Back in March, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly suggested that the NHL salary cap could increase to about $74 million next season, which was good news for teams with important players to sign.
Daly backtracked on that promise on Monday.
According to
CapFriendly, the Canucks currently have 20 players signed for next season, with about $9.5 million worth of available cap space if the salary cap does indeed stay flat.
A few restricted free agents still need to be signed. Sven Baertschi, Emerson Etem, Linden Vey and Mike Zalewski all have arbitration rights, while Andrey Pedan does not. Baertschi is probably the most likely to receive a significant raise over the $900,000 that he made last season.
If those five players are all retained, the roster would be at 25 players—15 forwards, eight defencemen and two goalies, with probably less than $5 million in cap flexibility. At a glance, the stage is not exactly set for impact free-agent signings.
Zalewski could be returned to Utica next year, and Linden Vey may also be destined to head back to the minors. But the roster math would point towards the need for the Canucks to either trade one or more roster players or consider buying out Chris Higgins and/or Alex Burrows in order to free up roster and cap space.
The buyout window is just around the corner. It opens either on June 15 or 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Final ends—whichever comes later—and lasts until June 30, right before free agency begins.
Given that teams are now allowed to start talking with impending unrestricted free agents as early as June 25, there is a period of overlap. If the Canucks were able to reach a point in negotiations where they were relatively certain that they'd be able to sign a big-money free agent—like, hypothetically, Steven Stamkos—they'd have time to make the moves to buy out Higgins and/or Burrows in order to help free up the needed cap space.
To review:
Higgins has one year left on his contract at $2.5 million. Burrows has one year remaining at $4.5 million.
EDIT
Higgins' situation is straightforward, because his salary and his cap hit are the same. The Canucks would owe him two-thirds of his remaining salary—so, $1.67 million—and the cap hit would be spread over two years, meaning an $833,333 cap hit on the books in both 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Because Burrows' contract is back-diving, his situation is more complicated. His actual salary next year is $3 million but his cap hit is $4.5 million. Per
General Fanager, the Canucks would owe Burrows $2 million in cash for the buyout, as two-thirds of the money remaining to him. But the back-diving contract means that a recapture comes into play—they'd be on the hook for the $1 million, and for the $1.5 million difference between his salary and his cap hit. So, the Canucks would take a cap hit of $2.5 million next season for Burrows (instead of $4.5 million if he stayed with the team), then a $1 million hit in 2017-18.
If both players were bought out, the cap hit for next season would drop from $7 million to $3.33 million, freeing up about $3.67 million in cap space. But, the Canucks would carry an additional cap hit of $1.83 million in 2017-18 that they wouldn't be faced with if they keep Higgins and Burrows around next year.
Of course, the team could also choose to buy out just one player, which would result in smaller cap savings.
END EDIT
With many teams under budget pressure once again, I expect the trend will be—for the most part—for relatively conservative free-agent deals. We could see a team like Arizona make a splash with its $36 million in cap space, but the Coyotes also have just 13 players signed right now, leaving them with a lot of roster spots to fill, and I assume they'll be operating under an internal budget.
I imagine Jim Benning will enter negotiations with his wallet wide open, as usual, and put the Canucks right up against the cap ceiling again as the team heads into the 2016-17 season.
Add another name to the mix of players who *could* potentially be interested in joining the Canucks. Like Troy Brouwer, Andrew Ladd is a local boy—born in Maple Ridge. He doesn't think he'll be able to return to the Chicago Blackhawks after they acquired him at last season's trade deadline.
“When we spoke after the season, they said it would be tough,” Ladd told Elliotte Friedman, via
30 Thoughts.
In terms of choosing a destination, "Can the family go somewhere where my wife and kids enjoy life? That’s a big element. From my standpoint, I want to win and compete for a Cup."
Despite the Canucks' 28th-place finish this year, Ladd didn't rule out the possibility of coming back to B.C. when Elliotte brought up Vancouver: "Yes it's crossed my mind."
What about Winnipeg, if the Jets were interested? "I’ve said since I left I would never close the door. We enjoyed our time there. We’ll see if that's an option. It takes two willing combatants."
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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