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The prices are always the highest at and near the deadline. At that time of year, the draft is still months away and those first- and second-round picks just don’t have the value to contending teams in March that they do in late June.

The Canucks are set to start this season with five players on expiring contracts, four of whom would be valuable trade assets around the deadline.

But if the Canucks are in the mix for a post-season spot, are they really going to risk it at the deadline and by trading a regular or three?

They should.

You could make the case they should have done it a few months ago. With no intention of signing Shawn Matthias, the Canucks could have explored acquiring a pick for him around the deadline.

It would not have changed the way the season ended, or the playoffs.

Radim Vrbata is one of the players on an expiring contract. His signing is seen by many as one of GM Jim Benning’s best moves.

The team had a chance this summer to sell high on Vrbata, which would probably have been a shrewd, long-range move.

His value could slide this year if he’s not playing as much with the Sedin twins, a scenario that seems inevitable if the six-game, first-round series against the Flames is any indication.

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It doesn’t mean he won’t have value at the deadline. Vrbata is going to score goals, because Vrbata always scores goals. And at the deadline, that sells. Vancouver could pry a good prospect or a top draft pick, even a first-rounder, from a team looking for scoring down the stretch.