Wednesday Mar. 23 - Vancouver Canucks at Colorado Avalanche - 6:30 p.m. PT
The dust has settled, and the Vancouver Canucks don't look much different than they did before the trade deadline.
Patrik Allvin and company elected to take a relatively conservative approach, making just three trades.
They started off with a bang on Sunday, earning universal praise by dealing Travis Hamonic to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a third-round draft pick.
The move cleared $3 million in salary-cap space, and reunited the Canucks with the pick that they originally sent to Vegas to acquire Nate Schmidt back in 2020. That pick was then moved to the Senators last summer, along with defenseman Nick Holden, with Vegas receiving Evgenii Dadonov in return.
Now, Dadonov is in limbo — announced to have been traded to Anaheim on Monday in a deal that was meant to clear salary-cap space for Vegas, but is now potentially voided because the Ducks were on Dadonov's no-trade list — which the Golden Knights say they didn't know about.
The Senators are taking heat for making the Hamonic deal. But one interesting element is the fact that Ottawa assistant coach Dave Capuano coached the New York Islanders when Hamonic was there — arguably at the peak of his career. After everything that happened here in Vancouver this year, a fresh start will probably do him good. And from a practical point of view, the Sens had a hole to fill on their right side just to get through the end of this year, with Thomas Chabot out for the season with a broken hand.
Allvin and company barely had time to do a victory lap before making their next trade — acquiring Travis Dermott from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
At 25, Dermott is younger than Hamonic, who's 31. And Dermott is signed at a cap hit of $1.5 million for this season and next, leaving a cap surplus of $1.5 million off the two deals.
The third-rounder that the Canucks gave up to acquire Dermott is actually the one they received from Winnipeg when they traded away Nate Schmidt last summer. The Canucks and Jets are currently tied in the NHL standings with 68 points each, although the Jets hold a game in hand. At this point, it's impossible to predict which of these picks will be higher in this summer's draft.
On Monday, the Canucks also claimed Brad Richardson on waivers from the Calgary Flames. That's a depth acquisition for the centre position which I assume is mostly tied to Jason Dickinson's ongoing injury status.
And while Richardson hadn't played much in Calgary this year, I think the Flames were hoping to keep him in their fold as someone who could step in if needed if they go on a long playoff run.
Canucks fans remember Richardson, of course, as the 'whiskey drinker' who impressed John Tortorella during his first time here. He signed with Vancouver as a free agent before the 2013-14 season and played 118 games in Vancouver over two seasons, picking up 44 points.
After injuries limited him to just 45 games in 2014-15, he went on to sign as a free agent in Arizona, where he spent five seasons. During that time, I remember his four-goal night at Gila River Arena on Feb. 28, 2019, when the Coyotes beat the Canucks 5-2. And I remember his gruesome broken leg, when he was stretchered off the ice after getting tangled up with Nikita Tryamkin at Rogers Arena on Nov. 17, 2016.
Now 37, Richardson has played in just three games since the All-Star Break, as the Flames have been remarkably healthy all season long with the exception of that big Covid outbreak that shut down their team in December. In 27 games this season, he is averaging 9:56 of ice time when he does play, and has four points.
Richardson's on a one-year contract that pays him $800,000 this season, and will be a UFA at season's end.
And here's a fun fact if you were a fan of the original Gossip Girl series. His current partner is actress Jessica Szohr, who played Vanessa.
They've been together since 2019 and their daughter, Bowie (!) is now 14 months old. Just the right age to hang out with Gunnar Horvat?
In Vancouver's final deal of the day on Monday, Tyler Motte fetched a fourth-rounder in 2023 in a last-minute swap with the New York Rangers.
If that draft pick turns into something, the Thomas Vanek effect in Vancouver could end up stretching into a second decade. Pretty wild for a one-year free-agent signing. And word is that the 2023 draft is supposed to be a deep one — although who knows what will happen when we get *that* deep?
In
The Athletic,
Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal reported that the Canucks remained in negotiations with Motte's agent, Kevin Epp, all the way up to Monday, and that there was still some talk as trade-deadline day unfolded. But when an agreement couldn't be reached, Allvin took the best offer that he had on the table for his impending unrestricted free agent winger.
It's the right move, but it's bittersweet at best.
Motte has been a terrific player for the Canucks during his five years here in Vancouver — and had become one of the longest-tenured, too. Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser have been the only other regulars through that whole stretch; Thatcher Demko played one game in the 2017-18 season, and Brandon Sutter was also around then but hasn't played yet this year.
Despite dealing with numerous injuries, Motte's game evolved to the point where he was a key fixture on the energy line that has been such an important part of Vancouver's success over the last three and a half months. His bravery in going public with his mental health struggles has also been tremendous. He earned his spot as the favourite player of top 2023 draft prospect Connor Bedard!
I think he and Andrew Copp will bring a useful tenacity to the New York Rangers' forward group. I'll be rooting for him.
As far as the return goes — yes, it was underwhelming. But the going rate for wingers on expiring contracts was pretty low.
Put it this way: the Ducks looked like they did pretty well when they acquired Zach Aston-Reese, Dominik Simon, goalie prospect Calle Clang and a second from the Penguins in exchange for Rickard Rakell — one of the more high-end rentals that was available at this deadline. But Aston-Reese and Simon are also both on expiring deals; they're basically just bodies that will fill roster spots for the Ducks until the end of the year.
Clang could hold value — he's still just 19 and has been on Sweden's national team roster, although he didn't see any game action over two World Junior tournaments. But compared to a cheap forward with term like Brandon Hagel, Rakell didn't command nearly the same return. Motte certainly slots in below that.
I'm okay with the fact that the Canucks didn't force a deal for its own sake. They'll have time this summer to dig deeper and explore more options. And maybe now that the pressure of the trade rumours is finally lifted, the club will get a second wind and be able to play more freely.
We'll know pretty quickly how long the faint playoff dream can stay alive. The Canucks are practicing Tuesday morning at Rogers Arena before flying to Denver.
Here's how the lines look, with Richardson and Dermott present and accounted for:
Wednesday night, the Canucks will kick off a Central Division 4-in-6 against the Avalanche. The trip also hits Minnesota on Thursday and Dallas on Saturday, then finishes off in St. Louis next Monday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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