Canucks News, Rumours, and & Fantasy GM | Some Like it Hot

[Vector]

Here’s my spreadsheet for upcoming UFAs, each team’s cap situation, and a trade tracker. I update the spreadsheet daily. I use CapFriendly to create this list and AFP Analytics for the contract projections.

Edit: Spreadsheet has been updated with AFP's latest projections and I added a new section for RFAs.

Spoiler: UFAs By Position

Top-6 Forwards
Sam Reinhart	RW	28	8y/10.25m
Jake Guentzel	W	29	6y/7.94m
Steven Stamkos	LW/C	34	3y/6.30m
Jonathan Marchessault	W	33	3y/6.25m
Joe Pavelski	RW	39	1y/3.94m
Matt Duchene	RW/C	33	3y/6.46m
Sean Monahan	FW	29	3y/2.87m
Tyler Toffoli	W	32	5y/6.53m
Jonathan Drouin	W	29	4y/4.46m
Teuvo Teravainen	W	29	5y/6.13m
Vladimir Tarasenko	RW	32	3y/5.64m
Adam Henrique	LW/C	34	2y/4.60m
Chandler Stephenson	C/LW	30	5y/5.77m
Max Domi	C/RW	29	3y/4.17m
Patrick Kane	RW	35	2y/5.51m
Elias Lindholm	C/RW	29	7y/8.04m
Anthony Mantha	W	29	3y/4.40m
Daniel Sprong	W	27	3y/3.89m
Jake DeBrusk	W	27	5y/5.92m
David Perron	W	36	2y/2.80m
Tyler Bertuzzi	W	29	5y/6.00m
Anthony Duclair	W	28	3y/3.22m
Jason Zucker	W	32	3y/5.46m
Jack Roslovic	C/RW	27	3y/3.11m
Max Pacioretty	LW	35
Alexander Barabanov	W	30	3y/3.03m

Top-4 Defecemen
Shayne Gostisbehere	LD/RD	31	3y/4.38m
Brady Skjei	LD	30	6y/7.39m
Noah Hanifin	LD	27	7y/7.69m
Brandon Montour	RD	30	7y/8.71m
Oliver Ekman-Larsson	LD	32	3y/3.67m
Dylan DeMelo	RD	31	4y/5.07m
Sean Walker	LD/RD	29	4y/4.87m
Matt Roy	RD	29	4y/5.58m
TJ Brodie	LD/RD	34	3y/4.91m
Brenden Dillon	LD	33	2y/3.91m
Alexandre Carrier	RD	27	3y/3.57m
Nikita Zadorov	LD/RD	29	4y/5.10m
Chris Tanev	RD	34	3y/4.68m
Brett Pesce	RD	29	6y/6.72m
Matt Grzelcyk	LD	30	3y/4.07m
Oliver Kylington	LD/RD	27

Bottom-6 Forwards
James van Riemsdyk	W	35	1y/1.50m
Warren Foegele	W	28	4y/3.58m
Stefan Noesen	W	31	2y/3.23m
Danton Heinen	W	28
Tyler Johnson	FW	33
Alexander Wennberg	C	29	4y/4.21m
Jordan Martinook	W	31	2y/2.79m
Dakota Joshua	LW	28	3y/3.00m
Michael Amadio	W	28
Teddy Blueger	C/LW	29	2y/2.56m
Sam Lafferty	FW	29	2y/1.72m
Kiefer Sherwood	W	29
Mike Hoffman	LW	34	1y/1.86m
Tomas Tatar	W	33	1y/2.21m
Kyle Okposo	RW	36	1y/1.96m
Kasperi Kapanen	RW	27
Andrew Cogliano	LW	37
Jakob Silfverberg	W	33	2y/2.78m
Cal Clutterbuck	RW	36
Corey Perry	RW	39
Patrick Maroon	W	36
Yakov Trenin	LW/C	27	3y/3.33m
Dominik Kubalik	W	28	2y/1.34m
Anthony Beauvillier	W	27
Sam Carrick	C/RW	32
Tanner Pearson	LW	31
Zemgus Girgensons	LW/C	30	2y/1.74m
Colin Blackwell	C/RW	31
Brandon Duhaime	W	27
Nick Cousins	LW/C	30
Connor Brown	W	30
Joel Kiviranta	W	28
William Carrier	LW	29	3y/2.68m
Tyler Motte	W	29	3y/2.55m
Samuel Blais	W	28	1y/0.94m
Tyson Jost	C	26

Bottom-Pairing Defencemen
Erik Gustafsson	LD	32	3y/4.99m
Tyler Myers	RD	34	2y/2.67m
Justin Schultz	RD	33	2y/3.81m
Kevin Shattenkirk	RD	35	1y/1.37m
Jalen Chatfield	RD	28	3y/2.77m
Mike Reilly	LD	30	1y/1.24m
Dmitry Kulikov	LD/RD	33
Alec Martinez	LD	36	1y/1.7m
Tyson Barrie	RD	32	2y/3.72m
Jani Hakanpaa	RD	32	2y/2.38m
Vincent Desharnais	RD	28	2y/1.41m
Ian Cole	LD/RD	35	2y/3.09m
Matt Dumba	RD	29	3y/3.73m
Colin Miller	RD	31
Mark Giordano	LD	40	1y/3.11m
Marco Scandella	LD	34
Calvin De Haan	LD/RD	33
Josh Brown	RD	30
Ilya Lyubushkin	RD	30	1y/1.31m
Joel Edmundson	LD/RD	31
Troy Stecher	RD	30
Derek Forbort	LD	32
Erik Johnson	RD	36	1y/1.13m

Forward Depth
Christian Fischer	W	27
Craig Smith	RW	34
Victor Olofsson	W	28
Trevor Lewis	RW/C	37
Justin Bailey	RW	29
Kevin Stenlund	C/RW	27
Jeff Carter	RW/C	39
Ryan Carpenter	RW/C	33
Nicolas Aube-Kubel	RW	28	2y/1.53m
AJ Greer	W	27
Liam O'Brien	W	29
Chris Tierney	C	30
Mattias Janmark	W	31
Sam Gagner	RW/C	34
Brendan Smith	LD/RD	35
Eric Robinson	LW	29
Zach Parise	LW	39
Kevin Labanc	W	28	2y/1.94m
Fredrik Olofsson	C/LW	28
Alex Barre-Boulet	W	27
Matt Martin	W	35
Radim Zohorna	W	28
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	C/LW	39
Tyler Pitlick	RW	32
Austin Watson	W	32
Tomas Nosek	LW/C	31
Jansen Harkins	LW	27
Rourke Chartier	C	28
Steven Lorentz	FW	28

Defensive Depth
Jack Johnson	LD	37
Vincent Desharnais	RD	28	2y/1.41m
Anthony Deangelo	RD	28	2y/1.80m
Jarred Tinordi	LD	32
Sebastian Aho	LD	28
Dakota Mermis	LD/RD	30
Jacob MacDonald	LD/RD	31
Dennis Gilbert	LD	27
Nikita Zaitsev	RD	32
Nick DeSimone	RD	29
Travis Dermott	LD/RD	27
Caleb Jones	LD/RD	27
Chad Ruhwedel	RD	34
William Lageson	LD/RD	28

Goaltenders
Cam Talbot	G	36	1y/1.89m
Ilya Samsonov	G	27	2y/3.26m
Alex Nedeljkovic	G	28	2y/2.00m
Kaapo Kahkonen	G	27	2y/2.93m
Scott Wedgewood	G	31	2y/1.57m
Casey DeSmith	G	32	1y/2.02m
Anthony Stolarz	G	30	2y/1.91m
James Reimar	G	36
Antti Raanta	G	35	1y/1.31m
David Rittich	G	31
Kevin Lankinen	G	29	1y/1.58m
Laurent Brossoit	G	31	2y/1.95m
Calvin Pickard	G	32
Martin Jones	G	34

Click to read more...

 

[Rick Rocket]

I do think Z will sign for less than market value. I'm pretty sure he's mentioned his love for Footer, and how much he's helped him improve. I still think he's a must sign. And yeah I've said this before.

 

[Luck 6]

I mean...if you do Zaddy at 5-6 and Lindholm at 7...that's it. You literally can't even ice a full roster from there.

		Pettersson	11.6	Hoglander	1.1
Boeser	6.65	Miller	8	Suter	1.6
Garland	4.95	Lindholm	7	Joshua	3
Aman	0.88	Blueger	2	Podkolzin	1
13F	0.8
Hughes	7.85	Hronek	7
Soucy	3.25
Zadorov	5.8	Myers	3
Demko	5
Silovs	0.79
Ferland LTIR	0
Poolman LTIR	0
OEL Buyout	2.35
Estimated Salary Cap	87.5	Mil
Total Cap		83.612	Mil
Cap Space		3.888	Mil

You could do something like this. That last 3.88mil would have to be spent on a top 6 winger and as good of a defenseman as we can find. I’m thinking a couple of underachievers looking for 1 year prove it deals or some players that really want to play here.

 

[Canucks LB]

I really wanted to take some time to figure out exactly how to handle this off-season, but I am now confident in my plan.

First, we need to address the roster needs:

- Two top 4 defensemen
- Two top 6 wingers
- One third-line center
- Fourth-line depth

Most Important:

- Hronek is the key to this off-season, and we need to make tough calls, regardless of their popularity.
- **Trade Hronek**: If we can't find a buyer, let him go to arbitration (ARB) and make him prove his worth next year. He needs to demonstrate he's worth the $8M+ he wants.
- **Alternative (Riskier)**: Let him go without ARB, freeing up cap space but causing potential disruptions. I still believe we can find a trade partner for him.
- **Contract Terms**: Refuse to sign him for more than $7M for 4-5 years max.

- **Zadorov**:
- If Hronek is traded and we get a pick plus a top 6 winger, we will likely have more cap space and a greater need for defense.
- Overpaying Zadorov is acceptable due to his playstyle. Aim to re-sign him for 5 years at $5M per year, but not more than $5.5M per year.

- **Teddy Blueger**:
- A reliable third or fourth-line penalty-killing center. Re-sign him for up to $2M. If he wants more, let him go and look elsewhere.

- **Canucks Farm System**:
- Raty should be good enough at camp to slot in as the 4th line center.
- Lekkerimäki isn't ready, and we need to see more from Bains and others before giving them a spot on the team.

- **Lindholm**:
- He will likely be too expensive and go to Boston.
- Paying $8M+ for a third-line center makes no sense. Time to let him go.

- **Tyler Myers**:
- Had a fantastic season and playoffs. His size and transition game are valuable.
- Aim to re-sign him for $3.5M for 3 years. However, he might get a $5M for 5 years offer from the market.

- **Ian Cole**:
- Played well but should only be re-signed for $1M for 1 year. Otherwise, let him go.

Plan Overview 2, Where does that leave us?

- **Defense**: Need 1 RHD (if Myers stays and Hronek goes) and Zadorov (LHD) stays.
- **Wingers**: Need 1 top 6 winger (One to be acquired through the Hronek trade, need 1 more).
- **Center**: Need a third-line center.
- **Depth**: Need fourth-line depth (with Blueger staying and Raty called up).

Targets (UFA):

Forwards:
- Jake Guentzel
- Jonathan Marchessault
- Sean Monahan
- Chandler Stephenson
- Jake DeBrusk
- Tyler Bertuzzi
- Alexander Barabanov

Defensemen:
- Chris Tanev
- Brett Pesce
- Matt Dumba

This list is not complete, and there seems to be a significant drop-off in UFA defensemen. We might need to explore trades for defensemen. Among the UFA defensemen, I like Dumba as a cheaper option, Tanev would be ideal, and Pesce seems like a good fit. Forwards were chosen mostly for speed and tenacity, though Monahan is included for his crafty, smart play and scoring ability.

This is my current thinking, and I will adjust as we progress through the days and weeks.

 

[biturbo19]

		Pettersson	11.6	Hoglander	1.1
Boeser	6.65	Miller	8	Suter	1.6
Garland	4.95	Lindholm	7	Joshua	3
Aman	0.88	Blueger	2	Podkolzin	1
13F	0.8
Hughes	7.85	Hronek	7
Soucy	3.25
Zadorov	5.8	Myers	3
Demko	5
Silovs	0.79
Ferland LTIR	0
Poolman LTIR	0
OEL Buyout	2.35
Estimated Salary Cap	87.5	Mil
Total Cap		83.612	Mil
Cap Space		3.888	Mil

You could do something like this. That last 3.88mil would have to be spent on a top 6 winger and as good of a defenseman as we can find. I’m thinking a couple of underachievers looking for 1 year prove it deals or some players that really want to play here.

I mean...you basically just illustrated why that doesn't work.

You still need a Top-6 Winger and a Top-4D for....3 million bucks. And that's already generous. Which i get it...we all want to be ambitious at this point...but i just don't see how that works.

 

[alternate]

		Pettersson	11.6	Hoglander	1.1
Boeser	6.65	Miller	8	Suter	1.6
Garland	4.95	Lindholm	7	Joshua	3
Aman	0.88	Blueger	2	Podkolzin	1
13F	0.8
Hughes	7.85	Hronek	7
Soucy	3.25
Zadorov	5.8	Myers	3
Demko	5
Silovs	0.79
Ferland LTIR	0
Poolman LTIR	0
OEL Buyout	2.35
Estimated Salary Cap	87.5	Mil
Total Cap		83.612	Mil
Cap Space		3.888	Mil

You could do something like this. That last 3.88mil would have to be spent on a top 6 winger and as good of a defenseman as we can find. I’m thinking a couple of underachievers looking for 1 year prove it deals or some players that really want to play here.

Also need some spares. Can't go into the season with a 21 player roster. So that leaves 4 players to acquire at about $1m each.

Could be done (likely have to shift the line combos to make sense) but that's really tight.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Kiefer Sherwood pops out as a potential bottom six forward pickup. I liked his game in the Nashville series and he’s extremely physical.

On the more offensive side, I wonder if a guy like Danton Heinen might not be a good add. Bit of a tweener, but he can bury some pucks, has played on some good teams, and is a local boy.

Defense is hard to predict. I know Dhaliwal has telegraphed Dillon pretty hard.

 

[wetcoast]

I think Connor is untouchable.

No one is untouchable.

That being said I like Connor in fantasy leagues but he doesn't bring that extra do everything mentality in the playoffs to justify the price he would command so a hard pass.

A Hronek trade could be based around Pionk + a 1st round pick prospect like Lambert.

Man I do this trade easily, Canucks have a real lack of draft picks an Pionk is a decent Dman.

DeMelo is also an intriguing UFA from Winnipeg.

Agreed.

 

[CanucksSayEh]

Dealing Horvat when they did was the right move. Needed a culture reset and it helped bolster the defense. What’s more, dude was skating in quicksand and was doing so this year as well for the Islanders.

As for gaining the zone, what about Horvat’s game would suggest that he helped with that? Bumper position on the PP, sure.

Yea Bo was for ready to move on, and dealing him for D was always the go to move.

For the PP entry tho... that was like his thing. He was our whole entry, and was great at it. Would either just straight up skate in, or made that quick play with JT in the corner. It has been sorely missed.

 

[arttk]

I mean...you basically just illustrated why that doesn't work.

You still need a Top-6 Winger and a Top-4D for....3 million bucks. And that's already generous. Which i get it...we all want to be ambitious at this point...but i just don't see how that works.

I think the biggest problem with keeping Zad and Myers is we still can’t move the puck from the back. We need an additional puck mover after the Hughes-Hronek pair and we should prioritize that.

Also we have to ask ourselves, is it that important to keep Joshua who is a 3rd liner or can we live with a downgrade to Pod and use that money + more on an actual top6 guy.

I think this management group has shown they can find cheap glue guys at the bottom of the lineup, let’s stick with that and use the money on guys who can make a diff in terms of scoring and moving the puck.

 

[ManVanFan]

I definitely think there's a deal to be done with VAN-MTL. They've got all these weird "tweener" defencemen they're trying to fit in. And it just doesn't fit. But they're not bad players.


Justin Barron makes a lot of sense. Not an amazing player and he's got a ton of flaws...but he's a natural RH shot and he's got some obvious puck moving and offensive aptitude. He's also got some size, which is clearly important to the Foote blueline. His lack of intensity and physicality is a bit concerning. They might not like him. But if there's a deal to be made...i'd take a shot on him. He'll be cheap because he's an RFA without a ton of leverage.



It's a total mirage though. There's cap space to retool...but there's barely anybody even signed to get to that number.


The reality is...you need 23 players on the roster most of the year. You can't just go out and spend a fortune on Lindholm and Zadorov and just leave the other roster spots empty. Those still have to have players in them...and the cheapest you're going to get is still near a million bucks in those places.

Montreal does make quite a bit of sense, stronger prospect pool and lots of picks.

The way I've been trying to break down the cap space is similar to this years cap.
49M on forwards, 30M on defence and 6M on goalies. 85 not 87.5 due to OEL buyout.
Forwards currently at 41,250,000 (10) not including Podz 1M. So 8M for 3 forwards. Lindholm, Blueger, Joshua.
Defence currently at $11,875,000 (3) So 18M for 5 defenders. Hronek 7M Zadorov 5M Myers 4M leaves a million each for 2 others.

 

[Vector]

another name to keep an eye on is Brandon Dubaime. Lots of smoke around him and the Canucks at the trade deadline.

 

[604]

I’m not sure the Canucks can afford to lose Zadorov.

They can.

Can’t overvalue for a 3rd pair dman.

Need to focus on keeping Lindholm and Hronek, Zadorov can’t play 22+ minutes a game.

Need to clear our deadweight contract, Mikh.

 

[Nucker101]

another name to keep an eye on is Brandon Dubaime. Lots of smoke around him and the Canucks at the trade deadline.

Canucks scout MS is a fan as well

 

[credulous]

I mean...you basically just illustrated why that doesn't work.

You still need a Top-6 Winger and a Top-4D for....3 million bucks. And that's already generous. Which i get it...we all want to be ambitious at this point...but i just don't see how that works.

it's only a 21 man roster too. it's more like 2.2m to sign a top 6 winger and a top 4 dman

 

[biturbo19]

another name to keep an eye on is Brandon Dubaime. Lots of smoke around him and the Canucks at the trade deadline.

That's not his name. But i'd go hard after Duhaime. I wanted him at the deadline.

He's not gonna score a ton. But he plays exactly the sort of fast physical imposing game RikTok wants.


He's a rich man's Lafferty. But he can't play Center. And is a LH shot.

 

[Canucks LB]

Yes or not, Would you sign Zadorov to a 5x5 Contract if offered

 

[Vector]

That's not his name. But i'd go hard after Duhaime. I wanted him at the deadline.

He's not gonna score a ton. But he plays exactly the sort of fast physical imposing game RikTok wants.


He's a rich man's Lafferty. But he can't play Center. And is a LH shot.

Don’t make me follow you around correct your spelling until I get bored. I’ll do it. I’ll hound you.

And yeah, he’s a Lafferty replacement.

 

[Canucks LB]

Am i tripping or does this seem like a very good Buyout for Vancouver?

Ilya Mikheyev Buyout Results - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Ilya Mikheyev buyout results and details including cost calculations, savings and final cap hit

www.capfriendly.com

 

[Vector]

Am i tripping or does this seem like a very good Buyout for Vancouver?

Ilya Mikheyev Buyout Results - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Ilya Mikheyev buyout results and details including cost calculations, savings and final cap hit

www.capfriendly.com

It is but the problem is the cumulative amount of dead money caused by the other buyout.

 

[Canucks LB]

Don’t make me follow you around correct your spelling until I get bored. I’ll do it. I’ll hound you.

And yeah, he’s a Lafferty replacement.

It's true, he followed me once to a thread on Photo Synthases

 

[Canucks LB]

It is but the problem is the cumulative amount of dead money caused by the other buyout.

It's fine, Cap going up significantly year after year, This seems very doable and significant savings if you wanna keep Zad

 

[Vector]

It's fine, Cap going up significantly year after year, This seems very doable and significant savings if you wanna keep Zad

Constantly accumulating dead cap counteracts the rising cap. Next season it would outstrip the projected growth and leave you with a lower cap ceiling than the rest of the league.

If need be, find a way to shed the contract via trade.

 

[GranvilleIsland]

I kept my Lindholm avatar since we acquired him. So he'll sign for less than 6M for my perseverance.

 

[biturbo19]

Don’t make me follow you around correct your spelling until I get bored. I’ll do it. I’ll hound you.

And yeah, he’s a Lafferty replacement.

If you do that. It would force me to stop drinking and be more careful about my postings. And i don't think any of us wants that.

 

[biturbo19]

Constantly accumulating dead cap counteracts the rising cap. Next season it would outstrip the projected growth and leave you with a lower cap ceiling than the rest of the league.

If need be, find a way to shed the contract via trade.

Yeah. Plain and simple...we can't ice as good a team as this year, without getting extremely creative via trade to unload cap or alleviate that burden somehow.