After locking down Teddy Blueger, the Vancouver Canucks are still hard at work trying to create necessary cap space to take a run at their remaining pending free agents.
The Canucks announced Wednesday that they had traded forward Ilya Mikheyev, the rights to Sam Lafferty and a 2027 second-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick — a move which clears approximately $4 million in cap space ahead of next season.
Mikheyev had to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to happen and the Canucks are retaining 15 per cent of his salary.
Mikheyev, 29, is under contract for two more seasons at $4.75 million per year — a deal he signed ahead of the 2022-23 season. While his first season with the club was respectable — 13 goals and 28 points in 46 games before being sidelined with an ACL injury — his production took a sharp downturn in his second season with the club.
In 78 games with the Canucks last season, Mikheyev scored just 11 goals and 31 points, and suffered a 34-game stretch where he failed to score a goal.
Lafferty, 29, enjoyed the most productive season of his career primarily playing on the Canucks’ fourth line. He scored 13 goals and 11 points for 24 points in 79 games. He is a pending unrestricted free agent.
NHL free agency opens on July 1.