The Vancouver Canucks finally traded defenceman Luke Schenn on Tuesday and he went to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 3rd-round 2023 NHL Draft pick. Neither the destination team nor the return on the deal for the 33-year-old righthander came as any surprise.
“We would like thank Luke for his contributions to the organization,” Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin said in a statement. “He was a leader on our hockey team and helped several of our players during his time here. We are excited to get a third-round pick as we continue to build out the depth of our prospect pool.”
That prospect pool grew on Monday with the deal that landed 19-year-old OHL left winger Josh Bloom from the Buffalo Sabres. The Canucks gave up 24-year-old lefty defenceman Riley Stillman in return.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound power forward is a point-a-game guy for the North Bay Battalion who possesses strong hockey sense but needs to continue ramping up his offensive game. Buffalo took him in the 3rd-round two summers ago.
Three days ago the Canucks acquired former Rangers 1st-round draft pick, winger Vitali Kravtsov from New York in exchange for Will Lockwood and a 7th-round pick in 2026, also known as a trade chip.
Next Canucks!?
Anyone else? Brock Boeser’s name has been floated around by consecutive Canucks general managers over the last 18 months with no takers, further complicated by the three-year, $6.5-million per season deal he signed this past off-season. Tough to pass that along without retaining salary. It might turn out that Vancouver will try to move him at some point next season when that term is a bit less imposing.
We’ve been talking about J.T. Miller as a trade possibility since the day after he signed his deal, due to the fact his no-move clause doesn’t kick-in until this summer and the Canucks didn’t back-time it to cover this final year of his old contract. It would still have to be a pretty damn nice package to give up a player of his skill and determination. Plus, it seems Elias Pettersson likes having him around.
Trading goalie Thatcher Demko? Have never bought into that one.
Three days remain until the Friday afternoon NHL Trade Deadline.
