New details reveal Ryan Johnson is preparing a blockbuster trade

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David St-Jean
May 24, 2026  (1:55 PM)

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Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

Jake DeBrusk's time with the Vancouver Canucks looks like it's running out, and the noise around it isn't quiet anymore.

The latest reporting from NHL Trade Alert this weekend paints DeBrusk as one of the most likely names to start next season in a new uniform.

The same post added that the winger himself is willing to be moved. That changes everything.

A player asking out of Vancouver after one full year? In a market this loud? GM Ryan Johnson now has a real file on his desk this offseason.

DeBrusk finished the year with 23 goals and 42 points in 81 games. Not bad. Not what a $5.5 million cap hit is supposed to deliver either.

The -31 rating tells the harder story. Vancouver finished 25-49-8 and surrendered 316 goals. Everyone wore that weight, but the numbers stick to his name too.

He's the one who has to figure out what a 29-year-old winger is worth on the open market.

Here's the twist. DeBrusk closed the year hot. Four goals in his last five games. Seven in his last ten.

So Vancouver is selling a player whose value just spiked. Worst possible timing for the team. Best possible timing for his agent.

What does Johnson actually get back? Picks? A young forward? A defenseman? The return matters because Vancouver scored just 216 goals all year.

That's bottom-of-the-league offense in a year when scoring across the league kept climbing. You don't usually fix that by subtracting a 23-goal scorer.

Trading him anyway is the kind of move that gets a GM evaluated in real time. Johnson knows it. The Sedins know it.

And then there's the locker room question nobody in Vancouver wants to say out loud. If DeBrusk wants out, who's next in line?

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Previously

Calls for revenge erupt after a Canadiens star is injured

The Oilers' coaching plans may have just changed because of Connor McDavid

Leafs fans are reacting after a major Morgan Rielly development surfaced

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1 HOUR AGO   |   233 ANSWERS New details reveal Ryan Johnson is preparing a blockbuster trade Should Ryan Johnson trade Jake DeBrusk this summer?

▢    Yes

▢    No

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