Stars Expected To Acquire Tyler Myers From Canucks

Myers, 36, doesn’t do a ton on the score sheet this late in his career. In 57 games this season, he has just one goal and seven assists with a 1.4% shooting rate. That’s a career-low 0.14 points per game for a defender who logged a fair bit of power-play time in his prime thanks to his booming slap shot. That’s been accompanied by a -25 rating as he logs over 20 minutes a night as the struggling Canucks’ #2 righty behind Filip Hronek.

Under the hood, Myers hasn’t graded out well for quite some time. Granted, he’s been used more as a shutdown threat than a two-way one at 5-on-5 since initially signing with Vancouver back in 2019. Still, Myers controlled just 48.5% of shot attempts, 47.6% of expected goals, and 47.4% of scoring chances over seven years with the Canucks. That’s in sharp contrast to a player like Ristolainen, who’s been a net positive on the possession quality front for the last four years in Philadelphia but came with a much higher acquisition cost and cap hit, which would have limited Dallas’ maneuverability to make additional moves before Friday afternoon.

It’s certainly a cap-mindful pickup that still leaves the Stars with just over $5.5MM in cap space after moving Tyler Seguin to season-ending long-term injured reserve. Myers also gives the Stars a relatively low-cost veteran option for next season, ideally to slot in on the third pairing, with Petrovic slated for free agency and Lyubushkin checking in as a potential buyout or waiver candidate in the last year of his deal at a $3.25MM cap hit. Every dollar is crucial as the Stars look to open up space to get an extension done for pending RFA Jason Robertson.

For the Canucks, it’s not a particularly strong return for a minute-muncher like Myers with a year and a half of retention. They also didn’t have much leverage, as Myers boasted a full no-movement clause. There were comparable offers on the table, namely from the Red Wings, but Myers preferred to wait and see whether the Stars would match with a similar offer, Dhaliwal reports.

In the short term, the most direct beneficiary of Myers’ departure is 2023 first-rounder Tom Willander. The right-shot rookie now steps into Myers’ vacated spot alongside Marcus Pettersson on the second pairing and, after recording 16 points through his first 48 NHL contests, will be in line for a sharp rise in ice time from the 15:33 he’s averaged per game to date in the final month-plus of the regular season.

As the Canucks navigate the last two days before the trade deadline, they now have just one retention slot remaining. One is still being used up on Ilya Mikheyev through the end of this season.