Ahead of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, the Canucks made five different trades, including parting ways with Tyler Myers and Conor Garland.
The 2026 NHL Trade Deadline has officially passed, with the Vancouver Canucks making a total of five trades in the two days leading up to the deadline. After moving on from Tyler Myers, Jett Woo, Conor Garland, Lukas Reichel, and David Kämpf, Vancouver has now added two second-round picks (2027, 2028), a third-round pick (2026), a fourth-round pick (2029), two sixth-round picks (2026), and defenceman Jack Thompson to their organization.
But there are two pending UFAs that the team intriguingly didn’t move on from.
While the Canucks did trade Kämpf, two of their other pending UFAs — Teddy Blueger and Evander Kane — will now remain with the team through the rest of this season. This comes about despite reported interest in both players at different points in time. According to Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin, Vancouver didn’t officially get any concrete offers for either player.
“Again, like look at the market today, it was very unpredictable. I didn’t get any offers, so I was a little bit surprised there, and those two guys have been playing really well for us,” Allvin told the media after the deadline passed. “Teddy has been here for a couple of years now, and is a good player on the ice and a good player off the ice for us as well. And Evander Kane is a veteran player in the league. We all know that roster spots and cap space plays in.”
Part of what may have factored into the decision to retain Blueger is the fact that the team has considered re-signing him. “We know that he likes it here,” Allvin said. “It’s too early to tell where things go here. But I mean, again, Teddy has been playing really well for us, and is a good character guy.”
Allvin also discussed the thought process behind moving Conor Garland, who the team signed to a six-year contract extension during last season’s free agency period.
“Again, our intention last summer was to keep Conor here long-term. When things changed over the year, here for us, looking into where we’re heading, age wise, where he was, and contract length, [the move] gives us a little bit more flexibility moving forward.”
Jan 21, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Teddy Blueger (53) talks with defenseman Tyler Myers (57) and forward Conor Garland (8) during a stop in play against the Washington Capitals in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn ImagesVancouver’s plan heading into the deadline was, as expected of a rebuilding team, to acquire picks that will help them build a better future. With the moves conducted in the past few days, they’ve officially acquired five draft selections that they didn’t have beforehand. When you add the two second-round picks acquired in the Kiefer Sherwood trade in January, as well as the first-round selection included in the Quinn Hughes trade, Vancouver is now up to 35 draft picks in their next four NHL Drafts.
“This is something where the two big ones with Quinn Hughes and Kiefer Sherwood were done prior to this. And you never know when you’re coming into this week what’s going to happen, but our goal was to accumulate draft picks and potential players at 25 and younger, and we’re pleased we’re sitting here today with some extra picks moving forward, not just this year. I thought it was important to spread them out over the next couple of years.”
Allvin was also asked about clearing cap space ahead of the deadline in hopes of potentially taking salary-heavy contracts for picks or young players. The General Manager noted that, while the team had discussed those situations, nothing ultimately came about.
“There were some conversations about that too. I’m not sure that was something that actually happened here today. We talked about it. We also looked at options, some of the potential younger players that could become available, but it was nothing that that materialized, or something that we got close to.”
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