In yesterday's blog, I talked about the opening of the NHL's buyout window and an ex-Canuck who could be out of a job two weeks from now—Buffalo's Cody Hodgson.
Another ex-Canuck looks like the first to take the hit this year—Matt Cooke of the Minnesota Wild.
Matt Cooke is on unconditional waivers, which means the #MNWild intend to buy out the final year of his contract. He was owed $3M.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 18, 2015Cooke was going into the final year of a three-year contract with the Wild after an injury-plagued 2014-15 season that saw him play just 29 games. Since he's 36, Minnesota would still be on the hook for two-thirds of the $3 million that he's still owed, but can spread that over two seasons—so, a charge of $1 million a year.
According to General Fanager, the Wild currently have 10 NHL forwards, five defensemen and two goalies signed for next season (including Cooke), at a cap hit of $61.2 million. General manager Chuck Fletcher's biggest order of business is clearing cap space to sign impending free-agent goalie Devan Dubnyk, who has a big bargaining chip in his pocket in the form of a Vezina Trophy nomination.
Last year, we saw the news of player buyouts trickle out day-by-day during the two-week window.
Though teams will still have to cover buyout costs and take cap hits on all players this year, without much wiggle-room expected at the salary-cap ceiling, plenty of teams could be looking to create roster space for cheaper players while spreading the pain of albatross contracts over multiple seasons. And yes—the more players get bought out, the greater the competition in the free-agent market on July 1, when they go back into the mix.
Here's the latest on a timeline for a cap number:
NHL and NHLPA in ongoing talks over next season's salary cap. The hope is to have a final number sometime next week before the draft
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) June 18, 2015Cam Talbot Drives Goalie Market
The closer we get to the draft, the more we hear that New York Rangers backup Cam Talbot is the most-prized goalie among teams who are looking to shore up their netminding this summer.
Cam Talbot is a hot commodity. Edmtn, Cgy, SJ, Dallas + Florida have expressed interest. Multiple trade offers. First 3 most likely targets.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 18, 2015Talbot stepped out of his understudy role last spring, when he essentially propelled the Rangers to their Presidents' Trophy with a 16-5-3 record while Henrik Lundqvist was out with his arterial injury.
It's not dissimilar to what Eddie Lack did for the Canucks when Ryan Miller got hurt, but Talbot's work was on a bigger stage, in the Eastern Conference, and his numbers were better.
Talbot finished the season with a 21-9-4 record, a 2.26 goals-against and a .926 save percentage, while Lack was 18-13-4 with a 2.45 goals-against and a .921 save percentage.
Earlier, we heard that Ottawa's Robin Lehner was also a primary target for teams looking for goaltenders. Now, word is that the Senators are trying to bundle a forward with their marketable asset in an attempt to clear some cap space.
Murray confirms they are trying to add a forward - like Greening or Legwand - to a goalie deal so they could move some salary.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) June 18, 2015If Jim Benning's willing to deal Lack on his own, that could make him a more appealing target for one of the teams listed in Dreger's tweet.
Can you imagine if Lack ended up getting dealt to Florida and was back with Roberto Luongo again? That'd be pretty wild. The Panthers do have backup Al Montoya under contract for another year, but they might need an upgrade if they're planning to make good on Jaromir Jagr's promise of a Stanley Cup in 2016.
J.Toews, P. Kane ( SC 2015) J.Jagr ( SC 2016) congrats Chicago Blackhawks, 2016 it's our time-go Florida Panthers :) pic.twitter.com/Yfkbwc5HVf
— Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) June 16, 2015Jim Benning was on TSN1040 yesterday, where he came right out and said that the Canucks are definitely keeping Ryan Miller.
Benning on trading a goalie: I want to keep an older, experienced goalie and Ryan is that guy. And we'll decide on keeping Eddie or Jacob...
— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) June 17, 2015Here's the link to the Benning interview if you'd like to go through it.
If you missed @VanCanucks GM Jim Benning today on #TSN1040, catch Jim here: http://t.co/X9NVZrSzcd
— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) June 17, 2015Other than the goalie chatter, just a couple of other interesting notes:
#Canucks with 1 pick in first 3 rounds of draft yet interviewed 65/120 kids combine. Sounds like a GM who plans on having a few more picks
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) June 17, 2015As we expected, Brad Richardson might stick around but Shawn Matthias probably won't:
Benning: Shawn Matthias will likely test free-agent market. "Depending on what happens here", Canucks may look to keep Richardson
— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) June 17, 2015And I wonder if "yet" is the operative word here:
Benning: Haven't "gone down" road of asking Bieksa to waive NTC. Hasn't asked any players to waive NTCs yet
— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) June 17, 2015So far, the chips are falling pretty much as we expected. Now, it'll come down to Benning's negotiating skills in maximizing the return for his assets. He has a week and a day to work his magic before the draft begins.
One other note to follow up from yesterday's blog before I go today:
Former #Canucks assistant Mike Sullivan has officially been named head coach of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) June 18, 2015No word yet on whether Torts will become part of Sully's staff...