The NHL season has reached the point where every team knows exactly where it stands. For the Vancouver Canucks, the view isn’t pretty. Plagued by familiar injury woes, the team languishes in seventh place in the Pacific Division, and any sign of a comeback looks grim.
Vancouver has already made it clear that they are willing to move some veterans, excluding Quinn Hughes. A major development on that front could come sooner than expected and take the league by surprise.
Why Might the Canucks Move Kiefer Sherwood So Quickly?
While an ideal scenario would involve moving Thatcher Demko to Edmonton to solve the Oilers’ never-ending goalie woes, the league could instead see a move surrounding 30-year-old winger Kiefer Sherwood. The Canucks are trying to straighten things out to salvage the 2025-26 campaign, and moving Sherwood could be a first step in that direction.
This potential trade chatter comes despite the winger saying he enjoys playing in Vancouver. Elliotte Friedman stated we could expect a development quite soon. It is easy to believe that Sherwood is, in fact, nearing the end of his time with the Canucks.
“I’ve had people say to me today that they think that if Vancouver gets what they want for him…they could do it quick,” Friedman noted.
The reasoning behind moving Sherwood mirrors the situation with other veterans: the Canucks need to get younger. Sherwood is Vancouver’s leading goal scorer this season, and despite the team’s struggles, he wants to continue playing for them. The winger’s focus remains on ensuring his team wins.
“I think we just try to focus on playing and try to stay in the present. You know, I love it here and I love this group here, and I just want to continue to take it day by day. That stuff will sort itself out. I’m just focused on trying to have a good road trip here and get a couple of wins,” Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet wrote, quoting Sherwood.
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Sherwood does not seem to express any desire to move elsewhere. However, he is nearing the end of his two-year, $3 million contract with the Canucks, and there is no sign of an extension. Instead, his name continues to surface in the trade market, suggesting a high likelihood that these rumors will materialize into reality.
Sherwood is reportedly trying to maintain a professional demeanor through the uncertainty. The 30-year-old is well aware of how things unfold in the NHL and is not fretting over things beyond his control, especially given his lack of immunity in the form of a no-trade or no-move clause.
