Analyst lists 3 blockbuster trades he wants for 2023 and the Canucks are heavily involved

PUBLICATION

Felip Gosselin
December 31, 2022 (2:23 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Trade chatters have picked up a bit since the trade market is done with the roster freeze that ended on December 28th. With March 3rd approaching fast (trade deadline), you can expect a lot of chatter surrounding trade possibilities.

Eric Duhatschek, the analyst for The Athletic, just listed five moves he wishes to see before the deadline.

He states that team's GMs will definitely be cautious as buyers, since the most recent failure of the buyers mode that occurred in Florida :

"Does that make teams more hesitant this time around? Possibly. Collectively, NHL general managers tend to be a conservative group at the best of times.''

Bo Horvat or Ryan O'Reilly to the Canes.

Without surprise, he lists the Hurricanes as buyers at the deadline and wants them to make a run for either Bo Horvat or Ryan O'Reilly. Both are UFA's at the end of the current season. Jordan Staal's present deal with a $6M AAV comes to an end and will give them more wiggle room to re-sign either, so it wouldn't necessarily mean that they'd be rentals. The Hurricanes have plenty of young centermen and have plenty of high picks in the upcoming draft to make an interesting package.

Alexis Lafrenière to the Canucks.

Lafrenière was a healthy scratch in the Rangers' last game and it's definitely easy to draw a connection with his former agent, who's now the Canucks AGM. He lists the Canucks as a great place for Lafrenière to grow his confidence back whilst Boudreau remains in place as head coach. According to him, it wasn't too long ago that Miller was in rumors sending him back to the Big Apple. That's definitely a trade that would set the pace for years to come in Vancouver.

Jakob Chychrun to LA for Quinton Byfield.

The analyst believes trading a young and big forward like Byfield is a risk, especially with Tage Thompson's most recent outburst. He thinks that Chychrun is a sure deal and that he'd be the push needed in LA to take it to the next step. Since coming back from an injury he's been a standout, registering 17 points in only 18 games. It's not news that he's on the market since he's asked out of Arizona already.

With the quality of players whose contracts are expiring, it's setting up the table for quite an exciting trade deadline and free agency market.

Who will be the biggest name to move?

SOURCE: The Athletic