Publicly announcing that you are exploring trade options for a player is odd. Publicly announcing that the same player will be put on waivers in about 12 hours is equally odd. “GMs of the NHL, you have 12 hours to send us a pick for Chris Higgins. If you fail to hit the deadline, you will get him for free!” Welcome to the Vancouver Canucks.
It can be assumed that Canucks GM Jim Benning worked the phone quite a bit, trying to get a trade done. The return would have been of secondary importance here, as a seventh-round draft pick certainly would have been better than a waiver claim today.