The Vancouver Canucks are stuck in the basement of the NHL standings as December continues. The NHL trade deadline is months away, but the Canucks should be selling, with Kiefer Sherwood as one of the targets. According to Pierre LeBrun, the Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild are all asking about Sherwood.
“More than a week after the Vancouver Canucks let teams know they were ready to listen on their pending unrestricted free agents, they’re getting lots of interest on Kiefer Sherwood, as one would expect given his cheap $1.5 million cap hit, solid production, and style of play,” LeBrun reported. “The Minnesota Wild are among the teams that have shown interest. The Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars have also kicked tires. Given their injuries, the Boston Bruins would make sense, but I’m told the Bruins haven’t engaged yet.”
One player could make the difference in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race. That leads LeBrun to connect one other team to Sherwood. “An obvious connection to make is the Philadelphia Flyers, former Canucks coach Rick Tocchet’s team, but I’m told they haven’t talked to Vancouver at this point. They feel pretty stacked a wing and don’t see a fit.”
Sherwood has 12 goals and four assists through 27 games. He is on pace to smash his career high of 19 goals and would not take up a lot of cap space. Picking up Sherwood could determine who makes the playoffs on either side of the bracket.
Despite their big trade for Noah Dobson, the Canadiens still have assets to trade for Sherwood. The Stars don't have a first-round pick this year, but should be willing to do anything to win. And the Wild are riding a blistering hot Jesper Wallstedt into the playoff race. The Canucks will have a lot of bidders to sort through before trading Sherwood in March.
