Will The Canucks Trade Tyler Myers Or Conor Garland?

Canucks Crisis

One player would have to waive his no-move-clause, while the other would have to be traded before his no-move-clause kicks in. The previous would be big defenceman Tyler Myers, the latter, pesky forward Conor Garland.

With the news that Canucks management are open to trading veteran players, the first option of course would be to dump pending unrestricted free agents early, rather than wait to see where you are in the standings and deal them ahead of the March 6 NHL trade deadline.

But the group of UFA’s the Canucks could make available provide limited value. The relevant list includes D-man Derek Forbort and forwards Evander Kane, Teddy Blueger and Kiefer Sherwood. Sherwood would be a cool, inexpensive pick-up for a play-off bound team looking for a little bit of everything.

In the meantime, what about the players like Myers and Garland, with term. In Garland’s case it’s not just “term”, it’s a brand new six-year contract costing $6-million per season and kicking in next summer. Sounds crazy or absurd to trade him at this point? Not if the return was everything the Canucks hierarchy was looking for. No deal is off the table in that case.

Myers is a foundational player in Vancouver at this point; part of the old guard, the culture, the friendship group. Maybe that’s an extra reason to move him along. Again, Myers does have a year left on his deal after this season and would have to comply.

Is Canucks management panicking just three games below .500 with 59 games to play? Maybe the last straw was goalie Kevin Lankinen deciding he’s not making this upcoming California road trip for personal reasons, leaving Jiri Patera as the de facto number-one. Or maybe it’s Nikita Tolopilo, who’s already on the active roster. There’s your choice.

Maybe GM Patrik Allvin and his boss Jim Rutherford have seen enough that they believe their team is ready to give up for the long run?

Lord, that is not pretty, and if that’s the case, it’s as much the fault of this management group as it is the fault of the players, coaches, or an injury bug.