Canucks Rumors: 3 New Teams Added To Garland Sweepstakes

It was reported by Kevin Weekes that as the Vancouver Canucks are trying to move Conor Garland and the player/his agent are also looking for a destination, that the team is willing to retain up to 30 percent of the contract in a deal. This has opened up new opportunities for the Canucks to trade Garland sooner than later.

The winger has three years left at $4.95 million AAV, so with 30 percent of that retained, a team could potentially only be taking on $3.5 million AAV of that. The contract becomes much more appealing for a player who has scored 70 goals and 176 points in the last 275 games over the past four seasons. Let's now look at a few teams that now have the opportunity to make a deal with less money coming their way in a potential deal.

Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins have a much weaker forward group this season after all of the offseason changes they were forced to do and due to retirements. They are managing early, but it will still be a bit tough to maintain. There are a lot of young and inexperienced players in the lineup while the defense and goaltending is still solid like last season.

While the Bruins could use another top-six forward that can produce, the cap retention would help them since the Bruins are so close to the cap. As for a return, the Canucks need a defenseman and Derek Forbort fits the bill. He might be solid for the Bruins, but he has a $3 million AAV cap hit for the final season of his deal and the Bruins have Mason Lohrei or Jakub Zboril to call up.

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals have been vocal about their intentions to acquire a top-six winger. Garland is a strong target for them and the Capitals have a defenseman to spare. The team has scored three goals in three games and need the scoring help in any way. Trevor van Riemsdyk stands out as the trade candidate for the Capitals that would work best in this trade. He has the same length of contract as Garland, a similar cap hit when 30 percent is retained, and someone like Alexander Alexeyev or Hardy Haman Aktell could step in for games.

Montreal Canadiens

If the Montreal Canadiens look to acquire Garland, it would be a little bit less about money, and more due to the fact that they now need a top-six forward for the remainder of the season and have lots of defensemen to spare. The Canucks would likely get a couple options to choose from and Garland could help cover some of the scoring that the team will be losing without Kirby Dach.