Former Vancouver Canucks forward Jannik Hansen shared his thoughts on the Conor Garland situation in Vancouver on Tuesday’s episode of “The People’s Show” on Sportsnet 650.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Canucks have granted Garland and his representation permission to speak with other teams around the NHL about a possible trade.
Hansen, who played in Vancouver from 2007 to 2017, didn’t mince words in his conversation about Garland with 650 show host Bik Nizzar.
Here’s the transcript of part of their exchange:
Bik Nizzar: Conor Garland making news, he switches his agent, he met with media and he didn’t deny that getting traded out of Vancouver wouldn’t be a bad scenario, but it just feels like we go to start [the season] and here’s this first hiccup that the Canucks have to kind of clear as a group. But just isolating Conor Garland, what do you make of that situation and a player trying to take care of his own at the same time?
Jannik Hansen: That’s a negative situation every step of the way. You just mentioned, you’re about to start your boat to put your team in the right direction and this is a guy who doesn’t want to be here. Like, you hate to see it, man. Get him out of there as fast as possible in any way possible. You don’t want to be a part of the solution? Then you’re the problem. And again, I’ve liked Conor Garland, I like what he brings, he’s energetic, he drives possession, he does not finish on all of his chances but you can see the effort is there. Sometimes he cheats a little bit offensively but a lot of the guys are guilty of that. But this is [him] putting me before the team. And again, I don’t know if this has been going on all summer, and it was from last year he wanted out, and if that’s the case, shame on management for not moving him or trying to get something done.
The Canucks originally acquired Garland from the Arizona Coyotes in 2021 as part of the blockbuster Oliver Ekman-Larsson trade. Just over two years later, OEL is no longer a Canuck and it appears Garland may soon follow him out the door.
Garland has three years left on his contract, which carries a $4.95 million cap hit but does not feature any trade or movement protection. Later in his conversation with Nizzar, Hansen speculated that Garland’s inflated salary could prevent teams that otherwise might be interested in him from making offers.
Also on Tuesday, Vancouver hockey insider Rick Dhaliwal clarified that he does not believe Garland has explicitly asked for a trade, but that the Canucks feel it could be a win/win outcome for both the team and the player.
The Canucks are slated to open their 2023–24 season when they take on the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena in Vancouver at 7:00 p.m. PT on Wednesday.
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