Insider: Canucks ready to pull the trigger on two trades

The Vancouver Canucks have been wildly inconsistent this season. 

Hell, forget this season... how about just this past week?

The Canucks looked absolutely awful in a 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday evening and then looked like Stanley Cup contenders last night in a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. 

That's been the Canucks' season in a nut shell. Up one day, then down the next. They're a team that is riding the ups and downs of the season, fighting for every standings point that they can get. GM Patrik Allvin and President Jim Rutherford are looking to stabilize their team a bit and will turn to the trade market to bolster their roster

NHL insider Pierre LeBrun reports in The Athletic that the Canucks are actively seeking a top four defenseman and a top six winger and that they're ready to pull the trigger on some big deals.

From LeBrun:

League sources confirm that the Canucks are on the lookout for a top-four defenseman as well as a winger. And in keeping with Rutherford tradition, I would imagine GM Patrik Allvin would want to make a trade sooner than later and not wait until the March 7 deadline. He acquired Elias Lindholm on Jan. 31 last season, very much keeping with the Rutherford-esque style to get ahead of the deadline.

Filip Hronek’s injury has been difficult to overcome, so that has fueled the need to trade for a top-four D. Easier said than done, but I don’t think Vancouver will wait too long if it can find a fit.

- Pierre LeBrun

The Canucks were linked to the Buffalo Sabres in a trade proposal from Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman in a doozy of a deal that would see them swap star center Elias Pettersson to Buffalo for Dylan Cozens and Bowen Byram. 

I personally don't see that trade happening, but I have no doubt that the Canucks have interest in both Cozens and Byram. 

If I were a betting man, I'd wager that the Canucks are talking with Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens have some veteran talent to move and both Allvin and Rutherford obviously have experience with a number of Penguins' players. Now, I'm not saying that Crosby and Letang are on their way to Vancouver but maybe Bryan Rust and Marcus Pettersson might be good fits on the West Coast?