Jake DeBrusk's name is in play, and the Vancouver Canucks are done pretending this start can be fixed with a few line tweaks.
TheFourthPeriod reported Wednesday that GM Ryan Johnson is open to moving several veterans. DeBrusk, Drew O'Connor, Filip Chytil and Luke Schenn were all named.
The other half of the plan matters just as much. Johnson is also hunting for younger, NHL-proven talent, which is a polite way of admitting the current mix isn't working.
Hard to argue. Vancouver sits 32nd overall at 3-10-1.
The Canucks have surrendered 65 goals through 14 games. Nobody in that building is calling it bad luck.
Tuesday night's 6-5 overtime win in Anaheim gave the room one night to breathe. Filip Hronek ended it with a power-play goal.
But one win doesn't erase a 1-8-1 run over the last 10, and Johnson clearly isn't treating it like a turning point.
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Drew O'Connor and Luke Schenn make this a tough sell for Vancouver
DeBrusk is the most marketable piece on the list. He has 8 points in 12 games this season.
He also logged 21:39 against the Ducks and finished plus-3. Contenders watch nights like that.
The concern is the recent trend. He's been held without a goal over his last five games, and a $5,500,000 cap hit gets harder to move when the shooting dries up.
O'Connor is a much tougher pitch. He carries a -12 rating, the worst mark among Canucks skaters, with 3 points through 14 games.
Shopping him right now is like listing your house the week the basement floods. Buyers notice. And they lowball.
Chytil brings a different problem. He's appeared in only 6 games and is still looking for his first goal.
His $4,437,500 cap hit is real money for a forward with 2 assists to show for his season.
Then there's Schenn. The 36-year-old blue liner did not dress Tuesday and went minus-8 across his last five appearances.
Here's the issue with putting all four out there at once. Johnson is selling at the bottom of the market, and every rival GM on the other end of the phone knows exactly how desperate this looks.
The youth side of the roster is the one thing working. Jonathan Lekkerimaki has 6 goals, 4 of them in his last five games.
He's 22 and carries a $918,334 cap hit. That's the profile Johnson wants more of.
So what is a veteran winger trade supposed to fix when Kevin Lankinen is sitting on an .807 save percentage in 8 appearances?
Manny Malhotra now has to coach a locker room that knows four of its veterans are available. That conversation doesn't stay outside the dressing room door.
The Canucks visit San Jose on Thursday, then host Toronto on Saturday. If DeBrusk is still in that jersey after both, the question becomes how long Johnson keeps listening, and to whom.
Should Ryan Johnson trade Jake DeBrusk now, even if it means selling low?
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