Jim Rutherford and the Urgency of Trades?
Scott Burnside of The Daily Faceoff (interview): With the trade deadline a little over a month away, focus turns to the Vancouver Canucks. Particularly, Jim Rutherford gets the spotlight and rightfully so. Rutherford said some interesting things as the Canucks approach March 21st.
This was telling.
It’s more about what we’re doing. Not what other people are going to do. There’s different ways of doing things. And there’s different ways of being successful. It’s like there’s different ways of winning the Stanley Cup. You can win it with a heavy team or you can win it with a fast, skilled team.
There’s different ways of doing things and this is more about us. I mean now that you ask the question I suspect that it will change things a little bit but that was not the reason to do it.
As Rutherford said, there’s no urgency to make deals. Vancouver has zero RFA’s and that sets the table from a position of leverage. The Canucks can make deals or not.
Canucks on the road against the Sharks,
-115 on the moneyline with Betway
Trade, Keep, Or Extend Vancouver Canucks
Harman Dayal and Thomas Drance of The Athletic: Several players are on the radar for Vancouver when it comes to trade, keep, or extend. The biggest is J.T. Miller.
For all the offense he brings to the table, Miller carries trade value that is at an all-time high. As much as Vancouver needs his near point-a-game offense, they may need the multiple assets even more. Extending him now is not in the cards and him staying after next season may not be either.
Right now, Miller expects to be traded if not at the trade deadline or the summer. The likelihood is Vancouver attempts to move the forward next month to maximize value.
Brock Boeser is simply not going to get dealt in an isolated move. So, there is little worry as far as the forward. His contract is cost prohibitive to every team not just Vancouver.
Then, there’s Conor Garland. Rumors swirled from the beginning of the season with the winger. His work rate is outstanding but Garland’s value across the league varies wildly. That makes a trade difficult to gauge and to make. Unless something blows Jim Rutherford away, it looks like he may just stay.