The Vancouver Canucks solved part of the their salary cap problem by trading Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders last month, but they have a lot of work to do in the offseason.
The Canucks currently have a salary cap hit of $82 million with four spots to fill, possibly more if they done want a plethora of rookies in the lineup.
View the updated Vancouver Canucks salary cap
One of J.T. Miller or Brock Boeser will be traded this offseason
The Vancouver Canucks tried to trade one Brock Boeser or J.T. Miller at the NHL trade deadline.
Patrick Johnston of The Province reports there were no takers for Miller at the deadline but GM Patrick Allvin will look to trade J.T. Miller before July 1, 2023 as his no-trade-clause does not kick in until then.
Johnston went on to say in his piece that Brock Boeser could have been traded if Canucks management was willing to eat part of his salary cap hit. The Canucks have no interest in retaining salary so he was not moved at the trade deadline.
If the Canucks cannot find a way to trade Miller or Boeser in the offseason, they will have to look at someone taking on Tyler Myers $6 million cap hit.
A last resort move would be buying out Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He has four more years with a $7.26 million cap hit. The buyout would span 8-years and have a cost of $19,333,333 and savings of $9,666,667. View the Ekman-Larsson buyout cost calculation below.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson buyout cost to the Canucks
| SEASON | INITIAL BASE SALARY | INITIAL CAP HIT | BUYOUT COST | SAVINGS | CAP HIT (VAN) | CAP HIT (ARI) |
| 2023-24 | $10,500,000 | $8,250,000 | $2,416,667 | $8,083,333 | $146,667 | $20,000 |
| 2024-25 | $8,000,000 | $8,250,000 | $2,416,667 | $5,583,333 | $2,346,667 | $320,000 |
| 2025-26 | $5,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $2,416,667 | $2,833,333 | $4,766,667 | $650,000 |
| 2026-27 | $5,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $2,416,667 | $2,833,333 | $4,766,667 | $650,000 |
| 2027-28 | $0 | $0 | $2,416,667 | -$2,416,667 | $2,126,667 | $290,000 |
| 2028-29 | $0 | $0 | $2,416,667 | -$2,416,667 | $2,126,667 | $290,000 |
| 2029-30 | $0 | $0 | $2,416,667 | -$2,416,667 | $2,126,667 | $290,000 |
| 2030-31 | $0 | $0 | $2,416,667 | -$2,416,667 | $2,126,667 | $290,000 |
| TOTAL | $29,000,000 | $33,000,000 | $19,333,333 | $9,666,667 | $20,533,336 | $2,800,000 |
