- Although the expectation was that the Canucks would go with Arturs Silovs as Thatcher Demko’s backup next season, that might no longer be the case. Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic report (subscription link) that Vancouver will be shopping for a veteran netminder on the open market and it appears that they’re willing to spend around $1.5MM for that player. Casey DeSmith served as the second-string option this past season but does not appear to be an option at this time. Silovs still has one year of waiver exemption remaining so there’s a case to be made that he’d be better served playing as the starter in the minors over seeing second-string duty with Vancouver.
Canucks Rumors
Canucks Sign Jett Woo To One-Year Extension
The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Jett Woo to a one-year, two-way extension. The deal will pay him a league minimum $775K at the NHL level and $150K at the AHL level, per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News (Twitter link).
Vancouver drafted Woo in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft – among company like Alexander Romanov, Martin Fehervary, and Sean Durzi. But Woo still sits as one of 12 players from that round to not yet make his NHL debut, instead spending the last four seasons with Vancouver’s AHL affiliate. Woo had a slow start to his pro career, scoring just 10 points through his first two seasons, and 70 games, in the AHL. He’s picked up that scoring in the two seasons since, netting 21 points in 68 games last year and 31 points in 62 games this year. Woo has also picked up his intensity, also totaling 189 penalty minutes in the last two years.
The climb towards more high-event hockey earned Woo the first NHL call-ups of his career in February, though he couldn’t slot into Vancouver’s lineup. Still, he’s begun to grab the Canucks’ attention. With the team expected to move on from Nikita Zadorov, Woo could have a chance on this new deal to fight for his NHL debut, and a more confident contract next summer.
Leafs Among Teams Interested In Nikita Zadorov
It was announced yesterday that defenseman Nikita Zadorov will be testing the open market, after not finding agreeable terms with the Vancouver Canucks. Now, TSN’s Darren Dreger has reported the specifics of those negotiations – sharing that Vancouver’s highest offer to Zadorov was $5MM. The veteran defender feels he can up that price in free agency, where Dreger adds at least 10 teams have expressed interest, including the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto’s interest comes as no surprise. General manager Brad Treliving has shared that the team will be prioritizing size and grit in their defensive additions this year – two traits that Zadorov brings in abundance, even if he may need reigned in elsewhere. Toronto were among the teams pushing to trade for Zadorov before his move to the Canucks, though they were joined by the Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, and New York Islanders in the race.
Each of those competitors should be expected to return to Zadorov this
summer. The Devils recently drafted highly acclaimed Russian defender Anton Silayev – who plays a similarly brazen and aggressive style to Zadorov. That could make the older Russian a great mentor, though it’d also likely limit New Jersey to a short-term deal, as they anticipate the emergence of both Silayev and Seamus Casey in the NHL. Dallas and New York could be in better spots to give Zadorov term – with the Stars facing the possibility of losing Chris Tanev to the market while the Islanders could use all of the defensive help they can get.
It’s that kind of desperation that Zadorov will be banking on, looking to inspire a bidding way among teams in need of stout top-four defenders. But teams could run a risk of buying in a player’s market. In his age-29 season, Zadorov posted six points in 21 games with the Flames and 14 points in 54 games with the Canucks. What’s more, he added a career-high 125 penalty minutes in those matchups. It was one of Zadorov’s most eventful seasons, though 2021-22 still stands as his career-year, when he recorded 22 points and 77 penalty minutes in 74 games.
With July 1st just days away, Zadorov has set his price north of $5MM. Even with his low scoring, he’ll still stand as one of the market’s top defensemen, behind players like Tanev, Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce, and Shayne Gostisbehere. It will be likely in Zadorov’s best interest to sign as quickly as he can, before more acclaimed defenders have a chance to set the market price.
Toronto could also be pushed off the scent here, after acquiring the rights to pending UFA Chris Tanev for Max Ellis and a seventh-round pick. The Leafs haven’t yet engaged in talks with Tanev, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (Twitter link), though the two sides will have through the weekend to find Tanev a deal in his hometown. Tanev is likely pushing for a similar dollar figure as Zadorov, and fills a like role on the right-side of the top four. Even then, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that both Zadorov and Oliver Ekman-Larsson could remain in Toronto’s plans (Twitter link).
Canucks Won’t Re-Sign Nikita Zadorov, Linked To John Marino
The Canucks won’t be agreeing to an extension for UFA defenseman Nikita Zadorov, general manager Patrik Allvin confirmed (via Patrick Johnston of The Province and The Vancouver Sun). He’ll be one of the more sought-after defense options available when the free agent market opens Monday.
It may not take them very long to find his replacement, though. The Devils are “actively looking to move” right-shot stalwart John Marino, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports. He adds Vancouver has been in the mix for his services, specifically as a fallback option if they couldn’t come to terms on a new deal for Zadorov.
We had our first indication that Zadorov may be heading out the door when Allvin moved to get Tyler Myers locked into a three-year, $3MM AAV extension last night. His re-signing, along with the retention of pending RFA Filip Hronek earlier in the month, meant four of the Canucks’ spots on defense next season were firmly accounted for. Noah Juulsen remains an option after skating in 54 games last year, and depth blue liner Mark Friedman will be back in the rotation after signing a one-way extension over a week ago.
Vancouver parted ways with a third-round and fifth-round pick to get Zadorov from the Flames back in November, marking one of the first truly consequential in-season trades. This generation’s “Big Z” was a natural fit in a bottom-four role, putting up 14 points and 102 PIMs in 54 games as a Canuck while seeing 17:04 of ice time per contest. The playoffs were where Zadorov made his killing this year, though, as the normally stay-at-home defenseman became a factor on the scoresheet with four goals and eight points in 13 games.
Where he’ll land is anyone’s guess at this stage, but he’ll have plenty of suitors and won’t take long to find his next home. He’s expected to seek a six-year, $36MM pact ($6MM AAV), per a report from Seravalli last month, although that’s likely too rich for anyone’s blood, given he doesn’t have a consistent history of top-four minutes. He should still be able to cash in significantly with his value at its peak, though, and could land a longer-term deal closer to $5MM per season.
The Canucks may well have to give up significant assets to acquire Marino as his replacement, but he checks in at a much more attractive $4.4MM cap hit for three more seasons compared to what Zadorov was asking for. Marino is also two years younger and has averaged at least 20 minutes per game since breaking into the league with the Penguins five years ago, consistently seeing tougher usage and heavier penalty-kill responsibilities.
Marino served as the Devils’ de facto top right-shot defender for most of last season, with Dougie Hamilton missing all but 20 games with a pectoral injury. He checked in about expected offensively, recording four goals and 25 points in 81 games but did have a career-worst -6 rating. That was certainly exacerbated by poor play from New Jersey’s rotating cast of goaltenders, though, as he still managed to control 51.1% of shot attempts at even strength, roughly in line with his career average.
It’s worth noting Marino has an eight-team no-trade list that goes into effect on July 1. It would be odd to see the reigning Pacific Division winners hold a spot on his NTC, but in any event, it’s likely a reason why Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald is trying so hard to get him moved before free agency opens. They’re looking to upgrade their second-pair right-shot man behind Hamilton, with soon-to-be-former Hurricane Brett Pesce a person of interest.
NHL Announces 2023-24 All-Star Teams
The NHL announced their annual season-ending All-Star teams as part of last night’s award festivities. The rosters, as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, are as follows.
First All-Star Team
LW: Artemi Panarin (Rangers)
C: Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche)
RW: Nikita Kucherov (Lightning)
D: Quinn Hughes (Canucks)
D: Roman Josi (Predators)
G: Connor Hellebuyck (Jets)
Second All-Star Team
LW: Filip Forsberg (Predators)
C: Connor McDavid (Oilers)
RW: David Pastrňák (Bruins)
D: Adam Fox (Rangers)
D: Cale Makar (Avalanche)
G: Thatcher Demko (Canucks)
The First Team nod caps off quite a successful 24 hours for MacKinnon, who also swept both media-voted and player-voted MVP honors with the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. It’s his third All-Star nod, although his two prior ones were both Second Team honors in 2018 and 2020. The 28-year-old pivot led the Avs in scoring with 51 goals and 140 points this season and recorded a league-high 405 shots on goal.
Notably, the voting ledger (available in the league’s announcement) indicates Kucherov was the unanimous First Team selection at right wing. That’s the first time that’s happened since 2002, when the Flames’ Jarome Iginla was the across-the-board pick after also winning the Richard and Art Ross trophies. Like Iginla, Kucherov was crowned this year’s Art Ross winner after recording 144 points in 81 games. He tied with McDavid for a league-leading 100 assists, becoming the first winger in NHL history to hit the mark.
Absent from either team is Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews, whose 69 goals this season were the most of anyone since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96. He also fell short of being a Hart Trophy finalist behind Kucherov, MacKinnon and McDavid. He was third in All-Star voting among centers, though, and did receive nine First Team and 55 Second Team votes out of 187 ballots. The only other center to receive consideration was the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, who only appeared on four ballots.
Canucks To Non-Tender Aidan McDonough
- The Canucks will be parting ways with winger Aidan McDonough, reports Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link). This decision comes as somewhat of a surprise given how hard they worked to sign him in 2023, burning the first year of the deal right away when he got into six games with Vancouver. However, the 24-year-old had a quiet rookie year with AHL Abbotsford, notching 11 goals and eight assists in 58 games, a performance they’ve deemed not good enough to give him a two-way qualifying offer.
Quinn Hughes Wins 2023-24 Norris Trophy
After a breakout showing in 2022-23, Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes took another step forward this season. He was recognized for his efforts on Thursday as the league announced that he’s the winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded “to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position”.
Vancouver’s captain led all NHL defensemen with 75 assists and 92 points, setting franchise records in both categories; he bested his team records from the year before at 69 and 76, respectively. He had plenty of success on the power play, leading all rearguards in assists in that situation with 33 while finishing second in points at 38. That helped pace Vancouver to their first playoff appearance since 2019-20 and their first division title since 2012-13. Hughes also reached the 300-point mark for his career, becoming the eighth-fastest in league history to do so.
That helped give Hughes a significant margin of victory. He took home 172 first-place votes out of 194 and was a top-three selection on every ballot. He was also the only player to appear on every ballot. A total of 15 players received votes, each of which appeared on at least three ballots. Nashville’s Roman Josi and Colorado’s Cale Makar finished second and third, respectively.
Hughes is the first Canucks defenseman to win the award. He’s also the fourth U.S.-born player to capture the award, the others being Chris Chelios, Brian Leetch, and Adam Fox.
Canucks Sign Tyler Myers To Three-Year Extension
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin continues his slew of moves over the past 24 hours. He’s gotten another one of his pending UFAs locked in, now signing defenseman Tyler Myers to a three-year extension worth $9MM ($3MM cap hit). The deal breaks down as follows, per TSN’s Darren Dreger:
2024-25: $3.8MM base salary, no-move clause
2025-26: $2.9MM base salary, no-move clause
2026-27: $2.3MM base salary, 12-team no-trade list
It’s the third player slated to hit the open market this summer that Vancouver has retained thus far. They’ve also re-upped center Teddy Blueger (two years, $1.8MM AAV) and Dakota Joshua (four years, $3.25MM AAV) to continue boasting solid scoring depth among their bottom six forwards.
Under this deal, Myers will return for his sixth, seventh and eighth seasons in Vancouver. The 34-year-old Texas native joined the Canucks in free agency five years ago, inking a deal that was criticized at the time for its $6MM cap hit. His extension represents a pay cut of 50 percent, but it’s about what his market value would have likely been if he became a free agent next week.
He’s likely best used as a bottom-pairing anchor at this stage of his career. That’s where first-year head coach Rick Tocchet deployed him this season, yielding arguably the best results Myers has put up in a Canucks jersey. The veteran put up 29 points in 77 games, his highest point total since his final season with the Jets in 2018-19, and posted a career-high +16 rating with slightly improved possession metrics in more defense-oriented usage. Correspondingly, it was the first time in his 15-year career that he’d averaged under 20 minutes per game.
Whether Myers will still be worth his new cap hit in the final year of his deal, during which he’ll be turning 37, is a fair question to ask. But with the salary cap expected to jump significant amounts each season as the league is in a strong post-COVID financial state, it shouldn’t be too much of a drag as Allvin continues to try and build out a Cup-contending roster in British Columbia.
Since being selected 12th overall by the Sabres in 2008, the hulking 6’8″ defender has 93 goals, 278 assists, 371 points and a +9 rating in 995 career games. Assuming there’s no freak offseason or early-campaign injuries, he’ll become the 395th (or 396th, looking at Luke Schenn) skater in NHL history to hit 1,000 games played.
After this deal, the Nucks have just over $12MM in projected cap space for next season, per CapFriendly. They have four roster spots to fill, notably those of pending UFAs Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov.
Canucks Sign Dakota Joshua To Four-Year Extension
2:45 p.m.: The breakdown of Joshua’s contract is as follows, per PuckPedia. It includes a 12-team no-trade clause throughout, the same protection that Blueger received last night.
2024-25: $2.25MM base salary, $2MM signing bonus
2025-26: $2MM base salary, $1.5MM signing bonus
2026-27: $2.625MM base salary
2027-28: $1.625MM base salary, $1MM signing bonus
12:29 p.m.: The Canucks have signed pending UFA winger Dakota Joshua to a four-year, $13MM contract, per a team announcement. The deal is good for a $3.25MM cap hit and keeps him from reaching the open market on Monday.
Joshua, 28, is coming off a breakout 2023-24 season in Vancouver. He was limited to 63 games by an upper-body injury but still managed to record career-highs across the board with 18 goals, 14 assists, 32 points and a +19 rating. His 14:23 average time on ice was also a career-high, indicative of the value he provided while sliding into an everyday role in an NHL top nine for the first time. That point total worked out to 0.51 points per game, a major step up from the 0.29 he scored in his first season with the Canucks last year.
Solid depth scoring aside, Joshua is also an impactful checking presence. His 244 hits led the Canucks by a wide margin this season and finished ninth in the league overall. He has some flexibility at center but has played most of his 184 NHL games on the wing.
A fifth-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2014, Joshua elected not to sign with Toronto when ending his collegiate tenure at Ohio State five years later. His signing rights were dealt to the Blues, where he landed his first NHL contract immediately after being acquired.
Joshua split his first professional season between St. Louis’ AHL and ECHL affiliates before impressing during training camp entering the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. He spent a good chunk of the campaign on the taxi squad while also earning his first 12 NHL appearances. He didn’t manage to land a full-time role with the Blues the following year, though, and they let him walk as a Group VI UFA in 2022 after he put up nine points in 42 appearances across two seasons.
Vancouver pounced, and he’s now turned into a bonafide third-line talent for them who provided major surplus value for his $825K cap hit last year. Those days are no more, but it’s hard to argue with a $3.25MM AAV if he can repeat last year’s performance. The extension comes in a bit above the $3.173MM AAV Evolving Hockey had projected for Joshua on a four-year deal on the open market, but players of Joshua’s archetype generally land more than models predict when hitting free agency. The deal is shorter but cheaper annually than the similarly-valued Miles Wood, who landed a six-year, $15MM commitment from the Avalanche as a UFA last summer.
Joshua’s extension is the third notable move that general manager Patrik Allvin has made within the last 24 hours. He’s issued a two-year, $3.6MM extension to Latvian pivot Teddy Blueger, who spent a solid chunk of last season as Joshua’s linemate before Elias Lindholm’s acquisition from the Flames pushed him down the depth chart. He also made a cap-clearing trade with the Blackhawks, sending out all but $712.5K of Ilya Mikheyev’s $4.75MM cap hit along with the signing rights to pending UFA forward Sam Lafferty and a 2027 second-round pick. After the trio of transactions, Allvin has just north of $15MM in projected cap space next season with five open roster spots.
Blackhawks Acquire Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty
11:52 p.m.: The trade was later made official by both clubs, although Seravalli’s report indicating the second-round pick heading from Vancouver to Chicago is in 2025 was inaccurate. It’s a 2027 pick, per the teams.
9:14 p.m.: In what has become a rollercoaster of trade, the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to acquire Ilya Mikheyev, the rights to Sam Lafferty, and a second-round pick in 2025 from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2027. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed Mikheyev waived his M-NTC to facilitate a deal with the Blackhawks. The deal will shed $4.75MM off the books for the Canucks as they look to retain several pending free agents and bring their expected cap space up to $19MM heading into the offseason.
Much like their acquisition of Jason Dickinson nearly two years ago, the Blackhawks have once again weaponized their cap space to acquire a reclamation project from the Canucks organization. Assuming Chicago can sign Lafferty to an extension — the Blackhawks dramatically improve their bottom six for the cost of a fourth-round pick in a draft three years away.
After becoming disgruntled with the Maple Leafs organization, Mikheyev signed a four-year, $19MM contract in Vancouver during the summer of 2022. Unfortunately, during his first preseason game with the Canucks, Mikheyev tore his anterior cruciate ligament but was courageously able to return rather quickly from the injury on October 18th. Mikheyev provided solid secondary contributions the rest of the way for the Canucks by way of scoring 13 goals and 28 points in 43 games before Vancouver finally shut him down for the season in late January.
This past offseason, Mikheyev underwent surgery to repair the injury and would not make his season debut until October 21st. Starting hot out of the gates, Mikheyev put up nine goals and 16 points through his first 25 games of the regular season but could only manage two goals and 15 points over the last 53 contests. In Chicago, Mikheyev will have access to much more playing time which will give him more than enough opportunity to put his career back on a positive trajectory.
If the Blackhawks can sign Lafferty before he hits the open market on July 1st, it will be his second stint with the organization. During the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Lafferty spent 97 games in Chicago where the team saw him put up 15 goals and 32 points. Lafferty was originally acquired by the Blackhawks organization from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Alexander Nylander before the team shipped him off to the Maple Leafs in the deal that also saw Jake McCabe head to Toronto.
This past season in Vancouver, Lafferty was one of the most reliable bottom-six forwards in the league as he scored 13 goals and 24 points in 73 games while averaging just under 12 minutes of ice time per night. He will likely serve in a similar role with Chicago but he may be able to sneak into the team’s second-line on occasion.
The deal opens up a lot of possibilities for the Canucks, as they were able to offload $4.75MM in salary for a second-round pick only a day after the Detroit Red Wings attached a second-round pick to shed $3.4MM off their books. Vancouver may not be done yet in what is shaping up to be an aggressive offseason for the organization as they look to capitalize on an impressive 2023-24 season.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff was the first to report the full trade package.
Seravalli was the first to report which year the draft picks were attributed to.