Coming down to a straight choice for Canucks between Lindholm and Zadorov

An easy decision ... if not already made for the Canucks

When combining their respective performances for the Canucks in 2023-24 with the projected salaries, it seems clear that Zadorov is the smarter solution. This would still leave the organisation with a decent amount of projected cap space to fill out the roster for next season.

In fairness, this decision may have already been made for the Canucks. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman recently indicated on the hugely popular 32 Thoughts podcast, that they were prepared to go to seven years at an annual average of $7 million to re-sign Lindholm.

However, as things stand Lindholm still hasn't agreed a deal with the Canucks, with some speculation indicating he wants as much as $8 million per season. He may well get this somewhere, but it's an outrageous amount which he's not worth, and Allvin is best-served walking away.

In any event, Allvin recently indicated he wants to upgrade the team with a quality top-six winger with speed, and the money the Canucks would have theoretically spent on Lindholm, can find someone better. Big name targets include pending free agents Jake Guentzel and Sam Reinhart, or someone such as Mitch Marner via a trade.

Now it should be clarified that even if the Canucks do pick Zadorov over Lindholm to focus on, there's no guarantee the former will actually re-sign in Vancouver. Friedman did recently put the odds of this happening at less than 50 percent.

Overall though, such has been the offseason success so far in Vancouver, combined with how much projected cap space the Canucks have, that even missing out on both Zadorov and Lindholm would no longer be a disaster. Allvin is working wonders for the organisation, and fans should feel confident about the direction he has them headed in.

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