Canucks: How Kole Lind selection shapes upcoming offseason

The Vancouver Canucks officially have one less thing to worry about this summer.

On Wednesday night, the Seattle Kraken hosted their Expansion Draft, selecting one player from each of the 30 participating teams. After some speculation of who they would choose from Vancouver, the Kraken ended up going with 22-year-old forward prospect Kole Lind.

The real question – what exactly did this move do for the Canucks moving forward?

Lind has only played in seven NHL games so far in his career, but he looked underwhelming in each one of them, failing to register a point during that span. The former 2017 second round pick did put up impressive numbers in the WHL, particularly during the 2017-18 campaign, but hasn’t been able to bring that offensive prowess to either the AHL or NHL just yet.

Given his young age and limited exposure to the big leagues, it’s still a realistically possibility that Lind can develop into the top-nine forward that everyone expected him to become right out of the gate. However, if Lind continues at this current rate, he’s bound to become nothing more than a fourth-line centre at best, if he cracks the opening night roster at all. Plus, when you take a look at what other teams lost to Seattle without any return, it should make you sleep better at night knowing that we only lost a slow-developing prospect like Lind.

Of course, when teams participate in expansion drafts like this, it’s important to not only focus on what you lost, but also what you could’ve lost. In Vancouver’s case, the shift focuses between the pipes on Braden Holtby.

Much like Lind, Holtby seemed to be another heated topic of conversation in Vancouver leading up to Wednesday night. Many fans had Holtby at the top of their list when it came to Seattle’s selection, namely because of what it would mean for the team in the upcoming season.

Holtby is entering the last year of his current two-year contract, but is looking to bounce back in a big way. The soon-to-be-32-year-old put up subpar numbers for the second consecutive year, posting seven wins and zero shutouts, to go along with a 3.67 GAA and .889 SV% over 21 games.

Given the current goaltending situation in Vancouver, this doesn’t pose the biggest red flag for fans and management. It’s expected that fellow netminder Thatcher Demko will take on most of the workload next season, which also marks year one of his five-year, $25 million deal. However, if Holtby does remain with the club, he will be relied upon to secure 10-12 wins in Demko’s absence if the team wants a decent shot at the playoffs, meaning his gameplay will need to improve drastically. This would also mean that Holtby would be spending most of the year on the bench, accompanied by his $4.3 million cap hit.

Through the Seattle Expansion Draft, many fans were hoping that the Kraken would solve this dilemma by taking Holtby off of our hands in order to utilize him as a 1B or even 1C option. As we all know, that wasn’t the case. Seattle didn’t want to take on the full financial burden, and they weren’t in the market to help out a divisional foe without getting a sweetener in return, forcing the Canucks organization to crunch the numbers once again with Holtby’s cap hit still on the books.

Heading into the 2021-22 season, the Canucks are currently projected to have just over $15 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly. At first glance, it would appear that the Canucks have a decent amount left over to make a few transactions, especially considering LTIR, buyouts and burying contracts in the minors haven’t been factored in. However, after taking a deeper dive into exactly what the organization needs to cross off on their to-do list, it’s much easier to see why the Canucks are quite cash-strapped this summer, even if any of the money-saving options above actually take place.

The first two priorities should be signing RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. Both players have proven that they can become franchise-changing superstars, having led the team up front and on the blueline. As expected, both players would like their new salaries to reflect their current roles with the organization, and could command upwards of $12-13 million between the two of them. Dickinson also joins the list of RFA signings that need to be done, and it would be no surprise if he expects a decent raise from his current $1.5 million AAV.

Benning and co. are able to finalize these contract negotiations right now, and should consider sealing the deal before free agency opens on July 28th at 9:00am PST. Once the morning clock strikes on that day, both Pettersson and Dickinson could be subject to offer sheets from other NHL clubs.

The July 28th start date also applies to UFAs. Currently, the Canucks have eight players set to hit unrestricted free agency, but most of them are expected to walk. The two exceptions to those are defencemen Travis Hamonic and Alex Edler.

Hamonic struggled at the beginning of the season, but was able to bounce back in the latter half, and ended up finding chemistry with Hughes. At only 21 years old, Hughes could use some more stability in a defensive partner, and Hamonic would be a great stay-at-home, defensively-sound option to complement the young blueliner, much like former Canuck Chris Tanev.

Edler is a bit more complicated. Last week, it was reported that Edler wanted to test the free agency waters after spending 15 seasons in Vancouver. The 35-year-old could will likely have his fair share of options come next week, especially if he’s looking for a smaller role on a contending team, much like Ron Hainsey did in Pittsburgh a few years back (albeit he was acquired at the trade deadline).

However, if Edler doesn’t find what he’s looking for in free agency, it might make sense for Benning to circle back on the veteran, as long as the term, cap hit and positional expectations work for the team and their long-term plan. In other words, third-pairing minutes with limited responsibilities.

And that’s just free agency.

In the next week or so, fans are hoping that Benning will also be able to find a new home for defenceman Nate Schmidt, who reportedly wants out of Vancouver after just one year with the team. In an ideal world, Benning would acquire another solid right-handed defenceman in return for Schmidt, or even a potential top-six winger.

Benning will also need to make decisions on Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, Loui Eriksson and Jake Virtanen when it comes to the remainder of their contracts. At the moment, it would only make sense to buyout Virtanen’s contract, given his age and cap hit. Even if he decides to hold onto these players, Benning will need to decide very soon, as the buyout window is set to close on July 27th.

The four mentioned forwards currently account for $14.55 million of the team’s cap hit. Add in Holtby’s remaining salary, and you’re looking at just under $19 million. Given those numbers, it would be ideal if Benning and co. could reallocate some of that money before puck drop in October, either through trade, buyout, or assignment to Abbotsford.

Despite getting through the Expansion Draft relatively unscathed, it’s clear that the Canucks still need to address a few items on their to-do list, and many fans are hoping that they can be all be checked off in the next week or so.

At the time of this article being published, NHL teams are no longer bound by the roster freeze, and are able to engage in trade talks and buyouts, which means that Benning can get the overhaul process started. The remaining question – will he be able to achieve everything that the team requires in a timely manner?

Buckle up, Canucks fans! It’s about to get real busy in the hockey world.