The deal we all knew was coming came, and it wasn't everything we expected. But it wasn't bad, either.

Gotta Deal to Getta Deal

Kiefer Sherwood was the biggest trade chip the Canucks had this season. If the team was going to get another first-round pick for relatively cheap, he would be how. Sure, it would probably be in the 30s, but he's cheap enough for good teams to fit in under the cap. That's not what they got, though.

To San Jose

Kiefer Sherwood

To Vancouver

2026 2nd Round Pick (SJ)
2027 2nd Round Pick (SJ)
Cole Clayton

The Breakdown

We all know what the Sharks are getting. Sherwood is a late bloomer who finally got his time with the Canucks, and is now a nearly unique profile. Good speed, good shooter, strong defensively and a wildly enthusiastic disruptor. He's got a dirt-cheap, expiring price tag, so teams around the league could afford him with little effort. This year, he earned time on both special teams and acquitted himself well. He's also 30 years old and looking for a new contract at the end of the season.

So what came back?

First things first, Cole Clayton is a sound AHL defenceman. That's his ceiling, and he came to Vancouver because the Sharks are at the league limit of 50 contracts and someone had to go. He's a 25-year-old right-side guy, so maybe he'll show something and get a crack at the bigs. But if he does, it'll be a feel-good story and a happy surprise, not something to be relied on.

So the picks are the things that matter, here. There is a mystical aura around the words "First-Round Pick" for a good reason: that's usually where the stars come from. But that also used to be the top twenty-one prospects, not the top thirty-two. Instead of getting a single pick in the late-20s/early-30s range, they have two likely in the mid-50s.

So the question is whether you want a single dart to throw at 30 feet or two at 55 feet. It's going to be pretty dang hard to hit the bullseye with either option, but is the further distance twice as hard? If you don't think so, then more darts are always better, and that's what they got.

Filling Blanks

Vancouver has traded away plenty of draft picks in recent years in hopes of reaching the playoffs. With that plan coming to a screeching halt, a different one has to emerge. Team management has had the word "rebuild" dragged out of them at last, much to everyone's relief. Then they tried to snuff that hope out by pretending they "have been rebuilding for two or three years now" because the team had young prospects.

That's not how that works, Jim, but thanks for letting us know how you convinced Aquilini. Whatever excuse you need, baby, you do that.

In any case, Vancouver has traded away their third- and seventh-round picks this season and their second in 2027. That third is looking pretty good for Calgary right now, gotta say.

Now that they're trying to accrue picks, they have the two seconds from San Jose, the first from Minnesota, and the Pittsburgh Penguins' fourth in 2027. There's room to improve on those numbers, but it's a start. A fourth-round pick is somewhere in the low triple-digits, and the Minnesota one is going to be at best mid-20s. Right this minute, the most interesting pick is that 2027 from the Sharks.

The Sharks probably won't suddenly tumble into the Pit of Despair either this season or the next, but what if they do? A young team having a"false start" year wouldn't be the most surprising thing to happen. If there's a team interested in the gamble, it could be worth more than a 50th-overall pick normally is.

Obviously, the Canucks aren't finished in their dealings yet. This one, like the Quinn Hughes trade before it, wasn't a home run, but it'll do. For now.