Conor Garland is finally settling into a rhythm with the dominant Vancouver Canucks

Conor Garland certainly isn’t the first player to take his time adjusting to new surroundings after a trade.

The 5-foot-10 winger struggled to replicate the scoring prowess he initially displayed with the Arizona Coyotes after being traded to the Vancouver Canucks back in 2021.

The Canucks acquired Garland and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson from the Coyotes in exchange for a package that included the No. 9 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. It’d be a tricky billing for anyone to live up to, especially considering how Ekman-Larsson struggled in Vancouver to the point of being bought out just two years later.

Garland is the only piece the Canucks have to show for that trade at this point — not including the eight years of buyout cost attached to Ekman-Larsson, of course. But while his numbers may not stand out at first glance, Garland has evolved into an indispensable part of a terrific third line for the first-place Canucks.

“What he’s done on the ice is a testament to him,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said. “He’s come from a guy that was low on the totem pole in his mind to a guy that’s probably, arguably, been one of our best forwards all year, driving that line. It’s a hell of a line, that third line.

“He’s got a chip on his shoulder. I love when Garls has a chip on his shoulder, that’s when he plays his best.”

Tocchet is plenty familiar with Garland dating back to when the two of them were in Arizona together. Three years after the Coyotes selected Garland in the fifth round (No. 123 overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, the Scituate, MA product debuted with the team and scored 13 goals in his first 47 games under Tocchet.

Garland proceeded to score 78 points in 117 games over the following two seasons with the Coyotes before being traded as an RFA to the Canucks, who subsequently locked him into a five-year deal at a $4.95 million AAV.

After two so-so seasons with the Canucks, Garland started the 2023–24 campaign surrounded by swirling rumors and speculation about his future in Vancouver. His slightly unwieldy cap hit, combined with the Canucks’ desire to improve, made him an easy target when discussing potential trade talks.

All that has largely subsided (or, more accurately, it’s shifted toward Andrei Kuzmenko). Since the Canucks united Garland, Teddy Blueger, and Dakota Joshua on their third line, almost nobody in Vancouver has brought up trading No. 8.

In a recent media availability in Vancouver, Garland credited Tocchet for helping him overcome all that external pressure earlier in the season.

“He was great at just trying to block out noise for me,” Garland said. “He just tried to keep me day-to-day. Those first six games were probably pretty tough on me, that first road trip especially. Any time that I was in a tough spot, [I was able] to lean on him.

“It’s well in the past now. We’re just enjoying a good stretch that we’ve had. We’re pretty focused.”

Garland had two goals and an assist in the Canucks’ big 6-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs back on Saturday. He’s now up to eight goals and 24 points in 47 games with the team this season, enough to rank sixth on the team in scoring.