The Vancouver Canucks will surely weaponize some cap space when free agency opens after buying out Oliver Ekman-Larsson late last week, and they’ll likely have upwards of $10MM to play with, given their potential for long-term injured reserve relief. One name the team could pursue if he hits the open market is Seattle Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy, who CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal believes the Canucks have an interest in.
Soucy’s gained a reputation as a reliable defensive option further down the depth chart and brings 250 games of NHL experience split between the Kraken and Minnesota Wild. The 28-year-old registered three goals and 16 points in 78 games this year, marking his worst full-time campaign offensively, but he still managed strong defensive play at even strength and on the penalty kill. He’ll undoubtedly command upwards of $2MM on a multi-year contract, but he’s the type of value player the Canucks need to address a long-standing weakness – especially with their newfound cap space.
Other rumblings around the Canucks today:
- The Athletic’s Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal listed Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez as Vancouver’s top trade target this offseason, should they decide to add to their roster outside of free agency. Martinez is getting up there in age at 35 years old but has just one year left at a relatively affordable $5.25MM cap hit. With Vegas boasting substantial defensive depth and needing additional flexibility to attempt to re-sign Ivan Barbashev, a move to the Canucks could make sense for all parties involved. A left-shot defender, Martinez would essentially replace (and massively upgrade) Ekman-Larsson’s vacated spot on the team at a lesser cap hit.
- Dhaliwal also reported this morning the Canucks are considering making a pitch for veteran power forward Milan Lucic in free agency, as the winger will reportedly be hitting the open market on July 1 and won’t re-sign with the Calgary Flames. Lucic has long been linked to his hometown of Vancouver and could now finally make some sense for the team, given a cap hit that’s likely to be close to the league minimum. The 35-year-old scored a career-low 19 points in 77 games as a Flame in a fourth-line role last year and is coming off a massive seven-year, $42MM contract signed with the Edmonton Oilers back in 2016.
What is Vancouver’s plan here? Get rid of bad money, just to turn around and spend it poorly all over again?? (Martinez, Lucic . . . seriously??)
I doubt Lucic is going to be making star money, probably something in the low single digit millions to try and finish his career in his hometown.
Yeah I’d be shocked if it’s above $1.25M
(nods to Shjon) I mean, really. Martinez? $5.25 MM AAV is “relatively affordable?” For a fading-fast guy in his mid thirties who’s barely second-pairing at this point? What the Canucks NEED at this point are hungry young guys looking to make a mark, not oldsters playing out the string.
League minimum, low single digit millions, it’s all valuable. Head-scratcher.
Well, every cent is valuable, and it makes no sense to burn through the tiny bit of wiggle room they just created for themselves on players like Lucic and a declining Martinez. IMO
Lucic needs to go take a seat on the bench and take the next few plays off, He’s just another body that can’t let go. It’s embarrassing!!!!!!
I hope Martinez stays with Vegas. His leadership and shot blocking would be sorely missed.
I would like to keep him Gbear but we could use his money to bring back other guys. Let’s see what happens moving forward.
Good luck with Soucy, he is good when he feels like it, which isn’t very often.
Ha! Martinez? Thats typical for Drance. What a clown.
At this point we shouldn’t expect anything less; did Benning even leave?
You take bad contracts to get a pick or a prospect. That’s it. What’s so confusing ?
You take bad contracts *if you can afford to do so.* Vancouver bought themselves some breathing room, is now able to sign some league minimum contracts to fill out the 23-man roster, and made it so they could actually pick up a piece to improve the team.
What they did NOT do was suddenly turn into Anaheim, Chicago or Arizona. They don’t HAVE the luxury of taking on a bad contract to get a pick or a prospect.
Sousy for cheap is the only good play here. That’s it. 3rd pairing PK guy