Keith Ballard was placed on the long-term injured reserve on Saturday, giving the Vancouver Canucks an extra $4.2 million to play with under the salary cap. With the 2012 NHL Trade Deadline quickly approaching, that throws Mike Gillis' club in the mix when it comes to trade rumors and speculation.
Canucks Trade Rumors: Keith Ballard Injury Puts Vancouver In Play At Deadline
It might be wise for Gillis to search the market before 3 p.m. ET on Monday to see if he can give that Ballard-less defense a boost. Via the Vancouver Province:
“We want to try and keep our roster, but you never know what is going to happen between now and Monday afternoon - suddenly one deal gets made and that frees up something else. It’s really difficult to say,” Gillis said from Scottsdale where he has set up shop for the deadline. “There’s constant pressure to think you need to get better but our team has been playing really well, the last month in particular. There’s not a tremendous amount we can improve on.”
The Canucks are definitely one of those wait-and-see teams. It doesn’t seem like there’s all that much that could happen with them, but they have cap room to play with at this point and as Gillis says, you never know what could happen.
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