The 29-year-old pending free agent has permission from the Toronto Maple Leafs to talk to different groups and the Canucks have reportedly reached out.
Because the French say, “The extra it adjustments, the extra it’s the identical.”
Or in English: “The extra issues change, the extra they keep the identical.”
The one transfer that has adopted Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning greater than anybody is the $ 36 million six-year deal he gave Loui Eriksson. Nearly instantly, 31-year-old Eriksson did not dwell as much as the expectations he had aroused from his contract and his earlier recreation within the NHL and spent all however seven video games within the taxi squad final season.
Eriksson’s contract was a millstone for each Benning’s neck and the Canucks’ wage cap, nevertheless it’s not the one one. You might name Tyler Myers the same deal. Myers was signed to a five-year contract, additionally price $ 6 million a yr, on the age of 29 and has already proven declining returns, with a few of the ugliest defensive outcomes on a defensively hideous group.
There appears to be a lesson right here: long-term contracts for gamers getting into the second half of their careers (or already within the second half of their careers) are inherently dangerous and possibly not price it, particularly for a group that which is supposedly making an attempt to construct a playoff group by means of elaboration and growth.
Nonetheless, the Canucks are reportedly among the many entrance runners in taking over and signing 29-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs ahead Zach Hyman.
Canucks has expressed an curiosity in Hyman
The primary report got here from Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star and was repeated by Canucks reporter Rick Dhaliwal, who confirmed that the Canucks had contacted Hymans brokers.
Hyman and his agent Todd Reynolds have acquired permission from the Leafs to talk to different groups. Hyman will probably be an unreserved free agent this summer season, however groups may doubtlessly commerce his bargaining rights and signal him earlier.
This is the factor – Hyman’s an excellent winger. He discovered a house within the prime line of the Leafs with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, however can play on any line. Its underlying stats are stable, with the flexibility to push and maintain puck possession within the assault zone. He additionally has a wonderful end throughout the online with a number of 20+ tors seasons.
The identical was in fact stated by Eriksson earlier than he was signed by the Canucks.
(By a humorous coincidence, Eriksson even took a single fourth place for the Selke Trophy that season earlier than signing with the Canucks, similar to Hyman final season. However I digress.)
The issue with Hyman is not that he is a nasty participant, it is that he is already 29 and is more likely to decline within the years to come back. His cap hit will not do it, nonetheless. Hyman is reportedly aiming for a six-year contract price round $ 6 million a yr, very like Eriksson.
He most likely will not be price $ 6 million a yr by the point he is 34 within the remaining yr of a six-year contract. There is a good probability Hyman’s not even price $ 6 million subsequent yr. The getting old course of is immensely unfriendly this manner.
The persecution of Hyman has each short-term and long-term penalties
There’s the long-term ramifications of such a deal, but additionally the short-term issues of the Canucks making an attempt to get any such contract beneath the cap this season. The Canucks are already having to signal Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes to cheaper, short-term bridging contracts as a substitute of long-term contracts as there isn’t any room for the cap this low season. Additionally they must improve their defenses and discover a third line middle. The place will they discover area for Hyman?
Buying Hyman would seemingly imply terminating different contracts, however the one manner to try this is by spending property – draft picks and / or prospects – to get different groups to take over these contracts. Within the worst case, this might imply that the ninth total choice on this yr’s draft will probably be swapped away.
The long-term implications of all of this – a six-year deal for a 29-year ahead, short-term bridging offers for Pettersson and Hughes, and the lack of picks and prospects to push capability – may very well be devastating.
Hopefully this reported curiosity in Hyman is simply Benning’s tire kicking and nothing extra.
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