Surprising Team Canucks May Be Connected To Involving Defenseman

The Vancouver Canucks are trying to move Conor Garland, that much has been made clear. He changed agents and has been granted the right to speak to other teams to facilitate a trade. This makes things a little easier on the Canucks, but they do have some needs when trading Garland.

The Canucks have a lot of forwards vying for spots on the team and a little amount of cap space. Trading Garland would open up a spot, but it must help them open up $1-2 million. On top of that, the Canucks are looking to add a defenseman. Carson Soucy is injured at the moment and Tucker Poolman is still out. Elliotte Friedman mentioned the Columbus Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, and Nashville Predators are teams that have shown interest. While those teams make sense in order to make a full trade involving Garland, the Canucks' need for a defender remains.

The Senators are looking to move Erik Brannstrom now that attempts to trade Mathieu Joseph have failed and the team needs cap space in order to sign Shane Pinto. With defensemen in the pipeline, the Senators can afford to move Brannstrom and he could fit in nicely on the third pairing in Vancouver. The Canucks would have to find a trade for Garland elsewhere before this happens since the cap space wouldn't work out, but maybe a team that is interested in Garland doesn't have a defenseman to offer. These are two teams where their interests somewhat align. Something could come of it this season.