Canucks announce they’re trading Chris Higgins at some point

Chris Higgins has had a fairly terrible season for the Vancouver Canucks. 

In 25 games, he had two goals and one assist, skating to a minus-12 – statistically his worst season in the NHL. His 45.7 percent Corsi rating at even strength is one of the worst on the team and a reversal of last season (50.6).

If you were wondering whether Higgins was long for Vancouver, the answer is (of course) that he isn’t. On Sunday, the Canucks made the rare decision to reveal they’re exploring trade options for Higgins:

“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,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning said in a statement. 

“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.”

Like we said, this is a rare move. We can’t recall an official comment like this on a player that an NHL team is seeking to move. It’s usually a general manager dropping a text to Elliotte Friedman or Darren Dreger to accomplish the same. 

But it’s not like Jim Benning’s phone is blowing up with media inquiries about Chris Higgins’ future, to the point where he’d have to issue a blanket statement. We’d say it was public acknowledgement of a trade request, but the language in the release doesn’t echo that.

Weird stuff. But hey, if you’re in the market for a Chris Higgins, the Canucks have one for sale. 

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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