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 seven remaining pending free agents.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Wednesday that the Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks are working out a deal that could potentially send forward Ilya Mikheyev, the rights to Sam Lafferty and a second-round pick to Chicago in order to free up some money.
Daily Faceoff‘s Frank Seravalli further reported that the Blackhawks would send the Canucks a fourth-round pick in 2027, provided the trade takes place.
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.
In order for the trade to take place, Mikheyev would have to waive a no-trade clause attached to his contract. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reported that Mikheyev had not yet done so.
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.
