Canucks have tried to move out Tucker Poolman’s contract: Canucks Conversation
1 month ago
On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Patrick Johnston discussed a financial obstacle hindering the Canucks: defenceman Tucker Poolman’s contract.
Poolman, signed to a four-year $10 million contract in 2021, has been on Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) since the 2021-2022 season due to persistent migraines. While LTIR relieves a team of the player’s cap hit, it also prevents them from accruing cap space. This has limited Vancouver’s ability to make moves, potentially hindering them at the trade deadline.
Patrick opened up about his conversation with general manager Patrik Allvin, which he wrote about here.
“I asked Patrik Allvin, ‘Have you explored moving Tucker Poolman’s contract?’ Of course, he’s under contract for another year, and he is the reason they’re on LTI,” said Johnston. “They’ve found ways to shove his contract completely off the books, so they’ve been able to manage around it, but they haven’t been able to accrue cap space; if you are on LTI you cannot accrue cap space. Conceivably, there would have been days this season where they would have been like a million dollars under the cap, that adds up and lets you do things. There were clearly moves that he (Allvin) wanted to make that he couldn’t because of retention issues and what have you. So I asked him this and he just responds, ‘Yes.’ So with all that, they’ve tried all kinds of stuff. This is a team that has wanted to be aggressive but has been limited by choices made before, choices of their own making; the OEL buyout is starting next year, the penalty for that will be their choice; they’ve got things to manage around, but the Poolman one sits there. It’s not an issue right now, but it’s a question I think we’re going to be looking at again.”
The Canucks are no strangers to a good ol’ fashioned cap-handcuff. As fans will remember, Vancouver dealt with a cap penalty for Roberto Luongo all the way up until the 2022-2023 season. Rutherford and Allvin have a couple blunders of their own, but the Poolman contract and OEL buyout should be manageable hurdles for a management group who have impressed thus far.
You can watch the full trade deadline recap episode of Canucks Conversation below!:
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