Vancouver's Internal Cap

[TOMapleLaughs]

Calgary improved.

Edmonton did.

SJ did, maybe. Maybe not.

LA might have improved.

Anaheim improved.

Arizona is largely the same.

Vancouver stood pat, at best.

I don't think Calgary can justify getting worse.

Edmonton cannot justify continuing to lose.

SJ might be able to get away with further futility.

LA has nothing to lose.

Anaheim will have to go all-in.

Arizona, I have a feeling, will surprise. But that depends on some rookies.

Vancouver will likely tease a playoff spot all season long, we'll probably miss, barely, and this would be another wasted season.

[alfstonker]

Some people were, some people weren't. Last year, I said they'd be fighting it out for spots 4-8, but that it would be very tight. The Canucks are certainly not a better team than they were last year, and most teams in the Western Conference have got better:

- Anaheim: A lot better.

- Los Angeles: Better

- Colorado: A little better, but still need to figure out defense.

- Calgary: Better. Frolik & Hamilton make them a lot better as is. Just have to improve their possession numbers.

- Edmonton: Better, but still questionable, because it's Edmonton.

- Chicago: Perhaps the same. Losing Sharp and Saad is a blow. But Dano is really good, and Tikhonov, Panarin, Baun, etc could really keep them the same.

- Minnesota: Same.

- Dallas: Slightly better with Sharp, Stephen Johns and Niemi. Defense still a question mark.

- Winnipeg: Slightly worse with loss of Frolik. All depends on whether or not Ehlers or Petan make the team or not.

- Nashville: Better

- San Jose: Same. Ward helps them, but Jones is a question mark.

- Phoenix: Worse

- St Louis: Slightly worse with loss of Oshie. Brouwer is a question mark.

- Vancouver: Worse with loss of Bieksa, Matthias, and Lack. They are getting younger now, which is good. But they are a team in transition. If the announcement that they aren't working on extensions for Hamhuis and Vrbata don't blatantly imply that, then I don't know what does.

"Certainly not?"

How can you say that with any certainty. Why are you assuming these players will not be in the mix?

Teams may get better on paper but it is what happens on the ice that counts. I would never write the Canucks off in any season, as long as they have the Sedins.

[selkirkcraig]

Good point about the internal cap. I recall reading in the past that under the old regime the Canucks needed to make the playoffs to turn a profit. They were of course spending to the Cap and paying a lot for non-cap expenses (coaches, travel, support personnel, etc.) And they are of course carrying the salaries of Giilis and Tortarella, which probably amounts to about $4 million a year.

If the Canucks are now expecting to miss the playoffs they will need to cut expenses. That may be a partial explanation for firing Henning, Gilman, Eric Crawford, and Mike Burnstein and for letting expensive vets at Utica go in favor of much cheaper players. It is also explains the relatively cheap one-year deals for Corrado and Clendening rather than paying more to lock them up for a few years.

So I agree that the new economy drive is not a surprise.

haha. the team may not make a "profit" but it's value has increased by close to $600 million in 13 years. heck, the arena itself is now worth more than what frannie paid for everything.

[5Fivehole0]

Welcome to the idiocy that is CDC.

These were the same people fawning over the Sharks and the Kings last year, claiming we wouldn't make it. I wouldn't worry too much about what they say.

I wish I could this this more than I'm currently thissing this.

CDC: Sedins are declined, no longer 1st liners, or elite talent. Not worth their contract.

Reality: Daniel and Henrik are 8th and 10th in scoring, respectively. 14 million for top 10 scoring. Claude Giroux has 8.275M cap hit.

CDC 2014: NEED MORE ROOKIES LESS VETERANS! KASSIAN IS USELESS.

CDC 2015: Oh my god! Traded a veteran and Kassian!

Reality: Gained a draft pick, made room for rookies, and traded an inconstant player for a pending UFA who can help now and be traded at the deadline if needed.

CDC just hates on their own teams players until they get traded, then they are worth 3 first round picks and a prospect.

[soshified]

- Vancouver: Worse with loss of Bieksa, Matthias, and Lack. They are getting younger now, which is good. But they are a team in transition. If the announcement that they aren't working on extensions for Hamhuis and Vrbata don't blatantly imply that, then I don't know what does.

IMO, Canucks are still the same with a little bit more youth.

Bieksa had a bad year.

Lack had a great last 20 games or so but without Miller, we wouldn't be in the playoffs to begin with.

Matthias was good, until trade deadline came and we saw nothing of him afterwards.

So in other words, Bieksa is the only real loss due to his leadership and physical presence.

[Seven pounds soft]

I wish I could this this more than I'm currently thissing this.

CDC: Sedins are declined, no longer 1st liners, or elite talent. Not worth their contract.

Reality: Daniel and Henrik are 8th and 10th in scoring, respectively. 14 million for top 10 scoring. Claude Giroux has 8.275M cap hit.

CDC 2014: NEED MORE ROOKIES LESS VETERANS! KASSIAN IS USELESS.

CDC 2015: Oh my god! Traded a veteran and Kassian!

Reality: Gained a draft pick, made room for rookies, and traded an inconstant player for a pending UFA who can help now and be traded at the deadline if needed.

CDC just hates on their own teams players until they get traded, then they are worth 3 first round picks and a prospect.

Generalize much?

[GB5]

so Chicago loses better players and replaces them with rookies....they are the same?

Vancouver loses bottom of the roster players and replaces them with rookies.... they are worse?

Very astute observation. Mathias was invisible down the stretch and with several rookies vying to play, he is entirely replaceable. Lack was a backup, Miller is better....period. Bieksa has lost a step so he tries to cover with other intangible play but can be replaced.

[GB5]

- Anaheim: A lot better.

How is this? They lost a top pairing shutdown defenseman and replaced him with Bieksa.

[brownky]

The Canadian Dollar dropping 10-20% is a problem.

Salaries are paid in USD; Tickets are in CAD. Given that they're definitely at saturation for pricing as they aren't filling up, income 'is what it is'. Essentially, by doing nothing, the expenses go up 10-20% due to exchange alone. So I can see it being a problem for them. Unless Aquaman decides to run at a loss just because he likes it (not really sound business acumen), there will be an internal cap.

[Provost]

I don't know that I've heard Benning or Linden say that, do you have a quote/source?

Even then just use logic: we're already within $3M of the cap ceiling using 22 players on the roster (likely to be filled by Baertschi when he signs). Is any team really going to quibble over an internal cap that's only $1-2M lower than the actual cap?

Ya, I don't know how someone could be arguing about an "internal" cap when we are a cap team. Leaving around $2 million in cap space at the start of the season is actually running things right up against the ceiling. You need that money to pay for replacement players when you have roster players go down for injuries that aren't long enough to qualify for IR.

Lots of teams got into trouble for the first few years, not being able to bring up players due to being too close to the cap at the beginning of the season.

I haven't heard either of them say that word in any regard.

The Canucks have been turning a healthy profit every year, so even a sliding dollar isn't likely the throw them into the red.

[Tony Romo]

Usually an owner gives the President a budgetfor salaries. Usually lower than the cap. Most times Owners don't OK spending go the cap unless you're a surefire contender like the Hawks.

Bottom feeders like Arizona will always kiss the floor because the owners can't afford anything more.

Aren't all the owners billionaires?

[5Fivehole0]

Generalize much?

Yes

[selkirkcraig]

I wish I could this this more than I'm currently thissing this.

CDC: Sedins are declined, no longer 1st liners, or elite talent. Not worth their contract.

Reality: Daniel and Henrik are 8th and 10th in scoring, respectively. 14 million for top 10 scoring. Claude Giroux has 8.275M cap hit.

CDC 2014: NEED MORE ROOKIES LESS VETERANS! KASSIAN IS USELESS.

CDC 2015: Oh my god! Traded a veteran and Kassian!

Reality: Gained a draft pick, made room for rookies, and traded an inconstant player for a pending UFA who can help now and be traded at the deadline if needed.

CDC just hates on their own teams players until they get traded, then they are worth 3 first round picks and a prospect.

and that's with a low scoring d unit! imagine if the d core had put up points all year like they did in the last month or so of the regular season. one of them may have actually won the scoring title - perhaps that's a stretch.