Focus now turning to Canucks’ trade-deadline assets
VANCOUVER — The forgotten side of the NHL trade deadline — the effects of leaving a young family and old friendships for nearly four months to pursue a championship — is often reduced to sidebar material.
The main story will always be asset management and the logic of long-term franchise vision versus the short-sightedness of chasing an elusive playoff position.
The Vancouver Canucks have three marketable assets in advance of the March 1 deadline in unrestricted free agents Alex Burrows, 35, and Ryan Miller, 36, and the versatile and coveted Jannik Hansen, 30, who’s under contract for another season.
With so many teams still in the playoff pursuit, the wait-and-see strategy is overshadowing the let’s-make-a-move mission. Burrows and Hansen have created a deadline buzz, while management keeps referencing the end of the season to address Miller because they need him for those meaningful games in March.
“I don’t know if [game] results have a big impact because there are so many variables that go into this,” Canucks president of hockey operations Trevor Linden said of the lead-up to March 1. “There has to be interest and the right fit.
“There are complications with players having control over the process [no-trade clauses] and the biggest thing is going to be not breaking our plan. We’re going to continue to add players and get younger and develop the players we have.”
General manager Jim Benning will talk to players about possibly waiving no-trade clauses during the club’s mandated five-day break that starts Monday.
Burrows has a no-trade clause and Hansen a modified no-trade, which means he must submit a list of eight preferable trade destinations.
“Deep down in my heart I would love to be heading into the playoffs with this [Canucks] team. My first goal was to play in the NHL, my second was to stay as long as I could (890 career regular-season and playoff games) and the third was to win a Stanley Cup.
“The third has been harder than I wanted, but there’s still a chance.”
Burrows is a persistent checker and penalty kill specialist. His recent spurt of four points in two games doesn’t hurt.
Hansen has made his case clear. He wants to stay, he has twin three-year-old boys in Lucas and Daniel, but he’s the most marketable of the trio.
The speedy winger would help any contender with his versatility, puck recovery and defensive awareness. And if a club sees him as more than a one-year fit — he has another season at a palatable $2.5 million US salary cap hit — he’s going to command considerable interest.
“I want to play here,” Hansen stressed. “I love being around the guys, I love the city and I want to win here.”
It’s a different story for Miller. The Canucks need him to backstop a playoff push that’s hanging by a thread. But there are additional challenges away from the rink. The starting goaltender is married to Noureen DeWulf, whose acting career is based in Los Angeles where she also raises son Bodhi, who turns two next month.