Vancouver Canucks forward Shawn Matthias is having an excellent year.

The pending unrestricted free agent has spent much of the season on the wing, and with 14 goals in 57 games, has provided the club with some crucial secondary scoring.

Matthias, 26, has surely earned himself a raise with his performance this season, and with his combination of above average hands and power forward size, he’s likely to command attention in unrestricted free agency. Will he make sense for Vancouver at a (much) higher price point next season? And if not, would the Canucks be wise to gauge what value he might have as a trade chip on deadline day?

We’re not just pulling this story line out of thin air. Matthias’ name has been mentioned as a potential trade chip on more than one occasion by TSN and ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun of late.

“I’m told the Canucks have not spoken to a single team about Matthias; they’d much rather keep him and are very happy with his play,” LeBrun wrote in his Canucks deadline preview last week. “But in the context of making a hockey deal and getting their top-six forward, the Canucks would have to at least ponder the possibility of moving Matthias. But I think they’d rather keep him at this point.”

LeBrun also elaborated on his sense of Vancouver’s perhaps exploratory level of interest in dealing Matthias during an appearance on the TSN 1040 last week (transcript via Nicholsonhockey.com):

don’t know if it’s as much available as if that’s what it takes to make a hockey deal, then I think it’s something maybe Vancouver would do. I don’t think they’re shopping him at all. He’s played well of late for the Canucks. From what I was told from talking to a source on another team is that the Canucks are looking to make a hockey deal, the jargon that we use these days. Trading a player for a player, or that type of deal. And if that’s what it takes in that type of deal, then I think given that his deal is up, then I think they would throw him in there. But I don’t want to give the impression that they’re shopping him. I think it’s just that if there are guys on their roster that they need to move to make the kind of deal they want to make, I think that might be one of them.

So the Canucks aren’t looking to trade Matthias, by LeBrun’s account, but if it’s the cost of making a hockey deal, they’ll consider it. That seems sensible, especially because the market for rental players could be favourable to sellers at the deadline – the result of a falling Canadian dollar and escrow-related salary cap uncertainty.

It should be mentioned that Matthias has been a valuable offensive contributor and penalty killer. Even if the club has no intention of re-signing him this summer, he’s a useful piece for the stretch run. If the Canucks keep him as an ‘own rental’, that makes a good deal of logical sense too.

What about the prospect of keeping Matthias and looking to re-sign him though?

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As I wrote a week ago, there seems to be reason to believe that Matthias has found a new level of sustainable performance this season as a winger:

Matthias has generally been an above average finisher, even if the whole ‘scoring at a first-line rate’ thing is a new trick. What’s perhaps more impressive and notable is that he appears to be having a positive impact on the possession numbers of his line-mates as a winger. Of the six forwards with whom Matthias has skated for at least 40 minutes at 5-on-5 this season, five have done better by shot attempt differential alongside Matthias than they’ve done away from him. Is it possible that Matthias’ game may have found a new, sustainable level at the relatively veteran age of 26? Or is this just a contract year phenomenon? I’d suggest the former is very possible, particularly because he’s switched positions. Goal scoring has never been Matthias’ issue, but in the past his two-way abilities as a centre were well below average for an everyday middle six forward. As a winger though, Matthias’ two-way issues are non-existent, in fact, he’s been a marginally positive contributor in helping Vancouver get the puck going in a favourable direction at 5-on-5.

What the numbers suggest matches the eye test for me. When you see Matthias challenging defenders out wide with his speed and size on the wing, or leveraging his frame to maintain possession along the wall, he almost looks like a poor man’s James van Riemsdyk. While he’s been reasonably effective filling in at centre in the absence of Brad Richardson and Nick Bonino of late, it seems to me that Matthias is a more dynamic presence when he’s playing on the wall.

The sample size is small, but if the Canucks were willing to gamble on Matthias – as a middle-six winger who can provide secondary scoring and fill in at centre when required – with, say, a three-year deal in the neighbourhood of $10-$11 million, that would strike me as a justifiable wager. Of course, it’s possible that Matthias could earn himself that good Benoit Pouliot money if he continues to play well down the stretch and into the postseason. At that price and with that amount of term, extending Matthias becomes a more dubious proposition.

Matthias’ emergence as a legitimately useful top-nine contributor has given the Canucks a boost. It’s also given the team a lot to think about as the trade deadline approaches.

Whether Matthias is extended, traded, or remains in Vancouver as an ‘own rental’ will depend on the price points and potential returns. Vancouver has options, and some of them are pretty decent, which is largely a credit to how effective Matthias has been in his first – and perhaps only – full season with the club.

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