:30 PM PT for wall-to-wall coverage of every single move as it happens. Get instant reaction, expert analysis, and exclusive insights from special guests throughout the day. Tune in LIVE on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and don’t miss a second of deadline day chaos.