Canucks and Blackhawks pull off a trade this evening

This just in, according to multiple sources the Vancouver Canucks have traded forward Anthony Beauvillier to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 5th round pick.

From Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman:

Confirmation and more insight from Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal:

And TSN insider Darren Dreger with the full details:

Dhaliwal also reports that there's no salary retention on Beauvillier's $4.15 million contract. He'll be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

UPDATE: And now it's official.

The 26 year old Beauvillier was acquired last season by the Canucks in the Bo Horvat trade with the New York Islanders. The Canucks shipped then-captain Horvat to the Isles in exchange for Beauvillier, prospect Aatu Raty and a 1st round pick. That pick was then flipped in a deal with the Detroit Red Wings for defenseman Filip Hronek. It remains to be seen how Raty will turn out for the Canucks, but so far Hronek has been an incredible addition to the team's blue line. Together with superstar Quinn Hughes (Horvat's replacement as Canucks captain), the pair have been amongst the league's best defensive pairings.

As for Beauvillier, he was solid in his short time in Vancouver but it became clear this season under head coach Rick Tocchet that he was not part of the team's long-term plans. He's been buried in the team's depth chart and provides much of the same output and production as forward Conor Garland, who is signed for two additional seasons beyond the current campaign. With Beauvillier set to become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason and with the Canucks needing to open up some cap space to sign superstar Elias Pettersson, you just knew something was going to give.

All the talk with the Canucks this past offseason was about which forward would be traded to free up cap space. Would it be Beauvllier or Garland? Or maybe Brock Boeser? Well, Boeser obviously earned himself a promotion from that conversation by way of his excellent play. It appears that Beauvillier was the odd man out in Vancouver.