Imo, doing this trade - at this point - would be counterproductive because of his cap hit, injury history and (especially) the rumoured assets being required are too much of the teams' future. In a cap world and especially, during the covid pandemic alot of teams will be relying (more and more) at talented players in there elc to compete. Perhaps in a couple of season when all/most of these contracts are off the books, then I hope they circle back and reach out to the cash strapped & ever rebuilding Panthers, about a potential Ekblad trade - since he will still be 26/27 by then with three years left on his contract. If given the choice between OEL and Ekblad - Ekblad hands down cause his cap is cheaper (7.5 instead of 8.25) and he is younger by 5yrs.
As for Cernak, his d partner was McDonough and that pairing was great. With the Canucks, who would be his partner and how would he be used by Baumer ?