With Wednesday morning’s acquisition of Evander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers for a 2025 fourth-round pick (originally property of the Ottawa Senators) the Vancouver Canucks significantly decreased their available cap space.
Before this transaction, the Canucks had a projected roster of the following:
Jake DeBrusk – Elias Pettersson – Nils Höglander
Dakota Joshua – Filip Chytil – Conor Garland
Drew O’Connor – Teddy-Blueger – Kiefer Sherwood
XXX – Nils Aman – Linus KarlssonQuinn Hughes – Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson – Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort – Elias Pettersson
Victor ManciniThatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen
Arturs Silovs
This roster had just over $12.22m in cap space with Aatu Räty as the only RFA expected to make the team out of training camp. AFP Analytics projects Räty to earn slightly north of $1 million on his next contract. Including him in the above roster projection would put the Canucks at $11.22 million in cap space entering July 1st.
However, with the addition of Kane, the entire equation has changed.
Evander Kane – Elias Pettersson – Nils Höglander
Jake DeBrusk – Filip Chytil – Conor Garland
Dakota Joshua – Teddy-Blueger – Drew O’Connor
Linus Karlsson – Aatu Räty – Kiefer Sherwood
Nils AmanQuinn Hughes – Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson – Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort – Elias Pettersson
Victor ManciniThatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen
Arturs Silovs
Kane reduces the cap space down to $7.1 million. And with the inclusion of Räty, that is further diminished to $6.1 million on a full 23/23 roster.
If all of the players closer to the bottom of the roster and those with waiver exemption are removed from the roster (ex: Karlsson, Räty, Aman, Silovs, Pettersson, and Mancini) that allows the Canucks to once again crest $11 million in cap space. However, this would be with a 17/23 roster. It should be noted that Karlsson, Räty, Aman, and Silovs all would need to pass through waivers to be removed from the roster. So while acquiring Evander Kane has significantly reduced the Canucks available cap space, there is wiggle room to recoup some of it.
If the Canucks wish to retain flexibility to accrue cap space and handle injuries as they come up, they will need to start the season with around a $1.5 million in cap space. Earmarking that amount puts them anywhere between $4.5 million – $9.0 million in functional cap space, depending on how the roster is handled. For instance, it’s possible the Canucks choose to start the season with a 22/23 roster to further their financial flexibility for future moves.
Given the way that the offseason appears to be heading, acquiring top-six help was going to be expensive. With Kane on a one-year contract and an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, there are no long-term ramifications. His full no-movement clause turns into a 16-team no-trade clause with a no-movement (can’t be placed on waivers without his consent) on July 1st allowing for a scenario where the Canucks could recoup an asset if the season goes sideways. Although there were previous off-ice concerns with Kane, from a contract and on-ice perspective, there is minimal risk.
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