The next 30 days are pivotal for the Vancouver Canucks to gain control of their salary cap
A strong argument can be made that June will be the most important month of this calendar year for the Vancouver Canucks.
With little cap flexibility and time now ticking toward the National Hockey League Draft in Nashville, the Vancouver Canucks need to have a disciplined yet active next 30 days.
If the Canucks are unable to carve out cap space, they face the very real possibility of not only being relegated to the sidelines when NHL Free Agency opens on July 1st, they also must know it will only get more challenging to shed salary the deeper they get into the summer months. With every other team in the league knowing the plight the Canucks are in with regards to their cap allocation for next season, the closer they get to the start of the season the more trading partners will leverage the Canucks painting themselves into a cap corner.
That is why the Canucks need to capitalize on the fertile trading environment presented around the draft and pair that with the ever-changing landscape of NHL managers many of whom will be eager to make a splash in an attempt to put their stamp on the hockey clubs they have inherited in recent weeks. Daniel Briere in Philadelphia, Craig Conroy in Calgary, Barry Trotz in Nashville, Brad Treliving in Toronto and whomever takes the reins in Pittsburgh all present trading partners likely to be interested and motivated to make change.
Consider, as well, that two of the last three significant trades the Vancouver Canucks have made have come on the draft floor. On the second day of the 2019 draft, the Canucks acquired JT Miller from Tampa Bay for a first rounder. And ahead of the 2021 draft, the Canucks made their ill-advised deal with Arizona that landed Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland for a package of high picks and bloated contracts.
Whether it's an improbable hockey trade, attaching a sweetener, retaining salary or moving down in the draft, the Canucks simply need to pull the trigger on some sort of deal in June that will grant them the cap flexibility they have been seeking for far too long now. This management group has been on the job for 18 months and since day one has made it clear that getting the salary cap under control has been a priority. However, to this point, that has been all talk and very little action.
In the event that that trade options simply do not materialize, the NHL buyout window opens 48 hours after the Stanley Cup is presented. While General Manager Patrik Allvin stated in April that he did not intend to use buyouts to create cap space, he chose his words very carefully and didn't rule out triggering this device altogether.
Running things back with the same players and same roster and simply hoping for improvement from within next season seems like a flawed strategy for an organization insistent on returning to the playoffs for the first time since the COVID bubble of 2020.
Ultimately for June to be a success -- at a bare minimum -- the Canucks need to create cap space and do so while maintaining a pick in the first round of the draft. Moving off the 11th selection to gain more draft capital is fine, but this team can not afford to trade out of the first round altogether for the fourth time in the last four years (in addition to the Tampa and Arizona draft day deals, the Canucks also shipped a first to Detroit in the Filip Hronek deal in February).
Beyond creating cap space and adding to the prospect pool, the Canucks also need to use June wisely to put the finishing touches on their pitch to Elias Pettersson to convince the Swedish star to commit long-term to the city and the organization. They also need to figure out their plans for Ethan Bear and tender the defenseman a qualifying offer if they plan to keep him in the fold.
So as the month of May winds to a close, know that the next 30 days may very well be the most important stretch on the 2023 calendar for the Vancouver Canucks. Without a successful June, it may be hard for this team to have the success it desires on the ice in October and beyond.