What The Biggest Western Conference Trade Deadline Moves Mean For The Vancouver Canucks: Part 2

The Vancouver Canucks are currently in the hunt for the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. Many of the teams in this conference made big improvements before the March 7 cutoff. Last time, we looked at what the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, and the Edmonton Oilers did within a week of the NHL Trade Deadline. Let’s take a look at what some of the other Western Conference teams did, as well as what this means for the Canucks and their playoff hopes.

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What The Biggest Western Conference Trade Deadline Moves Mean For The Vancouver Canucks: Part 1

Minnesota Wild 

In:

F Gustav Nyqist

F Justin Brazeau

Out:

F Reese Johnson

F Marat Khusnutdinov

F Jakob Lauko

2026 2nd Round Pick

2026 6th Round Pick

Minnesota is currently locked in a tight battle with the Avalanche for the third spot in the Central division. Right now, the Wild are up seven points on the Canucks in the Western Conference standings with one game in hand. Since March 1, the Wild haven’t made too many moves, only adding Gustav Nyqist and Justin Brazeau. In a division filled with teams who made massive moves on trade deadline day, Minnesota may find themselves out of their comfort zone. Nyqist, who has previously scored 75 points in one season, is a great depth addition for Minnesota, though he’s currently in the middle of a down-year with 21 points in 60 games played. Brazeau, who is in his second and first full NHL season, will look to build on the 20 points he has already tallied in 57 games with the Boston Bruins this year.

The Wild’s situation is interesting. Four of their next 19 games are against teams above them in the standings in their conference, with two of these games occurring back-to-back. They play the Stars, who added Mikko Rantanen to their roster, on March 24. The next day, they take on the current Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights at home. Their second back-to-back in this span is against the Calgary Flames, who Vancouver are sparring with in order to secure the final playoff spot in the conference, and the Canucks. The second half of Minnesota’s last back-to-back, which is against Vancouver, is their second-last game of the season. If the playoff race comes right down to the end, a win for Minnesota against Calgary and a win for the Canucks the night after could be the playoff ticket punch Vancouver needs.

Vegas Golden Knights 

In:

F Reilly Smith

Out:

F Brendan Brisson

2025 3rd Round Pick

Vegas only made one trade between March 1 and the trade deadline, bringing in former original Golden Knight Reilly Smith. With the Oilers dusting off their recent slump last night, Vegas holds the first spot in the Pacific Division with four points and a game in hand on Edmonton. The lack of another big move was a bit of a surprise for Vegas, who have historically been pretty active on deadline day — notably acquiring Tomáš Hertl last season. However, regardless of not making any moves, they’re still an exceedingly strong team and likely won’t face much pressure in making the postseason.

This season, Smith had 10 goals and 19 assists in 58 games played with the Rangers. There aren’t many, if any, aspects in which the Golden Knights are particularly weak — but for any team, it’s never any harm to add a solid depth player. Smith addresses one of Vegas’ few weak points in depth scoring, while coming into a system that he’s already very familiar with.

The biggest impact that Vegas will have on the Canucks occurs near the end of the season. If the race for the final wild card spot is still this tight in the final six games of the regular season, a couple of wins by the Golden Knights could put the Canucks out of the playoffs. Vancouver plays the Golden Knights twice at home in April — on the 6th and the 16th — with the latter date being both teams’ season-ender. Vancouver has a particularly tough schedule at this time, as they also face-off against Dallas, Colorado, and Minnesota during these final six games. Seeing as the Flames play one more game after the Canucks’ last one of the season, Vancouver will need to take a sizable lead in points by making a winning record out of this stretch.

Winnipeg Jets

In:

F Brandon Tanev

D Luke Schenn

G Chris Driedger

Out:

G Kaapo Kahkonen

2026 2nd Round Pick

2027 4th Round Pick

The Winnipeg Jets made some solid improvements to their depth while not compromising their current roster, which is great for a team that’s currently at the top of the entire NHL. With an eight-point lead over the next team in their division, Winnipeg didn’t need to worry too much about making big moves like Dallas or Colorado’s. However, the Jets have a pretty consistent track record of fumbling once they get into the postseason. The acquisition of Chris Driedger works well in the event that Connor Hellebuyck finds himself faltering, as both he and Eric Comrie can come in and play solidly. Brandon Tanev adds another layer of speed to the Jets’ lineup, while former Canuck Luke Schenn will provide depth on the blueline.

Winnipeg is a team to keep an eye on from a Canucks standpoint for more than one reason. First, they play each other twice in the final 20-ish games — once in Vancouver and once in Winnipeg. In their last meeting, the Jets trounced the Canucks by hammering a first-period natural hat trick on Kevin Lankinen. Vancouver needs to take a couple of points from their two games against Winnipeg in order to increase the points gap between themselves and Calgary, Utah, and St. Louis. Second, if Vancouver does end up making the playoffs in the second wild card spot, the Jets will more than likely be their opponent in the first round. The fact that the Jets didn’t make any massive additions to the degree of their divisional rivals is a bright spot for whichever team could face them in the first round.

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