Sportsnet: Thomas Drance on the Jeff Marek Show on the Jake Guentzel to the Vancouver Canucks speculation and the Canucks as buyers heading into the March 8th NHL trade deadline.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Marek: “How much are people talking about Jake Guentzel in Vancouver right now?
Drance: “A lot. I mean, we’re about to pivot to the first time that the Canucks have been clear buyers in 12 years. 12 years, I’d say like since 2012. They bought in 2019, right, but that was sort of almost in response to a Brock Boeser injury. There, it was like backburner, like will this team buy? You expected them to buy.
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This team loves to go for it, right, like that, they go for it when they’re not close. So obviously, they’re gonna go for it when they’ve got a team that looks like a wagon.
So yeah, I mean, for sure it’s a topic of conversation, and then that conversation has sort of morphed over the course of this week, especially with this (Elias) Pettersen – (J.T.) Miller – (Brock) Boeser line, you know, picking their teeth with some of, some of the elite teams in the Eastern Conference here.
Where the conversation shifts and becomes, really is it a second line center, this team should be prioritizing, so that they can keep that line together. So that they can, you know, run a fourth line of Pius Suter, Nils Hoglander and Sam Lafferty, you know, assuming that Hogland is not part of any, any return to bring in a big piece, on the fourth line, which would be a massive luxury.
You know, forward depth has carried this team and if you’re able to bring in a second-line player, especially without subtracting too much from your roster, you further bolster that sort of big strength of this team as well.
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So yeah, I mean, the Guentzel thing is definitely in the air, without question. I think an anticipation that this club is going to buy and I think what’s interesting too, Jeff, and this shouldn’t be understated, a feeling that there’s a consensus greenlight, right? That this team can make a short-term move and no one, not even me, is gonna bat an eyelash, right? This is actually a pretty unique opportunity.