Welcome Matt: Canucks payroll is missing middle-class paid players

We spent some time yesterday talking about how the Canucks can clear cap space.

In fact, we’ve spent some time on that this week, this spring, and for the last year and half since Jim Rutherford mentioned it after taking over as club president of hockey operations.

And still we wait…

Look, there is a world where the Canucks simply cannot or will not, move money out. If they’re unwilling to buy out Oliver Ekman-Larsson (and it’s a huge buyout), then we may well be talking about a summer sifting through the bargain bin looking for $1 million (or less) players who can fill in the club’s gaps.

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And the structure of handsomely-paid stars, and near-minimum support players, is something the sport is moving to, the Canucks in particular.

The pandemic and the tight salary cap have forced teams into this sort of salary structure. In some cases, it’s by choice because the need to keep stars in the fold, regardless of cost, means making sacrifices elsewhere.

Now, in a perfect world, those cheap players are prospects that have come up on entry-level contracts and give you good bang for the buck. If Vancouver had a bunch of those players, this offseason wouldn’t be as concerning.

Right now, the Canucks have 12 players making more than $4 million (all figures USD) and unless you count the forever-injured Tanner Pearson and Tucker Poolman, there is no middle class. Defenceman Ethan Bear may well creep into that tax bracket with his extension.

And so, until the prospect pipeline can be properly refilled, and until money can be moved out to go free-agent shopping, the Canucks may well have to rely on the cheap players they do have, and maybe an unearth a gem or two like Dakota Joshua last year.