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Canucks GM Benning denies trying to trade Shinkaruk

2014 NHL Draft - Round 1

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 27: Jim Benning, General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks is seen prior to the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 27, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Remember those rumors before the 2014 NHL Draft saying the Vancouver Canucks were dangling 2013 first-round pick Hunter Shinkaruk in potential trades? Canucks GM Jim Benning would like to know where they came from.

The new Canucks general manager was left scratching his head about the talk he was trying to deal the team’s later first-round pick from last year (Bo Horvat being the other) as our friend Cam Tucker at Metro West shared.

“I don’t know where that came from. We were never actively looking to trade Hunter Shinkaruk. This stuff gets started out there,” said Benning. “That’s not true.”

Shinkaruk was the 24th overall selection in the 2013 draft and one of a handful of prospects in the Vancouver system the organization has high hopes for.

Adding to the potential silliness of the rumors, Shinkaruk had a hip injury that shortened season with Medicine Hat in the WHL. Dealing off a kid who you’re not even totally sure of what he’s got to offer wouldn’t make a lot of sense.

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