The Colorado Avalanche’s blockbuster extension for Cale Makar doesn’t just reset the defense market. It also throws a spotlight on where the Vancouver Canucks stand as they try to position themselves for a bigger swing in the years ahead.
Makar’s new deal is an eight-year, $163.2 million contract that begins next season, giving him a $20.4 million average annual value. Starting in 2027-28, he’ll be the highest-paid player in the NHL by a wide margin.
For Vancouver, the bigger question is what that kind of deal means for its own future spending plans. If the Canucks want to chase elite talent, they’ll need to be ready to act when the right names hit the market.
Heading into the 2026-27 season, Vancouver is sitting on $17.814 million in cap space. With the league maximum at $104 million, the Canucks currently have an $86.185 million roster as of August 28. They also have 44 of 50 contract slots filled and 23 of 23 active roster spots taken.
The picture gets much more interesting for 2027-28. At that point, the Canucks are projected to have $50.576 million in cap space. They would have just 17 of 50 standard contracts signed and 13 of 23 active roster spots occupied, with Tyler Myers’ contract also coming off the books.
That’s a massive amount of flexibility, but it only matters if Vancouver uses it well. Next summer, after the 2026-27 season, players such as Zach Werenski, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and Clayton Keller will be available as unrestricted free agents or restricted free agents. None of that guarantees the Canucks can simply outspend the field and land one of them.
Still, if the organization wants to speed up the rebuild, it has to prove to top players that it is serious about winning. Vancouver has to decide which names are worth the investment and which ones would actually want to come here. That planning matters even more now that Makar has raised the bar for what star-level money looks like.
General manager Ryan Johnson will also need ownership fully aligned if the Canucks are going to make a real push for premium talent. With 10 players set to come off the books from the current roster, the team could enter 2027-28 with 17 total deals on the books and more than $50 million to work with.
That gives Vancouver a chance to reload and maybe make a move in the Pacific Division. But the answer is not to throw money at everyone. The challenge is finding the right players and making them believe the Canucks are close enough to contend.
That makes the 2026-27 season a major one for the organization. Vancouver has to improve, show real progress and convince future targets that it is ready to add help.
The Canucks have the cap room coming. Now they have to prove they can turn that into something meaningful, both on and off the ice.
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One possible path is a free-agent addition with penalty-killing experience, which would give the Oilers a way to steady the group if the absences linger. For a Vancouver team watching the Western Conference landscape, it is another reminder that roster decisions across the division can ripple quickly, especially as other clubs sift through trade interest and rebuild talks of their own. [Read more 🡒]