JamesB Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I cannot recall a year with so many teams so close to the cap so early in the summer. (This is not exactly a surprise given that the cap came down to 64.3 million this year.) According to CapGeek more than half the teams (17 out of 30) either have maxed out on the cap or have signed 23 or more roster players. If we add in the teams with "must sign" RFAs that will bring them close to the cap and/or to the 23-man roster size, most teams have very little room to do anything. On CapGeek, the Canucks now have fewer roster players than anyone else (tied with Carolina) and have a more than average amount of cap space available. (And most the other teams with cap space do not want to spent money.) The Canucks also have bonus cushion room. One of the teams in trouble is Toronto. They have two very good "must sign" RFAs (Kadri and Franson) and another guy (Fraser) going to arbitration. They seemingly do not have enough money to sign all three players. I don't even see how they could sign just Kadri and Franson, even if they gave away Fraser. The Canucks have room to do something, especially if they take advantage of the bonus cushion. One thing that helps is that the Canucks just signed Lain for 600K. If he takes a roster spot, that is a very low cap hit. The question is what. One crazy idea would be to trade the cheaper Tanev (maybe 1.7 million) for a more expensive Franson (maybe 3 million), allowing both players to play for their home teams and solving the Leafs cap problem. (And Franson is also a right hand shot.) Or the Canucks could sign a free agent. There are some good free agents left -- at the right price - whom might sign bonus contracts. For the right price (much less than they got last year) guys like Prospel or Morrow might be good value. Putting these last crazy ideas together the remaining 4 roster spots could, for example, be Lain, Gaunce, Franson (or Tanev), and maybe a free agent. Schroeder starts the season on the DL and Weise goes to the Comets under this scenario. I know this is very unlikely. Any other ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Why would we want to trade Tanev for Franson? We have our own problem to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I actually think Gillis has been quite astute this off season. With the cap coming down there are going to be a number of players having to take a cut in salary if they want a job next season. we don't have a lot of room. But with what we have I expect us to round out our roster with players who have been forced to take below market value to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesB Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Why would we want to trade Tanev for Franson? We have our own problem to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Karlsson Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Fair question. Franson is bigger, stronger, and has more offensive upside. Admittedly Tanev is more reliable in his own zone and is better on the first pass. But I see Tanev as maxing out as a good reliable third pairing guy given his lack of physical play and lack of offensive upside. Franson could easily become a very good top 4 guy and is, arguably, already sold top 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester13 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Fair question. Franson is bigger, stronger, and has more offensive upside. Admittedly Tanev is more reliable in his own zone and is better on the first pass. But I see Tanev as maxing out as a good reliable third pairing guy given his lack of physical play and lack of offensive upside. Franson could easily become a very good top 4 guy and is, arguably, already sold top 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danjr Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 I would stand pat with that bonus cushion. At the trade deadline it will be worth double. That way if we need to add a high caliber piece the money will be there to do so. Nothing worse than not being able to make a deal for something that is needed later in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesB Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 I would stand pat with that bonus cushion. At the trade deadline it will be worth double. That way if we need to add a high caliber piece the money will be there to do so. Nothing worse than not being able to make a deal for something that is needed later in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesB Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Agreed, but maybe we should be looking at Tanev within a different kind of value scope. Considering that we already have our top 4 D locked up (all better than Franson IMO), Tanev is kind of a diamond in the rough kind of player that you need to remain cap compliant with money left over. He may not put up points, or throw tonnes of weight around, but he is solid defensively and can move the puck out of our zone like a boss. Kind of perfect for our 5th or 6th spot, no? I say keep him as a reliable third pairing D with the low cap hit. Who knows, maybe he finds an offensive and physical game in the next few years and then moves up to the top 4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamJamIam Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 I would stand pat with that bonus cushion. At the trade deadline it will be worth double. That way if we need to add a high caliber piece the money will be there to do so. Nothing worse than not being able to make a deal for something that is needed later in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lui's Knob Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 I disagree. This FA market is an anomaly that will evaporate once the season starts and players are forced to look elsewhere for work, whether its European leagues or North American leagues. With the big contracts already signed there are some 3rd/4th liners who are going to see their stock plummet. They haven't quite caught on yet, especially with greedy agents in their ears, but a "cheap" signing now will look like pay dirt compared to in September. But all that goes away when contracts get signed with other leagues and the supply and demand of NHL players gets evened out until next off-season. Gillis has been the smartest of the bunch when it comes to GMs this year by holding open significant cap space and not re-signing everyone in a hurry. The only signings he has made have been so cheap that they haven't ruined that cushion (ie. Richardson, Santorelli, Weber, Weise, Sestito). Because of this, MG is going to be the guy dangling $100 bills in front of desperate free agents when the other GM are jingling jars with their spare pennies in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallstreetamigo Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Agreed, but maybe we should be looking at Tanev within a different kind of value scope. Considering that we already have our top 4 D locked up (all better than Franson IMO), Tanev is kind of a diamond in the rough kind of player that you need to remain cap compliant with money left over. He may not put up points, or throw tonnes of weight around, but he is solid defensively and can move the puck out of our zone like a boss. Kind of perfect for our 5th or 6th spot, no? I say keep him as a reliable third pairing D with the low cap hit. Who knows, maybe he finds an offensive and physical game in the next few years and then moves up to the top 4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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