[Proposal] Rebuild the defence

[DownUndaCanuck]

We've seen what this team can do offensively, no problems there, we know we have a potential star in Demko in net, but it's no surprise the reason this season's gone to crap is the bad defence. Coaching change hasn't made a difference and it just looks like it's frustrating Tocchet already.

 

The big elephants in the room are OEL and Myers and their massive contracts, and how bad they're playing on the ice. It obviously wouldn't be easy, but if we could somehow scrap these guys, we can start building from scratch.

 

1) Buy-out OEL

Sounds nuts but hear me out. He's playing like one of the worst defencemen in the league. Basically a buyout gives us almost no cap hit next year, 2.3M the next year, 4.7M for a couple of years then 2.1M for the rest of his contract. I wonder how it'd look if we buy him out next off-season but that's what I'd aim for - buy him out in the off-season.

 

2) Sign a UFA to replace OEL in the off-season

There's plenty of guys on the market, relatively young as well, who play sturdy solid defence and aren't too flashy. Graves would be my top guy - NJD have Luke Hughes coming through and Bahl as well, they can't afford to keep Graves. He was playing top-4 minutes comfortably there, not producing much offence so hopefully won't demand the world of money but is a solid guy around 27 years old. We can easily sign him for 5-6M. Other guys out there are Gavrikov (who will surely demand 6+M), Maata and Soucy, but Graves is the guy who fits age and cap-wise. Give him a 5 years x 5-5.5M deal

 

3) Trade Myers to Toronto

Looks like TOR are going to miss out on Chychrun so they have to be looking at Myers. As a massive market I don't think they'll care about the salary/payment part, just the cap hit. They want to push now and they need help on D and seem to be targeting Myers closely. Cap is the main problem here. According to Cap Friendly they'll have 1.9M in cap space at the TDL. It'd be tricky, but Kerfoot is one of the only guys around the similar cap-hit. He's having a good season though (around 0.5PPG) but can play center and is basically their 3C so we'd have to give some center back. Basically a 2nd RD for 3C swap for Toronto, but we'll have to retain around 1M to make it work. Myers (1m retained) + Dries for Kerfoot. Throw them a pick if they want too. Seems nuts to us CDC fans but Toronto really want a top-4 defenceman.

 

4) Find us a top-4 RD

Maybe the hardest bit. I'm not going to propose some nuts trade like Miller for Dobson. More realistically, we could see something like Boeser for Dumba. I know Dumba may well end up the next tire-fire Myers in his own zone, but it's a change nonetheless, and who knows, paired with a solid sturdy Graves under a solid Rick Tocchet defensive structure may be a big boost. Most importantly, we've changed the defence. Dumba's on a 6M deal, under-performing in a big way, so I'm sure come off-season we can re-sign him much cheaper, a bridge of maybe 4-5M.

 

 

Suddenly we're free of OEL and Myers, sure we retain some cash but I'd say it's worth it in the short and long-run. I know we don't get that perfect young physical RD to play with Hughes that everyone wants, but that's so unrealistic. If we can't get one from a Bo trade, it's not happening unless it's via the draft or UFA. I know Severson is a UFA, but our priority should be getting rid of the two lumbering old defencemen instead of adding anymore. The two years of the OEL 4.7M buyout hurt, but I'd rather take a prime Graves at 6-9M than a declining OEL at 7M. Not to mention, we snag ourselves a 3rd line center. Here's our lineup to start next year and dare I say we're a threat to make the playoffs:

 

Mikheyev - Pettersson - Kuzmenko

Podkolzin - Miller - Garland

Pearson - Kerfoot - Hoglander

Joshua - Lazar - Aman

 

Hughes - Bear

Graves - Dumba

Dermott - Schenn

[Elias Pettersson]

I agree with most of that.  In terms of buying out OEL, I think at this point it's probably around 80% that they do it this summer.  Reason why is the cap savings is huge for next year, just over $7 million.  With that money freed up we can replace him with a legit top 4 Dman.  Buying out OEL is going to happen at some point, there is zero chance that JR/PA don't buy out OEL while they are here as well as Tocchet.  If OEL isn't bought out that means we are in a full rebuild and JR/PA/RT are all gone and probably Petey and Huggy too.  Buying him out in 2024 doesn't make sense because you lose the ability to get that $7 million freed up this summer.  Next summer the buyout starts at $2.1 million.

 

In terms of replacements, I think Ryan Graves would be at the top of my list.  New Jersey has all their young guys coming into the lineup at some point, so I don't see them committing to Graves long term.  I'd do a 5x5 contract for him no problem.  I'd also look at Adam Boqvist from Columbus.  Jiricek will make the big club next year so there may be no room for Boqvist on the right side.  I proposed a Boeser and Hoglander trade to Columbus for Boqvist and Kuraly.  

 

If we could offload Myers to Toronto with minimal retention that would be like winning the lottery.

 

Finding another top 4 Dman may be the hardest thing to do out of everything however.  If we do buy out OEL, I can see us trading the NYI pick plus another prospect for a top 4 RHD.  Livingstone is someone we need to go hard after in the summer as well.  I'd also take a flyer on Tryamkin.  I think if he works with Gonchar he could turn into a useful 5/6 Dman.

 

Hughes        ??

Graves        Boqvist

Tryamkin     Schenn

Stillman      Livingstone

 

I'd be comfortable going into next season with that lineup.  If we can land a true partner for Hughes with that Islanders pick then that would complete the defence.  I would let Dermott and Burroughs walk and see if we could get a pick back for Bear.  With Boqvist in the lineup Bear is redundant.

 

Edited February 14 by Elias Pettersson

[Lewlowned]

While I agree moving OEL is an important move for the team, I think a buyout is too costly for too long. I think retaining the equivalent $$ you'd save in a trade is a better idea. Here's why:

 

Buyout Costs:

 

So, if we buyout OEL, we are paying at least $2.1m/year until 2031.

 

OEL has a $7.2m cap hit. If the Canucks retain $2.2m, it means he has a cap hit of $5m. That is a much more reasonable $$$ for OEL and what his play is currently. Still probably an overpay, but closer.

 

Retain: $2.2m x 4 years = $8.8m

Buyout: $2.1m - $4.7m x 8 years = $19.3m

 

Obviously this assumes the Canucks are able to trade him. But I'd rather him keep playing for a year or two until we can find a partner for a retained trade than have $2m of dead cap space until 2031.

Edited February 14 by Lewlowned

[Bad_BOI_pete]

6 minutes ago, Lewlowned said:

While I agree moving OEL is an important move for the team, I personally think a buyout is a waste. I personally think retaining the equivalent $$ you'd save in a trade is a better idea. Here's why:

 

Buyout Costs:

 

So, if we buyout OEL, we are paying at least $2.1m/year until 2031.

 

OEL has a $7.2m cap hit. If the Canucks retain $2.2m, it means he has a cap hit of $5m. That is a much more reasonable $$$ for OEL and what his play is currently. Still probably an overpay, but closer.

 

Retain: $2.2m x 4 years = $8.8m

Buyout: $2.1m - $4.7m x 8 years = $19.3m

 

Obviously this assumes the Canucks are able to trade him. But I'd rather him keep playing for a year or two until we can find a partner for a retained trade than have $2m of dead cap space until 2031.

heck you could retain 3 million and it would be the same savings over the first 4 years vs the buyout... and if hes bought out down the road even better...

 

if he is traded then bought out anyways 2 years down the road

we would have 2 years of cap of 1.727m and 2 years of  636k at 3 million retained... a total of 10.73m... a savings of almost 10 million vs buyout

we would have 2 years of cap of 1.26m and 2 years of 466k at 2.2 million retained.. a total of 7.86m... a savings of almost 13 million vs buyout

 

but both options are better than buying him out on our dime...

[DownUndaCanuck]

1 hour ago, Lewlowned said:

While I agree moving OEL is an important move for the team, I think a buyout is too costly for too long. I think retaining the equivalent $$ you'd save in a trade is a better idea. Here's why:

 

Buyout Costs:

 

So, if we buyout OEL, we are paying at least $2.1m/year until 2031.

 

OEL has a $7.2m cap hit. If the Canucks retain $2.2m, it means he has a cap hit of $5m. That is a much more reasonable $$$ for OEL and what his play is currently. Still probably an overpay, but closer.

 

Retain: $2.2m x 4 years = $8.8m

Buyout: $2.1m - $4.7m x 8 years = $19.3m

 

Obviously this assumes the Canucks are able to trade him. But I'd rather him keep playing for a year or two until we can find a partner for a retained trade than have $2m of dead cap space until 2031.

Problem is that trading him is going to cost us a high pick, even with 2-3M retained, he has such negative value. I honestly see the only way with a 1st and the value of that is more than the buyout costs.

 

Other thing to remember is we've got almost no dead cap as of next year and the cap will continue to go up bit by bit...

[Lewlowned]

Hmm. I see what you're saying and that's a good point.

 

I guess I think it won't cost a high future pick with the retain. Thinking something like Hoglander, Rathbone, etc. as the sweetener could make it work. Or maybe we bring back an expiring contract. I dunno.

 

The idea of paying a player not to play for us for 8 years just feels odd lol

[Wolfgang Durst]

Is our GM aware of who's available right now ? Does he have the insight to see what right handed D-Man is available right now? Is he aware of the chatter and the rumours surrounding player X ? I guess he isn't.