Two Canucks trade possibilities: Nils Höglander and Brock Boeser

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Jim Rutherford has been in charge of the Vancouver Canucks for more than two months and he has yet to make a trade.

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In fairness, he did say he wanted to take some time to assess the team. He also wanted to get his hockey operations department staffed up.

He’s now done both.

The trade deadline is in a month.

Rutherford averaged one trade per month when he was running the Pittsburgh Penguins and it’s no secret that the Canucks need to make some changes to their roster if they’re going to become a consistent playoff team, let alone a Stanley Cup contender.

With that in mind, here are two trade possibilities to ponder, using some powers of deduction.

Nils Höglander

CHEK-TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported Tuesday that teams continue to make inquiries on Höglander.

You can’t help but wonder if one of those teams is the Minnesota Wild, whose amateur scouting director, Judd Brackett, used to do the same job for the Canucks.

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When the Canucks drafted Höglander, Brackett was passionate about the speedy winger’s potential as an NHLer and there’s every reason to think he still is.

If the Wild are interested in Höglander, they have an interesting defence prospect with ties to the current Canucks’ regime they might be willing to flip: Right-shot defenceman Calen Addison.

Addison was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2018, when current Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin was that team’s director of amateur scouting. (Allvin’s then- and current boss, Rutherford, traded Addison to Minnesota as part of a package for Jason Zucker in February 2020.)

Addison is a crafty right-shot defenceman, who Elite Prospects describes as a “constant transition threat.” He still needs to improve his defensive game, but he’s still suited up for 10 games for the Wild this season.

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Brock Boeser

Last week, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli suggested the New Jersey Devils have been interested in Boeser for a couple seasons.

Pavel Zacha’s name has been suggested as a player the Canucks might be interested in bringing west.

How about another name: Damon Severson. The right-side defenceman knows how to handle the puck and Canucks staffer Rachel Doerrie once said on her podcast that while working for the Devils, she pushed for Severson to play more during the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Severson also once appeared on her podcast and has previously said she’d advocate for him wherever she was. And now she’s in Vancouver.

You draw the line.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

twitter.com/risingaction

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