‘High prices limited our team from enormous pick in the trade’ Canucks has capacity already.
VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks looked around ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline Friday, but general manager Patrik Allvin says high prices kept his team from making any moves.
Allvin told reporters he and his front office did much of their work well ahead of Friday and the GM feels the team is “good enough to compete.”
The Canucks (41-17-7) went into Friday sitting atop the Western Conference.
Vancouver acquired defenceman Nikita Zadorov from the Calgary in November for a pair of draft picks.
The Flames then dealt forward Elias Lindholm to the Canucks on Jan. 31 in exchange for forward Andrei Kuzmenko, a first-round pick in the 2024 draft, a conditional fourth-round pick and a pair of prospects.
Allvin says the Canucks were involved in discussions about a number of players in recent weeks, but did not want to part with prospects and ultimately couldn’t find the right fit for a trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2024.
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The Canucks 2024 NHL Trade Deadline Liveblog Spectacular
It’s trade deadline day and, for once, the Vancouver Canucks aren’t sellers.
The trouble is, the market is running out of players to buy. Teams around the NHL were extra active in the week leading up to the deadline, with many of the biggest names already on the move over the last few days.
Will Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin pull the trigger on Tyler Toffoli? Will they make a move for a different winger like Jason Zucker? Will they make any other deals to add depth as they aim for a long playoff run? What about Phil Kessel — will they sign him before the deadline to ensure he’s eligible for the playoffs?
Those are the questions that will be answered today and Pass it to Bulis will be following along all day in this liveblog.
So, here we go. Refresh early and often: new updates will appear at the top.
1:15 p.m. | The trade deadline is over, the Canucks press conference has ended, and the gathered media have gone their separate ways. Three lone sandwich triangles remain on the buffet table, along with a largely untouched tray of salad and a collection of croissants.
The Canucks have done nothing at the trade deadline but watch other teams in their division and conference get better but Patrik Allvin seemed unfazed.
“Looking at our team and where we are, sitting here today with 89 points with the group we have here…we felt that the team we have is good enough to compete,” said Allvin.
We’ll end the liveblog with that statement. The Canucks feel they’re good enough with the team they’ve already gathered together, including the trades they have made during the season to add Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm. Are they right? Only time will tell.
I will have a wrap-up article coming of the press conference with some more thoughts on what the Canucks did today by not doing anything but this is sayonara for the liveblog. Thanks for following along!
12:04 p.m. | The deadline has passed but there could still be deals in the queue with the NHL that could trickle out over the next half hour.
But, according to The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, a Phil Kessel contract or a last-minute trade for the Canucks won’t be one of those deals. They’re done.
