Vancouver has officially stated it is going to focus on younger players while it imposes a youth movement, and we have seen many older players fearing for their security on the team. Chris Higgins has recently been sent down to the AHL, Alex Burrows and Radim Vrbata are very unclear about their future with the team, Brandon Prust may not survive, as his play has not been stellar since returning from an injury. Dan Hamhuis, 33, is next on the list.
The defenseman is set to return from a terrible facial injury after the break, but may end up in the same boat as Prust. As his play has not yet declined, Vancouver could be looking to get some assets for the veteran defensive player. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
"I think there's two factors at work here. How eager will the Canucks be to trade him. If him and Vrbata are the two wildcard UFAs at the end of the year - where in a perfect world Vancouver would say, 'Yeah, you should trade these guys' - because if they want to continue to get younger, they need to get the assets they would get for them at the trade deadline," said TSN's Bob McKenzie.
So that's going to be a balancing act that [GM] Jim Benning and [President] Trevor Linden are going to have to sort out as we get closer to the deadline... (related to) where they are in the standings and how close to a playoff spot or how far out of a playoff spot they may be. As for Hamhuis himself, I've got to believe there would be significant interest in a healthy Dan Hamhuis. But people are going to want to see how he comes back from this after the break," according to Chris Nichols, of Today's Slapshot.
So while there is interest in Hamhuis outside of Vancouver, he does need to be tested and proven on the ice, as the injury he sustained was significant, and he is not expected to have fully recovered by the time he begins playing again.
The BC native has only played 27 games this season due to his injury, with four points off four assists, according to the NHL. He suffered a slapshot to the face which fractured and shattered numerous facial bones on Dec. 9.
He is planning to returning to play on Feb. 4, according to MetroNews, but it will depend on how he feels closer to game day.
