Instead of trying to move pending unrestricted free agent defenceman Erik Gudbranson before the February 26 trade deadline, the Vancouver Canucks have inked him to a three-year deal. 

The contract, per News 1130's Rick Dhaliwal is for $4 million a year and does not include a no-trade clause. 

https://twitter.com/DhaliwalSports/status/966004063409119233

We'll have more to say about this in the coming days, but it's a hefty price to pay for a player who was logging bottom pairing minutes on one of the league's worst teams. 

Yes, the absence of a no-trade clause is obviously a plus, but if they weren't going to move him now, it's hard to see the team finding a market for him in the future as he gets older and ostensibly more ineffective. 

Brought over in a trade involving former Canucks prospect Jared McCann, Gudbranson has 10 points and a minus-18 rating in 71 games with the Canucks.