The return may be somewhat underwhelming to some, just because of the fact that there isn’t a first-round pick attached to that return. But at the end of the day, two seconds for a $1.5-million forward, the team signed as a depth piece a couple of offseasons ago, it’s a very solid deal of business.

Now that Sherwood is gone, though, what’s next for the Canucks?

The team certainly isn’t done making trades, Allvin said as much immediately after moving Sherwood. Management and ownership have seemingly committed to a rebuild here, and moving an expiring Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) isn’t exactly a rebuilding move. Those deals are expected from most teams that are going to miss the playoffs, regardless of the state of that team’s long-term plan.

Rebuilding teams trade their veterans and move players even if they’ve committed to them long-term. That’s what should be next up for the Canucks.

This isn’t going to be easy; there’s trade protection that the team is going to have to deal with when it comes to a number of these players, and there’s the issue of many of them underperforming this season.

It has been made fairly clear across the league that the Canucks are willing to listen to offers for pretty much everybody. That being said, who could they realistically move that would attract another team to pay a fair price?

Filip Hronek is probably the easiest to move. But, he’s become a legit top-pairing right-shot defenceman, and his leadership has been praised by the Canucks’ coaching staff this season. Considering his contract and how difficult it is to find top-pair right-handed D-men, they might need to be blown away by an offer to move Hronek.

The easiest player to move at the moment is probably Conor Garland. His current contract has no trade protection, and he’s already got an extension attached to him for next season and beyond. His extension, though, does include a slight raise and a long-term commitment, and it also includes a full no-move clause. This certainly doesn’t make moving Garland impossible, but it could decrease the number of teams interested in trading for Garland.

Both Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser are also options to move, though both have struggled mightily as of late to find the back of the net. They also both have full no-move clauses. DeBrusk might be more likely to waive for the right situation. He signed with this team after they won the Pacific Division and made it to game seven in the second round of the playoffs. This team that he’s been a part of for the last year and a half certainly can’t have met his expectations when he signed. Maybe he doesn’t want to be part of a rebuild. If that’s the case, his contract isn’t too hefty. There would definitely be some suitors out there looking to add a player like DeBrusk.

As for Boeser, he’s been here for the long haul. There certainly may be frustration on his end that the team is losing and going through a rebuild, but he seems to love the city and wants to be a Canuck. His contract is a couple of million dollars larger than DeBrusk’s as well, so teams may not want to take on that significant amount of money and term, especially given his current struggles. If a team offers up the right price

Some of the depth forwards the Canucks should look to move are Drew O’Connor, Evander Kane, Teddy Blueger and David Kampf. Blueger is a bit more complicated because he’s missed so much time this season, but even if they can move him for a late-round pick, it opens up a roster spot to give more opportunity to some of the younger guys. Kampf is in a bit of a similar boat; they won’t get any sort of haul for him, but if they can get something back, why not move him to a team looking for a depth defensively responsible centreman?

Evander Kane is another must-move for the Canucks. He’s another player on an expiring contract; they aren’t going to extend him at the end of this season, at least they shouldn’t, so if they can get a return on him even if they have to retain some of his contract, which they should to maximize the return, he’s someone that the Canucks should be making and taking calls for and at the end of the day selling him to the highest bidder.

O’Connor would make sense to move as well. He has an extra year on his deal that might make him even more appealing for a contending team looking for some extra juice in their bottom-six. All things considered, he’s having a pretty solid year for the Canucks. Currently, he’s one of only two players with a plus-minus rating above zero on the Canucks’ roster this season. O’Connor can kill penalties, he has legit speed, and has a bit of a scoring touch that might attract some teams around the league.

Finally, Marcus Pettersson is a player that the Canucks should certainly be shopping around. They won’t get the same value they gave up when they brought Pettersson in, but if they can recoup some of that and move off that $5.5-million deal, it could be a good move that also clears up space for young guys like Zeev Buium and Elias Pettersson to get more opportunity and minutes.

So what’s next after trading Sherwood?

It’s got to be more trades, beyond just offloading pending UFAs. This team is rebuilding, and they need to secure as many futures as possible. They need more draft picks and more depth in their prospect pool. The only way that happens is if they start moving off some of their more significant pieces.

Guys like Kane, O’Connor, Blueger and Kampf likely don’t bring in much of significance, so trading a couple of vets such as DeBrusk, Garland, Boeser, Hronek, and even Elias Pettersson would be good moves for a rebuilding team.

You don’t need to trade them all, of course. But some of them need to go to start a successful rebuild.

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