The Vancouver Canucks may not be in a hurry to shake up their roster, but the Chicago Blackhawks could be a team worth watching if they decide they need to make a move.
On The Sat Shah Show, Satiar Shah asked whether Vancouver might look to do something trade-wise in the near future, either to add help or change the look of the roster. Irf Gaffar didn’t sound convinced the Canucks are in position to stir things up.
“add from where? Yeah, I think you have to leave that Abbotsford team alone with what they’re doing.
Like you, you can’t go, you can’t go there and, you know, disrupt a good thing and, and good juju that’s happening down in Abbotsford. I really don’t.”
Gaffar also brought up Arshdeep Baines, wondering whether the Canucks would waive him or worry about losing him. Shah didn’t think that was a real concern.
“Nobody’s claiming him, nobody’s claiming him, I don’t think.”
Gaffar agreed that a claim seemed unlikely and said he expects Baines to remain with the organization for now.
“Nobody’s claiming him, right? So I, I just don’t think that’s going to happen.
I think Arshdeep’s going to stick around for a while. I mean, I could be wrong, but I, I just can’t see that happening right now.
I, I just don’t know that there’s a big enough move where another team looks at this roster and says, ‘I want this player now,’ and I’m going to give up X, Y, and Z to give, to get this player now. I just can’t see it happening just yet.”
Shah pointed to Filip Hronek as one Canucks player who could draw attention, though he said even that situation is unclear.
“No, not, not from the Canucks. I mean, unless you talk about a guy like (Filip) Hronek, who’s been you know struggling as well. But even him, I mean, does, has he decided yet at some point if he’s willing to go somewhere?”
From there, Shah turned his focus to Chicago, calling the Blackhawks the team most likely to be desperate enough to act. He pointed to their 9-2 loss to Carolina on Saturday and said the organization appears to be under pressure.
“Like the team, I wonder about coming and calling is the team that’s probably most desperate in the NHL right now. They got clobbered (Saturday), 9-2 by Carolina, in the Chicago Blackhawks.
And, who knows if their GM is in trouble; their coach is in trouble. They just recently empowered their GM, Kyle Davidson.
So I have no idea what the Blackhawks are going to do, but they seem like a team that’s going to be very desperate for something.
What should the Minnesota Wild do to acquire Dylan Larkin?
To your point, does Vancouver have anything that they would want to go after? But that’s probably the team to watch that is probably most desperate to do something to shake things up because they’re, they’re on the clock already with Bedard.
He has four years left. They can’t keep messing around.”
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Vanackers night stood out in particular, with the young forward driving the rally after Rockford fell behind 3-0, while Boisvert also broke through and Spellacy joined the list late as the IceHogs finished the job. For a Chicago organization that has been watching its prospects work through a sluggish start, the game offered a much-needed reminder that the talent in Rockford can still tilt a night in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
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The problem is that the path to a meaningful move is not simple. The Blackhawks have draft capital and prospects to work with, but early in the season the market for impact forwards is usually expensive, and the club does not have much room to maneuver. Davidson is still expected to explore trades, yet finding a fit that actually moves the needle without draining future assets will be the challenge. [Read more 🡒]
