The Vancouver Canucks extended Jim Rutherford for three years, and on the January 20, Hockey Day in Canada edition of Saturday Headlines, Elliotte Friedman said that the team is expected to get an extension in place for their general manager Patrik Allvin. Along with executive moves, the Canucks are looking for help in their top-six. This is where Friedman made a huge connection to the Calgary Flames.
Canucks looking at Elias Lindholm
The Canucks are looking to bolster their forward group and they may be turning to a team they’ve made a trade with before earlier in the season. Allvin and Craig Conroy have made already a trade that sent a Flames player in Nikita Zadorov for two of Vancouver’s future draft picks. A trade that sends Elias Lindholm to Vancouver would definitely fetch some strong draft capital or even more NHL-ready players/prospects.
Here’s Friedman’s full quote about the Canucks’ search for a forward:
The other thing that the fans are also going to be wondering about is… what they do at the deadline, and there’s no question that they are looking hard at a top-six forward—somebody preferably with flexibility. And you know, the word is they’re looking at about four or five different players. I think one is [Jake] Guentzel, I think another is [Elias] Lindholm from Calgary, but there’s more. And it’s our job to try to figure out who they are. But there’s no doubt a top-six forward is number one on Vancouver’s radar.
Jake Guenztel was first listed followed immediately by Elias Lindholm. Guentzel has 20 goals and 27 assists in 43 games this season, and he’s a left-shooting winger with a cap hit of $6.0M. His five-year contract expires at the end of this season.
Lindholm, meanwhile, has eight goals and 22 assists in 46 games. His six-year contract similarly expires at the end of this season and it carries a cap hit of $4.85M.
Can another trade come between Calgary and Vancouver
Having the two players named indicates that the Canucks are targeting teams with players on expiring contracts, and that may be appealing to GMs like Conroy who’s touted his philosophy on asset management, especially after seeing Johnny Gaudreau walk for nothing.
As mentioned, Allvin and Conroy are already familiar with each other and seemingly don’t have qualms about making in-division trades. If the Canucks end up being the team that offers up a great package for Lindholm, then Calgary needs to consider it, plain and simple.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
