Salary-cap deep dive: Vancouver Canucks

Demko could very well be one of the more interesting RFA cases next offseason, not just in Vancouver but anywhere. Since he was drafted back in 2014, he has been viewed as their goalie of the future, and that hasn’t changed, especially since the Canucks opted not to hand Jacob Markstrom a long-term contract in October to help pave the way for Demko to ascend to that role. He will almost certainly be their protected goalie in the Seattle expansion draft. And yet he has just 37 career regular-season games under his belt (plus a stellar four-game playoff stint from the summer). He’d be lucky to double that number in a shortened season, so he’ll still be relatively inexperienced when his deal is up. Could he sign a second bridge deal that’s comparable to Tristan Jarry’s three-year, $10.5 million pact that he recently inked? Sure, but that walks him to UFA eligibility at 28 which isn’t ideal. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot riding on this limited season for Demko.

Two years remaining

F Jay Beagle ($3 million, UFA)
F Brock Boeser ($5.875 million, RFA)
F Loui Eriksson ($6 million, UFA)
G Braden Holtby ($4.3 million, UFA)
F Antoine Roussel ($3 million, UFA)

Again, let’s get the bad out of the way first. Eriksson hasn’t come close to living up to his contract and he quite became another addition to the list of ill-fated 2016 UFA deals. He’s another candidate to be buried in the minors if the Canucks need to try to free up some cap room. The same can be said for Beagle, who can still win faceoffs but is making way too much for someone who is basically just a specialist on the draw at this stage of his career.

As for Boeser, he has been a capable top-six winger in his three full NHL seasons, although staying healthy has been a challenge at times. He’s definitely a part of the core, although a $7.5 million qualifying offer is required to retain his RFA rights. That seemed reasonable back at the time, but with the market being what it is now and the cap flattening out, making room for that deal will be a bit trickier. Roussel could have easily gone in the previous paragraph but he can still play an effective energy role. He’s overpaid in that spot and will be looking at a lot less money two years from now but at least he provides some value.

Holtby was signed to act as a bridge goaltender for Demko to eventually move into the No. 1 slot. He could be appealing in expansion to the Kraken depending on how next season goes, but with Demko expected to get the starting role eventually, Holtby may be hard-pressed to find a No. 1 opening two years from now, which means his next price tag could be a bit lower.

Three years remaining

F Micheal Ferland ($3.5 million, UFA)
F Bo Horvat ($5.5 million, UFA)
F J.T. Miller ($5.25 million, UFA)

Horvat doesn’t put up the offensive numbers that a true No. 1 center does, but when you factor everything else in, he’s a capable No. 1 center. He plays a lot of heavy defensive minutes while being the captain. Presuming he hovers around the 60-point mark (he played above that rate last season), he’ll be highly coveted on the open market and should garner a sizable raise. Miller’s acquisition was questioned at the time, but he had the best season of his career in 2019-20, tallying more than a point per game while logging more than 20 minutes a game for the first time. If he shows this wasn’t just some good luck, he too will be coveted by many teams in free agency, which means a raise would be on the horizon for him as well. Ferland’s future is uncertain due to lingering concussion trouble. He’s hoping to return for next season but hasn’t been cleared yet. If he doesn’t get the green light, he’ll be eligible for LTIR which, will at least give the Canucks some short-term breathing room on the cap.

Four Or More Years Remaining

D Tyler Myers ($6 million through 2023-24)
D Nate Schmidt ($5.95 million through 2024-25)

Benning was at least able to somewhat salvage what had been a tough offseason by acquiring Schmidt for cheap by simply being one of only a few teams that had enough cap space to absorb his cap hit without making Vegas retain or needing to offset any money in return. He’ll play an even bigger role with the Canucks. Myers, on the other hand, didn’t have a great first season with Vancouver, and Schmidt’s arrival will push him down a slot, which may actually be a better fit for both him and the team. But as things stand, this is an above-market deal.

Buyouts

F Ryan Spooner ($1.033 million in 2020-21)

Cap Recapture

G Roberto Luongo ($3.035 million through 2021-22)

Retained salary transactions

None

Still to sign

F Justin Bailey
D Jalen Chatfield

Looking ahead

If Ferland gets cleared to play this season, expect multiple veteran forwards to be waived and sent to AHL Utica to give the Canucks some wiggle room. If Ferland is heading for LTIR, the Canucks might still be hard-pressed to try to add to their roster unless he was ruled out for the season as they’d need to be able to get back into compliance to try to activate him midseason. Either way, Benning does not have a lot of room with which to work.

From a long-term perspective, Vancouver is in pretty good shape as there aren’t many big long-term contracts on the books. That gives the Canucks a good-sized canvas with which to work, but that situation will soon change with Hughes and Pettersson in line for big raises next offseason and with the likes of Boeser, Miller and Horvat soon after, that will change things in a hurry. As a result, get used to the Canucks being capped out for the foreseeable future.