Win-Win Trade Ideas for the Vancouver Canucks and NHL Contenders

Even though the NHL trade deadline is still a few months away, some teams might be looking to get a head start on the deals. The Vancouver Canucks would seem to be one of the teams at the top of that list. Not only are they off to a disappointing start, but team president Jim Rutherford has also already made it clear that his team could be open to business, and he is not one who usually drags his feet when it comes to roster changes.

He loves making mid-season trades, and the Canucks have several prominent players who could be on the move.

So with all of that being said, let's take a look at some potential win-win trades for the Canucks and some of the top contenders around the NHL this season.

The Canucks may not move all of these players this season, but it is a good bet they will move at least one or two, especially as it relates to potential free agents. We are just spit-balling some ideas that could work for them and some other NHL playoff hopefuls.

Kiefer Sherwood and Conor Garland to the Boston Bruins

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It is tough to figure out what exactly the Boston Bruins are and what they want to be this season. Are they a playoff team? Are they a house of cards ready to topple over? Are they trying to be a playoff team, or are they trying to retool? What should they do? Do they even know?

All of those questions are valid.

If their goal is to try to build on a somewhat strong start that has them in the playoff mix, they are going to have to do something to add some offense to their lineup. Right now, pretty much everything is falling on David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie, and there is only so far two players can take you. Scoring depth has to be a priority.

Sherwood and Garland could, at least in theory, help address that.

Sherwood fits the physical identity Boston always seems to be trying to cultivate, while also having a bit of a goal-scoring touch over the past two years. He has 12 goals in 26 games this season after scoring 19 in 78 games a year ago. The potential alarm bell with that production is that he is scoring on just 24 percent of his shots on goal this season, which is not a sustainable rate for him. There is some regression ahead for him.

That also kind of makes him the perfect trade chip right now for Vancouver. His value is never going to be higher than it is right now, given his production, physical play, and the fact that he counts just $1.5 million against the salary cap this season with no long-term commitment beyond this season. Cash in and trade him while you can. Do not re-sign him for a bad price.

Garland is not a game-breaker by any means, but he is a steady 20-goal scorer who would be an outstanding secondary option on a team that already has a top-line game-breaker. He has a new long-term contract extension ready to kick in next season that will count $6 million against the cap for the next six years, so there would be a bit of an investment and risk involved.

Boston does not have a particularly deep farm system, but it does have four first-round draft picks over the next two years. This trade package would obviously not require all of them, but there are definitely some options there that could bring some offense to Boston while also giving Vancouver more draft capital for the future.

The Canucks do not seem eager to fully rebuild. Additional draft picks still have value as trade chips for other players.

Quinn Hughes to the New Jersey Devils

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We know one way or the other, this is going to happen. Whether it be in free agency or a trade before then, it just seems inevitable. Even Rutherford has talked about it, and what the possibility of it might mean for a potential Hughes trade without a contract extension in place next year.

The Canucks are not yet eligible to re-sign Hughes to a new contract, as he still has a year and a half remaining on his current contract, but this situation just seems to be unraveling. Rapidly. If they are going to move him, this might be the time to do so for the maximum value and return. It might not be this month, or next month, or in February. But it could certainly happen this year, especially if Canucks season continues to get ugly and if they truly believe they have little chance of getting Hughes re-signed.

The Devils have all of their first-round picks in future years.

The Canucks will get at least two of them.

The Devils have a middle-of-the-pack farm system, but there are some good young defensemen at the top. You can get a Simon Nemec. You might be able to get a Dawson Mercer.

It stinks that it has come to this for the Canucks, and it is not a great sign for the franchise going forward.

Filip Hronek to the New York Islanders

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While most of the trade speculation around the Canucks' defense centers on Hughes, Filip Hronek could also be an extremely attractive player if they wanted to pursue a larger-scale rebuild.

Hronek has full no-trade protections in his contract, and he does count $7.5 million against the cap for the next six years, but he would be a perfect fit on the Islanders' blue line to pair alongside 18-year-old phenom Matthew Schaefer.

Schaefer is already blossoming into a superstar at a rapid pace, and giving him a solid veteran player -- one with a track record of playing next to an elite talent -- would only help him even more, at least in theory.

The Islanders already traded one top-pairing defender this past offseason when they sent Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens for two first-round picks. They probably would not have to pay as steep a price to get Hronek, and would also not have to worry about re-signing him, as he is already under contract.

The islanders might not be ready to seriously compete for a Stanley Cup this season, but Hronek would be a long-term investment and a lock-in as a steady partner for their franchise player.

New York's farm system has rapidly improved in recent years, and they not only have a decent prospect pool to deal from, but they also own two first-round picks in 2026 -- their own, and the Colorado Avalanche pick. They could either offer their own pick (with lottery protections) or Colorado's pick as part of the trade, as well as a strong prospect (Danny Nelson? Daniil Prokhorov? Calum Ritchie?).

Tyler Myers and Teddy Blueger to the Detroit Red Wings

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It is time for the Detroit Red Wings to make the playoffs. It has been long enough. It has been long enough overall, and long enough under the watch of Steve Yzerman. If the Stanley Cup Playoffs were to begin today, the Detroit Red Wings would not be in them, and their shortcomings are pretty obvious.

Their top players are playing exceptionally well.

Everybody else on the roster is not.

That is especially true when it comes to the team's defensive play.

Tyler Myers and Teddy Blueger may not move the needle much, but they would be solid additions to improve the team's defense without requiring much in terms of assets. Blueger, who is currently sidelined with an injury but starting to work his way back, is an unrestricted free agent after this season, while Myers has one year remaining at $3 million.

Getting both would make a big improvement to the team's defensive play, while also leaving Yzerman with enough salary cap space and trade assets to go for a bigger score elsewhere before the trade deadline.