TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports the Canucks, who have opened the season with a 9-2-1 record, have been looking"for a while," but still face challenges to get a deal done.
"They're looking for a right-shot defenceman," Dreger said on Insider Trading. "Pretty much most of the contending teams would be, and I'm talking about playoff-contending teams would be in that category. All teams think that their defence core needs to be upgraded. have, they don't have the cap space and the teams that they're talking to aren't interested in a player. Now, Vancouver like to use their depth on the wing.
According to CapFriendly, the Canucks have used $3.06 million of a possible $3.275 million in long-term injured reserve relief. Vancouver has a cap penalty of just $146,667 working against them this season from buying out veteran defencemanover the summer, but that number will rise to over $2.3 million next season and over $4.7 million in the following two years.
After missing the playoffs last season, the Canucks currently sit second in the Pacific Division and have a seven-point cushion before falling out of the current playoff picture.