TSN: Chris Johnston says there are some teams that are looking for some top-six scoring help. Conor Garland’s new agent has spoken with some teams.
“And so is going to try to do what the Canucks haven’t been able to do, and that’s find a new landing place for Conor Garland. He’s still got three years on his contract – a hair under $5 million per year on the cap hit. The Canucks know they’re going to have to retain salary in order to get a deal done.”
Donnie & Dhali: Elliotte Friedman on his report that Conor Garland’s agents are allowed to talk to teams about a potential trade and how is this different from the past when his name has come up in trade talk?
Rick Dhaliwal: “Elliotte, here’s my problem with this. They’ve been trying to trade Conor Garland for a year and a half. You were the first guy to say the Devils were interested, just when (Jim) Rutherford and (Patrik) Allvin got here.
They’ve been trying g for a long, long time. What could possibly change and moving that contract now Elliotte?”
Friedman: “You know it’s a good question, Rick. I don’t, I don’t have a great answer for you.
Sometimes, you know the fact that a year comes off the contract can make a difference. Sometimes, I don’t know if the Canucks have changed what they might be willing to do to make it work. But sometimes you need to take things with a bit of a different approach and that’s kind of the situation here.
So, do I have anything concrete to answer your question, Rick? No, I don’t but just because you don’t have an answer to a question doesn’t mean you don’t keep trying ways to go at it.”
Sportsnet 650: Former Canucks forward Jannik Hansen on the Garland report.
Bik Nizzar: Conor Garland making news, he switches his agent, he met with media and, and it didn’t deny that getting traded out of Vancouver, wouldn’t be a bad scenario but it just feels like we go to start. And now here’s this first hiccup that the Canucks have to kind of clear as a group but just isolating Conor Garland.
Like what do you make of that situation and a player kind of trying to take care of his own at the same time?
Jannick Hansen: “That’s a negative situation. Every step of the way. You’re just, just mentioned, you’re about to start your boat to put your team in the right direction and this is a guy who doesn’t want to be here. Like you hate to see it.
Man get him out of there as fast as possible in any way possible. You don’t want to be part of the solution and then you’re the problem. And again, I’ve like Conor Garland. I like what he brings, he’s energetic. He drives possession. He does not finish on all his chances but he, you can see the effort.
They’re sometimes a cheat a little bit offensively, but a lot of the guys are, are guilty of that, but his is, this is putting me before myself before the team. And again, I don’t know if this is going to been going on all summer, and it was from last year he wanted out.
And if that’s the case, like then shame on management for not moving him or trying to get something done, but if this is something he drops now, I was just browsing over CapFriendly and then his cap hit, like who’s going to take him? It’s hard to get rid of these guys that a day before the season when everybody is fighting to get under the cap. Nobody has four and a half, five million in cap space lying around unless you’re willing to pony up.
And now we’re talking about player-for-player trade. Well, this is a player who wants out. You’re not going to get equal value. So yeah, you’re right off the bat, you’re putting your teammates in a bad position and you’re again looking out for number one. Which I get to a certain point, but like I said, if this has been going on for four months, fair enough but if it’s new, then shame on him.
Nizzar: “Is it the timing off to you? That it’s the day before the season?”
Hansen: “Yeah, it is. I mean, if there would have been rumblings about this, I would assume you’d heard about it, in what do you say, when we clean out our lockers.
Maybe it’s time for a fresh start. Send me somewhere else. No, no news over the summer. There is the same head coach, same management team. It’s can’t, like I hope doesn’t come from that blue sky here, but it, but again, tis’ just a negative and too many negative stories have been surrounded the Canucks for the last year or two or so.
Where there was a lot of positivity. They fix their, their D-core. Made some trades. Got out from underneath OEL. I don’t know if you go out from underneath and you’re still going to be paying for that a couple years from now. But again, you revamp your defense, what everybody was screaming for. So there was a lot of positive.
You guys, you named a captain and all of these things you could kind of build on and then this one just drops the night before.
Yeah, it’s not what you’d hope for.