Canucks trade with a Western rival is heating up and the return is impossible to ignore

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Jonathan Ouimet
May 24, 2026  (1:50)

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Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

Two teams headed in opposite directions can still build a trade. The Ducks and Canucks might be the perfect example this off-season.

Anaheim ended a long playoff drought this spring and even knocked Edmonton out in the first round before bowing out 4-2 against Vegas.

Vancouver, meanwhile, crashed to 32nd overall at 25-49-8. The Canucks gave up 316 goals against. Year-three of this group cannot look like year-two.

Pat Verbeek's blueline still has a gaping hole on the right side. Jacob Trouba, John Carlson and Radko Gudas all hit unrestricted free agency this summer. Each is north of 30.

Jackson Lacombe broke out in the playoffs as Anaheim's new top-pair workhorse. He racked up 10 points in 12 postseason games and held his own against the toughest matchups.

What he doesn't have is a partner. Trouba isn't the player he once was. Carlson is a rental on borrowed legs. Gudas barely featured in the postseason.

Enter Hronek. The 28-year-old Czech defender just wrapped 82 games of 8-41-49 production from the back end on a $7.25 million cap hit. Right shot. Top-pair upside. Cost-controlled term.

Yes, there's a no-move clause. Yes, the previous Vancouver regime said publicly they had no interest in dealing him. But the new front office has already signaled there are no untouchables on this roster.

Lacombe and Hronek as a tandem gives Anaheim a real top pair behind their explosive young forward core of Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish.

Is the price tag steep? Probably a first-round pick plus more. But Verbeek already proved he'll pay up for veteran right-shot defenders.

Frank Vatrano is the other side of this conversation. The 32-year-old delivered 5 goals and 4 assists in 50 games this season. He sat for the entire postseason while depth bodies played.

His contract carries deferred money on top of a $6 million cap hit. Ugly on paper. Movable with sweetener attached.

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/canucks-central/id1281261434?i=1000767846653

San Jose lurks as a competing suitor for Hronek. If Vancouver's new front office can get a bidding war going between two division rivals, that's a strong first stamp on the new era.

The Canucks need a reset. The Ducks need a stabilizer. Sometimes the trade market writes itself.

Previously

Ovechkin just made the Capitals choose: this move, or he's done

A reporter second-guessed Martin St-Louis and instantly regretted it

Huge blow for Montreal as superstar stays down after a vicious hit from Taylor Hall

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16 HOURS AGO   |   516 ANSWERS Canucks trade with a Western rival is heating up and the return is impossible to ignore Should the Canucks trade Filip Hronek to Anaheim this summer ?

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