In a series of transactions and roster moves, Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced on Thursday morning that defenseman Filip Hronek, set to miss the next eight weeks after undergoing an operation on his lower body, has been placed on long-term injured reserve.
By placing Hronek on LTIR, the Canucks defenseman is automatically ruled out of game action for 10 games and 24 days, per NHL rules and regulations.
Additionally, the Canucks first called up top forward prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki and right-shot defender Cole McWard from the AHL Abbotsford Canucks. After placing Hronek on LTIR, forward Max Sasson was also re-called from Abbotsford.
The #Canucks called up Lekkerimaki & McWard & then put Hronek on LTIR. By doing this with just 8K cap space, they obtained close to an optimal LTIR capture.
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) December 5, 2024
Subsequently they called up Sasson, leaving them 6.3M space in LTIR.
If they send 1 player down they’ll be back to…
NHL salary cap maven PuckPedia revealed that the order of these transactions was essential for the success of Allvin's operation. By calling up Lekkerimäki and McWard, the Canucks wasted only $8,000 in cap space. That is a very nominal amount, and if it does happen to come into play, Allvin and the Canucks have much greater problems on their hands.
Canucks cap space going forward
After bringing back Sasson from the AHL, the Canucks have a solid $6.3 million in cap space to work with. According to PuckPedia, the Canucks are technically $598k over the NHL salary cap ceiling, so they cannot continue to accrue cap space on a daily basis until they send a player down and get back under the ceiling.
With McWard and fellow AHL call-up Mark Friedman on the NHL roster, the Canucks currently have eight healthy defensemen. Intuition says that McWard or Friedman will be returned to the AHL, but the Canucks have not made any further transactions to this point.
Excluding J.T. Miller, the returns of Sasson and Lekkerimäki give the Canucks 13 healthy forwards. So, including McWard and Friedman, the Canucks are carrying three skaters as insurance--as most teams normally do when they are fully healthy.
It is currently unclear when Miller, who was selected to Team USA's 4 Nations Face-Off roster on Wednesday, will return. Derek Forbort and Thatcher Demko should be nearing returns soon, though official updates have been scarce in that department.
At the end of the day, Allvin's early-season salary cap shenanigans are paying off in a big way at a crucial time for the Canucks.