The Vancouver Canucks have traded right wing Conor Garland to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick.

From the Blue Jackets' side:

The Blue Jackets receive Garland, a middle-six winger who has been a consistent 45-to-55-point player during his 4+ seasons with the Canucks. The smallish (5-10, 165 lb.) Garland is known for his all-out style that can get under the skin of opponents.

The Blue Jackets are currently just below the playoff bar in the Eastern Conference, but they are currently 13-2-1 under new head coach Rick Bowness. With the recent momentum, the team should have a strong belief that they can make the playoffs. A player like Garland should help with that, especially if Mason Marchment has to miss time. Marchment left Thursday's game against Florida with a lower-body injury.

Columbus has solid scoring depth that is fairly balanced, with the Kirill Marchenko/Adam Fantilli duo standing out as the top unit. Their second line of Sean Monahan centering Boone Jenner and Kent Johnson hasn't been a particularly reliable trio, so Bowness could replace either Johnson or Jenner with the hard-working Garland to ignite that unit. Johnson, whose production has plummeted to the point where he was made a healthy scratch for a short time, seems the most likely candidate to lose his spot here. A move to that line could shake Garland out of his slump and revive his fantasy value.

From the Canucks' side:

The Canucks receive more draft picks, which will help the organization as it tears things down for what appears to be a long-awaited full rebuild. As well, the Canucks get out of the six-year, $6 million extension that they inked the almost 30-year-old Garland to last summer (he is currently on the last year of a deal that pays him $4.95 million per season), which happened before the wheels fell off this season with a Quinn Hughes trade forcing the current situation. The contract as well as a lack of recent scoring from Garland (4 PTS in last 19 GP, 0 G in last 23 GP) explains the underwhelming return.  

Garland has been on and off the Canucks' top power play this season. More moves could be coming in Vancouver before the deadline, so it's difficult to know who could see a bump in icetime once the dust settles. Evander Kane seems the most likely fantasy-relevant player to be traded, while Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Jake DeBrusk have all been mentioned in trade rumors.

Right now, there isn't a single player on the Canucks that you could immediately say is a player you need to add from this trade. Wingers such as Linus Karlsson, Liam Ohgren, Nils Hoglander and Drew O'Connor (if he is not traded himself) could all see post-deadline increases in icetime. Karlsson has seen his icetime gradually increase by quarter and could even be a top-6 forward for the Canucks for the rest of the season. But while Pettersson continues to be a shadow of his former self and Marco Rossi tries to find his footing in Vancouver, the wingers on this team will continue to struggle no matter where they are in the lineup.

Who this helps, in order:

Garland

Karlsson

Who this hurts, in order:

Johnson

Jenner

Mathieu Olivier