Team: 2022-23 Vancouver Canucks

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 27, 2022

Published: Jun. 27, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

The Moves:

1. Miller would extend with the Flyers - Chuck Fletcher, John Tortorella and Flyers ownership have zero patience for a rebuild. I anticipate that JVR will be moved out (at a loss) to facilitate, in addition to other players who are not "Torts-style" players.

Salary retention at 50% for Miller helps with the Flyers "re-tool" for the 22-23 season; the 15 OA is a further offset and also justifies the inclusion of "ready for NHL" young players in Attard and Frost as well as the 5 OA, which should help the Canucks advance their BPA-strategy (likely netting one of Jiricek or Nemec).

2. I think Garland (and his contract) net Bernard-Docker and the TBL 2nd (which is essentially a third) as well as a 2023 2nd. Total fair value for a 2nd line player who is signed to a reasonable contract. Ottawa needs to move past accumulating picks and start moving forward. Dorian knows this; deep down, Sens fans know that too.

3. Ferland to Vegas nets them more LTI space; even with the addition of Weber's LTI deal, they cannot resign players like Hague and Howden *ESPECIALLY* after resigning Reilly Smith to a reported 3 x $5M deal *AND* moving out Alec Martinez (as rumoured). Roy is the cost of doing business.

4. Dickinson to Seattle for a 6th. Change of venue, without having to move out of the Pacific Northwest. Honestly, this trade may not even happen and the Canucks could find a place for him on the 4th line as a regular instead of a Will Lockwood.

The Non-Moves:

- Team would need to hang onto Poolman; his injury status and contract make it all but impossible to move on from him.
- Team would do well to hang onto Pearson and Myers for this season and re-evaluate come the TDL and/or the 22/23 offseason.
- Team would hang onto Schenn and re-evaluate at the TDL as they value his leadership and ability to guide young players. I anticipate a player development role in his future if he wants it.

a.) Pearson: his 7-team modified NTC and salary put dampers on his trade value. Despite Rutherford having dealt him away previously, he is a veteran on the team and can spell off a Kuzmenko or Podkolzin if they are unable to score consistently.

b.) Myers: his 10-team NTC and salary also have an effect on his trade value *PLUS* in this plan, Vancouver will be putting a fair amount of pressure on young defenders in Attard and Bernard-Docker. Yes, Schenn and Dermott are still around to spell off the young players as warranted, but they cannot be consistently counted on for contributions day-in and day-out in a top 4 role. Retaining Myers allows the team to grow their young right side and not have to rush either Jiricek/Nemec. Myers will have greater value after the 22/23 season when his $5M signing bonus is paid out, leaving the retaining team with a veteran on a $1M actual dollars and a $6M (or less on retention) cap-hit.

Overall:

The real benefit here is cap-flexibility for the roster. There are still some obvious warts in terms of contract value (Myers, OEL, Poolman and Pearson to a lesser extent) and some unknowns in young players like Attard and Bernard-Docker. The young RHD are waiver exempt, so if they are struggling, they can be sent to the AHL for more seasoning and replaced with an AHL vet / FA signing on the cheap.

There are a lot of unknowns up front; will Pettersson stay healthy and finally take the steps to be more than a PPG player? Can Boeser recover from a tough 21/22 season and offseason that saw him lose his father? Can Podkolzin continue to grow or will he have a tough Sophomore season like Hoglander did? Will Hoglander be better in the defensive end and get trusted with more minutes under a full season of Boudreau? Will the Kuzmenko signing pay dividends where he can be a PP1 contributor and regular 2nd line player or will the Canucks get the latest version of Vadim Shipachyov or Nikita Gusev?

I am sure that other fans will go on about how all these trades are unfair to their team and how certain players won't fit into their roster construction. Can't wait to read them. Flame away!

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