The Vancouver Canucks could see drastic changes take place on the blue line between the trade deadline and the start of next season.
Veteran defencemen Chris Tanev and Alexander Edler are potential trade candidates. The former is only signed through 2019-20, while Edler is a pending UFA. General manager Jim Benning could decide to trade one or both, which would leave two holes in the top-four.
2018 first-round pick Quinn Hughes seems like a sure-thing to make the Canucks next season, and hopefully Olli Juolevi as well. But even if Edler and Tanev were to leave, the Canucks would need a legitimate top-pairing veteran to skate alongside Hughes — especially when you consider that Derrick Pouliot and/or Ben Hutton could also be playing their final seasons in Vancouver as well.