3 players the Vancouver Canucks need to trade after elimination

1. Jake Virtanen

The Vancouver Canucks have a very solid prospect pool. But they’ve graduated several top prospects and a few of their current top prospects are nearly NHL ready. The Canucks don’t have a 2020 first-round pick and if they trade Eriksson, they likely won’t have a 2021 first-round pick either.

They’ve got to do something to get back some of the assets they’ve given up. Trading Jake Virtanen is the best way to do that. Virtanen is coming off a career year, setting career highs with 18 goals, 18 assists, and 36 points during the regular season. He also added three points in 16 postseason games.

If the Canucks re-sign Tyler Toffoli and don’t trade Brock Boeser, where does that leave Virtanen? Likely on the third or fourth line. Virtanen had a career year at the best possible time, as he’s a restricted free agent and needs a new contract.

The best time to trade Virtanen is right now. His value is sky high. Of course, there’s a bit of risk in trading him. Virtanen’s a good player. But if the Canucks re-sign Toffoli, Virtanen’s no longer a good fit on the Canucks.

They could trade him for a quality young defenseman, which is something the Vancouver Canucks really need right now. Or they could simply trade him for draft picks. Regardless, Virtanen has more value at this point to other teams than he does to the Canucks. Ergo, Vancouver should listen if teams are interested in him.