Insider Believes the Canucks are Heading Towards a 'Dismantling'
Following the Brock Boeser fiasco from Saturday night, Elliotte Friedman believes there could be a larger story afoot here. Boeser has already received permission to discuss a trade with other teams, but that could be the tip of the iceberg.
The Canucks are in a terrible position. They are strapped to the salary cap and sit at the bottom of the NHL standings; quite literally the worst position to be in as a front office. There's a saying that is quite fitting here:
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin and President Jim Rutherford have to get money off of their books, no ifs, ands, or buts. Vancouver currently has $0 in cap space with just under $5 million on LTIR; they have to move some players.
In order to do that, they will inevitably operate at a loss on at least one trade; Boeser is likely one of them, given his contract and his awful start to the season.
Friedman suggests that Boeser is just the start and a greater dismantling sits on the horizon. One with Bo Horvat, Luke Schenn, even Thatcher Demko, among others all being sent out of town in the name of a reset or a rebuild.
It's been said that the only true untouchables on the roster are Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. Anyone else could be had for the right price, and if the Canucks are heading for a rebuild, does it make sense to hang onto Horvat or Demko? I don't envy Allvin and Rutherford for having to make that decision because there is a slim chance it pans out for them.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Vancouver has some tough decisions to make. And with Connor Bedard up for grabs this summer, the option to strip it down to the studs and engage a full tank-job has to be enticing.
What would you do?
| POLL | ||
DÉCEMBRE 5 | 891 ANSWERS Insider Believes the Canucks are Heading Towards a 'Dismantling' What would you do if you were in charge of the Canucks? | ||
| 1 or 2 trades to clear cap | 233 | 26.2 % |
| Trade everyone/Full tank | 238 | 26.7 % |
| Clean house, top to bottom | 294 | 33 % |
| See results | 126 | 14.1 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||