The Vancouver Canucks are staring at another seller’s market season, and the trade chatter isn’t limited to the biggest names.
Sitting at the bottom of the NHL standings with a 3-16-1 record, the Canucks look set up to move pieces by the deadline as the rebuild rolls on. Elias Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk and Drew O'Connor have already been part of the rumor mill, but there are a few quieter names worth keeping an eye on as the season moves along.
One of them is Paul Cotter.
The 26-year-old winger came out flying in his first four games with Vancouver, piling up four goals and six points right away. Since then, the production has cooled off hard, with just two assists over his last 15 games.
Even so, Cotter still checks a box contenders love: he brings a hard-nosed style that fits a bottom-six role. With playoff teams always looking for that kind of forward help, and with Cotter pending unrestricted free agency, he could make sense as a rental if no extension is in place by the deadline.
Filip Chytil belongs on the watch list too.
He is also a pending UFA, and if he gets healthy, he could become a useful depth addition for a team looking to add offense down the lineup. Chytil has shown he can chip in before.
In 2024-25, he posted 13 goals and 26 points in 56 games split between the New York Rangers and Canucks. Before that, he put up career highs of 22 goals and 45 points in 74 games with New York in 2022-23.
The question, as always, is whether teams trust the health.
Then there’s Luke Schenn, who returned to Vancouver this offseason on a one-year, $2.25 million deal for his third stint with the club.
Schenn’s situation comes down to his no-movement clause. If he’s willing to waive it near the deadline, he could be exactly the kind of heavy, shutdown defenseman playoff teams chase.
That’s part of why he was dealt at the deadline during both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. If he doesn’t waive it, though, he stays put and finishes the year with the Canucks.
For the 19-year NHL veteran, it will come down to whether he wants another shot at his third Stanley Cup.
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Crotty was paired with Jamie Oleksiak in practice, a useful first step for a player still getting acclimated to a new system and a new room. Manny Malhotra also weighed in on the adjustment process, and the Canucks used the session to get ready for a game that will also feature their Hometown Remix jerseys, another small detail in a week where the focus has been as much on integration as on the matchup itself. [Read more 🡒]