The narrative that Jim Benning loves draft picks, dies today.
In a blockbuster move, the Vancouver Canucks struck a deal with the Arizona Coyotes for Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Conor Garland, in exchange for Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, the 9th overall pick in 2021, a second-round pick in 2022, and a seventh-round pick in 2023. Arizona retained $990,000 of Ekman-Larsson’s contract throughout the rest of this deal, making the defender’s cap hit in Vancouver $7.26 million.
This is the second year in a row that the Canucks won’t pick in the first round (barring another trade). It’s the first time in team history that the Canucks won’t have a first-round pick for two straight years.