It sounds like the Vancouver Canucks are already shopping one of their defencemen.
The team is offering up Vincent Desharnais in trades, according to a new report.
“Couple of people tell me they’ve heard Desharnais’ name out there. Some think his name is out there on the trade market,” said CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal on Donnie & Dhali.
The Canucks signed the heavy blueliner this past summer to a two-year contract worth $2 million per season. They were enticed by Desharnais’ 6-foot-7 frame and long reach. The coaching staff, led by Rick Tocchet and Adam Foote, had a lot of success getting the most out of bigger defencemen last year.
That approach has not worked with Desharnais. We are now past the quarter-mark of the season and the 28-year-old is a healthy scratch semi-frequently. He has just two points in 17 games and the Canucks have scored just 41.67% of the goals while he’s on at five-on-five.
Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford have shown a willingness to move on from mistakes quickly. While they haven’t made many poor decisions across their tenure, the ones they have messed up on are usually reversed quickly.
Just because the Canucks are trying to move off Desharnais doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. The $2 million commitment for not just the rest of this season, but also next, is a tough pill for clubs to swallow, especially after his poor start.
“It’s gonna be tough to move him,” continued Dhaliwal. “He hasn’t played that well [and] he’s got term.”
In our opening segment @DhaliwalSports shared a name he is hearing the #Canucks have on the trade market.
Catch up below!https://t.co/h4e2SKM7eJ pic.twitter.com/VdeH1EmRuK
— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) December 12, 2024
While the Canucks are looking to trade away a defenceman in Desharnais, they’re also looking at potentially adding to their blue-line group. With Filip Hronek out long-term, the team is thin on the backend and they could add through trade to help reinforce that position group.