Rick Dhaliwal reported that the Canucks want a young player back, not only picks and prospects, in any trade involving Jake DeBrusk.
The timing is hard to ignore. Vancouver sits last in the NHL at 3-17-1 and plays at Las Vegas tonight, still looking for a way out of a seven-game losing streak.
Dhaliwal, speaking on the Halford & Brough show on Friday, said the Canucks are not ruling out picks and prospects as part of a return.
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But he added that he believes they want a "warm body" back, a decent player under the age of 25. That is how the post puts it, and it matters because it tells us how this front office is thinking about a rebuild on the fly.
A pure pick-and-prospect return would be the easy route. A player under 25 who can step into the lineup right away is a harder ask, and it narrows the field of buyers.
For those catching up, DeBrusk is a 30-year-old left winger, drafted 14th overall by the Boston Bruins in 2015. He has 10 points in 19 games this season, including 1 power-play goal and 2 power-play assists, and he is a minus-5.
His 366 career points in 647 games show a steady middle-six scorer, not a star. That is the type of veteran contenders chase around the deadline, and the type a team at the bottom of the standings can usually move.
Is a young player back a realistic ask for DeBrusk?
It depends on who is shopping. A winger with this résumé gets a team a depth piece, and teams rarely give up a young, NHL-ready player for that.
A "decent" player under 25 is a modest target on paper. Still, the Canucks are asking for something that carries real value to the other side, and that will limit the market.
Our view: if Vancouver insists on a player who can play now, the price will have to come down on something else. A second-round pick and a prospect is more believable than a young regular. Holding out for the player could leave DeBrusk where he is.
The Canucks are 1-9-0 at home and have lost 7 straight, so the pressure on Ryan Johnson to show a direction is real. Manny Malhotra's group is also dealing with a minus-38 goal differential, which makes every roster decision look bigger.
The Canucks play in Las Vegas tonight, and DeBrusk's name will keep coming up as the trade chatter picks up.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
What should the Canucks get back for Jake DeBrusk?
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