NHL Rumors: The Vancouver Canucks need defensive help, what asset could they move?

Sportsnet 650: Mike Halford and Jason Brough last week talk about the Vancouver Canucks need for a defenseman and what names have been coming up as players they may have to move to get one.

** NHLRumors.com transcription

Halford: “So how do Canucks fans feel about Hoglander’s name coming up in this trade speculation because he seems like kind of a, he seems like a tradable young prospect if the Canucks indeed are desperate to fix that blue line.”

Brough: “He might have been the best player Saturday. He was really good. He was really effective. And (head coach Rick) Tocchet through him out there after he scored the last goal. He’s like, ‘Oh, get another one. You seem to be having some juice here.’

I think that in the limited time that he’s had because you look at his time on ice totals and they’ve been low right across the board. I mean, if he gets 13 minutes tonight, it’s like, whoa, that’s a big night for you. I’ve actually liked what he’s brought.”

Halford: “Can he do that consistently enough? Isn’t that the big question?

Brough: “Well, I was just gonna say like, I, but if there’s a price that you’re willing to pay to bring somebody in. He’s the guy 100% because I’m not sure Tocchet’s ever gonna get to the point of trusting him or elevating him beyond what he is right now. I think Tocchet thinks he’s too unpredictable.”

Halford: “Yeah.”

Brough: “I don’t think that he likes…”

Halford: “How far up in the lineup is he gonna play to, right?

Brough: “On a different team I could see him being a different kind of contributor, right? Maybe a team that’s a little more loosey-goosey.

Producer: “Well the Canucks can’t, the Canucks I ice this the D core for another six weeks, can they? I mean that’s like a nightmare. It’s not good. Like, that’s a big problem.

Brough: “Those guys will feel right at home tonight against the Sharks but outside of that not sure if they’re gonna be able to hold water right? Like there’s, they went through a tough stretch of the schedule, but look, right, in their last 10 games, right, they had a five-game win streak that they ripped off that included like the shutout win over Dallas, the 10-1 win over San Jose. They went five and 0. In the next five games, they went two and three.

What’s been the big difference in those two five-game stretches? In the five-game win streak they allowed seven goals. In the last five games they’ve allowed 19. I don’t think there’s any shock. It’s an obvious correlation between we’ve got a much weaker blue line now and we’re suddenly starting to get a bit leaky. So I do think that it’s gonna have to be addressed in some way shape or form.

I mean Tocchet must know it. I don’t think he loves the deploy (Filip) Hronek and (Quinn Hughes 29-30 minutes every night because the risk is that they’re gonna get burnt out or they’re gonna get hurt.”

Halford: “We got a few texts in here, trade (Vasili) Podkolzin over Hoglander.

I, you know, it just depends what the Canucks think of in the individual players but also what the acquiring teams think of the individual players. You know, right now Nils Hoglander is in the NHL and Podkolzin isn’t.

And if you were to ask me right now, who do I, who do I think has a brighter future in the NHL? I don’t think any of them are gonna be Star-level players but I would take Hoglander because he’s doing it right now.”

Brough: “Proof of concept right now. If you could, again,”

Halford: “Podkolzin to me is just like he’s, he’s, he’s shown it a little bit. But even if we’re adding up flashes, right, I would give Hoglander the nod there.”

Brough: “Yeah, I mean, I think…”

Halford: “Heck, I was thinking about like trading (Andrei) Kuzmenko but I don’t think that’s like, I don’t think that’s gonna happen but one thing that it would do if you want to bring it into the conversation, just to have it in the conversation is clear a lot of cap space.