Canucks cap space status after a busy day in free agency

@Canucks/X

Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin has been a busy man.

On the opening day of NHL free agency, Allvin spent $53.05 million on seven players, with $38.5 million of that going towards a seven-year contract for winger Jake DeBrusk.

Since their season ended, the Canucks have spent over $136 million on player signings. About 70% of that money went solely toward the contracts for DeBrusk and Filip Hronek.

Two weeks ago, the Canucks had over $26 million in cap space, one of the highest totals in the NHL. Most of the teams below them were bottom feeders.

Virtually all of that cap space is now gone.

According to CapFriendly, the Canucks have just $240,833 left of cap space. That leaves them with the sixth-highest salary cap hit in the NHL heading into next season. Only the Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators are ahead of them.

If you include the cap hit for Tucker Poolman, whose NHL career is likely over, Vancouver has $2,740,833 left of cap space, which gives them the seventh-highest cap hit in the league behind those five aforementioned teams and the New York Islanders.

Canucks still have work to do

Now, there is one last “must” on the Canucks to-do list this offseason.

The team’s sole remaining unsigned player is postseason hero Arturs Silovs. After doubling his NHL games played total in the playoffs, the 23-year-old restricted free agent is due for a contract extension.

He’s projected to sign a deal just shy of $1 million per season, according to AFP Analytics.

Silovs might not be a shoo-in for the backup role, with recently signed netminder Jiri Patera suiting up in NHL games for the Golden Knights last season. The rumblings about Casey DeSmith returning appeared to be just noise, as the one-year Canucks backup signed a three-year contract with the Dallas Stars.

Here is a current look at the Canucks roster after their recent flurry of moves:

CapFriendly.com

Right now, this roster is at the 23-man limit, with Silovs still unsigned. That means one of the names on this list will end up on waivers before the Canucks begin the 2024-25.

The Canucks rolled with both defencemen Mark Friedman and Noah Juulsen on the active roster for most of last season, and there’s a good chance they do the same once again. If a defenceman is Abbotsford-bound between those two, it’ll likely be Friedman.

Up front, it looks like Vasily Podkolzin, Phil Di Giuseppe, and Nils Åman are battling for the final forward spot in the Canucks lineup. One of those three forwards could likely miss out on a roster spot after the preseason finale.

All three forwards could be claimed off waivers if the Canucks try to send them to Abbotsford.

More moves coming for Canucks?

Despite the Canucks nearly being capped out, there is some flexibility for Patrik Allvin to make another move, if he desires.

Let’s say the Canucks are to sign Silovs to a contract at a market value of $975,000 per season. That would leave them with 24 players on the active roster. The Canucks would need to send at least one player to the minors as mentioned to get under the salary cap, and they could send another player down if they wanted to add someone else to the roster.

If Silovs signs for that number, and the Canucks were to send Friedman and Di Giuseppe to the minors, Vancouver would have just over $3.3 million in cap space, with Poolman on LTIR.

Last offseason, the Canucks signed valuable depth contributor Pius Suter in August.

Could another move like that be in store this summer?

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