After a frantic couple of days for the Vancouver Canucks, Ilya Mikheyev is out, Dakota Joshua and Tyler Myers are in, and we know one thing for certain about next season: Elias Pettersson will have a new primary linemate.
Then the Canucks spent that money and a little more to re-sign Tyler Myers to a three-year deal with a $3 million cap hit. On defence, they need two more defencemen and, depending on how much they pay for a top-six winger, could only have the cap space available for two bottom-pairing defencemen.How can the Canucks divvy up their ~$18.5 million cap space between these needs? Let's run through some options.
At the lower end, there's Tyler Toffoli, who already has some familiarity and chemistry with the Canucks, and Jonathan Marchessault, who's coming off 42 goals for the Vegas Golden Knights and won a Conn Smythe just last year. Toffoli and Marchessault are likely to sign somewhere in the $6-7 million range but both are a little older than Guentzel.
A tier down in terms of cap hit in the $4-4.5 million range, there's Sean Walker, Alex Carrier, and Canucks fan favourite Chris Tanev. The Canucks are reportedly interested in Tanev but term might prove an issue as he's about to turn 35. As good as Tanev is, the younger Walker or Carrier might be better bets long-term.The Canucks could conceivably go cheap on their bottom pairing. There are some useful defencemen available in free agency who could be had for around $1-1.
Zadorov wouldn't be a typical third-pairing defenceman — he averaged 20+ minutes per game in the playoffs — but he feels like a bit of a luxury for the Canucks. It's a luxury the Canucks won't have in their budget if they spend big on Guentzel in free agency. Other options include Kevin Lankinen, Anthony Stolarz, Alex Nedeljkovic, or Laurent Brossoit, but those four are likely to land in the $2-2.5 million range, or potentially even more with a weak free agent market for goaltenders. With cap space at a premium, it wouldn't make sense to spend too much on this position.