World News – United States – Vancouver Canucks cap crisis becomes free agency

By Matthew Zator October 9, 2020

The Vancouver Canucks are hours of free agency and they still haven’t signed any of their unrestricted free agents (UFAs) again The only player they’ve signed so far is Zack MacEwen General Manager Jim Benning remains in a wait pattern with Tyler Toffoli, Jacob Markstrom and Chris Tanev as the hours roll by until noon EST

The reason for the delay is twofold, the Canucks don’t have the cap space to accommodate their contracts, and they appear to be focused on making a deal with the Arizona Coyotes to acquire Oliver Ekman- Larsson Unfortunately, this division of priorities could cost them at least one or two of those UFAs. Other teams will no doubt throw big offers at each of them, in the hopes of getting them out of Benning’s hands as he faces his most difficult cap crisis yet

A few weeks ago it was almost certain that Toffoli was going to re-sign with the Canucks at an affordable price of $ 4.5million in average annual value (AAV) Well, we are now a few hours away from the start of the season. agency, and no contract has been signed In fact, insider Rick Dhaliwal has confirmed that he will hit the market when the kickoff goes off at 12 noon. That doesn’t mean the door is closed at his return, it just means that Benning’s voice will no longer be the only one to his eareval (ez_write_tag ([[728,90], ‘thehockeywriters_com-medrectangle-4’, ‘ezslot_9’, 663, ‘0’, ‘0’ ]));

The hard, cold truth is that the Canucks have no money in their coffers to give Toffoli a fair offer and re-sign their other priority at Markstrom It’s unfortunate because his departure means they gave up a King’s Ransom (no pun intended) to Tyler Madden and a second-round pick of only having him for a total of ten regular season games and seven playoff games It’s just not enough seniority of an asset that cost you a premium lead and valuable choice in a deep draft

The Canucks received an MVP-caliber performance from Markstrom in 2019-20, and now face the real possibility of losing him to free agency It has been rumored that the Detroit Red Wings and more recently the Edmonton Oilers as very interested parties who will open their wallets for the 30-year-old Swedish goalie So he will certainly have his suitors when the mad season begins

Benning remains vigilant in his pursuit of Markstrom and both sides appear to want a deal, even if he can enter the market, that doesn’t mean he will leave Like Toffoli, other teams will now have the opportunity to throw their hats in the ring Ultimately, it will depend on how much money he is willing to leave on the table to stay in Vancouver It is almost certain that the Oilers or Red Wings will offer him many more terms and money to join their teams

eval (ez_write_tag ([[728,90], ‘thehockeywriters_com-large-mobile-banner-2’, ‘ezslot_8’, 657, ‘0’, ‘0’])); Tanev was hardly talked about as much as Toffoli and Markstrom did, so it seems he was on the back burner from the start As such, he’s probably the least likely to return to Vancouver

Rumors of interest from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t gone away, so I would expect the two to launch an offer in their own way Like Toffoli and Markstrom, Tanev’s offers will be Certainly Too Rich for Canucks Blood Rumored to be the Penguins’ offer would be around $ 5 million AAV over a five-year term, so if that indicates how valuable he is in the league, he probably has played his last game as Canuckeval (ez_write_tag ([[300,250], ‘thehockeywriters_com-leader-2’, ‘ezslot_11’, 665, ‘0’, ‘0’]));

If Markstrom isn’t re-signed, Canucks could pick Thatcher Demko as a starter and sign a veteran free agency goalie to pair him with Some important names Anton Khudobin and Braden Holtby have already shown interest to sign with the squad, then Benning will have a few quality options at his disposal if that were to happen

Of the two, Khudobin appears to be the better choice, especially after his dominant run in the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Finals.He also had an impressive regular season with a 16-8-4 record, a 222 goals against average (GAA), and a 930 percent saving (SV%) too At 34, this could be his peak, but he’s a low-risk, high-return target He won’t command as much as Markstrom or Holtby and he would be a great resource for new Russian prospect Vasili Podkolzin, who will need some help acclimating to life in North America when he finally returns from the KHLeval (ez_write_tag ([[580,400], ‘thehockeywriters_com-large-mobile-banner-1’, ‘ezslot_2’, 666, ‘0’, ‘0’]));

Along with Khudobin and Holtby, Benning could be looking at Thomas Greiss, Craig Anderson, or even the recently acquired Cory Schneider, who as we all know was the goaltender of the future for the Canucks before he he won’t be traded for a draft pick who became captain Bo Horvat

If Toffoli isn’t selected, the Canucks’ needs will obviously change.If that happens, they’ll be looking for a top-six forward to replace him, then options like Bobby Ryan, Anthony Duclair, Mike Hoffman and the Fast Andreas Athanasiou could make sense here

If Tanev leaves, the Canucks will need a defenseman to take over for his shot blocker and exemplary defensive work. Targets like Andy Greene, Sami Vatanen or TJ Brodie could play a similar role and possibly even be teaming up with Quinn Hughes in the top of the standings They could also go back to Troy Stecher, now UFA, to whom they did not send a qualifying offer

Even if Toffoli returns, the Canucks will still need more points and speed in their last six, especially after being exposed in their playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights They could look to Kyle Turris, Alexander Wennberg or Justin Abdelkader as reclamation projects or even former hopeful Michael Grabner to add further threats to this part of the lineup.

Grabner is an intriguing option, as it adds speed and killing prowess to a last six that really needs it He’s not the 30-goal scorer he used to be, but he could still score 20 goals in the right situation Adam Gaudette could be the perfect game for him as he’s playing a fast-track style that should fit his way to play

It doesn’t look like Benning will get Toffoli, Tanev, and Markstrom re-signing until the free agency window opens.If they don’t all come back to the squad, there will be massive holes every Benning’s position doesn’t seem worried though, as he reiterated on Thursday that he would still be in a good position even without his major signed free agents

… we are in a good position because the veterans of the other teams want to come and play in Vancouver with our good young players. We have never been in this position

It is true that the Canucks are in an unprecedented position to become free agencies with UFAs wanting to come to Vancouver In the past, the team and the city were not a favorite destination due to their location and the required travel schedule Although with the bright future and the excitement surrounding Hughes and Elias Pettersson, this factor doesn’t matter too much It’s just a shame that Benning’s past mistakes come back to haunt him when this dream finally comes true

The best players want to be part of the excitement, but the current tightening of the cap does not allow it Benning has to start transferring money soon, or these free agents will eventually find a new home elsewhere and that, unfortunately. , can also include his own

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on all things hockey Updated daily with news and articles from over 130 writers around the world Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix

Vancouver Canucks, National Hockey League, free agent, Christopher Tanev, Jacob Markström, Tyler Toffoli, Edmonton Oilers, ice hockey, Arizona Coyotes