The Vancouver Canucks are deep into sell mode this season, and the teardown is far from over. With Evander Kane trade talks heating up - and his camp actively involved - it’s looking more and more like he’ll be on the move well before the Olympic break in February.
But Kane might just be the first domino to fall. This front office isn’t shy about making moves, and there’s still plenty of runway left before the NHL Trade Deadline.
The Canucks have made it clear: they’re not chasing short-term fixes. The focus is firmly on the future - draft picks, prospects, and young talent.
But there’s another angle to consider in this rebuild: leveraging cap space to take on unwanted contracts from contenders. In other words, becoming a destination for cap dumps - and getting paid for the trouble.
Cap Space: Not Much, But Enough
Right now, the Canucks have a little breathing room under the salary cap. As of Tuesday morning, they had 14 healthy forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies on the roster.
Five players - Derek Forbort, Marco Rossi, Thatcher Demko, Brock Boeser, and Zeev Buium - are on injured reserve. Even with those salaries still counting and their replacements already in the lineup, Vancouver’s total cap hit sits at $94.4 million.
That’s just under the $95.5 million ceiling for the 2025-26 season.
But here’s where it gets interesting: the real value lies in how much space they’ve accrued over the course of the season. Because the Canucks have spent most of the year under the cap, they’ve been banking cap space - and that space becomes more powerful as the season wears on. Cap hits are calculated daily, so with fewer days left before the deadline, that accrued space stretches further.
Right now, Vancouver is projected to have about $3.8 million in usable cap space at the deadline. That’s a meaningful number.
It means they could take on players with a combined $3.8 million in annual salary without having to move anyone off the roster. For playoff-bound teams looking to shed a $4 million contract - and there are always a few - the Canucks are suddenly a very attractive trade partner.
A Tanking Team with Leverage
Vancouver is one of the few teams in the league that’s clearly not chasing a playoff spot this year. That gives them a unique kind of leverage. They’re in a prime position to help contenders clear space, and get compensated in the form of picks or prospects for doing so.
It doesn’t have to be a straight-up cap dump, either. The Canucks still have two salary retention slots available - a valuable asset in its own right.
They could use those slots to retain salary on pending UFAs like Kane or Teddy Blueger to boost their trade value. But there’s another play here: acting as a third-party broker in a retention deal.
Now, under the current CBA rules, the old double-retention tactic - where one team retains 50%, then a second team retains another 50% to get the player down to 25% of their original cap hit - isn’t an option right now. That’s because a player can’t be retained on twice within a 75-day window, and we’re inside that window leading up to the deadline.
But single-retention deals are still in play. If a team wants to move a player but can’t afford to retain salary, the Canucks could step in, retain a portion, and get paid for the service - either by the team offloading the contract or by the team acquiring the player.
With so many teams in the playoff race and the cap still tight across the league, this kind of creativity is going to be in high demand.
More Moves = More Cap Room
And the Canucks’ cap flexibility is only going to improve. If Kane is moved - even at 50% retention - that’s another $2.5 million off the books. That not only frees up immediate space but also increases the rate of accrual moving forward.
Timing matters here. The NHL counts salary on a daily basis, and the Olympic break presents an interesting opportunity.
While rosters will be frozen during the break, the league calendar keeps ticking. That means the Canucks can continue to bank cap space even when no games are being played.
If they can get a few moves done before the Olympic freeze - move out Kane, maybe another veteran or two - they’ll enter the break with a lighter cap load and maximize their accrual during that downtime. They could even send down a few young players - Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Victor Mancini, Elias Pettersson, or Tom Willander - to Abbotsford to run a lean 20-man roster through the break. Every dollar counts when you’re trying to weaponize cap space.
Cap Dumps: A Smart Path to Future Assets
Let’s be clear: the Canucks aren’t adding players to make a push this year. But they do need to add future assets, and taking on cap dumps is one of the cleanest ways to do that - especially when you’re short on tradeable veterans.
The key is being selective. Vancouver’s roster is already a little crowded, and while trades will open up some spots, there’s a wave of young talent knocking on the door.
That means the preference should be for expiring contracts - players whose deals come off the books on July 1. Taking on longer-term deals could complicate things heading into 2026-27, when the team will need to be more strategic about its cap structure.
That said, if the Canucks can land a cap dump that also has future trade value - maybe someone who can be retained and flipped at the 2027 deadline - that’s the dream scenario. It’s a tricky needle to thread, but Vancouver is in a rare position right now: they’ve got cap space, nothing pressing to spend it on, and a front office that’s finally thinking long-term.
In a league where flexibility is currency, the Canucks are sitting on a valuable asset. Now it’s just a matter of cashing it in.