Canucks News, Rumours, and & Fantasy GM | Some Like it Hot

[Vector]

Here’s my spreadsheet for upcoming UFAs, each team’s cap situation, and a trade tracker. I update the spreadsheet daily. I use CapFriendly to create this list and AFP Analytics for the contract projections.

Edit: Spreadsheet has been updated with AFP's latest projections and I added a new section for RFAs.

Spoiler: UFAs By Position

Top-6 Forwards
Sam Reinhart	RW	28	8y/10.25m
Jake Guentzel	W	29	6y/7.94m
Steven Stamkos	LW/C	34	3y/6.30m
Jonathan Marchessault	W	33	3y/6.25m
Joe Pavelski	RW	39	1y/3.94m
Matt Duchene	RW/C	33	3y/6.46m
Sean Monahan	FW	29	3y/2.87m
Tyler Toffoli	W	32	5y/6.53m
Jonathan Drouin	W	29	4y/4.46m
Teuvo Teravainen	W	29	5y/6.13m
Vladimir Tarasenko	RW	32	3y/5.64m
Adam Henrique	LW/C	34	2y/4.60m
Chandler Stephenson	C/LW	30	5y/5.77m
Max Domi	C/RW	29	3y/4.17m
Patrick Kane	RW	35	2y/5.51m
Elias Lindholm	C/RW	29	7y/8.04m
Anthony Mantha	W	29	3y/4.40m
Daniel Sprong	W	27	3y/3.89m
Jake DeBrusk	W	27	5y/5.92m
David Perron	W	36	2y/2.80m
Tyler Bertuzzi	W	29	5y/6.00m
Anthony Duclair	W	28	3y/3.22m
Jason Zucker	W	32	3y/5.46m
Jack Roslovic	C/RW	27	3y/3.11m
Max Pacioretty	LW	35
Alexander Barabanov	W	30	3y/3.03m

Top-4 Defecemen
Shayne Gostisbehere	LD/RD	31	3y/4.38m
Brady Skjei	LD	30	6y/7.39m
Noah Hanifin	LD	27	7y/7.69m
Brandon Montour	RD	30	7y/8.71m
Oliver Ekman-Larsson	LD	32	3y/3.67m
Dylan DeMelo	RD	31	4y/5.07m
Sean Walker	LD/RD	29	4y/4.87m
Matt Roy	RD	29	4y/5.58m
TJ Brodie	LD/RD	34	3y/4.91m
Brenden Dillon	LD	33	2y/3.91m
Alexandre Carrier	RD	27	3y/3.57m
Nikita Zadorov	LD/RD	29	4y/5.10m
Chris Tanev	RD	34	3y/4.68m
Brett Pesce	RD	29	6y/6.72m
Matt Grzelcyk	LD	30	3y/4.07m
Oliver Kylington	LD/RD	27

Bottom-6 Forwards
James van Riemsdyk	W	35	1y/1.50m
Warren Foegele	W	28	4y/3.58m
Stefan Noesen	W	31	2y/3.23m
Danton Heinen	W	28
Tyler Johnson	FW	33
Alexander Wennberg	C	29	4y/4.21m
Jordan Martinook	W	31	2y/2.79m
Dakota Joshua	LW	28	3y/3.00m
Michael Amadio	W	28
Teddy Blueger	C/LW	29	2y/2.56m
Sam Lafferty	FW	29	2y/1.72m
Kiefer Sherwood	W	29
Mike Hoffman	LW	34	1y/1.86m
Tomas Tatar	W	33	1y/2.21m
Kyle Okposo	RW	36	1y/1.96m
Kasperi Kapanen	RW	27
Andrew Cogliano	LW	37
Jakob Silfverberg	W	33	2y/2.78m
Cal Clutterbuck	RW	36
Corey Perry	RW	39
Patrick Maroon	W	36
Yakov Trenin	LW/C	27	3y/3.33m
Dominik Kubalik	W	28	2y/1.34m
Anthony Beauvillier	W	27
Sam Carrick	C/RW	32
Tanner Pearson	LW	31
Zemgus Girgensons	LW/C	30	2y/1.74m
Colin Blackwell	C/RW	31
Brandon Duhaime	W	27
Nick Cousins	LW/C	30
Connor Brown	W	30
Joel Kiviranta	W	28
William Carrier	LW	29	3y/2.68m
Tyler Motte	W	29	3y/2.55m
Samuel Blais	W	28	1y/0.94m
Tyson Jost	C	26

Bottom-Pairing Defencemen
Erik Gustafsson	LD	32	3y/4.99m
Tyler Myers	RD	34	2y/2.67m
Justin Schultz	RD	33	2y/3.81m
Kevin Shattenkirk	RD	35	1y/1.37m
Jalen Chatfield	RD	28	3y/2.77m
Mike Reilly	LD	30	1y/1.24m
Dmitry Kulikov	LD/RD	33
Alec Martinez	LD	36	1y/1.7m
Tyson Barrie	RD	32	2y/3.72m
Jani Hakanpaa	RD	32	2y/2.38m
Vincent Desharnais	RD	28	2y/1.41m
Ian Cole	LD/RD	35	2y/3.09m
Matt Dumba	RD	29	3y/3.73m
Colin Miller	RD	31
Mark Giordano	LD	40	1y/3.11m
Marco Scandella	LD	34
Calvin De Haan	LD/RD	33
Josh Brown	RD	30
Ilya Lyubushkin	RD	30	1y/1.31m
Joel Edmundson	LD/RD	31
Troy Stecher	RD	30
Derek Forbort	LD	32
Erik Johnson	RD	36	1y/1.13m

Forward Depth
Christian Fischer	W	27
Craig Smith	RW	34
Victor Olofsson	W	28
Trevor Lewis	RW/C	37
Justin Bailey	RW	29
Kevin Stenlund	C/RW	27
Jeff Carter	RW/C	39
Ryan Carpenter	RW/C	33
Nicolas Aube-Kubel	RW	28	2y/1.53m
AJ Greer	W	27
Liam O'Brien	W	29
Chris Tierney	C	30
Mattias Janmark	W	31
Sam Gagner	RW/C	34
Brendan Smith	LD/RD	35
Eric Robinson	LW	29
Zach Parise	LW	39
Kevin Labanc	W	28	2y/1.94m
Fredrik Olofsson	C/LW	28
Alex Barre-Boulet	W	27
Matt Martin	W	35
Radim Zohorna	W	28
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	C/LW	39
Tyler Pitlick	RW	32
Austin Watson	W	32
Tomas Nosek	LW/C	31
Jansen Harkins	LW	27
Rourke Chartier	C	28
Steven Lorentz	FW	28

Defensive Depth
Jack Johnson	LD	37
Vincent Desharnais	RD	28	2y/1.41m
Anthony Deangelo	RD	28	2y/1.80m
Jarred Tinordi	LD	32
Sebastian Aho	LD	28
Dakota Mermis	LD/RD	30
Jacob MacDonald	LD/RD	31
Dennis Gilbert	LD	27
Nikita Zaitsev	RD	32
Nick DeSimone	RD	29
Travis Dermott	LD/RD	27
Caleb Jones	LD/RD	27
Chad Ruhwedel	RD	34
William Lageson	LD/RD	28

Goaltenders
Cam Talbot	G	36	1y/1.89m
Ilya Samsonov	G	27	2y/3.26m
Alex Nedeljkovic	G	28	2y/2.00m
Kaapo Kahkonen	G	27	2y/2.93m
Scott Wedgewood	G	31	2y/1.57m
Casey DeSmith	G	32	1y/2.02m
Anthony Stolarz	G	30	2y/1.91m
James Reimar	G	36
Antti Raanta	G	35	1y/1.31m
David Rittich	G	31
Kevin Lankinen	G	29	1y/1.58m
Laurent Brossoit	G	31	2y/1.95m
Calvin Pickard	G	32
Martin Jones	G	34

Click to read more...

 

[Vector]

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but any news on when the end of the year presser will be.

Thursday.

 

[oceanchild]

Things are coming together for the Utah Soakers.

Hronek hasn't been great but he brings a special skill set that we don't have a lot of. Maybe his performance in the playoffs will knock off some dollars in the negotiations. The team needs more top 4 defensemen not less.

I would be willing to trade him if it takes more than $7m to sign. He wasn’t good enough in the second half or playoffs for more. I think you can sign Tanev in the offseason and try and aquire a RHD in the summer. I would willing to trade Demko as well. These may not be popular opinions, but we have a cap crunch and need to aquire more forward depth and at cost controlled contracts and preferably a second RHD prospect with high upside that is close. Something around Demko + for Nemec/Clarke/Jiricek or a package with Demko for a couple of forwards (prospects) /Power/Cozens.

I think the team needs to keep Lindholm, Joshua, Zadorov as I think the mix of physicality, center depth and snarl will be important to a cup drive. All of them are measured against cost. I still like the Pettersson deal but would trade him for the right trade that adds the right prospects and young players to help get through the OEL period. But it would have to be a clear home run as he isn’t replaceable. Lindholm can function as a 2C and if you can get him at $7m offers a significant cost savings to match the performance drop off.

We simply don’t have enough depth and need to add more balance to our scoring. Resigning Boeser has to be a priority as well. I am concerned that will be a lot to do. But given his year and his defensive play.. unless you don’t think he can stay healthy he has to be re-signed before the cap jumps again next offseason.

 

[Jovofan]

Why does everybody assume that we need to include an asset to trade Mikheyev? Just because we think he sucks doesn't mean there isn't a team out there that might want what he brings. He's still good on the PK, provides some speed and is a decent bottom 6 forward. He's scored 20 goals before, some team with cap space may want to roll the dice on him being a reclamation project knowing he won't cost them more than a late round pick. I would take that for Mik all day long, his biggest "asset" is the extra cap space, I don't think we need to add anything to move him, but that's just me.

 

[crazychimp]

I don’t think moving Silovs is the move. Next season they should have him start 40% of the games. Considering the type of surgery Demko has had this should alleviate some of that pressure. You also help develop your future #1 in that time as well.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

I don’t think moving Silovs is the move. Next season they should have him start 40% of the games. Considering the type of surgery Demko has had to his should alleviate some of that. You also help develop your future #1 in that time as well.

You can't move Silovs at the moment. Demko is definitely our guy, but he's shown himself to be a bit injury prone. We need someone who can step in and carry a load, and maybe split more starts with him so he's better rested. Silovs, IMO, can do that. A guy like DeSmith can not.

 

[TruGr1t]

Hopefully the price on Zadorov is not 6x6.

 

[Peen]

Either guy immediately becomes substantially more cap inefficient, and I question whether you really want either guy at the reported cap hits, but you need to ice a blue line one way or another. Management is in a tough spot, because they're going to be asked to "take the next step" without really any impact ELCs and a lot of the cap efficiencies that allowed them to overachieve this year won't exist moving forward.

Exactly how I feel about it.

Zadorov excelled but was used as the team’s #5.

The problem is that there’s such a thing as too much turnover. I firmly believe they need to move on from Myers & Cole. I was already out on Zadorov because I thought he’d be way too expensive for his role and that’s exacerbated now. If they traded Soucy, okay maybe, but you’ll have a far riskier/more expensive contract.

And Hronek is an avenue to getting assets. There isn’t much upside with his reported demands.

Hopefully the price on Zadorov is not 6x6.

I would think it’s exactly that. Maybe 5x6 but this isn’t going to be a semi-reasonable 4.25x4.

———

I would rather us go for value options on the blue line and use the cap towards Lindholm, Joshua, and Blueger.

The Silovs thing is huge because a month ago, I was pining for us to go get a 1b 3.5ish million backup because of Demko’s injury problems. That’s a lot of dollars available. Benning would argue it’s enough to justify a Mikheyev dead cap buyout!

 

[TruGr1t]

Exactly how I feel about it.

Zadorov excelled but was used as the team’s #5.

The problem is that there’s such a thing as too much turnover. I firmly believe they need to move on from Myers & Cole. I was already out on Zadorov because I thought he’d be way too expensive for his role and that’s exacerbated now. If they traded Soucy, okay maybe, but you’ll have a far riskier/more expensive contract.

And Hronek is an avenue to getting assets. There isn’t much upside with his reported demands.

I would think it’s exactly that. Maybe 5x6 but this isn’t going to be a semi-reasonable 4.25x4.

For me, it's just way unrealistic you can assume you're losing a bunch of guys playing that many minutes and somehow improve the team almost strictly through free agency (outside the Hronek return). Say what you want about Myers, for example, but he logged major minutes late into the season (nearly 20mins/g in the playoffs and led the blueline in short-handed ice). So he was basically your second highest-minute right-side defenseman and lead PKer on the blue line.

You're stuck because if you bring a bunch of guys back, you're basically treading water, and if you let a bunch of these guys go you're basically on the backfoot trying to replace them given the cap situation, free agent market, and total lack of upward push from the farm.

 

[SelltheTeamFrancesco]

The Canucks need to prioritize speed and zone entries on the wing. And puck moving and zone exits on defence.

 

[Peen]

For me, it's just way unrealistic you can assume you're losing a bunch of guys playing that many minutes and somehow improve the team almost strictly through free agency (outside the Hronek return). Say what you want about Myers, for example, but he logged major minutes late into the season (nearly 20mins/g in the playoffs and led the blueline in short-handed ice). So he was basically your second highest-minute right-side defenseman and lead PKer on the blue line.

You're stuck because if you bring a bunch of guys back, you're basically treading water, and if you let a bunch of these guys go you're basically on the backfoot trying to replace them given the cap situation, free agent market, and total lack of upward push from the farm.

I have no idea, to be honest. VAN needs to figure out how to jump to a top five team instead of a top ten one.

Cole got killed. Myers - Soucy couldn’t push play at all against McDavid, while Tanev in that hole probably doesn’t lead to 30-5 shot attempt games.

Myers had a good year and was good in the playoffs, but given the need for higher end offensive output, I don’t know if it’s intelligent to give a 3x3 or whatever to a 35 year old D when you can roll with Juulsen in the bottom pair role up until the TDL and then reevaluate.

Like saying Myers played 20 minutes - yes, he did. And he did everything you could have reasonably expected. BUT, the key is that he shouldn’t play that much if you want to level up and how can you most efficiently replace that?

If Myers wants to take a one year, ok.

They have to be really careful and simultaneously very ballsy

 

[TruGr1t]

I have no idea, to be honest. VAN needs to figure out how to jump to a top five team instead of a top ten one.

Cole got killed. Myers - Soucy couldn’t push play at all against McDavid, while Tanev in that hole probably doesn’t lead to 30-5 shot attempt games.

Myers had a good year and was good in the playoffs, but given the need for higher end offensive output, I don’t know if it’s intelligent to give a 3x3 or whatever to a 35 year old D when you can roll with Juulsen in the bottom pair role up until the TDL and then reevaluate.

Like saying Myers played 20 minutes - yes, he did. And he did everything you could have reasonably expected. BUT, the key is that he shouldn’t play that much if you want to level up and how can you most efficiently replace that?

If Myers wants to take a one year, ok.

They have to be really careful and simultaneously very ballsy

Where I stand, you're keeping one of Myers or Hronek. I can't even fathom trying to replace two 20+ minute per night RSD in free agency. That's even when you have Juulsen permanently on the third pair.

 

[Nucker101]

Seems like the go-to strategy for cap hell teams is to maximize their core of good players and go cheap as possible with depth, then acquire depth at the trade deadline.

I prefer Juulsen as a 7/8 dman but I’m okay with him starting the season as the #6 dman because of the cap efficiency

So Allvin/Rutherford(btw we really need to create an acronym for these guys for lazy people like myself) need to identify which players are their core guys.

Forwards who can play with a 3rd wheel on their line and still be effective, dmen who can be effective if they’re the best dman on their pairing. Keep those guys, or acquire them, and let go of the expensive role players even if it hurts.

 

[Peen]

Where I stand, you're keeping one of Myers or Hronek. I can't even fathom trying to replace two 20+ minute per night RSD in free agency. That's even when you have Juulsen permanently on the third pair.

Would you rather give Hronek a 7.25x8 or Myers a 3x3?

 

[DFAC]

Would you rather give Hronek a 7.25x8 or Myers a 3x3?

Myers 3x3 easily.

 

[sting101]

My post mortem and projections for next year. The forwards

the Core group

JT Miller - what a year. Unicorn player. Had one of the best seasons by a Canuck ever. Heart and soul guy we can win with. His contract thankfully offsets the Pettersson overpay. Firmly and for the next couple seasons anyway our 1C.

BROCK BOESER - 40 goals and our most clutch playoff performer. You can win with Brock which wasn't what most of us believed before this year. Need to get an extension done as long as it's reasonable. Him and Miller carried this team and are best of friends. Hopefully the blood clot is just a temporary set back. Gutting loss for game 7. RW1 with Miller.

Elias Pettersson - 8 goals in 44 games to end the season with PP1 and Hughes and Miller looking him off. 11.6 was a hostage taking and him and his agent played the Canucks to perfection. Apparently we should have just taken his desire and waited to sign or not once they seen just how much his heart is in this. I think/hope he will bounce back. Enough of the video games and social media shit time to grow up. Were screwed if he's not at least a dynamic 1-2 with Miller and gets his PP deficiencies sorted. 2C or if they sign Lindholm he can move around in the top6 which is a good thing.

Conor Garland - Such a fun player to watch and worth every penny. Might not be an ideal top6 player but his ability to drive our 3rd line is a huge win for the depth and success of this team. The best 3rd line player in the NHL. Have zero issues if he moved into the top6 while we develop Lekkerimaki or use Suter in that role for cheap depth. Helluva game 7 and was in the fight. RW3 ideally

2nd tier

Elias Lindholm - Took awhile to get going but showed well and is a PK and defensive ace that we really could use going forward. At this stage any replacement comes with UFA pain and then there is a drop off in quality. Get him signed and pair him with Pettersson and we have 3 lines of important pieces in place. We can use smart signings and deadline moves to fill other spots but it would be a gutting loss to let him go if so. Maybe you replace him with a younger cheaper Debrusk and go DeBrusk Pettersson Garland for our 2nd line? Will be tough to come to a role and price that makes sense

3rd tier

Dakota Joshua - Tough decision here. Him and Garland are such a good pairing. DJ makes room for CG and CG makes DJ a 20 goal scorer and much more than a 4th liner. Hopefully both sides can come to some common ground here but his skating is concerning going forward without getting a little better or at least staying as good as this year vs last. Huge physical presence and would be sorely missed with our composition but Lindholm and/or a winger for EP40 is much more a priority. LW3 if retained

Ilya Mikhayev - What a massive collapse and disappointment. 1 goal in 60 games with good players is just puke. Not a player who you can win with above a 4th line unfortunately and his chances in game 7 just further cemented his hands and mental fortitude as untenable in a big role. Team will need to get creative here. It pains me to say this but perhaps he moves to a revamped 3rd line rather than more cap pain and a deadline replacement can push him down then. LW4. Hopefully moved without too much pain.

Nils Hoglander - 25 goals and mostly from btm 6 usage was a huge step in his growth as a player. Hard to figure where and what he is ultimately but for next year he's cheap depth that can play in the top6 or ideally in a energy role. Still struggles at moving pucks once boxed in but also has an uncanny ability to fight through contact and come away off the boards with pucks. Needs to get better as a playmaker and continue to be more of a pest. LW2/3

Pius Suter - Solid smart player in a supplemental role. His contract makes him a no brainer as a 9/10th forward that can play anywhere up and down. Not ideal in a top6 but good player on a good contract if he's with Miller Boeser it could be worse. Position TBD

Teddy Blueger - Fast and tenacious. Good PKer. Very little finish though (6 goals in 81 games) and has to come back at a high end 4C cost or you have to move on. With Suter in that 9/10 role is good. Not a huge priority but if we are competing it's nice to have good checkers and he is one. If Lindholm walks they probably can find some common ground.

4th tier

Sam Lafferty- pretty disappointing finish. Just never looked engaged. Has good size and can really motor but looked like a player who just didn't want to get hurt before being a UFA. I know he had history with JR and PA but adios need players who are hungry and in the fight not stunned tentative ones.

DeGuiseppe Amen Podkolzin Bains Raty decent depth for next year. Hopefully one of them can emerge as at least a decent top9 player.

Lekkerimaki is certainly a wild card but imagine he will need time to play a much more physical game at minimum

 

[credulous]

i don't think taking a step back is that big a deal as some here. losing basically the entire defense (except hughes and soucy) will definitely hurt the team but that's not a good reason to overpay to keep most of the group together. good nhl teams are opportunistic and are able to make moves and add talent when talent comes available. bad nhl teams spend money just to spend it and then have press conferences where they claim they tried to make moves but they couldn't make the cap work

i'd rather be in a position to add the next marino or hanifin when they come available than commit to zadorov, myers and hronek out of fear of being unable to replace them

 

[Peen]

Speculation of Nashville interest in big Z.

 

[StickShift]

I would not be shocked if they extend both before they hit UFA. I believe Vancouver will flex term over salary.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Zadorov will be in high demand.

So will Joshua.

Will be surprised if either comes back.

Possible on Lindholm but have to think there will be teams willing to offer more as well.

Dillon to replace Cole.

Myers back cheap but again, there will be interest.

Can see lots of movement.

And that doesn't even include Hronek who should get moved based on his ask vs production.

And Jesus Christ. Listening to Dhali is grating. Just awful.

 

[Hodgy]

All depends on how you plan to deploy him. Canucks ran him as their third pairing guy with Cole most of the post-season. If that's the case, you simply can't commit his asking price and use him like that.

If you plan on him being on your second pairing, however, the price is a lot more palatable.

Exactly how I feel about it.

Zadorov excelled but was used as the team’s #5.

The problem is that there’s such a thing as too much turnover. I firmly believe they need to move on from Myers & Cole. I was already out on Zadorov because I thought he’d be way too expensive for his role and that’s exacerbated now. If they traded Soucy, okay maybe, but you’ll have a far riskier/more expensive contract.

Zadorov was the Canucks' number three defensemen in the playoffs, not a bottom pairing defensemen. He averaged over three minutes more than Soucy who had a good playoffs

I get that you don't want to overvalue a small sample size, but you also want to prefer players who can excel during the playoffs.

Overall with Zadorov, if you think he is a top four defensemen (and maybe even top three), then you pay him big money to stay. Top three to four defensemen, who are 6'6, physical and can skate well while playing relatively dependable defense are extremely rare. And Zadorov just turned 29 so shouldn't be someone who is going to fall off of a cliff.

Of course, if you view Zadorov as the type of defensemen he was during the regular season (i.e., bottom pairing) then you let him walk.

Zadorov has long been one of those players with all of the tools and no tool box, and several teams have given him a chance but he hasn't put it together. With that said, if he has put it together now, you absolutely want to lock this guy up.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

Again, Canucks hold the Magic of the 8 year term for incumbent UFA signings. This extra year can be used to reduce cap hits and bridge gaps in agent's versus the team's salary expectations.

Use it.

At the moment I don't care what their Cap structure looks like in 6-8 years and I don't think Émilie Castonguay, who will probably president of the league by then, should either.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Summarizing a bit...

- Dhaliwal thinks Lindholm/Joshua are 1-2 on the priority list. Thinks the Canucks really liked Lindholm at C and Pettersson on the W, compared it to when Horvat was here. Is it $7M a year? He's not sure. Joshua, will he get over $3? If he hits July 1st, does he get closer to $4?
- Zadorov - Dhaliwal thinks he's priced himself out of Vancouver, Milstein is in a good spot. Milstein wants term, wants over $5M - some say $6M.
- Myers - wants to come back. Has his off-season home in Kelowna. Can Canucks get him in $3M range? Or does he get $4M on open market? Doesn't think Canucks can afford to lose both Myers and Zadorov.
- Thinks Canucks will try to bring back Blueger.
- Hearing internally Canucks think Tanev will be too expensive July 1. Thinks Tanev's stock is on the rise. Phenomenal playoff, and outpricing himself.
- Hronek - if he keeps asking $8M, Canucks need to move on in his opinion. Ask is not going down. Strong because he has arbitration rights, and they'd do well.
- Silovs - "he's gonna get a raise". Expects him to be the backup next year. Cue big dust up between Don and Dhali about whether or not to move Demko (Don suggested it, Dhali hated it)
- Demko in Game 7 - thinks it was close, but he hadn't been in full practice yet. There's some out there who think he could have played.

 

[sting101]

Defense

the Core

Quinn Hughes - Gonna win the Norris and gave us fans something we've never had a dominant puck possession player from the blueline that can control games. Shot is still a little bit of a weakness given his TOI. Hughes and Miller drove the bus and it was a fun ride. Good leader and made an impact at bringing the expectations to another level. PPQB #1D

2nd tier

Filip Hronek - Undeniably helped Hughes and the team push a pace and cave our opposition but if he thinks he deserves 8 million with long term after that 2nd half it will and should get ugly from the business side. Probably injury related somewhat but you also have to ask if/when he will be healthy enough to help when it matters given his stature and history of having poor 2nd halves. Ideally they give closer to 6.5. The key is 4 years. RD1 with Hughes.

Nikita Zadorov - Loved big Z hoping we can retain him. Had some clutch moments and was a match up nightmare for our opposition and produced. As much a character as his size. Will be shame if we cant make it work. Him and Soucy behind Hughes makes the LD as good or better than anyones and would allow for breaking in Willander with insulation. LD 2/3 hopefully but if it doesn't work and Dillon comes home or Cole takes a discount we will be ok. His minutes and regular season play/energy is not that great.

Carson Soucy - Excellent contract and showed well in the playoffs and when he was healthy. Him and Myers did a really good job down the stretch and against McDavid hoping we could get more of that. Whatever happens he's money in the bank and a solid 2/3 pairing defender. Nice to have some good Western Canadians on the roster also.

Tyler Myers - Hoping they can get some concessions here. No secret that Myers has made a ton and been a nightmare for large stretches of his time. Have to give credit when it's due and he really stepped up absorbed the coaching of Gonchar and Foote and played a big role as a top4 RD. He's also 34 and will be 35 by next years post season and probably wants more than 1 year. Would be nice to give an extra year if he brings the AAV down to nice number similar to Soucy but if he's making 3.5 then you also have to have a good player for the duration. Tough one RD2/3

3rd tier

Ian Cole - Thought he was a solid veteran most of the year. His frame and smarts on puck was a welcome addition. Had some weird juju going on with bounces and hard to get that deflection winner out of my head right now. I'm indifferent but at 3 million i"m definitely out the pace is becoming too much for consistency. 36 by next post season has to be cheap and probably not a bad idea to get younger

4th tier

Noah Juulsen - Did much better than i thought given his skating and pre season. That step up hit on Ekholm was just so friggen dumb and Forsberg just walked him brutally in round 1. He's not an everday player in a good situation and absolutely cannot be relied upon in the playoffs with those kinds of mistakes. I like him as a RD4 though if he can keep himself from running around. I can see Mcward taking his job soon but cheap depth hometown guy is ok

Freidman was decent when he played

Pettersson Willander McWard all have the potential to be parts soon which is promising