The Vancouver Canucks have hit rock bottom this season, faring worse than any other team across the league. This season could have been different, but every passing game has only driven the point further home: things are clearly getting out of the Canucks’ hands. With a rebuild looming, the management is indeed listening to offers about the team’s veteran players.
Kiefer Sherwood and Evander Kane were among the first names to be floated as potential trade candidates. How many players could follow suit? Insider Chris Johnston weighed in on the subject in a recent episode of the “Chris Johnston Show”.
Insider Speculates About the Vancouver Canucks Future Trade Plans
Sherwood is almost sure to be dealt ahead of the deadline, and the same can be said about Kane. If things come to trading Elias Pettersson, the front office in Vancouver might even go for that. The trajectory of the Canucks’ 2025-26 season leaves little room for choice. The situation is certainly not one that Patrik Allvin can trade himself out of, but it would be the start of something.
The season is unlikely to magically improve for the Canucks, so more trades are about to come. Recently, Johnston has offered a rough estimate of the number of players the team’s management could potentially trade in the near future.
“I would say we had two on this version, Kiefer Sherwood and Evander Kane. I would say we will be up to about four, probably. Some of that will depend on, we kind of expand the board as we go,” Johnston stated.
The insider further expressed his interest in what lies ahead for goalie Thatcher Demko. “I would think we will probably have about four Canucks on the next one. The biggest question, and I don’t know, honestly right now he’s not on it, but I just wonder what happens to Thatcher Demko.”
Johnston further added that it would be quite a curious development if Demko were to emerge as a potential candidate. Still, if he doesn’t, the players who do become available would not come as a surprise. “Like if they make him available, that would be very, very interesting. But if not, it will just be the sort of names you would expect.”
The Canucks’ nightmare of a season has to be dealt with somehow, and this is one way to go about it. The team received a significant blow when franchise icon Quinn Hughes made it clear that he had no desire to continue playing in Vancouver and wouldn’t sign a contract extension.
Hughes went to the Minnesota Wild to pursue his championship aspirations, leaving behind a Canucks team that is still figuring out how to navigate a disappointing turn of events.
