After signing Filip Hronek to his $7.2 million average annual value (AAV) extension this past week, the Vancouver Canucks have a little over $17 million in cap space to fill out their roster for next season. That’s not a lot of money left for their key unrestricted free agents (UFAs) of Nikita Zadorov, Dakota Joshua, Elias Lindholm, and Teddy Blueger. More than likely, they will lose at least two of those names to other teams unless they can move some salary out in the coming weeks.
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Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. General manager (GM) Patrik Allvin has already shopped Ilya Mikheyev‘s $4.75 million contract in the trade market with no bites on the hook. Now his agent Dan Milstein (aka the Canucks’ unofficial assistant GM) is involved in the process and will be trying to facilitate a move to another city. Mikheyev has a 12-team no-trade clause, so he has some say in where he will go, which likely takes the non-contenders with cap space like the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks off the table.
With that said, here are three potential destinations for arguably Allvin’s only real miss in free agency so far.
Pittsburgh Penguins
With Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh now, maybe he would be interested in taking on a former signing of his. Back in 2019, he convinced Mikheyev to ink a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team he played three seasons with and had a career-high 21 goals and 32 points in 2021-22. His speed and versatility to play up and down the lineup and on both special teams made him a high-end commodity in free agency, with the Canucks eventually signing him to his current contract.
The history between Dubas and Mikheyev’s camp is overwhelmingly positive. From building a relationship with him and his family in Russia to caring for him like a son after a freak accident in 2019, Dubas has a unique connection with Mikheyev.
For those who do not know the story, Mikheyev had an artery and tendons in his right wrist severed by a skate blade in a game between the Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils on Dec. 27, 2019. Dubas made sure Mikheyev was comfortable from the minute he left Prudential Center to when he arrived back in Toronto. He then spent three days with him in the hospital after his surgery watching the World Juniors and a Maple Leafs 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Rangers. He even went out of his way to buy him clothes and other personal items as he recovered.
Considering how impressed Milstein was with how Dubas dealt with the situation, I’m sure he’s called him about the possibility of a reunion.
“Kyle went above and beyond his duty…caring for somebody and treating people like this doesn’t cost any money. Showing support, showing you care, is about a lot more than money.”
– Dan Milstein
The Penguins need to beef up their bottom-six with the retirement of Jeff Carter, and Mikheyev could be a good replacement. He would also bring more speed to a slow and aging forward group and could bounce back alongside fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby should he be given a chance in the top-six. And we all know how Crosby has elevated lower-end wingers in the past. The only snag will be his contract, as the Penguins are also dealing with a salary cap crunch of their own.
New Jersey Devils
Speaking of connections, the New Jersey Devils had interest in Mikheyev when he was a free agent in 2022 and could be interested again, especially with Sheldon Keefe as their new bench boss. Before joining the Canucks, Keefe was Mikheyev’s coach as he adjusted from Russia to the NHL. He played all over the lineup – including the top line with Auston Matthews – and was one of Keefe’s top penalty-killers.
GM Tom Fitzgerald has said that he will be looking for a bottom-six forward in free agency/trade. Mikheyev could fit the bill. He’s not only familiar with Keefe’s system, but he also had his most successful season under his watch. He knows what to expect coming in and could be rejuvenated playing for a coach who trusts him and his skill set. I’m sure Keefe would vouch for his value as well, considering he leaned on him heavily in the defensive zone (60.3 defensive zone start percentage) and penalty kill (1:36 average shorthanded time on ice) when he was in Toronto.
Calgary Flames
Allvin and Milstein did a lot of business with Calgary Flames’ GM Craig Conroy during the 2023-24 season. First, they acquired Nikita Zadorov in November and then consummated a blockbuster trade involving Andrei Kuzmenko and Elias Lindholm in February. In Kuzmenko’s case, Allvin had to convince him to waive his no-trade clause to join the Flames, as they were on his 12-team no-trade list.
Could Allvin, Milstein, and Conroy get together again this offseason and do a similar deal with Mikheyev? While it won’t be nearly the same magnitude, the Flames could be willing to send a mid-tier prospect or third-round pick the Canucks way for his services. Even if the Flames are on Mikheyev’s no-trade list, Kuzmenko’s success in Calgary should be enough to sway him to waive it.
The Flames have a little over $23 million in cap space after the trade of Jacob Markstrom, so they can comfortably fit Mikheyev’s $4.75 million in their salary structure. They also don’t have a lot of depth beyond their top-six and he would be reunited with Kuzmenko, who he showed some chemistry with in Vancouver when he had his breakout rookie season with 39 goals and 74 points. According to Natural Stattrick, in 248:19 of even-strength ice time together, the Canucks out-chanced (122-113) and outscored (18-13) their opponents and also scored 14 high-danger goals.
Biggest Asset Coming Back in a Mikheyev Trade Will Be Cap Space
Unfortunately for Allvin and the Canucks, they will be selling low on Mikheyev. He didn’t have a good season at all goal-wise, going through double-digit slumps multiple times. He has only scored one goal in 2024 and didn’t find the back of the net in the final 15 games of the regular season and 13 games of the playoffs. In fact, of the 11 goals he scored in 2023-24, 10 of them came before Dec. 19, which comes out to one goal in 50 games. If you include the postseason, it’s one goal in 63 games. For $4.75 million, that’s just way too little production, even with all of his intangibles of penalty-killing and good defensive play.
Those stats aren’t going to get Allvin much more than a third or fourth-round draft pick. At most, he’s probably going to get teams offering high-salary contracts that they don’t want, which doesn’t help the Canucks with their cap conundrum. The biggest thing they will obtain in a Mikheyev trade is that coveted cap space, making a draft pick with no salary coming back the best-case scenario. We will see what happens with this situation as the draft and free agency get started in a few days.
