(UPDATE: June 27 @ 3:45 pm) - The Vancouver Canucks have made yet another move today.
The club inked Tyler Myers to a three-year contract extension worth $3 million per season.
He's the third pending UFA that the club has re-signed in the past 26 hours after new deals were agreed to with Teddy Blueger on Wednesday and Dakota Joshua earlier today.
Myers, a former Kelowna Rocket who calls the Central Okanagan home during the off-season, joined the Canucks on July 1, 2019, after signing a five-year contract with the team.
His new deal links the 6'8" defenceman with Vancouver until he's 37 and increases the odds that he will end his career in Canucks colours.
(UPDATE: June 27 @ 1:10 pm) - Part of the Vancouver Canucks unexpected success last season was the play of their third line.
Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland made up arguably the most reliable forward unit for Vancouver as the team went from out of the playoffs in 2022-23 to Pacific Division champions in 2023-24.
Waking up on Wednesday, it was still a possibility that two of those three players would not be with the team in 2024-25, as Blueger and Joshua were pending UFAs.
But GM Patrik Allvin got to work, inking Blueger to a two-year extension on Wednesday and following that up with a new contract for Joshua today.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that the #Canucks have agreed to terms with forward Dakota Joshua on a four-year contract with a $3.25 million AAV. pic.twitter.com/tk2lY2apkj
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) June 27, 2024
Joshua, who was expected to potentially earn a long-term deal worth over $4 million per year if he reached the open market, agreed to a team-friendly four-year extension with the Canucks today that will see him make $3.25 million per year.
“Dakota had a strong season for us and took some big steps forward in his game. We really like his size, his speed and physicality," Allvin said.
"He fit in well with our system and the way we want to play hockey and I look forward to watching him to continue to develop under our coaching staff.”
The 6'3", 206 lbs forward broke out in a major way last season, tallying 18 goals in 63 games while being among the league leaders in hits. He was also a major part of the Canucks' revamped penalty kill.
With Blueger and Joshua locked up, most Canucks fans have turned their attention to potential contract extensions for pending UFA defencemen Nikita Zadorov and Tyler Myers.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Getty Images.
(Original story: June 27 @ 8:50 am) - With the Stanley Cup Final finally out of the way, attention has quickly turned to the NHL offseason.
Since the Cup was awarded later than usual, there’s not much time for teams to breathe before heading into the draft this weekend and the start of free agency on Monday.
With that in mind, the Vancouver Canucks got to work on Wednesday with a pair of minor, but important moves ahead of a big weekend.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that the #Canucks have agreed to terms with forward Teddy Blueger on a two-year contract with a $1.8 AAV. pic.twitter.com/U19inRxiWN
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) June 26, 2024
It was a tidy piece of business for GM Patrik Allvin and company, as Blueger, who made $1.9 million last season, was expected to get a pay raise after a solid campaign in Vancouver’s bottom six.
A few hours later, the Canucks followed up the Blueger contract by trading Ilya Mikheyev and his hefty contract to the Chicago Blackhawks.
It was a salary dump for Vancouver, which meant the club had to attach a 2027 second-round pick to Mikheyev to offload him.
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that the #Canucks have acquired a 4th round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty, and a 2nd round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft. Vancouver is retaining… pic.twitter.com/dzXO9TmSoX
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) June 27, 2024
The Canucks will retain 15% of Mikheyev’s remaining deal of $9.5 million over the next two years, which equates to just over $700,000 against the salary cap for the next two seasons.
Vancouver also included the rights to UFA Sam Lafferty in the trade, while Chicago sent a 2027 fourth-round pick back to the Canucks.
With Blueger locked up and Mikheyev’s salary off the books, the Canucks now have around $20 million in cap space to fill five or six roster spots.
It has been speculated that the team is still trying to lock up its own pending UFAs in Nikita Zadorov and Dakota Joshua, although there’s plenty of chatter that they could be after a big fish come Monday as well.
The main name floating around is Jake Guentzel, who will likely command $9 million per year or more on the open market.
Another name that is being lightly linked to the Canucks is Sam Reinhart, a North Vancouver native who scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Florida Panthers just three days ago.
