Defenseman Tyler Myers is one of several Canucks veterans that are set to hit the open market in July and the team won’t be able to afford to keep all of them. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports (audio link) that the veteran has told his agent that he’d like to remain with Vancouver. The 34-year-old is in his fifth season with the Canucks and while his $6MM price point is above market value, he’s still logging important minutes, especially on the penalty kill where he ranks second in shorthanded ATOI. While a $6MM contract isn’t likely coming his way this summer, Myers should still command interest from several teams on a multi-year deal which should help land him a contract somewhat close to that price tag.
- Still with Vancouver, while Canucks fans were likely hoping that top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki would join AHL Abbotsford for the stretch run, that might not be the case. In an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link), GM Patrik Allvin indicated that there is a possibility that the 19-year-old could play for Sweden at the Worlds in May. In that case, they’d likely not bring Lekkerimaki to North America and let him vie for a spot on that team. The 15th overall pick in 2022 had 31 points in 46 games with SHL Orebro this season.