It proved to be one of the busiest weekends in franchise history for the Vancouver Canucks, with two back-to-back blockbuster trades on Friday night.
It was JT Miller, Erik Brännström, Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais, along with prospects Jackson Dorrington and Melvin Fernstrom out (along with a New York Rangers first round pick that the Canucks held possession of for about five minutes) and all of Marcus Pettersson, Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and Drew O’Connor in.
And despite all that change, we really don’t think GM Patrik Allvin and Co. are quite finished yet.
Here’s the thing: when a team trades a player with as prominent a profile as Miller – even when the return includes a bevy of other useful talents – that team’s number one priority becomes replacing that player.
Usually, this is a bit of a by-committee sort of endeavour, and that will be the case here, as we don’t think the Canucks are going to be in the market for another forward of Miller’s quality. But another forward of perhaps a slightly-to-significantly-lesser quality? That seems all but guaranteed.
Indeed, in the wake of Friday’s trades, Satiar Shah shared that he believed the Canucks were now in pursuit of an “impact forward” in their “mid-20s” who could feasibly “grow with the core.”
Now, on the one hand, this is one of those pieces of speculation that might be met with a collective ‘duh.’ Every team in the NHL is at least somewhat on the lookout for young impact forwards. Like, who wouldn’t be?
But there was more to Shah’s tweet than a mere statement of intent. He also included, specifically, a note on how the Canucks planned to acquire such a player, writing that “The main asset they now have is cap space to take on a contract, plus their own assets they didn’t have to use to acquire a top 4D.”
And that – weaponizable cap space and a willingness to use it – is not something that every team in the NHL can attest to.
When we read about the notion of the Canucks using their cap space to ‘take on a contract’ in the search for a mid-20s impact forward, we can see it going one of two ways. The first is the more traditional approach, in which the team seeks out some bad veteran contracts – AKA cap dumps – and asks the teams trying to dump them to attach a young forward on top in order to sweeten the deal.
But there are two problems with that approach. The first is that teams generally do not give up mid-20s impact forwards as sweeteners in cap dump deals. Usually, it’s a draft pick or a longshot prospect, at best. The second problem is that we just learned that the salary cap is growing by leaps and bounds over the next three seasons.
Teams are now less desperate to shed salary than ever before. The price on cap dumps is going down, not up.
The other way one can read that notion has the Canucks looking out into the league and specifically targeting mid-20s impact forwards who are on less-than-desirable contracts of their own.
It happens all the time. A team bets big on a player before they’ve fully broken out, handing them significant term and salary in the hopes they’ll outgrow it. Sometimes, that player’s development stalls a bit from there, leaving the team with a large salary on the books for a long time. When this happens to a player in their mid-20s, we often hear lots of talk of a ‘fresh start’ or ‘change of scenery,’ and the bounceback factor is definitely higher for such players than it is for the average ‘bad contract.’
There’s a risk to such a maneouver, but if the Canucks choose the right target, there might also be a major reward.
So, which targets might we be looking at? We asked PuckPedia to filter all forward contracts by those for players in their mid-20s (defined as 23-to-28) who are signed at a cap hit greater than $3.5 million and on a term of three years or greater.
Then, we sifted through that list to find those players whose teams might not be totally satisfied with the outcome of said contract, and who might be convinced to part ways with said player if the price were right.
Here’s who we came up with, in rough order of least to most far-fetched:
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Carolina Hurricanes
C, 24, 6’3”, 203lb
$4.82mil AAV (expires 2030)
 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Avg. TOI
2024/25
53
11
15
26
13:52
We start our tour with a name you all knew was going to be on here. Kotkaniemi has practically become synonymous with ‘young player on a bad long contract,’ and despite some further gains and developments in his all-around game as of 2024/25, he’s still yet to crack 20 goals in an NHL season or put up more than 25 assists, and he’s signed until next decade.
We also know that the Canucks have had their eye on Kotkaniemi for a while, after heavy rumours that his name was involved in the Elias Pettersson-to-Carolina talks.
Kotkaniemi may be stretching the definition of an ‘impact’ forward. But he’s still within the age range for a late-ish breakout, and if the Canucks believe in him, there’s no denying he’s still got an intriguing blend of size, skill, and skating ability.
If Carolina does not win it all this season, there may be changes. Shipping out Kotkaniemi may reasonably be a part of that.
Kirby Dach, Montreal Canadiens
C, 24, 6’4”, 212lb
$3.3625mil AAV (expires 2026, RFA)
 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Avg. TOI
2024/25
51
10
9
19
15:51
Dach, too, stretches our definitions, both in terms of being an impact player and in terms of being on a bad contract. His deal expires after next season, and only incurs a cap hit a bit north of $3 million.
Still, when we think of forwards who have yet to break out, but who still might in the near future, we think of Dach. He’s shown ample flashes before, and battled through countless injuries. This is his first healthy season in a while, and the numbers aren’t very impressive. But maybe he’s just getting his feet back under him after only playing in two regular season games last year.
Six years on, it’s getting harder and harder to feel like Dach will ever live up to being drafted at third overall. But if he can just evolve all the way into a strong 2C, that would be enough to make him an interesting project for the Canucks.
Casey Mittelstadt, Colorado Avalanche
C, 26, 6’1”, 195lb
$5.75mil AAV (expires 2027)
 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Avg. TOI
2024/25
53
9
22
31
17:34
Now we’re getting into the bad contracts.
The Avalanche swapped out Bowen Byram for Mittelstadt and would seem to have lost in the exchange. They then immediately signed Mittelstadt to a three-year extension at a high price that the centre has simply not lived up to.
It’s only been one year. But the Avalanche are in a phase of contention, and they can’t really afford to wait around much. That’s why they’re in the market for another 2C, and why it seems quite likely that they’ll be willing to give up Mittelstadt to clear room.
Prior to the trade, Mittelstadt was showing some real potential in Buffalo, with back-to-back seasons of 59 points in 82 games and then 47 in 62. But that level of scoring has not followed him to Colorado. Foot-speed remains an issue. But maybe that’s all good news for a team who believes Mittelstadt can bounce back, because chances seem good that he’ll come relatively cheap as a result.
Trevor Zegras, Anaheim Ducks
C/W, 23, 6’0”, 185lb
$5.75mil AAV (expires 2026, RFA)
 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Avg. TOI
2024/25
29
5
8
13
16:47
Given that Zegras’ contract expires into RFA status after next year, we can’t exactly call it a bad contract. But overpriced? Given Zegras current standard of play, that is inarguable.
Something seemed to happen after Zegras graced the cover of an NHL game. The curse hit him hard, and he dropped from 65 points in 81 games to 15 in 31 the following year, and now in 2024/25 he’s scoring at an even lower pace.
Injuries have been a factor, but they’re not the whole story here. Zegras just simply isn’t the uber-creative offensive talent he was when he came into the league, and that’s really harmed his ability to make a consistent on-ice impact.
Then again, he’s still only 23 years old, which leaves plenty of room for a comeback. As Anaheim attempts to refine their rebuild and establish team culture, we can absolutely see them putting him on the market without demanding a king’s ransom in return. Few players look more in need of a fresh start. The upside here is considerable.
Dylan Cozens, Buffalo Sabres
C, 23, 6’3”, 207lb
$7.1mil AAV (expires 2030)
 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Avg. TOI
2024/25
51
10
16
26
17:22
We’ve heard Cozens’ name plenty in various rumours related to Buffalo this season, including as part of that reported “Byram and Cozens” package that was supposedly offered for Elias Pettersson. That demonstrates both that Cozens might be on the market and that the Canucks might have interest in him.
And why not? Cozens is a big, talented centre they call the ‘Workhorse from Whitehorse,’ and he’s just two years separated from a 31-goal season at age 21.
His scoring pace has dropped significantly in each subsequent year, to the point where he will struggle to hit 20 goals this year. But then, everyone tends to struggle in Buffalo eventually. Cozens looks like a classic case of a player who is going to break out the second they leave the Sabres, and some other team will be the beneficiary of that.
We don’t imagine Cozens will come cheap. But the Sabres have a chance here to get out of a contract they probably already regret signing, and that should lower the cost – theoretically.
Josh Norris, Ottawa Senators
C, 25, 6’2”, 196lb
$7.95mil AAV (expires 2030)
 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Avg. TOI
2024/25
50
19
12
31
18:24
Norris is a very good player, and there’s no wondering why the Senators signed him to a contract like this after he put up 35 goals and 55 points in 66 games as a sophomore. But injuries have been the story of Norris’ life ever since, and that’s made it all but impossible for him to find a consistent game at the NHL level.
He’s a part of Ottawa’s current success story. But he’s also really plateaued in terms of his production, and that makes him drastically overpaid at nearly $8 million. We can imagine a scenario in which the Senators decided to cash in on Norris’ current good health and relatively great play to avoid the ups-and-downs throughout the rest of his contract. He’d be a risky acquisition, but potentially one with very, very high rewards, too. Currently out with an injury, Norris would be a closer-to-the-deadline or offseason acquisition for the Canucks.
Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
C/W, 27, 6’1”, 190lb
$9.15mil AAV (expires 2031) [m-NTC]
 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Avg. TOI
2024/25
30
6
14
20
20:21
Okay, we’ve officially hit the high-end of this list. And at first blush, Barzal looks a little too rich for this collection of players.
That said, Barzal still might not be worth his contract. He did have a career year last season of 23 goals and 80 points, but even that seems a little lacklustre for $9.15 million. And then that’s especially true of his 2024/25 performance, in which he’s still stuck on single-digit goals and pacing for a full season of about 50 points.
If the Islanders have lost any faith with Barzal, now is the time to cut ties, at age 27, before his contract really starts to get ugly. And what better destination than Barzal’s home of BC?
Make no mistake, Barzal would be a costly pickup in any scenario. But maybe not quite as costly as a player of his reputation usually is, for a team with the cap space to burn.
Timo Meier, New Jersey Devils
RW, 28, 6’1”, 220lb
$8.8mil AAV (expires 2031) [NMC]
 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Avg. TOI
2024/25
52
15
22
37
17:28
Things haven’t really worked out for Meier and the Devils. Prior to the trade, he was up to 31 goals and 52 points in 57 games for the San Jose Sharks on the 2022/23 season. Since then, he’s put up just 103 points in 142 games in New Jersey. All that, at nearly $9 million a pop.
Meier remains a unique specimen and one of the few true power forwards remaining in hockey. That, alone, allows him to make a consistent on-ice impact. But we’re three partial seasons into his Devil tenure and he’s yet to find any sort of consistent production. Given the immediacy of their contending goals, it’s not all that far-fetched that the Devils may look to shed Meier and use his cap space somewhere else.
Like all the players at this end of the list, Meier would still incur a mighty price-tag. But it might be less of one than the ‘first and two prospects’ package New Jersey gave up for him in the first place.
Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina Hurricanes
RW, 24, 6’3”, 199lb
$7.75mil AAV (expires 2029)
 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Avg. TOI
2024/25
52
17
20
37
17:36
Okay, we’re officially dreaming here, right?
Probably. But…
The former second overall pick’s production has been trending downward of late, with his goal totals dropping from 30 to 23 to 19 last season, and this year he’s at just 37 points in 52 games, his lowest pace since his sophomore season.
That’s not great news for a team that hopes to contend for the foreseeable future.
Injuries are at least partially to blame for Svechnikov’s stalled progress. And at age 24, we imagine the Hurricanes probably have more patience on hand for him. But if they decided to move on or at least explore moving on, this would be the peak of the ‘impactful yet overpaid’ pile, to be sure.
Sponsored by bet365