The Vancouver Canucks sent Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty and a 2027 second-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
The Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks made a move Wednesday night.
Chicago acquired forwards Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty with a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round selection.
The Canucks are retaining 15 percent of Mikheyev's $4.75-million cap hit in the final two seasons of his contract, which comes to $712,500 per year. Lafferty is a pending UFA, which gives Chicago an exclusive negotiating window with the 29-year-old before free agency opens on July 1.
With the move, Vancouver clears about $4 million in cap space to get to about $19.24 million of total space. The Canucks still have six pending UFAs, including center Elias Lindholm, forward Dakota Joshua and defensemen Tyler Myers and Nikita Zadorov. They also have goaltender Arturs Silovs as a pending RFA.
Mikheyev, 29, signed a four-year contract with the Canucks in July 2022 with a 12-team no trade list, according to PuckPedia. He recorded 28 points in 46 games in an injury-affected 2022-23 campaign, and he had 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in 78 games this past season. In the playoffs, however, he recorded no points in 11 games.
Moving Mikheyev's contract to create more cap room for the rest of their group was Vancouver's main goal here, but Canucks GM Patrik Allvin made sure to acknowledge the forward's comeback from an ACL injury that shut him down in January 2023.
“In Mik’s case, we were really impressed with how hard he worked to come back from his knee surgery,” Allvin said in a press release. “That determination and drive is what makes him such a good player.”
Lafferty, meanwhile, had 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points in 79 games while averaging 11:52 of ice time per game.
Chicago continues to rebuild, so the team weaponized its cap space to not only get a player who may benefit from a change in scenery, as well as a chance to sign another depth forward, but also upgrade a fourth-round pick to a second-rounder in the process.
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