NHL trade deadline: Brock Boeser as Mikko Rantanen consolation prize?

Article content

If Vancouver Canuck Brock Boeser does get dealt before Friday’s NHL trade deadline, watch carefully what happens with Mikko Rantanen.

Article content

Article content

Article content

The Carolina Hurricanes traded for Rantanen in late January, fully intending to sign him. But the 28-year-old power forward hasn’t agreed on a contract with the Hurricanes, and rumours are now flying he’s going to be traded by Carolina.

Safe to say the Hurricanes are looking for a big return for Rantanen, after all, they swapped Martin Necas for him.

Teams like the Florida Panthers and the Dallas Stars are said to be hot after Rantanen. Sources say that Boeser is also on their lists if they don’t land Rantanen.

Heck, perhaps Boeser lands in Carolina as the Rantanen replacement, given the Hurricanes spoke with the Canucks before about trading for Elias Pettersson. They certainly would be aware of how the Canucks value their players at the moment.

Article content

Article content

Vancouver has been shopping Boeser around the NHL. Another player they’ve been shopping, Carson Soucy, was traded to the New York Rangers on Thursday in exchange for a third-round draft pick in this summer’s NHL entry draft.

The emergence of rookie Elias “Junior” Pettersson on the defence, plus the acquisition of Victor Mancini as well as the likely arrival of prospect Tom Willander later this spring made Soucy expendable in the long run.

Boeser is a player plenty of teams would be interested in acquiring, but at what price?

Reilly Smith moved to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday for busted prospect Brendan Brisson and a third-round pick. Smith was once a quality mid-lineup scoring winger but is now 33 years old. Boeser is younger and a better scorer.

Article content

Last weekend, the Minnesota Wild picked up Gustav Nyquist for a second-round pick; Nyquist is a better defensive player than Boeser, but Brock is younger and a better scorer.

In other words, the Canucks obviously think Boeser has bigger value in a trade than either player. He’s also a hard winger to replace. He’s consistently scored at a 30-goal pace over his career, though he’s also often struggled to stay healthy. And he’s a popular figure in the Canucks’ locker-room.

His camp has been left to guess about his future in Vancouver; there haven’t been active contract talks in some time, though that’s not to say the sides haven’t been speaking. They’re very aware of their respective positions. And so it’s entirely possible a contract extension happens — there’s just little sign that will happen before Friday’s deadline.

Article content

Another Minnesotan on the Canucks’ roster who many see as a trade chip is defenceman Derek Forbort. The quiet but dependable blueliner is well-liked by his teammates and by management, and there does seem a decent chance that he’ll be signed to an extension rather than moved. Like Boeser, he’s a positive character and every dressing room needs guys like that.

And then there’s Pius Suter, who has apparently at least been on Dallas’s radar. Like Boeser and Forbort, he’s also unsigned beyond this season.

But trading the versatile Swiss forward would leave the Canucks very thin at centre, so it’s hard to imagine Suter being traded without another deal happening alongside it.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

Article content