Former First-Round Pick Defenseman Emerges as New Vancouver Canucks Top Defense Trade Target
Photo credit: Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers
As the Vancouver Canucks continue to look for defensive help on the trade market, a new name has emerged as a potential option for GM Patrik Allvin.
The Vancouver Canucks have been searching for a top-four defenseman for the entire 2024-25 season and with the team's inconsistency in recent weeks, it's becoming an even more pressing need and fans are hoping that it'll be addressed before the trade deadline on March 7th.
Several players have been linked to the Vancouver Canucks since it was revealed that they're looking for a top-four defenseman, one of those being Marcus Pettersson of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
However, it appears that another option has emerged from the state of Pennsylvania that the Vancouver Canucks have been linked to on Tuesday.
Vancouver Canucks linked to Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen
On Tuesday, Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff took a look at eight potential landing spots for Rasmus Ristolainen and among those he named was the Vancouver Canucks.
Larkin says that it would make sense for the Vancouver Canucks to bring in Rasmus Ristolainen because they desperately need to deepen their defensive corps, especially when considering Quinn Hughes is carrying the blueline on a nightly basis and could use some help back there.
"Have you seen Quinn Hughes' facial expression lately? It's hangdog even for him. The young man is doing herculean things keeping his Canucks afloat, earning plenty of momentum for a second consecutive Norris Trophy and maybe even a healthy amount of Hart Trophy votes. The discrepancy in pretty much every stat, from goals to expected goals to scoring chances, is unbelievably skewed when he's on versus off the ice. If this extremely unpredictable team still fashions itself a 2024-25 contender amid the J.T. Miller/Elias Pettersson noise, it needs to deepen its D-corps." Larkin said.
As for why Rasmus Ristolainen might not be a good fit in Vancouver, Larkin points to the fact that the Canucks have big, gritty, right-shot defensemen in Tyler Myers, Vincent Desharnais and Noah Juulsen.
"Are we sure the Canucks don't have this type of blueline already in spades? Tyler Myers. Noah Juulsen. Vincent Desharnais. How many additional big, long, mean right-shot blueliners can you add? I've included the Canucks because of outside scuttlebutt linking him to Ristolainen, but I personally don't think he's actually what they need." Larkin said.
With 45 days to go until the National Hockey League's trade deadline, it would be a safe bet to assume that Patrik Allvin will make an addition to the team's blueline, whether that be Rasmus Ristolainen or someone else, that remains a mystery, for now.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 21 | 328 ANSWERS Former First-Round Pick Defenseman Emerges as New Vancouver Canucks Top Defense Trade Target Do you think Rasmus Ristolainen would be a good fit for the Vancouver Canucks? | ||
| Yes | 184 | 56.1 % |
| No | 144 | 43.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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