Team: 2021-22 Vancouver Canucks

Initial Creation Date: Jan. 25, 2021

Published: Jan. 25, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

After selling at the deadline, the new GM has some picks that can be used to trim the expensive fat off the roster. Myers gives Seattle a decent but overpaid defenseman. Myers will have to be exposed to meet the ED requirements, but I don't think Seattle would take him without some incentive. Eriksson is jettisoned to any team willing to take a cap hit that is higher than his salary for one year in exchange for some picks. Now that the two most bloated contracts are gone, there is some space to make some improvements.

Our bottom-6 has been a major detriment to our team. Gaudette is a good young center that can put up points, but he can't be relied on defensively. He's at his best when he's shooting the puck and any other time he's not too noticeable. Effort level is there though. Virtanen has all the tools but remains inconsistent even if he does put up respectable totals. They are moved in order to shake things up. Florida has an excess of defenseman now and they alleviate that by moving Weegar, who should fit well with Hughes. He has a couple years left on his deal at a reasonable cap hit as well.

St Louis will likely be starved for cap space in the offseason and offloading Sundqvist is one way to remedy that.

Edler and Hamonic return on relatively cheap deals and Leivo returns as well. I think he was our most underrated forward last year until his injury and he clicked Horvat. He should be cheap and can play anywhere in the lineup.

If I could, I would move Roussel, Beagle and Ferland as well to eliminate all of the fat off the roster. However, three trades and one Expansion draft is more than enough activity for one team in the offseason. Ferland wouldn't be moveable anyway since he hasn't played and both Beagle and Roussel are on expiring deals so they are not too detrimental. I think Roussel could bounce back slightly as well, or at least not be as bad as he's been.

I think this third line is much more reliable than the one we currently have. They can play a fast, heavy, high energy game and be relied upon defensively. Not having to hide the third line should take some of the strain off of the fourth line, improving their defensive abilities as well. The top-6 is basically the same. I think being able to roll four lines more confidently will help everyone play better and make it easier to coach.

The defense is similar to this year, except the loss of Myers could be a net positive. He's a decent defenseman, but he's being asked to do too much here and he can't handle it. Juolevi has been good so far and he should be better in a year. Edler and Hamonic are brought back as cost effective vets.

Overall I think this organization would be in a better spot both on and off the ice. The third line is improved and we have cap space.

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