- After using a massive buyout on defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the Canucks are still undecided on how they want to use their newfound cap space, says Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Speaking on CHEK TV’s Donnie and Dhali show, Friedman reports the Canucks were simply seeking flexibility with the buyout and are looking to upgrade every skater position. The team has at least $6.4MM of space to work with this offseason, per CapFriendly, which could end up being as high as the $15MM neighborhood depending on the injury and contract statuses of forward Tanner Pearson and defensemen Ethan Bear and Tucker Poolman.
Canucks Rumors
Latest On Canucks Draft Strategy
As we get closer and closer to the 2023 NHL draft, more teams are putting the finishing touches on their draft lists and preparing the strategies they’ll take into next week’s hugely important event. One of the teams with a lot on the line is the Vancouver Canucks, who pick eleventh and are looking to add to their pipeline of young talent. The Athletic’s Thomas Drance wrote today that he’s “heard throughout the draft preparation process that positional need” will “loom large in Vancouver’s consideration” as they finalize their final draft list. (subscription link) The positions of need, according to Drance, are at center and at right-handed defenseman.
Drance also named several prospects he has “been hearing that the organization is high on” entering the draft, and are under consideration for the team’s top pick at #11 overall. Those players are WHL center Nate Danielson, Slovakian pivot Dalibor Dvorsky, Swedish right-shot blueliner Tom Willander, and OHL winger Colby Barlow. Three of those four prospects are centers or right-shot defensemen, so it does seem quite likely that the Canucks will end up spending their top pick on a player of either of those positions, though there is obviously room for a surprise selection just like at any NHL draft.
Could Ekman-Larsson's Buyout Affect Vancouver's Draft Strategy?
- Following their buyout of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Thomas Drance of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that the move could impact Vancouver’s upcoming first-round pick. In order for the Canucks to get through the tough years of the buyout (2025-26 and 2026-27), they’re going to need some value contracts on the books. Vancouver has the 11th-overall pick in the draft later this month and if they’re able to get someone that projects to be NHL-ready within two seasons, that would help ease the burden of the higher buyout cost. It also might make them disinclined to consider trading down or out for win-now help that won’t be around (or as affordable) two years from now.
Canucks And Ethan Bear Discussing Contract Extension
- Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV tweeted today that it appears the Vancouver Canucks have had discussions with defenseman Ethan Bear’s representatives about several contract possibilities. The tweet comes on the heels of a conversation with Bear’s agent Jason Davidson who said that they’ve discussed several options, but a one-year deal may be the way to go for the 25-year-old. It’s an interesting idea from Bear’s camp given that the defender is out until December after undergoing shoulder surgery this week. Bear is a year away from unrestricted free agency and the allure of picking his long term destination may be worth the roll of the dice.
Vancouver Canucks Buy Out Oliver Ekman-Larsson
The Vancouver Canucks have made the first buyout of the summer, announcing that they have bought out defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Ekman-Larsson had four years left on an eight-year $66MM contract he signed with the Arizona Coyotes in July of 2018, but with the buyout it will allow the 31-year-old to become an unrestricted free agent where he will be free to start fresh with any team he chooses. Ekman-Larsson posted two goals and 20 assists this past season in 54 games with the Canucks while averaging 20 minutes of ice time a night.
Vancouver will free up some desperately needed cap space as they head into a summer where they will be trying to sign star forward Elias Pettersson to a long-term contract extension. The Canucks will save $7.1MM in cap space this season with the buyout and $4.9MM next year. They will save $2.5MM the two years after that and then have a cap charge of $2.13MM for four years.
While it is an expensive penalty to pay, it was a necessary move for the Canucks. Ekman-Larsson’s play has fallen off a cliff in recent years as the once elite defender has struggled since the 2019-20 season. There was a time when it was a given that he would play 25 minutes a night, put up 40-50 points a season and post terrific underlying numbers. But those days are long gone and his play as of late is more in line with that of a third pairing defenseman. The Karlskrona, Sweden native hasn’t posted 30 points since the 2019-20 season and hasn’t posted much in the way of positive analytics since that time.
Ekman-Larsson’s fall from elite status is surprising, but the buyout may not be the worst thing in the world for him. His salary forced him to play up in the lineup in a spot that was probably asking too much given where his skillset is at. With the buyout he could find a situation where he is paid like a 5-6 defenseman and deployed like one too. This could ultimately lead to a bit of a resurgence for Ekman-Larsson. However, if another team offers to pay him like a 3-4 defenseman based on name recognition, they may be disappointed with the results that they see, not unlike the Ryan Suter situation with the Dallas Stars.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the buyout.
Ethan Bear Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Out 6 Months
After a few weeks of mulling, the Vancouver Canucks and defenseman Ethan Bear have made a decision on how to move forward from a shoulder injury sustained while playing at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championships. Bear underwent successful surgery and is expected to miss six months, the Canucks said today.
Bear is now on track to make his 2023-24 season debut before the Christmas break in the NHL schedule and could miss around the first 30 games of the season based on a six-month timeline from today. The 25-year-old right-shot defender is a pending restricted free agent and remains without a contract for next year.
In his first year with the Canucks, Bear totaled 16 points in 61 games and posted excellent possession numbers while seeing his ice time increase to its highest level in three seasons. He’s expected to challenge for a top-four role next season, with his competitor, Tyler Myers, potentially on his way out of town if Vancouver can find a taker for the last season of his $6MM average annual value contract.
Bear was one of Vancouver’s highest upside options at right defense before the team unexpectedly acquired Filip Hronek from the Detroit Red Wings near the trade deadline. While a healthy Hronek next year will add some much-needed top-four caliber depth to the Canucks blueline, Bear is still an important defensive cog for a team that struggles to keep the puck out of their own net. He’ll be missed to start the 2023-24 campaign.
Free Agent Focus: Vancouver Canucks
Free agency is less than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Canucks.
Key Restricted Free Agents
D Ethan Bear – Bear was traded from Carolina to Vancouver and was one of the Canucks better defensemen last season. While he only played 61 games for the club, he showed that he was one of their few mobile defensemen. At 25-years of age Bear is due a qualifying offer of $2.2MM and could walk for nothing if the team decides not to qualify him. Bear put up three goals and 16 assists while showing dependability in a middle six pairing and although he will never turn into an offensive star, he can give you a solid 18 minutes a night and provide good support on a penalty kill.
Bear is just a year away from unrestricted free agency and after bouncing around a few teams he will likely be looking for some stability on his next contract. Vancouver may want to see more of Bear before they commit to him long-term, making a one year deal the likeliest outcome. Vancouver has Tyler Myers coming off the books next summer and could simply commit some of his money to Bear should the former fifth round pick show that he is a capable replacement.
D Travis Dermott – Dermott’s stay with the Canucks has been largely disrupted by concussions that have kept him out of the lineup for several extended periods of time. When he was able to get into the lineup, he clearly wasn’t 100% evidenced by his inability to get back to the level of played he showed when he was a Toronto Maple Leaf. Dermott saw several stints in the Leafs top-4 during his five seasons with the club but could never stay in Vancouver’s lineup long enough to earn that kind of promotion.
It’s a sad situation for the Newmarket native as at one point he did look like a capable two-way defender who could chip in 20-25 points on the back end. But in two seasons with Vancouver Dermott has only been able to put up two goals and a single assist in 28 games while playing sheltered minutes. Even more alarming was that Vancouver controlled just 40% of the scoring chances with Dermott on the ice despite him playing almost exclusively against bottom six competition.
At this point it seems likely that Vancouver will not qualify Dermott at his $1.75MM salary and he will become an unrestricted free agent. He should be able to get another crack at an NHL job, although it will likely come on a one-year deal for league minimum.
Other RFAs: F Carson Focht, D Akito Hirose, F Nils Hoglander, F Vitali Kravtsov
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Kyle Burroughs – Burroughs played a career high 48 games this past season for his hometown Canucks and put up two goals and three assists while averaging just over 17 minutes a night in ice time. He is best suited for a role as a seventh defenseman and can fill in on a third pairing in a pinch. The soon to be 28-year-old became a bit of a cult hero in Vancouver as his dependable defensive play and physicality made him a fan favourite. Burroughs fits in with the culture that head coach Rick Tocchet is trying to cultivate and likely wouldn’t cost more than league minimum on a two-year contract. It makes sense from both the players side and the Canucks side, however there could be a few obstacles to a deal getting done.
Cap issues could hinder any attempts to sign the depth defenseman and given that the Canucks already have several depth defensemen signed for next season they could view a Jack Rathbone or a Christian Wolanin as a similar option to Burroughs. Regardless of what happens Burroughs has likely earned himself a bit of short-term security either with Vancouver or another NHL team that values what he brings to the table.
G Collin Delia – Delia played a career high 20 games this past season for Vancouver, and while he set a new benchmark for games played, they weren’t particularly good ones. Delia posted a 10-6-2 record with a save percentage of .882 and a goals against of 3.28. The California native battled hard in the net for the Canucks, unfortunately his goals saved above expected was -4.3, putting him in the negative for the fifth straight year. While even the best goaltenders can have a stretch where they give up goals on saveable shots, a five year stretch likely shows the Delia is not an NHL caliber backup.
Vancouver has several options in their pipeline that are already signed to contracts, including Spencer Martin who also struggled in net for the Canucks last season. Martin probably isn’t a better option than Delia, but Vancouver could easily find a more suitable backup in free agency should they prioritize finding some dependable relief for starter Thatcher Demko.
Other UFAs: F Justin Dowling, D Noah Juulsen, D Brady Keeper, F John Stevens
Projected Cap Space
The Vancouver Canucks are currently the only team that is projected to be over the salary cap for the 2023-24 season with just 18 players signed. To put it bluntly, their salary cap is a mess. Much of it was inherited by the current management group but they have done little to alleviate any of the stress on their bottom line.
The good news for Vancouver is that they don’t have any expensive free agents to sign and should be able to free up cap space by putting Tanner Pearson and Tucker Poolman on LTIR when the season begins. If they do this it will allow them to fill out their roster and dress a full lineup on opening night. Although, this likely won’t be good enough for the current management group. Vancouver is caught in the middle; they don’t have enough talent to be a cup contender and they have too many overpriced contracts. They also likely can’t sell another rebuild to their fans as they are supposed to be currently enjoying the fruits of their last rebuild.
It should be a busy summer for the Canucks, they have a lot of pieces they would like to move, and a management group led by Jim Rutherford who is perhaps the most aggressive executive in the NHL today. The Canucks could look wildly different come training camp in September.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Ethan Bear May Need Shoulder Surgery
- Canucks defenseman Ethan Bear might need shoulder surgery as a result of the injury sustained while playing for Canada last month at the World Championship, reports CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal (Twitter link). The procedure, if eventually completed, would carry a recovery time of multiple months. The 25-year-old is owed a $2.2MM qualifying offer later this month, one that is already on the high side for someone on the third pairing, especially on a team as cap-strapped as Vancouver is. Accordingly, it’s possible that this injury and possible surgery could affect their decision on whether to tender Bear that offer in a few weeks.
Snapshots: Vancouver, Pettersson, Combine
Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal wrote an article for The Athletic today outlining the best third line center options for the Vancouver Canucks to look at when free agency opens on July 1st. Vancouver has an excellent 1-2 punch down the middle of the ice with Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller currently occupying the top two spots. Drance and Dayal begin their article by highlighting the fact that Vancouver not only needs a third line center, but they also need the right fit for the third line, preferably one with more of a defensive skill set.
While this year’s free agent class leaves a lot to be desired, there are some good top-9 center options for the Canucks to consider. Drance and Dayal produce an exhaustive list that includes bargain bin shopping as well as some players that will likely fall outside of Vancouver’s price range given their salary cap constraints. The most realistic targets, and the ones on the top of the list are Pius Suter and David Kampf.
What a change two years can make. In the case of Pius Suter, it’s the difference between being non-tendered (as he was in 2021 by the Chicago Blackhawks) and being a sought after unrestricted free agent (after two good seasons with the Detroit Red Wings). Suter is a bit undersized but could offer the Canucks a solid top-9 option at a reasonable price. Over two seasons in Detroit Suter put up 29 goals and 31 assists in 161 games. While those numbers won’t blow anyone away, the 27-year-old did this while hardly benefiting from any powerplay time as he saw just six minutes of ice time this season with the man advantage.
Kampf offers much stronger defensive metrics than Suter and is a bigger body, however he is more limited offensively as he had just 18 goals and 35 assists in 164 games over the past two seasons. He also saw very little powerplay time but struggles to drive play at even strength as he has a negative offensive impact even at 5v5. Drance and Dayal do wonder if having a better defensive player such as Kampf in the third line center role might make more sense for Vancouver as it could free up the top two line for more offensive deployment.
Other snapshots from around the league:
- The Score is reporting that J.P. Barry, the agent for Vancouver Canucks superstar Elias Pettersson expects talks between his client and the club to begin this summer as they look to hammer out a long-term deal for the 24-year-old. Pettersson is just a year from being a restricted free agent and two years away from unrestricted free agency. He is due $10.25MM this upcoming season and would require an $8.82MM qualifying offer next summer for Vancouver to retain his rights. Given that he is coming off a 102-point season it would make sense for the young Swede to try and sign a long-term deal to obtain some security and peace of mind heading into next season. For the Canucks it would also give the club some cap certainty as they try to re-tool after missing the playoffs this past season.
- Mike Morreale of NHL.com tweeted today that no Russian prospects who played overseas this season will be attending the NHL combine. The combine will run from June 4-10 in Buffalo and will give all 32 clubs the chance to get a look at the top prospects in this year’s entry draft. It’s an interesting development, but not a surprising one. Projected top-3 pick Matvei Michkov stated in Russian media back in May that he likely wouldn’t be at the combine but would be at the draft.
Vancouver Canucks Agree To Terms With Jett Woo
The Vancouver Canucks have completed some offseason business, agreeing to terms with Jett Woo on a new one-year, two-way contract. The team did not reveal any financial details, but Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV reports that it is worth $775K at the NHL level and $100K in the AHL.
Woo, 22, was picked 37th overall by the Canucks in 2018 but, to this point, has yet to play in an NHL game. The young defenseman suited up for 68 regular season games with the Abbotsford Canucks this season, scoring seven goals and 21 points while racking up 96 penalty minutes.
While defensemen often take longer to develop, several other second-round picks from his draft class have significantly impacted their respective organizations. Players like Alexander Romanov, Sean Durzi, Martin Fehervary, and Calen Addison were all picked after Woo in 2018.
Still, there’s plenty of time for him to reach that next level. A one-year deal doesn’t afford much security, but Woo will be a restricted free agent again next summer, still under Vancouver control.