EternalCanuckFan

Part of the issue for cap compliance moving forward is the health of Poolman and Pearson. Both might start the year on LTIR. If both are healthy at the start of the year, then the calculations are quite different, if I'm not mistaken. I also seem to recall that Seravalli has reported that the cap might go up next year a bit more than originally expected. Management can clear around $2.25M just from demotions which I think could be possible with Poolman and Pearson. I doubt Poolman would be claimed on waivers, and Pearson is unlikely to be claimed at his full cap (especially after coming off an injury). Of course, the Canucks would presumably be thrilled if either were claimed. This alone may be able to make the team cap compliant but there will be no cap space for off season signings. Beyond the above, my guess is Boeser and Myers will be the main roster targets for cap clearance. There have already been so many rumors about Boeser that it seems inevitable at this point. Despite Myers' frustrating play, he could still be a helpful physical presence on a deep team where he has less responsibility (especially if the Canucks retain). Moving both could clear a substantial amount of cap space. I am personally expecting an OEL buyout notwithstanding how punishing the buyout penalties are. While I'm not a fan of that choice, I suspect management may be considering an offset of the downside from the expected increases to the cap over the next few years. If they do this however, then they are really going to need ELC players to outperform their ELCs substantially.

I'm generally happy with any signings of NCAA, International or Junior FAs. Of course the most talked about ones are more exciting, but if scouts believe in certain guys, then it can be very enjoyable to see players develop into NHLers. Doing this effectively for teams that have poor prospect pools can provide a critical boost to the prospect pool. It's rare for these players to become very high end NHLers but a healthy chunk of them at least find ways to become functional role players. Malinski sounds like an interesting option if Livingstone is too highly sought after. Even though he's smaller, if his skating is already at a very high level, then that might even out his ability to make an impact sooner rather than later. Considering how many contract spots the Canucks have open right now and how many they will have this summer, I suspect we might see at least a handful of NCAA, international and junior signings. It's not going to immediately fix the problems the team has but each one is a free ticket to a potential contributor. It will also be a good test of this management team's development ability which has been a problem for a long time.

Genuine question: if Poolman and Pearson are healthy by training camp in October and the Canucks are unable to move out meaningful cap over the summer, then to what extent could demotions to the AHL help clear sufficient cap space? The Canucks obviously have major cap problems and the miniscule cap savings from demotion won't really be all that helpful with making them a better team, but just curious if this might be part of management's plan. I'm personally expecting Poolman and Pearson to be on LTIR to start next season. Hard to believe the Canucks could again be a LTIR team, especially if they fail to make meaningful improvement next season.

Kravtsov showing some promise, and not just because he hit the score sheet. Chasing down pucks, winning board battles, and just generally looking well engaged in the play. Good baseline for him to build on with his skillset.

It seems ARI was happy to do the deal so they could ensure they reach the cap floor. Additionally, the salary itself is apparently mostly insured and is less than $8M. It is intriguing that Voracek was only on IR, not LTIR, so as far as I understand it, this clears real cap space for CBJ. Hard to imagine them being buyers given their place in the standings, but can't imagine their veterans are particularly happy about how things are going. Given the fairly poor UFA class this off season, could teams like CBJ be buyers at the TDL in preparation for the off season? Would be odd, but who knows. It's been a crazy lead up to the TDL so far.

I'm not a fan of the trade but can see the argument being that it may still be good value. While I would have preferred to keep the pick and get a solid prospect in a deep draft year, it's also true that a prospect - no matter how exciting - still has a good chance of not panning out at the NHL level. Hronek is a legitimate top 4 RHD and the odds of drafting a prospect who can play at that level in the next 2-3 years is low. As for the Horvat return, I prefer futures but will concede that obtaining a top prospect and two productive, less replacement level roster players for one upcoming UFA is not without value. I guess another way to look at it would be whether DET would have dealt Hronek, a decent but under performing young forward (e.g. Rasmussen or maybe Zadina), and a top prospect for Horvat (pending UFA) and a 2nd. The answer would almost assuredly be no. The silver lining for me in this situation is that the Canucks haven't sold their own future terribly with the acquisition. They still possess their own 1st and may still acquire a 2023 2nd to replace the one traded. The golden question is whether this deal moves the needle forward at all for the Canucks with this core. I'm personally very skeptical but open to being surprised. For Hronek's sake, I hope he gels quickly with the team.

I guess this just goes to show the price of NHL RHD. Hronek's not a bad piece and should improve the blue line but still many holes with the team. Seemed like it would be better to try and draft are way out of the problem, but the goal is still clearly to get competitive as soon as possible. Whether they achieve that is questionable. Would have loved the 1st Rd pick in this year's deep draft, or the shot at a potential lottery pick in 2024. Hronek's good but not that good, IMHO.

Good for DET to keep Larkin. Larkin being re-signed takes one of the most lucrative UFAs off the market this summer. I would still be surprised at a Miller trade but if teams buy him as a C or at least a top flight forward, then $8M AAV for the next 7-years might actually be what he would have gone for in the UFA market anyway (if not more). There could well still be a market for him.

Intriguing, if the PIT-VAN rumors are true.

Would never have thought McCabe could have ever garnered this type of return, but here we are. Decent addition for the Leafs especially with Muzzin out, and Lafferty gives them even more forward depth. IMHO, the Leafs still need to try and add more D depth. They're likely playing Tampa in the 1st Rd and that forward group is likely going to grind down the Leafs' D.

I could see a relatively "minor" injury being considered week-to-week if it's the type of injury that just takes time to heal, and if the objective is to minimize making the injury worse. Even if Miller is not being traded, they might as well shut down players who might otherwise play through injury. We'll see what happens by Friday.

It's definitely suspicious but could genuinely be an injury. Miller was hit by the puck a couple games in a row and seemed to be hurt but played through it. Both times it seemed to catch him in the mid-section which isn't quite "lower body" but who knows. At minimum, Miller missing time increases the likelihood of a tank to close out the season, so it may end up benefiting the Canucks anyway. If the Canucks can draft in the top-3, then they're going to have one heck of a player even if it's not Bedard.

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Good for the Canucks to be in on various NCAA free agents. Livingstone is probably the guy that most teams are after, but can't hurt to add other players like Malinski. There's likely going to be room in Abbotsford for a couple new RHD. I'm sure these NCAA free agents are looking for the best NHL opportunity though, so that's probably not particularly attractive.

If the Canucks serve as a facilitator for another team in a deal involving Schenn, then hopefully that will be a good sign for the TDL with possible involvement in other deals.

Good to see Studnicka getting more opportunity to play C. Not ideal that he's having to do it right after recovering from a bad bout with the flu, but hopefully he can make some hay at the position. If Studnicka can be a serviceable bottom 6 C who can also play the wing, then that will help give the Canucks more options next season (especially if Raty needs more development time).

Silovs is looking more comfortable

Would hate facilitating a Karlsson trade unless the return is exceptional. Kane seems more realistic. I could see Pearson going on LTIR being a shot across the bow of other GMs that the Canucks may be serious about exchanging cap space for assets, assuming there's nothing already in the pipeline. Would love to see this strategy used to benefit the team long term.

lol sure, but perhaps the Hurricanes want one who can be impactful offensively also? Whatever the case is, Waddell's comments are intriguing so we'll see if anything comes to fruition regarding Miller.

There was discussion on Marek's show about how contenders need "pricks" on their team. Maybe speculated interest from Carolina in Miller points to them leaning into that idea. If they're willing to give value for a player like Miller, then that could be enormous for the Canucks.

Will be interesting to see if the Islanders choose to wait out veteran contracts to expire or end up having to pay to rid themselves of a couple of contracts. Bailey and Palmieri are probably their most underperforming forwards with fairly large AAVs. Bailey has one more year left and Palmieri two more years (along with Brock Nelson). Lee and Pageau are up in 3-years. They have to re-sign Wahlstrom this summer too. The Islanders could still be a competitive team but they're at least 2-3 years away from having meaningful cap space to work with to improve their roster (unless they manage to clear space in the meantime but they don't seem to have the assets to afford that).

If OEL is 100% healthy, then his significant drop in play and skating speed from last season is bizarre. I'm not saying OEL was good last year, but he could at least play decent D and put up a respectable number of points if you ignore his cap hit. Is it just effort/mental or is it physical? If this is a long term health thing, then I wonder if he may end up being a LTIR guy?

Not advocating a Demko trade. Makes no sense without a quality NHL goalie coming back. Just considering the rumors and the fact that Demko is now going to have a couple weeks of games before the deadline.

Hard to fully blame either of Delia or Martin but neither have played well. Of the two, Delia has performed a bit better, so not surprised about this. Only things I'm wondering is if Demko is in fact fully healthy and if the Canucks are in fact hoping to show case him for a few games before trading him before the deadline.

Good that Bear walked off but that looked like it could be bad