Radio stations vanish, schedules drop, and rumours abound (kind of)!

What a World, What a World

That's a pretty up-and-down week for local Canucks - and sports - fans in and around Vancouver. We got the schedule release, which is always fun to comb through, and some actual rumours to play with. Well, one rumour. Well, more of an incidental statement. But it involved the Canucks, so it counts!

But I guess the biggest news is that the news has stopped. News 1130 was among the six radio stations that Rogers has decided to abandon, including Sportsnet 650. And much like when Bell pulled TSN 1040, they didn't bother telling their employees. Instead, workers there found their passwords non-functional or the equipment simply disconnected. A coward's retreat.

Rogers still owns FM stations in town, so they might broadcast games through Jack FM or somewhere similar. Whatever broadcast team they put together likely won't travel, recording from monitors when the team is on the road. Calgary has been completely abandoned, with broadcasts dropped in their entirety.

There has been some talk of people somehow getting together to start a sports radio station in Vancouver. It's obviously an underserved region, but the costs are HIGH. It's hundreds of thousands of dollars to get the frequency, though much less to keep them annually. The idea is to follow the lead of CHEK TV, which is North America's only employee-owned television station.

Obviously, folks are plenty angry about how employees were treated by Rogers (and Bell), but Don Taylor's hopes of a private owner seem faint. Personally, I think the CBC has an opportunity to do the funniest thing right now...

Calendar Guys

The league has released their full schedule, and there are a few points of interest for Canucks fans. They have 13 home games on a Saturday, for one. Owners who are clearly nervous about lowered gate revenues next season can relax a bit. Though in a slightly odd statement, the team's release says there will be "eight Saturday night games starting at 8:00".

Whether that means 8 PM for us locally, or it's an announcement intended to warn those areas which do not have the daylight-savings changes we do, I don't know. On the calendar, it says the usual 7:00 start time. It's not every night game, either, as 11 home games are scheduled for the 7:00 start time, with one at 4:00 (guess who that is) and an early afternoon game against Anaheim.

One change this year is the increase in the number of games from 82 to 84. Not my dream of scratching ten to get to a more livable 72, but there it is. That's causing a domino effect throughout the year: the Canucks start the season in September for the first time in team history, opening against Edmonton on the 29th. They finish April 10th, in what both teams no doubt hope is an entirely meaningless contest.

It's not much of a year for "revenge games" with the team in an acknowledged rebuild. Boo Quinn Hughes on October 25th if that's your thing, but otherwise, the only special days are when your second/least favourite team is in town.

Another effect of the extended schedule is reducing the number of pre-season games. So much the better, but if you're curious, they only have two at home: September 24th against Edmonton and the 26th against Seattle. The Oilers match could be an interesting precursor to the season opener three days later.

Speaking of Seattle...

Now the Fun Bit

Didja hear Shane Wright likes Vancouver? He said he did, and that's great! He wouldn't block a trade here, so obviously-

Quick intervention, here. He's on year three of his entry-level deal, and he's a right-shot centre. Wright's got no trade protection for a very in-demand position. Seattle ain't selling him cheap, and he can't force a move. Back to our regularly scheduled wishcasting!

-there's a deal to be made, right? Of course! It's just a matter of whether either side wants to make it.

Wright is a young, contract-controlled, right-handed centre who hasn't yet broken through. He was a fourth-overall pick in 2022* and got a couple eight-game dry runs before joining the team full-time in 2025-26. He had a very good rookie season, slipping back statistically in the boxcars a bit in his second year. Under the hood, though, he slightly outperformed his teammates at even strength.

Wright is clearly a little frustrated, limited to bottom-six minutes, but he has only been in the league for two years. A bit of patience from him now could pay dividends later. On the other hand, Matty Beniers and Chandler Stephenson are definitely ahead of him to start 2026-27, and it's hard to improve your offence from the third line.

The pressure on Seattle is to start making the playoffs regularly now, after just one appearance in five years. They have taken big swings at free agents, both in the market and with offer sheets, but haven't had a taker yet. Using Wright as a trade chip to bring in a more reliable veteran is a bit of a last-resort move, but one they might feel they have to make. And the NBA returning soon isn't helping.

"Come Back, Shane!"

Jake DeBrusk is a good hockey player.

DeBrusk is a consistent scorer, but only if you look at the year's end. He's going to score around 25 goals, though they might be six in one week, nothing for a month, seven in another week. He did mention that he doesn't want to go through a rebuild at thirty years old, and that's understandable. It's not what he signed on for when he accepted a seven-year, $5.5 million per deal.

He's a very good power-play producer, much to everyone's surprise. His 5-on-5 numbers were a nightmare last season, but whose weren't for the Canucks? He works great down low, but more to Seattle's liking, he can work with speed, too, and can do it from the second line. And he has five years remaining on what is a very reasonable contract. As a bonus, he's also said he wants to stay in the West, and you can't get much further West than Seattle.

Now, if there is a deal to be had involving these two players, Vancouver will need to give more up. Neither one is a real play driver, but a solid addition to one. DeBrusk has proven himself to a greater degree than Wright has, but by the same coin, Wright is six years younger. Add his positional premium, and DeBrusk isn't enough by a long shot. He'd provide the Kraken with a top-six scorer under contract for another five years when they need a star.

At first glance, it might seem like an awkward fit for the Canucks as well. They've fortified their centre position recently, and Wright would be starting again in the bottom six. That being said, one of the players above him is Filip Chytil, so it could be a matter of waiting a month for the opportunity to present itself. Or maybe moving Chytil to the wing, which sounds better.

So What Else

Folks might hate me for saying it, but getting a young player is one of the reasons a team collects draft picks. Vancouver has two second-round picks next year, neither one theirs, and I'd be fine with them including one in a package for Wright.

I know, I know: trading a second-round pick for a younger, some would say "doubted" player can cause PTSD in this market. But not all second-round draft picks are the same: the ones we have are from San Jose and Dallas. San Jose can make the playoffs next season, putting their spot in the early-50s at best. The Stars' pick could easily be in the 60s. We're getting close to single-digit percentages whether a player drafted there will hit 200 NHL games, never mind one that scores 25 goals a season.

It's not a slam dunk for either team, but DeBrusk is expendable for Vancouver, and Wright might take too long for Seattle. The risk is heavier on Vancouver's side, where the younger player might not get beyond what we've seen, and the draft pick might strike gold. But that's the nature of being a rebuilding team, and I don't think the risk is unbearable.

If both Braeden Cootes and Caleb Malhotra work out as NHL centres, having Wright already here lets the team move other players. And if one of them doesn't, for whatever reason, he's a safety net. That seems worth the deal to me.

For Seattle, if they don't move up as they should, DeBrusk is still a tradable asset come the deadline, and they'll have a second-round pick plus what he brings back. Or maybe he's enough to get them past that playoff line, and they keep him - plus the second-round pick.

*Cue death glare