The noted & the bloated
Canucks roster full of notable players and some expendables, as the NHL trade deadline looms
NHL rosters expand on March 2, but the salary cap does not. That’s the conundrum facing general managers as the trade deadline draws near.
In a fiscal landscape that features a cap ceiling that may not increase much next season from the current $69 million, thanks to a depressed Canadian dollar, the fireworks at this year’s trade deadline will likely feature “salary-in/salary-out” types of deals for rosters that are no longer bound by a 23-player limit.
GMs whose teams are close to the cap will be loathe to take on large amounts of salary unless they are shipping something close to equivalent the other way.
The Canucks are one of those teams in the difficult position of attempting a rebuild on the fly, so it’s hard to see how they add that goal-scoring forward they could use when it means giving up prospects and/or draft picks, something that GM Jim Benning appears unwilling to do. Given the impressive way the Canucks have played with so many injuries to key players, it’s also reasonable to expect no blockbusters from them.
Of course, the ring of a mobile phone can change that instantly.
Not that the Canucks don’t have cap room if they wanted to make a deal.
A look at nhlnumbers.com indicates the Canucks are $722,000 under the NHL’s $69 million cap, though after weighing in a few arcane factors such as injured players returning and replacements going back to the minors, it could be significantly more.
And any deal is likely to see salary going the other way, anyway.
Also, if the team believes that the knee sprain suffered by goaltender Ryan Miller (and his $6 million salary) will keep him out seven weeks until the playoffs (when the cap doesn’t count anymore), then the Canucks would have significantly more money to spend.
But then there are the future consequences of a cap that may only go up by $2 million, so here we are, coming full circle.
Here’s a look at the team heading into the deadline:
Bloated roster
The Canucks currently have 28 players on their roster, but six of those are injured and, of course, it doesn’t matter how big the roster is after the trade deadline. It’s expected forwards Alex Burrows and Brad Richardson and defencemen Chris Tanev are close to returning, while D-men Alex Edler and Frank Corrado may be a little further off.
Those returns will mean some roster shuffling, with the likelihood of forward Brandon McMillian and defenceman Alex Biega getting tickets back to AHL Utica.
Corrado could also be sent back, if there are too many healthy bodies on the blue-line.
These could all be paper transactions, necessary to ensure these players are eligible to play for Utica in the AHL playoffs and could actually be done without the players not actually going anywhere. None of these would require waivers.
This would leave the Canucks with 14 forwards, but there’s a good chance at least one of them is still on the injured list.
With Biega and Bobby Sanguinetti sent down, that leaves the Canucks with eight D-men — not counting the injured Kevin Bieksa — and with Corrado a possibility to be sent to Utica’s roster, if necessary.
Goaltending is what it is, with Miller out long-term and Jacob Markstrom here and able to play in 10 games before he’s subject to waivers to back up Eddie Lack.
UFAs and RFAs
The Canucks have three unrestricted free agents of note: Derek Dorsett, Shawn Matthias and Richardson and two others in the minor-league depth category (Biega and Sanguinetti). Dorsett, Matthias and Richardson are all useful players, but will all want raises. Matthias, in particular, has had a huge year and will be looking for a big raise on his $1.75 million average salary.
That could put him on the trade block, if the Canucks don’t think they can re-sign him.
GM Benning has a whopping 10 restricted free agents, if you include Biega, to deal with.
The one who may be the most difficult to sign is Tanev, who’s making just $2 million as a top-pair defenceman and will be looking to more than double that.
Don’t expect a quick resolution there. Could the Canucks consider trading Tanev?
It’s hard to see, as Tanev, 25, is the kind of young player the team should be building around.