I’m not sure you guys have seen this yet (maybe, like me, it happened while you were asleep) but the Canucks made a trade, sending Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, a first-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft to the Flames for Elias Lindholm.

The Canucks were able to scoop the top available center off everyone’s trade boards last night, and in general Rutherford/Allvin fashion they did it well ahead of the trade deadline. Lindholm comes in and checks off so many boxes the Canucks needed: right-handed center (Canucks had none up until this point) who is good in the dot, plays PK, plays PP, easily slots into top-6, and a responsible player who will fit into Tocchet’s system. Oh and he’s Swedish. It’s basically a perfect fit. The price they paid for him wasn’t a steal, and it wasn’t an overpay… it was a pretty fair deal all around. The fact the Canucks were able to make this deal without sending out any of their top prospects or young players is a massive plus.

While Lindholm hasn’t had the best stat-line so far this year, he’s generally regarded as someone who plays better with better players who is most dangerous playing away from the puck. He didn’t have that skill to play with in Calgary, but he’s stepping into an ideal situation in Vancouver. I think we’re all penciling him in with Petey, but his versatility between center and wing gives Tocchet a lot of room to mix those top 6 forwards around. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes down when the Canucks hit the ice again.

In acquiring Lindholm this early, the Canucks also set the market for the remaining, very thin pending UFA class. It’s a sellers market out there, so I think we’re going to see prices go up the closer we get to the TDL. Allvin was able to get ahead of that, and push his chips in on this year’s version of the Canucks. I’m sure the boys in the locker room are excited for that.

One gets the sense that Allvin may not be done this year, especially since the Canucks have about 1.9 mil in cap space left. But, that’s for another blog.


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