Canucks: Trading Loui Eriksson isn’t as hard as you think

Trading Loui Eriksson would give the Vancouver Canucks valuable cap space. Such a move isn’t as hard as you might think.

Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning has to maneuver around a difficult salary cap situation all while trying to upgrade a team that fell just one game short of reaching the Western Conference Final.

Yes, Benning built a team that looks destined to compete for several Stanley Cup championships over the next five or so years. But he also made several questionable moves that have put him in this cap crunch.

Benning is paying too much money to some of his bottom-six forwards. In an ideal world, the sixth-year GM finds a way to unload at least two of those contracts this offseason. Easier said than done, of course.

Once again, Benning will look around and see if he can find a taker for Loui Eriksson. The 35-year-old has two seasons remaining on the six-year, $36 million contract he signed in 2016 free agency.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) reported earlier this week that Benning and Eriksson’s agent, J.P. Barry, talked about a potential move.

Eriksson carries a $6 million cap hit for 2020-21 and 2021-22. On paper, the contract is practically impossible to move, right? Not so fast.

Eriksson’s base salary is just $1 million in 2020-21 and $3 million for 2021-22, per CapFriendly. He’s owed just $4 million total in signing bonuses, too. So teams with plenty of cap space shouldn’t be shy in taking on Eriksson and paying out the remaining dollars.

For Benning, there are only two logical options in clearing Eriksson’s contract. He either has to swap it for a comparable contract (see when the Calgary Flames sent James Neal to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Milan Lucic) or throw in a sweetener.

As an example, go back to 2016, when the cap-strapped Chicago Blackhawks surrendered promising young forward Teuvo Teravainen to the Carolina Hurricanes for taking on Bryan Bickell’s contract.

Or when the Toronto Maple Leafs sacrificed the hefty price of a 2019 first-round pick to Carolina for taking on the final year Patrick Marleau‘s deal (he was quickly bought out).

The Canucks don’t have a first or second-round pick in this year’s draft. Would Benning be willing to surrender his 2020 third-rounder? It seems like a hefty price now, but clearing out $6 million in cap space for the next two years might be too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Benning could also look to move a quality roster player (Jake Virtanen?) or one of his many blue line prospects in order to move out Eriksson’s contract.

The bottom line is that this team is built to win now, and they need all the cap space they can get. If it means throwing in a sweetener or taking on a similar player and contract, the Canucks have options when it comes to possibly trading Eriksson.