Since president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin took over the Vancouver Canucks’ front office, the organization has continued to state their goal is to create cap space. To do so, the organization aimed to move a few overpaid contracts. However, halfway through the 2022-23 regular season and the passing of the 2023 Trade Deadline, the Canucks have not moved much. Instead, the club is set to start the 2023-24 season over the cap limit. Therefore, they’ll have to get creative with how they free up cap space on their roster.
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One of the methods the Canucks can use to create space is buying contracts out. In January, Rutherford said the club will look at buyouts this summer if they can’t move certain contracts out. Here are four possible buyout candidates for the 2023 offseason.
Tyler Myers
The Canucks signed Tyler Myers to a five-year deal with an annual average value of $6 million heading into the 2019-20 season. The blueliner will have one year remaining on his deal after this season. The organization has a few options on how to move Myers, including buying his contract out.
If the Canucks bought Myers out, he will leave the club with a cap hit of $5.333 million next season and a cap hit of $333,334 the following season. Therefore, they’d save $666,666 next season but would take on an additional cap hit of $333,334 in 2024-25. Buying out Myers doesn’t seem like the best option, especially when the Canucks have better methods to relieve themselves of his cap hit.
The Canucks could trade Myers, but he has a modified no-trade clause (M-NTC) and submitted a 10-team no-trade list on July 1, 2022. The M-NTC makes it somewhat difficult for the Canucks to move the 6-foot-8 defender as it shortens the list of teams that can target him. However, a rebuilding team not on his list can add him along with a sweetener this offseason, as they’ll only have to pay him $1 million in real money next season.
Related: 3 Canucks in the 2022-23 Rumour Mill That Shouldn’t Be Traded
The final and best option on how to deal with Myers’ contract is to wait out his final season and bury his contact in the minors. His cap hit will be close to $4.850 million if the Canucks decide to go that route. Keeping Myers and sending him down to the American Hockey League seems like the team’s best option, as it saves them more money than buying him out, and they…
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