"The Vancouver Canucks gave up Tuesday on signing elite defenceman Christian Ehrhoff and traded his negotiating rights to the New York Islanders for a fourth-round pick in the 2012 NHL entry draft.

Ehrhoff, 28, was seeking a huge raise on the $3.1 million he made in 2010-11 and Gillis apparently couldn't entice the German to accept Kevin Bieksa-type money of $4.6 million per season. The Islanders now have until 9 a.m. Friday to sign Ehrhoff or he will go on the open market.

"It became apparent to us that we weren't going to be able to sign Christian by July 1 and, as you know, once July 1 comes, there are obviously no guarantees of any kind," explained Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman, who handles many of the team's contract negotiations. "We were able to get an asset in return but, yes, Christian will be hard to replace."

Canucks GM Mike Gillis hinted earlier Tuesday that he might deal Ehrhoff's rights if he was certain he could not re-sign the offensive-minded blueliner. Ehrhoff was a mainstay on the Canucks' No. 1 power-play unit and collected 50 points last season. He had 42 points in 2009-10, his first with Vancouver.

"What we've tried to create here is a really good place to play with a competitive team and if you have divergent interests from that, I appreciate that and you'll move on," Gillis said, in a foreshadowing of the trade. "We have to operate to try and win and to do that, you have to fit a number of people under a hard cap. In order to do that and have the best opportunity to win, you have to perhaps give a little back, or be prepared to fit into a plan that allows us the best opportunity to win.

"Playing on this team is more important than individual compensation and that's our expectation with everybody," Gillis continued. "It will work with some and it may not work with others. If he [Ehrhoff] is unwilling to accept what we think is fair and allows us to be competitive, then we'll move in a different direction."

A player with Ehrhoff's puck-moving and power-play ability should command north of $5 million. The Islanders, a perennial league doormat, have plenty of cap space and have to reach the new cap floor of $48.3 million. They were at $36.8 million Tuesday. The Canucks, by contrast, sat at more than $51 million."