Thursday night on TSN’s Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun reported that the Canucks have had internal discussions about acquiring the services of New Jersey Devils forward, Wayne Simmonds.

 

With the uncertain future of free-agent acquisition Michael Ferland and a desire to inject more physicality into Vancouver’s forward group heading into the crucial last months of the season, it appears that Simmonds may be a on the Canucks’ radar. LeBrun also reported that the 31-year-old forward was of great interest to Jim Benning and company this summer until Simmonds decided that he wanted to stay in the Metropolitan division. Now that the Devils are all but mathematically eliminated from a playoff spot and will be selling at the deadline, Simmonds is back on the table for Vancouver should Ferland’s health project to keep him out for the rest of the year.

The right-winger signed a one-year $5-million contract last July with no clauses. The Vancouver Canucks currently have $1,649,971 in cap space according to CapFriendly which includes Michael Ferland on the long-term injured reserve. The Devils are currently retaining one contract out of the allotted three that all NHL teams are allowed to carry. If they retain the maximum amount of 50%, Vancouver would be left with a $2.5 million cap hit and would require another $850,029 of cap-space to be compliant. Zack MacEwen and Justin Bailey are both up with the big club and taking up a little over $1.5 million in space so Vancouver could definitely make this work from a cap perspective.

To reiterate, Vancouver’s interest in Simmonds hinges on Michael Ferland’s health. Should Ferland be unable to come back this season, a deeper dive into the merits of acquiring Wayne Simmonds would be required, but until then, Vancouver is hoping that their recent free-agent signing can be the physical boost that they desire.