The Vancouver Canucks have in their hands one solid, blue chip player who may just be the key to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup win. It’s no surprise they’re in the hunt — they’ve got the last two Art Ross trophy winners in the lineup, for starters, as well as a perennial Selke finalist in Ryan Kesler and a legitimate Norris candidate in Alex Edler. Alex Burrows is no slouch, either, and Cody Hodgson is manufacturing a solid rookie campaign on a constantly rotating lineup of bangers and mashers.

With Roberto Luongo playing some of his best hockey in years – don’t let that annual slow start fool you, his numbers since December 1 are outstanding – it’s his protegé that holds the key to an extended Canuck playoff run.

You’ve heard it all before: Cory Schneider has gaudy numbers for a backup, and is almost certainly going to wind up as a starting goaltender in another NHL city. Soon. The only questions are when and where. If Mike Gilis keeps him past the February 27 trade deadline, it allows Alain Vigneault to rest Luongo for a few more nights down the stretch and gives the team an option should the starter blow a tire in any given playoff series. If Gillis moves Schneider, Luongo gets the confidence boost of the team being behind him 100%, and the skaters get a much-needed injection of top-end new blood.

As much as I like Cory Schneider, there’s too much upside to acquiring some quality spare parts that further deepen the roster. Until a few short days ago, it was consensus among talking heads that the Canucks would look for a moderately priced top-four defenseman at the trade deadline. (Yeah, so name me a team that doesn’t want to pick up an underpaid top-four defenseman. You don’t have to be Doug McLean or Elliotte Friedman to make that prediction, fellas.)

Francois Beauchemin in Anaheim, for example – would he be worth Gillis’s time? Or Toronto’s Carl Gunnarsson? Brian Burke may be willing to part with the young Swede for some long-awaited solidity in the crease. Don’t forget that Burke is the man who choose Our Man Ginger at the 2004 entry draft; he’s got a history of going to the mat for his draft picks. The thing is, with the reigning Jennings-winning tandem here in Vancouver, and a pretty damned good squad threatening to compete for a second straight Presidents’ Trophy, Gillis probably won’t move Schneider for another promising youngster. He’ll want an impact player to keep his troops formidable even if they get hit by as many injuries as they had last playoff. So who does Burke have to offer, Dion Phaneuf? Even if he were touchable, his ego wouldn’t fit in this room. Ottawa might be interested in Schneider, but with Daniel Alfredsson and Sergei Gonchar long in the tooth, they’re not likely to share any roster-ready blueliners like Erik Karlsson.

With Chris Higgins fighting consistent staph infections, Gillis has to be thinking to strengthen the forward corps. If three games from Byron Bitz can wake up the slumbering Sedins, imagine what the permanent addition of Devon Setoguchi, Milan Michalek or Bobby Ryan could do. But as fun as it is to play general manager, it’s important to remember that it takes two to tango. Mike Gillis can’t just cherry pick the player he wants. The other guy has to agree to the deal. Even if everyone in the league knows the Leafs need a true number one goaltender at any cost, the Toronto GM just happens to be the same guy who back in the day put all of Vancouver’s eggs in the leaky baskets of Kevin Weekes and Dan Cloutier.

I’d love to say Gillis should definitely move Schneider. He’s a huge bargaining chip whose off-season contract demands will deservedly make him too hot to handle in the Canucks salary cap. But frankly with so many teams on the playoff bubble – hell, even Calgary, Florida and Phoenix think they have legit chances to make the post-season – there just aren’t that many blue chip players available to come the other way.

Until an opposition GM has an aneurysm that leads to an unreal offer that gives the Canucks an over-the-top lineup going to the playoffs – Ottawa decides to part with recent acquisition Kyle Turris, for example – Cory Schneider will help Vancouver in its Stanley Cup race as Roberto Luongo’s backup.