The Vancouver Canucks must keep the future in mind when signing contracts this offseason.

The 2024 offseason is a complicated one for the Vancouver Canucks. With 20 unrestricted and restricted free agents, the Canucks roster may look very different to start the 2024-25 campaign. On top of building next year's team, GM Patrik Allvin and his management group also need to keep an eye on the future, as Vancouver has some big contracts to renegotiate over the next few seasons. 

According to CapFriendly, the Canucks have a projected $26,278,333 to spend this offseason. This means the team will have to make some tough decisions regarding players like Filip Hronek, Nikita Zadorov, Dakota Joshua, and Elias Lindholm, who are all expected to receive raises this offseason. On top of the increased cap hits, term also plays a factor and could prevent Vancouver from re-signing players in the future. 

Looking ahead, there are a few problems that the Canucks need to plan for if they want to be successful during the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. The first is the Oliver Ekman-Larsson buyout. While OEL's cap hit is only $2,346,667 in 2024-25, it raises to $4,766,667 for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons before once again dropping down to just over $2 million for the final three seasons. $4.7 million is not an insignificant amount of money, and while the cap is expected to grow, could prevent Vancouver from adding significant pieces during those two seasons. 

The other is that Brock Boeser and Thatcher Demko will both need their contracts renegotiated over the next few seasons. Both unrestricted free agents, Boeser is set to expire at the end of next season, while Demko's contract wraps up at the end of 2025-26. If both can build off of their success from last season, it could mean receiving raises and potentially pricing themselves out of the Canucks roster. 

Free agency is a great opportunity to build a contender, but it also can create issues that halt a team's competitive window in the future. While attempting to bring back last year's team may make sense in theory, it would cause significant issues heading into the 2025 offseason, which, as mentioned, could force the Canucks to part with a key member of their franchise in Boeser. Ultimately, Patrik Allvin and his team have some tough decisions to make but need to ensure they are building a multi-year contender while avoiding long-term mistakes this offseason.

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