Canucks trade Tyler Motte to New York Rangers for a fourth-round pick

The only player who the Canucks really had to make a decision on before the NHL trade deadline was Tyler Motte.

Well, the Canucks came to a decision.

It was announced as the deadline was approaching that the Canucks have sent Tyler Motte to the New York Rangers for a 2023 fourth-round draft pick.

Despite playing fewer than 10 minutes per night during the first couple of games under Bruce Boudreau, Motte ended up driving arguably the most effective line for the Canucks over the past couple of months.

Motte, Juho Lammikko and Matthew Highmore helped drive play at even-strength while outscoring the opposition to boot (14 GF, 4 GA)

On the penalty kill, Motte was also the best forward amongst an underwhelming unit.

Getting a fourth-round pick in return is a little underwhelming, but it’s certainly better than losing him for nothing.

Based on the trade market value for players of a similar calibre, a fourth-round pick was the most common return.

Over the past few seasons, Nick Cousins, Austin Watson, Cody Eakin, Brendan Lemieux and Vladislav Namestnikov were all players of similar value who were indeed traded straight up for a fourth-round draft pick.

Namestnikov in particular was also traded for a fourth-round pick at this year’s deadline. It’s the third time in his career that he’s been traded for a fourth-rounder.