The Vancouver Canucks took an unusual -- possibly unprecedented -- approach to indicate to the 29 other teams in the NHL and apparently everyone else that they want to trade veteran forward Chris Higgins. As opposed to the usual method of letting it slip to a reporter or the GM making mention of it in public comments, they sent out a press release, posted it on their website and tweeted about it.
The release included a statement from GM Jim Benning expressing the team’s desire to trade Higgins, who has just three points in 25 games this year, and why.
“As part of our transition to a younger team, I can confirm we’re exploring trade options for Chris Higgins so we can create more roster space for our younger players to develop. Chris is a quality person who has been an important member of our team for nearly five seasons. Our focus has been on finding a positive new situation for him and we will continue to do so.”
What this suggests is that Benning has floated Higgins out there to various teams with little luck. Now he’s basically putting an ad on the internet classifieds, “Used forward. Reliable for the last five seasons. Best offer.”
Additionally, Benning is essentially willfully giving up his leverage in any trade scenario. That shows the level of desperation to get rid of the player.
With his production and role in decline this year, it's a tough sell to ask teams to give up an asset or assets in return for Higgins as it is. He is a three-time 20-plus goal scorer, but that was back in his days with the Montreal Canadiens in the mid-2000s. This year, he’s only managed to get into 25 games on a team that has been very up and down this year.
Last season, Higgins had a pretty decent campaign at 36 points over 77 games, so there's some recent history that he can still provide some value. That's really only if you ignore what he's been doing this season. Now there’s no room for him in the Canucks' lineup and the team probably doesn’t want to have him and his $2.5 million cap hit hanging out in the press box on a regular basis as a healthy scratch.
And there’s why it will be a difficult trade to make. Higgins is 32 and has a year left on his contract after this one at that $2.5 million cap hit. A lot of teams, especially among contenders, are tight to the cap already and adding a guy that hasn’t even been able to get into much of a rhythm this season. Teams that may be lower in the standings also have very little incentive to add a veteran for the sake of adding a player. The one year left on Higgins' contract could be somewhat of an inhibitor for a lot of teams.
Higgins is a veteran of 703 NHL games and has 332 career points.
Maybe this very public and leverage-minimizing method of getting the word out about a player on the block will pan out, but it’s strange nonetheless.
