Insider Reveals The Hold-Up On A Conor Garland Deal For The Canucks

The Conor Garland rumors continue to swirl, and it would seem that his days as a Vancouver Canuck are nearing an end. But... there is a fly in the ointment here as they continue to try to work out a deal with seemingly a number of suitors. 

While the Canucks are said to be willing to retain 30% of Garland's contract, that still leaves a $3.5M AAV (not bad at all) and a three-year term. And that, says NHL Insider Frank Seravalli on the Sekeres & Price podcast, is where the problem lies. 

The teams that I've talked to actually like the player. And if he were on the last year of his deal, I think this would have been solved already a while ago. I think the issue is the term. 

The problem for the Canucks is, there’d be a bunch of takers for Conor Garland if this was the last year of his deal. Problem is he has two addition ones on top of this one. So, that makes it really difficult. 

(Teams) are not going to just take on a Conor Garland and have him ham up their cap (for three years), just to get a pick back, because that doesn't really help them right now... The contracts just aren't lining up. 

Seravalli goes on to suggest that the Canucks need to find "a piece that's out of place somewhere else." 

In other words, take on someone else's bad deal for yours, he suggests. 

No matter how this turns out, a change of scenery would surely do Garland good. 

The 27-year-old has one goal in four games thus far, playing 12 minutes per night. 

Photo: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports