Pre-Game Talk: Canucks Offseason Begins - Expectations?

[logan5]

Nobody seems to be mentioning getting a proper partner for Hughes. That would be my top priority once we get rid of Myers and a 2 excess wingers - preferably Boeser and Beauvillier. Podkolzin can step in for one of those 2.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Canucks front office has to look at the 'big picture'. This Canucks team is 'soft', 'too slow' and a mini-disaster on the back end.

And for good measure, when you check Cap Friendly the Canucks are still one of the most 'capped out' teams in hockey. It's an ugly scenario to be sure.

But I think other posters are right, that the first thing to fix isn't necessarily the blueline. Its' up front where the Canucks have a collection of small or soft wingers who simply can't play the heavy forecheck game that Tocchet clearly favors.

So you have to question the futures of guys like Beauvillier, Boeser and Garland. That's close to $16m in salaries and not one of these guys cracked 20 goals for the season.

There are just too many issues with this team, you cannot fix everything in one summer.

Honestly, until they open up some cap space, they can do literally nothing, as they are already capped out before the summer starts.

In an ideal world, you want to add size and sandpaper, for sure. However, when you have only 2 top 4 D, no 3C, no PK depth and shaky back up goaltending, the size on the wings thing is a low priority.

I still have no idea how they create cap space. People act like it's so easy to dump Boeser Garland Myers and/or Beauviller, like they haven't been trying with 3 of them for the last 6-12 months. It cost a high 2nd to dump Dickinson, how much do you think it will cost for these guys, some with term left? It's going to be so expensive I can't see how they can "afford" to get rid of more than 1, and that alone will put a big dent to an already shallow asset pool.

 

[LordBacon]

There are just too many issues with this team, you cannot fix everything in one summer.

Honestly, until they open up some cap space, they can do literally nothing, as they are already capped out before the summer starts.

In an ideal world, you want to add size and sandpaper, for sure. However, when you have only 2 top 4 D, no 3C, no PK depth and shaky back up goaltending, the size on the wings thing is a low priority.

I still have no idea how they create cap space. People act like it's so easy to dump Boeser Garland Myers and/or Beauviller, like they haven't been trying with 3 of them for the last 6-12 months. It cost a high 2nd to dump Dickinson, how much do you think it will cost for these guys, some with term left? It's going to be so expensive I can't see how they can "afford" to get rid of more than 1, and that alone will put a big dent to an already shallow asset pool.

Its simple, we trade away draft picks of year 2069 for immediate cap relief.

 

[CanucksSayEh]

Its simple, we trade away draft picks of year 2069 for immediate cap relief.

nice

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

Im not expecting too much.

I doubt there will be any takers for Myers, and I don't think the team is keen on trading Boeser. If they do make a move on Boeser, I expect it to be at the TDL next season. I think Tocchet wants him in the lineup and to really bust his ass over the offseason. I think you can see early signs of who Tocchet wants to have in his group next year and who he isn't all that attached to.

They could flip Beauvillier or Garland. I'll guess Beauvillier since Garland has played better up and down the lineup and Beauvilliers only real productive spot (next to Pettersson) is going to be taken by Mikheyev when he returns.

OEL will be on the team next season. I think a buyout is possible, but only after next year. I think they want to give him one more year to play as healthy as he can next to Hronek. They wont want to run a left side as green as Hughes/Hirose/Wolanin next year, and I'm unsure on how much they're going to pursue Gavrikov if they cant get any sort of savings on cap.

A 3C is probably a bigger need than Gavrikov at the moment. Compher would be cool.
-Beauvillier +Compher gives us for next season:

Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Mikheyev
Flex-Miller-Boeser
Flex-Compher-Garland
Joshua-Aman-McDonough
Flex Pool (These spots go to whoever wins them, by depth):
Podkolzin
Hoglander
Bains
Arseneau

Hughes-Bear
OEL-Hronek
Hirose-Myers (puke)
Wolanin/Burroughs

Demko
Delia

This team is probably good enough, pending moves being made depending on where the team is at when the TDL comes. As long as the team gets decent production with a better PK/Goaltending they'll make the ploffs. Draft BPA at wherever we pick. Also... Do Poolman, Pearson, and Dermott ever play hockey again?? Lots of mysteries waiting to be solved!!

Agreed on all points

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Im not expecting too much.

I doubt there will be any takers for Myers, and I don't think the team is keen on trading Boeser. If they do make a move on Boeser, I expect it to be at the TDL next season. I think Tocchet wants him in the lineup and to really bust his ass over the offseason. I think you can see early signs of who Tocchet wants to have in his group next year and who he isn't all that attached to.

They could flip Beauvillier or Garland. I'll guess Beauvillier since Garland has played better up and down the lineup and Beauvilliers only real productive spot (next to Pettersson) is going to be taken by Mikheyev when he returns.

OEL will be on the team next season. I think a buyout is possible, but only after next year. I think they want to give him one more year to play as healthy as he can next to Hronek. They wont want to run a left side as green as Hughes/Hirose/Wolanin next year, and I'm unsure on how much they're going to pursue Gavrikov if they cant get any sort of savings on cap.

A 3C is probably a bigger need than Gavrikov at the moment. Compher would be cool.
-Beauvillier +Compher gives us for next season:

Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Mikheyev
Flex-Miller-Boeser
Flex-Compher-Garland
Joshua-Aman-McDonough
Flex Pool (These spots go to whoever wins them, by depth):
Podkolzin
Hoglander
Bains
Arseneau

Hughes-Bear
OEL-Hronek
Hirose-Myers (puke)
Wolanin/Burroughs

Demko
Delia

This team is probably good enough, pending moves being made depending on where the team is at when the TDL comes. As long as the team gets decent production with a better PK/Goaltending they'll make the ploffs. Draft BPA at wherever we pick. Also... Do Poolman, Pearson, and Dermott ever play hockey again?? Lots of mysteries waiting to be solved!!

I just quickly checked the cap hit for your projected lineup with the following assumptions:

Flex 1 = Podkolzin at $925k (assuming he extend at the same cap hit, not reasonable but for the sake of being optimistic, lets just pick this number).
Flex 2 = Hoglander at $892k (also assuming he extend at the current cap hit).
Bear = $2m (assuming a very small raise from $1.8m).
Hirose = $1m (assuming we bridge him at a reasonable amount).
Delia = $750k (his current cap hit).

We are already at $75.65m BEFORE signing Compher AND carries the absolute bare minimum player on the roster. If we even carry 1 extra F and 1 extra D, say Bains and Wolanin, that is another $1.6m, pushing us up to $77.24m. Compher is at $3.5m currently, if as a UFA we assume he only gets a minor increase to $4m, that brings us to $81.24m. That is with all the most ideal numbers. I have no idea if Bear will return for $2m, might cost a bit more based on how high management is on him. I don't expect Pod and Hog to have much leverage in negotiations, but to expect the same salary on the next contract might be optimistic, maybe a slight bump? We could be within a million or so to start the season, and that is assuming we can dump Beauvillier with zero cap coming back, not sure if that is realistic either.

And even if ALL that happens, this is not really a playoff roster in my opinion. It looks like a team that would fight for a wild card spot and barely miss, unless in the most ideal world where all the other bubble teams are wrecked by injuries while we stay relatively healthy, then we might sneak in just to be on the receiving end of a beatdown by the top seed.

 

[4th line culture]

I just quickly checked the cap hit for your projected lineup with the following assumptions:

Flex 1 = Podkolzin at $925k (assuming he extend at the same cap hit, not reasonable but for the sake of being optimistic, lets just pick this number).
Flex 2 = Hoglander at $892k (also assuming he extend at the current cap hit).
Bear = $2m (assuming a very small raise from $1.8m).
Hirose = $1m (assuming we bridge him at a reasonable amount).
Delia = $750k (his current cap hit).

We are already at $75.65m BEFORE signing Compher AND carries the absolute bare minimum player on the roster. If we even carry 1 extra F and 1 extra D, say Bains and Wolanin, that is another $1.6m, pushing us up to $77.24m. Compher is at $3.5m currently, if as a UFA we assume he only gets a minor increase to $4m, that brings us to $81.24m. That is with all the most ideal numbers. I have no idea if Bear will return for $2m, might cost a bit more based on how high management is on him. I don't expect Pod and Hog to have much leverage in negotiations, but to expect the same salary on the next contract might be optimistic, maybe a slight bump? We could be within a million or so to start the season, and that is assuming we can dump Beauvillier with zero cap coming back, not sure if that is realistic either.

And even if ALL that happens, this is not really a playoff roster in my opinion. It looks like a team that would fight for a wild card spot and barely miss, unless in the most ideal world where all the other bubble teams are wrecked by injuries while we stay relatively healthy, then we might sneak in just to be on the receiving end of a beatdown by the top seed.

Bear at 2 mil would be a pay cut for him. He made 2.2 this year

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Nobody seems to be mentioning getting a proper partner for Hughes. That would be my top priority once we get rid of Myers and a 2 excess wingers - preferably Boeser and Beauvillier. Podkolzin can step in for one of those 2.

Yeah, we need to continue to get rid of the Benning trash on this roster first. He left this team and cap structure in really poor shape.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Bear at 2 mil would be a pay cut for him. He made 2.2 this year

Sorry I was only going by the cap hit.

However, personally if he cost anything over $2m, I'd just walk away. Maybe his market rate is higher, but I don't really see how he is a good fit for us at anything higher.

 

[Gurn]

Yeah, we need to continue to get rid of the Benning trash on this roster first. He left this team and cap structure in really poor shape.

They had an opportunity to ditch Brock, but chose not to.
They signed Miller.

New management is already responsible for over $20 mill of cap space, so they share blame for the mess.

 

[VanJack]

For all the reasons mentioned in previous posts, I'm just not expecting a lot of fireworks from the Canucks this off-season.

In this capped out world they live in, the only hope they'd ever have would be to move some contracts which will prove virtually impossible.

And they've already gone out and acquired a lot of forward and d-man depth, which will at least provide some help to Abbotsford and potential injury callups.

Looking at the Canucks payroll on Cap Friendly, once Myers bonuses are paid there's a chance they can unload him on a team trying to get to the cap floor. And I'm sure Garland and Boeser will be dangled---but they're earning far too much money for two guys who didn't even crack the 20-mark last season.

But maybe Allvin can surprise us again......because looking at the 2022-23 trade summary, the Canucks were one of the most active teams in the league.