Canucks assign Lekkerimäki and McWard to AHL Abbotsford

It was a short trip up Highway 1 for Vancouver Canucks prospects Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Cole McWard, as one day after getting called up by the organization, they were reassigned back to AHL Abbotsford on Friday morning.

Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin has been exercising the cap this season by sending waiver-exempt players like Lekkerimäki, McWard, Aatu Räty, Max Sasson and Arshdeep Bains back and forth from Vancouver to Abbotsford to accrue cap space for the trade deadline.

The move made by Allvin yesterday did the opposite of that, it got them as close to the cap as possible. This was because they put Filip Hronek on long-term injured reserve (LTIR).

When you put a player on LTIR during the season, the amount you can go over the salary cap is the amount of that player’s cap hit minus the amount you are under.

So, the Canucks had $8,000 in cap space yesterday after recalling Lekkerimäki and McWard. They then put Hronek on LTIR. What this does is if they use LTIR or go on it again at any point in the season, they can go over the cap by that player’s cap hit minus $8,000.

So it’s best to get as close to the salary cap ceiling as possible when placing a player on LTIR, to then minimize how much you’re subtracting from an LTIR contract in the future. By sending Lekkerimäki and McWard back down today, they can start accruing cap space again. And those are set for the entire season even if Hronek comes off LTIR.

Both Lekkerimäki and McWard will rejoin the Abbotsford Canucks ahead of their back-to-back games against the Colorado Eagles on December 7 and 8. Lekkerimäki has six goals and two assists for eight points in 12 games in Abbotsford, while McWard has one goal and five assists for six points in 21 games. Since Lekkerimäki went back down to Abbotsford, he has just one goal and zero assists in five games.

Both players will head back to Abbotsford in hopes of earning a legitimate call-up later in the season.