12:20 p.m.: Both teams have officially announced the deal. Dallas opened up a roster spot yesterday by placing Roope Hintz on injured reserve, so no corresponding move is required.
11:23 a.m.: The Stars and Canucks are reportedly in agreement on a trade that will send defenseman Tyler Myers to Dallas, per Darren Dreger of TSN. Vancouver will receive Dallas’ 2027 second-round pick and 2029 fourth-round pick in return while retaining 50% of Myers’ $3MM cap hit through 2026-27, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun adds.
The Stars are all-out buyers and entered the deadline with a clear need to add right-shot depth. It was a foregone conclusion that they’d add one, whether it was Myers, who Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK says had the Stars as his first choice to waive his no-movement clause, or the Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen, who David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period said last night that Dallas was making a push for.
Dallas has been running lefty Miro Heiskanen on his offside on their top pairing with Esa Lindell, something they’ve done frequently during Heiskanen’s career. Behind him, their right-shot options consist of Nils Lundkvist, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Alexander Petrovic. There isn’t a clear-cut top-four option among that group, at least by a Stanley Cup contender’s standards. Myers may not fit that bill at this stage of his career, either, but he’s used to logging the most minutes of the group and at least gives them a much-needed additional depth option in case of an injury.
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.
Image courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.
Stevie strikes out again. Go for Nemec!! Give NJ Kasper for Nemec and bring up Michael Brandsegg-Nygård!!!
Kind of hard when Myers first choice to waive his NMC was for Dallas and they wanted to make a deal.
Seems like a kinda weak return for Myers.
Maybe a weak return for a prime version of Tyler Myers, but he’s 35 years old & a shell of his former self.
Yeah, but look at what Trotz is getting for 4th liners!
Seems a bit aggressive for a #5 dman who doesnt block or hit or score much. But Nashville kind of set the score yesterday.
In a weird way I don’t like this for either team. It feels like Myers doesn’t actually solve the Stars problems on D. He’s not good enough to play top pair with Heiskanen and bump Lindell down, and as imposing as a third pair of Bichsel-Myers would be they wouldn’t be able to get the puck out of their own end. That leaves Harley, and having to carry Myers would just be weighing him down.
On the other hand, a low second a year from now and a fourth in 2029 and tying up a retention slot through next year is a crap return for Vancouver. They’d have been better off rolling the dice on Foote turning Lundqvist into a player, or throwing in a forward and asking for Mavrik Bourque.
@onemoreastronaut – “In a weird way I don’t like this for either team.” You know, I’m kind of hoping we’ll be able to say that a lot this week leading up to the deadline. It’ll be like a twist on rearranging the deck chairs, but instead, smashing them to pieces for firewood, only to remember that they don’t have a fireplace.
We’re giving up a 2nd and a 4th for a 36 year old? I know we’re in a championship window right now, but that’s pretty steep for a guy in his late 30’s
Win now, tank later
Tyler Myers has been mired in the Vancouver muck for so long, it might be a minor miracle for him to show much usefulness in Dallas.
Dallas needed a RD and Tyler Myers fits the bill. Granted, Myers may not be a long-term answer by any means but he’s doable for now. I think Myers could work in a third pairing scenario at best but anything in the top four could be highly questionable as his metrics don’t grade out well.
As for Vancouver, they probably got more in return than they should have with a 2nd round pick and 4th round pick. The buyer’s market is rather harshly overvalued right now.