Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Hansen ‘made it very clear’ he wants to remain a Canuck

Vancouver Canucks v Carolina Hurricanes

RALEIGH, NC - JANUARY 16: Jannick Hansen #36 of the Vancouver Canucks carries a puck during their NHL game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on January 16, 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Vancouver forward Jannik Hansen is fully aware that teams may want to trade for him ahead of the March 1 deadline.

The speedy winger is also aware that his limited no-trade clause (he can provide a list of eight teams he’d be willing to join) doesn’t give him full control of the situation.

But for the record, he doesn’t want to be traded.

“If [Vancouver] comes to me, I give them my list and then it’s in their hands,” Hansen explained, per The Province. “I can’t veto a trade. If (Canucks GM Jim Benning) wants to trade me, he can trade me.”

Read more: Expansion draft complicates matters in Vancouver

On paper, Hansen would be a solid fit for a number of playoff-bound teams -- something the Canucks aren’t, barring a major run down the stretch.

In the third year of a four-year, $10 million deal, Hansen carries a tidy $2.5 million cap hit. That’s good value for a 30-year-old who has tons of speed, the versatility to play up and down the lineup, and scored 22 goals last season.

Vancouver knows Hansen could fetch a nice return on the trade market. That, combined with the disaster of last year -- Benning was pilloried for failing to flip Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata, assets that eventually walked away for nothing in free agency -- has put major pressure on management to get this year right.

Hansen has even more value given he’s not purely a rental. The acquiring team would secure his services for next season as well. That, according to him, opens the door for more than the usual deadline suitors, in that Hansen’s eight teams don’t have to be guaranteed to make the playoffs.

He wants to remain a Canuck, though -- so even if he’s asked for a list, he may not provide the easiest of trade options.

“I have another year on my contract, so maybe a team that’s not in the playoffs would want me for next year,” he explained. “It’s tough for me to figure out what’s going to happen. But I’ve made it very clear I’d prefer to stay here.”