There are no doubt those who are already sick of hearing about cap hits, cap space, and – perhaps especially – cap accrual.

To those folks, we can only apologize.

But there are probably others who realize how necessary this angle is to properly covering this particular version of the Vancouver Canucks. Who realize that accruing cap space is not just a goal of GM Patrik Allvin and Co. for the 2024/25, but the goal, as in the method through which they hope to take their best shot at competitive success in a good long while.

That crowd knows how crucial cap accrual is to the overall plan. To the grand scheme of things.

And that crowd should be ecstatic to learn that, with their most recent moves, the Canucks are now set up to really start accruing cap space – the kind of cap space they can use to drastically improve the team.

It all began with Nils Åman being waived on Saturday, prior to the Canucks’ match against the San Jose Sharks. While some pundits, including this author, predicted that Åman might get snapped up amid a general dearth of centre talent in the league, that did not happen, and so Åman was safely assigned to Abbotsford. More importantly, for the purposes of this article, Åman’s cap hit was also removed from the Canucks’ books in that moment.

We’ve already covered the basics of this process well enough due to the recent and near-constant demotions and recalls of Arshdeep Bains and Erik Brännström.

Åman’s demotion works similarly, at first. After being assigned to Abbotsford, his full $825,000 cap hit was removed from the equation, and the Canucks began to accumulate an extra $4,296.88 per day ($825K/192-day schedule).

But here’s a key difference between Åman’s demotion and Bains and Brännström’s “demotions.” He’s actually staying down in Abbotsford, at least for the time being.

Åman’s waiving almost certainly marks the imminent return of Dakota Joshua to action. As soon as Tuesday, it’s expected Joshua will be activated from IR and take his place as one of 13 healthy forwards on the active roster.

But because Joshua has been on IR all season, and not LTIR, there’s no change in cap hit. His full cap hit has already been counted against the Canucks’ books all season long. Now, the Canucks are set to accrue that extra cap on game days, too, as opposed to just on those days in between games during which there was enough time to send Bains and Brännström down.

The best news of all? For as long as they can stay relatively healthy, the Canucks can add even more accrual on top of this by still sending Bains and Brännström down to Abbotsford on off-days.

As it stands right now, with Åman down and Bains and Brännström up on a full 23-player roster that includes Joshua, the Canucks are accruing enough daily cap space to afford the addition of $5,147,733. But they can add to that number for each day they have either Bains or Brännström or anyone else assigned down to Abbotsford.

We should note that, for Brännström, this revolving door of recalls is coming to an end. He’s already played seven games for the Senior Canucks, and as soon as he hits ten (or 30 days on the roster), he becomes eligible for waivers again and cannot be sent down without clearing them.

He’ll be sent down to Abbotsford a few more times before all is said and done, but probably won’t be as soon as waivers re-enter the picture.

Bains, meanwhile, won’t lose his waiver exemption this year. That means that he can be freely yo-yoed between Vancouver and Abbotsford all season long.

Pending further injuries, the Bains re-assignments combined with Åman’s more permanent re-assignment should lead to the Canucks having enough functional accrued cap space to add a cap hit of at least $6 million by the deadline. Which, given the possibility of contract retention, essentially gives them enough space to add whoever they want, so long as they can afford the asset return.

And if they can make it as far as Thatcher Demko’s return – said to be two or three weeks away in seeming perpetuity – without incurring any more major injuries, the savings picture gets even rosier. At that point, the Canucks can send Arturs Silovs down to Abbotsford for a confidence-regaining run as AHL starter, reducing their daily cap hit by a further amount and stocking up even more space for the deadline.

Of course, those with a sharp eye for hypotheticals know that we’ve introduced a pretty big one here with “pending further injuries.” The reality of the matter is that the Canucks won’t stay entirely healthy, and that for every injury serious enough to need to cover with a recall from Abbotsford, the less they’ll be able to accrue during those times.

Even on that front, however, Åman’s clearing of waivers helps out. If a forward were to be injured anytime soon, Åman could be recalled for game days to cover that spot, and then be demoted right back to Abbotsford on the next off-day. He could ride the Brännström train like that until he’d spent 30 days or ten games on the roster, which buys the Canucks plenty of time – and more accrual all the while.

It sure feels like, with this move, Allvin and Co. have set the Canucks up to really start accruing enough cap space to actually make a difference in the end. And because none of the other 31 teams took a flyer on Åman, this was accomplished without so much as giving up a single asset.

Welcome to the new economic reality of the Vancouver Canucks.