Why trading Conor Garland made sense for the Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks moved on from Conor Garland earlier this week, trading him to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday morning.
The American-born forward is in the final year of his five-year contract with a $4.95 million cap hit this season, but signed a six-year extension with a $6 million cap hit last summer that was set to kick in on July 1.
Garland has had a down year offensively, with seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points in 50 games. That marks his worst scoring pace since his rookie season in 2018-19. Just about everyone has been involved in trade rumors in Vancouver. But with Garland’s deal about to kick in, his name, in particular, started to gain some heat.
The Canucks were clearly able to commit to him at one point – but as Daily Faceoff’s Irfaan Gaffar said, the move came at an important time for the squad.
Irfaan Gaffar: “After Quinn Hughes left, one of Connor Garland’s best friends, things started to go really sideways for Vancouver. The season was completely off the rails, with rumors of players being traded, and Kiefer Sherwood obviously being traded. And then now Conor Garland. His contract wasn’t going to kick in until July of this year, so it’s a huge move for the Vancouver Canucks.
“And people are gonna say, okay, it’s just two picks, this, that, the return wasn’t great. You know what was great? The fact that they were able to get off the money and what they’re doing now. The Vancouver Canucks are getting younger. The Vancouver Canucks are in a rebuild. Conor Garland probably doesn’t want to be a part of a rebuild. But for the Vancouver Canucks, this is the beginning of something that is very good. This is the beginning of getting off of money that you don’t need. This is the beginning of getting off of players that you probably don’t need and it was time for them to go.”
This is the beginning of a true rebuild in Vancouver. Conor Garland signed a 6 year extension with the Canucks in July, a deal that hasn't even kicked in yet. Now he's off to Columbus, who adds a gritty forward for their playoff push. @CanucksArmy | #NHL #Canucks #TradeDeadline