Canucks: Tyler Myers absent from practice but still not traded

Tyler Myers didn’t practice with his teammates Friday, but remains a Vancouver Canuck.

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The veteran defenceman is on the trade block and with teams circling, Canucks management is clearly playing it safe and keeping him away from the spot light.

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Reports have emerged that the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars have expressed interest.

It’s believed at least one team, the Red Wings, have made a formal trade offer to the Canucks and that’s why he was held out of the lineup on Wednesday when the Canucks faced the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Arena in the first game after the Olympic break.

After a day off, the Canucks practised on Friday before the team travels to Seattle for a Saturday night game against the Kraken.

Myers, though, did not take part in practice and didn’t speak with reporters after.

Canucks head coach Adam Foote said that Myers skated on his own earlier in the day and that as of Friday afternoon, he would travel with the team to Seattle. Foote said it was unlikely that Myers would play on Saturday.

The NHL trade deadline is in a week.

Myers has a full no-movement clause in his contract, meaning he could block any trade or other roster move by Canucks management. It’s long been assumed that for family reasons he would be opposed to a move, but he admitted to Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma last month that the idea of one more chance to chase a Stanley Cup still held appeal. He didn’t rule out the idea of accepting a trade.

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“I have thought of that, obviously, and less runway,” he said. “And there may not be that many more opportunities.”

The idea of a trade to Dallas may have appeal, for instance: his mom is from Texas and he lived in the state until he was about 10 years old, then moved to Calgary to live with his Canadian dad and play hockey.

The Stars reportedly made a roster move on Friday, declaring that injured centre Tyler Seguin would not able to play again this season, including the playoffs, meaning they can get full cap relief for his salary.

Such a move would create about $6 million in cap space for the Stars to work with. Myers’ contract carries a cap hit of $3 million and it has another season left to run after this season.

There has been suggestion that the Stars might be interested in adding Canucks winger Evander Kane, who has a cap hit of $5.13 million. Presumably if the Canucks were to trade Kane, they’d retain half his salary.

pjohnston@postmedia.com